And once again, my childhood is ruined.
If you were born in the ’80s or ’90s, there’s a very good chance you watched Barney, the purple talking dinosaur, at least one time as a child.
Although the show appeared to be as harmless as could be and a staple of most of our childhoods, there’s a docuseries in the works touching on the shocking “dark side” of the children’s show.
Titled I Love You, You Hate Me, the two-part docuseries will premier on October 12th on Peacock, according to NBC 5.
The series will follow:
“The rise and fall of Barney the Dinosaur’s furious backlash…Â and what it says about the human need to hate.”
Al Roker discusses the creator Sheryl Leach, and shares:
“As her beloved character was heading into the stratosphere, people couldn’t accept that this was just a show. And so, let the bashing begin.”
And boy, when he says bashing, we’re talking about destroying Barney merchandise, spreading rumors like the Barney actors hiding drugs in the costume’s tail, and even death threats towards the show’s performers, crew, and families.
A show all about love and acceptance became such a source of outrage and hatred.
Barney actor Bob West even recalls a time in the trailer where:
“They were gonna come find me and they were going to kill me.”
Peacock’s description states:
“From Barney-bashing to frat parties to homicidal video games, something in American society broke into a million pieces, and it’s never been put together again.
Or is this just who we were all along?”
So wait one second, is the hatred of Barney & Friends responsible for the downfall of American society? A child’s show about a purple talking dinosaur that liked giving hugs?
Wow.
From what we’ve seen in the trailer, the series could also touch on the 2013 shooting involving Leach’s son Patrick, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2015 after shooting neighbor Eric Shanks in the chest, as one interviewee in the trailer states:
“I don’t think you could ever think somebody would go and shoot someone.”
The docuseries is directed by Tommy Avallone, and executive produced by Rob Eric, Joel Chiodi, David Collins, Michael Williams, Tommy Avallone, Raymond Esposito, Wendy Greene, Amy Goodman Kass, and Trent Johnson.
Check it out:
