March 17, 1993. Pennsylvania farmer Wystan Slurve releases a poorly focused camcorder tape of what appears to be Barney, the impossibly cheerful PBS purple dinosaur, killing wild deer and domestic ...

With the magnetism of Elvis and the personality of Mr. Rogers, a new mega-star of children`s entertainment has burst onto the scene. He is a giggling, galumphing, purple and green dinosaur called ...

He has a fixed, goofy grin, a pudgy green belly and bright yellow toenails that clash with his purple “skin.” And with a 6-foot-tall body mounted on short, plump legs, he moves with a clunky waddle.

W hen the people at Connecticut Public Television first started talking about “Barney & Friends,” their new children’s show for PBS starring a 6-foot-tall purple dinosaur, some predicted it could be ...