Connecticut Public Radio is debuting a seven-part podcast called "Generation Barney," hosted by Sabrina Herrera that explores the cultural impact of the big purple dinosaur — a preschool edutainment phenomenon — and its unique approach to engaging young children.
On the release of the first two podcast episodes, Herrera delves into the creation of Barney on public television. She also discussed her new podcast.
On the importance of treating Barney with reverence
Herrera grew up as a Barney fan – you can almost hear her smiling as she reminisces about the character.
“What I think some millennials and Gen Z folks may not realize is how big of an impact Barney had in the preschool edu-tainment space,” Herrera said. “It really broke ground and targeted really, really young kids: preschoolers.”
On top of that, Barney was one of the top three highest-earning entertainers in 1994, joining the ranks of Oprah and Steven Spielberg.
But he wouldn’t have made it to the top of that list, if it weren’t for a fateful trip to a video store in Connecticut.
Barney’s Connecticut roots
“It actually started in a video store in Prospect,” Herrera said.
The kids show began as a home video series called “Barney and the Backyard Gang” and the colorful VHS caught the eye of the four-year-old daughter of a then Connecticut Public executive, Larry Rifkin.
“They rented it. They took it home, and Leora was completely, like, hooked, enamored. She loved it,” Herrera said. “And so Larry called the show's creator, Sheryl Leach, and said ‘Hey, we should pitch this to PBS.’”
The rest is Connecticut history.
On the Barney backlash
The podcast also examines the polarized reactions to Barney, including passionate hate. So even though Herrera herself is a Barney fan, it was important to explain Barney’s anti-fans.
“We do journalism here, right? So it's important to represent more than one side to a story,” she said. “But also, as we researched, we realized that what we love and hate and how we act and react to those things, they tell us a lot about who we are as a society.”
Episode Three will delve into the backlash Barney faced in the 1990s, when he grew so popular it felt like some people couldn’t escape him.
“It was really interesting to see and understand and research,” Herrera said. “They reported on people going into grocery stores or toy stores, and knocking the stuffed animals to the ground. So for us, it was important to explore why that was the case.”
Everyone has a show that shaped them
Barney shaped Herrera, and a generation of folks her age and even older. But she said there is something about the podcast that will appeal to people who didn’t have love for Barney — or may not remember the show very well.
“When it comes down to it, everybody has a Barney, whether it was Barney or not,” she said. “It could have been a different show, a different piece of media, a toy or a character. Everyone had something that they cherished and that they loved and they didn't want to let go of physically.”
This podcast is about Barney, she said, but it's also about how these things play into who we become as adults.
“That's what I think is really special about it,” Herrera said.
While working on the podcast, she also reflected on how the diversity of kids featured on the show shaped her.
“As a Latina, with not a lot of other Latinas in my school, it meant the world,” she said. “And what's wild is I didn't even really know it then, but thinking back to it, it exposed me to other types of diversity as well, which had an impact on how I saw the world, and it also helped me feel like I belonged somewhere, like I was able to be there in the open arms of Barney and all.”
Cross-generational values
Herrera said her appreciation for Barney deepened through the podcast on another level.
“The values that Barney sang about and taught were values that my mom mirrored in her teaching and how she raised us,” Herrera said. “And now as an adult, I look back and see how deep those threads really run.”
Values of sharing, caring for other people, being open-hearted and open-minded.
“Those are all things that I still carry with me today,” Herrera said. “So I'm just really, really grateful to have this experience, to be able to explore it and do this podcast as an adult.”
Listen and follow Generation Barney everywhere you get your podcasts.
