![]() It was time to launch what Sheryl Leach called ‘Operation Preschool.’ Because there was not much awareness of Barney among parents at the time, it was an uphill battle to sell Barney videos, which would later become the number-one- selling line of children’s non-theatrical videos. Sheryl organized a team of neighborhood mothers, called ‘Mom Blitzers,’ to begin selling videos, one at a time, to toy and video stores. Production began on the first three Barney videos, A Day at the Beach, Barney and the Backyard Gang and Three Wishes. Shortly thereafter, she was joined by a team of writers, developmental specialists and producers, including executive producer Dennis DeShazer. Leach, for funding for the first three Barney home videos and the use of his educational publishing company’s television production facilities. Sheryl approached her father-in-law, Richard C. On that day, Sheryl’s character, Barney, became a dinosaur. Sheryl noticed how captivated children were with dinosaurs and how her son couldn’t stop talking about the exhibit. Sheryl and her young son visited a traveling dinosaur exhibit. ![]() Sheryl created an ‘edutainment’ formula for children’s programming that is still used on Barney & Friends today, combining songs, early childhood learning concepts, social lessons and lovable, gentle characters. She began ‘kitchen research’ with children in the neighborhood, evaluating which songs, characters and plot lines were both educational and entertaining to children. The original inspiration for the character took many forms: a blanket, a teddy bear or another cuddly friend. While stuck in traffic one day, she found the inspiration for the lead character of the series, a ‘snugly’ that would come to life through a child’s imagination. She decided to create her own children’s video series. After reviewing the few children’s videos on the market at the time, she decided she could do the job better. She searched fruitlessly for interactive, entertaining videos to capture the attention of her child. ![]() Sheryl Leach, Barney’s creator, was a full-time mom with a very active two-year-old son. ![]() A look at six shows-some brand-new, others PBS veterans-that got their start on PBS. ![]()
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