In the 90s, preschoolers went nuts for “Barney & Friends” — and that’s kind of by design. The people behind the show put a lot of thought into every detail, from the word choices in scripts to the behaviors Barney modeled. Barney spoke to kids in a language they could understand. And those little ones? They were also central to the creation, and evolution, of the show.

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp.Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/DINO and get on your way to being your best self.

The seven-part podcast is produced by Connecticut Public and hosted by Sabrina Herrera. The reporter-producers are Meg Dalton and Lily Tyson. The editor is Cassandra Basler. The project manager is Megan Fitzgerald. The sound designer and theme composer is Jay Cowit. 

Learn more at https://ctpublic.org/barney.

To support more journalism like this, visit https://donate.ctpublic.org.

Marketing support provided by The Podglomerate.

Support the show: https://www.ctpublic.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.