Throughout the 1990s, a 6-foot, 4-inch talking purple dinosaur named Barney was both one of the most beloved and one of the most hated characters on television (see entry under 1940s—TV and Radio in volume 3). Each day, the Public Broadcasting System (PBS; see entry under 1960s—TV and Radio in volume 4) presented the half-hour program Barney and Friends, in which a stuffed toy dinosaur would come to life and interact with an ethnically diverse cast of young children. Episodes featured Barney and his pals singing, dancing (see entry under 1900s—The Way We Lived in volume 1), telling stories, and learning how to get along. Later, two other dinosaurs named Baby Bop and BJ joined them. Barney became a cultural icon (symbol) for a generation of preschoolers even though many adults found the character to be sickeningly sweet and extremely annoying.

Barney, a stuffed...