A lighthearted children’s character that became a symbol of hate and hostility, I Love You, You Hate me seeks to cover the story of Barney, a purple dinosaur from the 1992 show Barney & Friends. The series, which used to air on PBS, was a show targeted at a very young audience of 2 to 8 years of age. While the kids loved the show, everyone else felt the complete opposite.
Barney had sadly become the target of such false claims for parodies, violent video games, and drug abuse. This series aims to explore the reason behind the public outrage. The title is a twisted version of the ending theme song, I Love You, You Love me, that played at the end of each episode, where Barney would hug each kid.
With Tommy Avallone as the director, I Love You, You Hate Me is a short series set to start airing this Fall. It is produced by Scout productions and will feature clips from the past and over the years involved in this hate crime against Barney.
What Was “Barney & Friends” About?
Barney & Friends transformed Barney from a small soft toy to a 6 feet 7 inches tall dinosaur that would play and sing with the children. Other dinosaur characters like Baby bop, Riff, and BJ were also part of the series.
When Sheryl Leach first thought up the idea of Barney & Friends, PBS agreed to air it for a short duration. The show unexpectedly ended up being loved by many kids, which forced PBS to make it a longer series. It also had celebrities like Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato as guest actors when they were just kids.
It had a total of 268 episodes, with almost 100 children that had been on the show. David Joyner played the role of Barney for almost a decade. Movies of the franchise were also made over the years.
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I Love You, You Hate me: Why Was Barney Hated So Much?
As the show got popular, it started gaining hate from adults and older kids. The reason could have been anything from Barney’s dead creepy eyes to his lack of emotion other than laughter. His voice was unsettling too. People started claiming he was evil and satanic when jokes relating him to the number 666 started emerging.
The early 2000s was the era of parodies, and Barney got caught up in it. Clips of Barney’s soft toy being burned were uploaded. Video games making Barney a part of homicidal activities were made. It even went as far as sending hate to the actors and producers of the show.
What started as a fun Humorous joke took a darker turn as the Anti-Barney Humor progressed. The creators were confused because of the hate, as this was meant to be a kid’s show. They received death threats and demands to erase Barney & Friends from Television forever.
Shows like Peppa pig, Dora the Explorer, and others, have been a subject of hate and adult humor, but what Barney & Friends received was more absurd and alarming.
I Love You, You Hate Me Episode 1 & 2: Release Date
I Love You, You Hate Me will air on 12th October 2022. Both of the episodes that will air this Wednesday are expected to have a run time of 30 minutes.
What To Expect In The Episode?
The series will start with the origin of Barney. Back in 1988, with Sheryl Leach, we will be shown how he was brought into existence and launched on Television. It will be an interesting approach to this Nostalgic show. Tune in on the mentioned streaming platform this Wednesday to learn more about Barney and his downfall.
Streaming Guide For “I Love You, You Hate me”:
The documentary-like series will air on Peacock TV at 3:00 am in the US. A subscription of $4.99 or $9.99 per month is required to access its content. Peacock TV is not available anywhere outside the US as of now.
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