I Love You, You Hate Me is a 2022 limited documentary streaming television series directed by Tommy Avallone and produced by Trent Johnson. The documentary special chronicles the rise and fall of the backlash of Barney the Dinosaur.
The special features interviews with various cast and crew of Barney & Friends, and the proceeding, Barney & The Backyard Gang, offering first-hand accounts of the Barney phenomenon. Fans of the franchise and outspoken critics are also in the documentary special as well.
The limited series premiered on the streaming service Peacock on October 12, 2022. Unlike Barney Celebrates Children, this documentary is specifically targeted at a mature audience and not suitable for children as it is rated TV-14.
Synopsis[]
I Love You, You Hate Me is a limited series chronicling the rise and fall of Barney the Dinosaur’s furious backlash — and what it says about the human need to hate. 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?[1]
Cast[]
Notable interviewees[]
Cast[]
Dinosaurs[]
- Bob West - original voice of Barney
- David Joyner - a costume performer of Barney
- David Voss - original costume performer of Barney
- Dean Wendt - a voice actor of Barney
- Carey Stinson - a costume performer of Barney
- Michaela Dietz - original voice of Riff
- Lauren Mayeux - a costume performer of Baby Bop
Child actors[]
- Leah Montes - "Luci"
- Rickey Carter - "Derek"
- Pia Hamilton - "Min"
- Hope Cervantes - "Tosha"
Crew[]
- Sloan Coleman - SVP, Live Events
- Stephen White - writer
- Bob Singleton - music director
- Lori Wendt - educational researcher and consultant
- Steve Gomer - director of Barney's Great Adventure
- Pat Reeder - writer for Barney & The Backyard Gang
- Shelley C. Aubrey - dialogue coach, performance director
- Larry Rifkin - Head of programming, Connecticut Public Television
Other[]
- Leora Rifkin - daughter of Larry Rifkin
- Andrew Olsen - founder of 'Barney History Fans' website
- Jackson Gates - former admin of 'Barney History Fans'
- Brenda Lee – Los Angeles County Prosecutor
- Steve Whitmore – Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department
- Ken Fitzgerald – attorney
- Charles Mittelstadt – Criminal Defense Investigator
- Kim Goad - Dallas News Journalist
- Dr. Yalda T. Uhls – Developmental Psychologist
- Brittany Spanos – Senior Writer, Rolling Stone
- Calvin Edwards – Pop Culture Expert
- Stefania Marghitu, Phd – Asst. Prof. Media Cultural Studies, Loyola
- David Dushman – Curator, Paley Center of Media
- Shannon Foley Martinez – Anti-Hate Activist
Television[]
- Steve Burns - original host of Blue's Clues
- Bill Nye - science guy
- Al Roker[3] - NBC anchor
- Burt Dubrow - television producer, Jerry Springer Show
- Patrice Pascual - PR, Connecticut Public Television
- Sheryl Leach - creator of Barney
- Patrick Leach - son of Sheryl Leach
- Richard C. Leach - chairman of DLM (Developmental Learning Materials) and Lyrick Studios; father-in-law of Sheryl Leach
- Jim Leach - ex-husband of Sheryl Leach
- Erick Shanks - neighbor of Patrick Leach
Production[]
Bob West and Tommy Avallone with the crew of I Love You, You Hate Me.
Tommy Avallone on the first day of filming I Love You, You Hate Me.
After viewing a nostalgic social media post featuring a 1993 news story about a Barney-bashing event at the University of Nebraska, Tommy Avallone wondered if he could tell a story about love and hate through the story of Barney the Dinosaur.[4]
Work on the documentary was first started in 2020. The documentary, then untitled, was officially announced on November 15, 2021 as a three-part series. The documentary was announced to look into the popularity of Barney the Dinosaur who also became a target of hate worldwide.[5] During production, a few cast and crew members from Barney & Friends, and the proceeding, Barney & The Backyard Gang, were interviewed, offering first-hand accounts of the Barney phenomenon. Fans of the franchise and outspoken critics were announced to be interviewed as well.[6]
On December 1, 2021, Matt McDonald, the archival producer for the documentary, reached out to a few users via Barney Wiki for help on the documentary.
Production wrapped in September 2022.[7]
Interviewees[]
While many people wanted to discuss about Barney, nearly fifty interviews of people from the later years of Barney & Friends and the touring stage shows were unable to make the final cut of the documentary. Notable interviewees from the Barney franchise cut from the documentary include Jeff Ayers (a body of "Baby Bop"), Kyle Nelson (a body of "BJ"), Jess Nelson (a production designer) and Josh Martin (a body of "Barney"). Julie Johnson and Patty Wirtz, the original voices of "Baby Bop" and "BJ" respectively, were meant to be interviewed, but Johnson was on tour and Wirtz had COVID‑19 when the crew was filming in Texas.[8] Kenny Cooper (who portrayed "David" in season two of Barney & Friends) was also meant to be interviewed, but he had COVID-19 as well.
During production of the documentary, Tommy Avallone, director the documentary, met up with Sheryl Leach, creator of the Barney franchise, in Sleepy Hollow, New York to inquire about participating in the documentary. After thinking about it, Leach declined.[9] Her son, Patrick Leach, declined interview requests. Former child-actors of Barney & Friends, Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez were inquired to be in the documentary, but declined interview requests with the latter citing it due to not involving Mattel,[10] owners of the Barney franchise. Fred Holmes, a director of Barney & Friends, was inquired to be in the documentary as well, but declined due to Covid-19 at the time.[11]
Avallone tried to get American professional wrestler and actor John Cena in the documentary due to the love and hate parallels between him and Barney[12] and also trying to keep with the tradition of having a wrestler in his productions. Another interviewee to be included was the person who portrayed Tinky Winky from the children's television series Teletubbies. Due to being in Europe, it didn't work out. Stick Stickly, the character from Nickelodeon's Nick in the afternoon was interviewed during production about where hate came from. His interview was cut out due to the crew not owning the copyright to the character.[13]
Filming[]
Filming for various segments occurred between October 20, 2021-May 2022 in New York, Texas, California, and Colorado.
Episodes[]
| # | Episode | Original release date | Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
October 12, 2022 | In 1988, a stay-at-home mom invents a purple dinosaur and starts a phenomenon; at the same time, American society is on the precipice of a new, darker era in television, and the creator's family will never be the same again. |
| 2 |  |
October 12, 2022 | With Barney & Friends at its peak, the backlash becomes inescapable; cast, crew and critics discuss the impact the dinosaur has had on their lives; shocking trials await the creator's family. |
Release[]
Director Tommy Avallone in front of Smodcastle Cinemas.
Lifetime thumbnail of I Love You, You Hate Me.
Te Quiero Yo, Tú No A Mí thumbnail.
I Love You, You Hate Me premiered on Peacock on October 12, 2022 during Peacock’s DocFest, an on-platform showcase highlighting a selection from the streamer’s top-tier documentary roster that's occurring for six-weeks.[1] I Love You, You Hate Me was originally meant to be three forty-five minute episodes and was initially meant to air in August 2022 before moving to October that same year. I Love You, You Hate Me was later released in Canada in January 2023, being distributed by Lifetime. The first episode was available on the ninth while the second episode was available on the sixteenth. On March 1, 2023, the documentary was released in South Africa on the streaming service Showmax.[14] On January 23, 2024, I Love You, You Hate Me was released on HBO Max in Latin America, where it was titled as Te Quiero Yo, Tú No A Mí. During its initial release in the Latin American market, it was the number one release on HBO Max in the country of Colombia.
I Love You, You Hate Me had a one night theatrical release on March 3, 2023 at 8PM at the Smodcastle Cinemas in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey.[15]
Marketing[]
Footage of I Love You, You Hate Me was first seen on August 26, 2022 in the official trailer for "Peacock DocFest". The official trailer for the documentary was unlisted on Peacock's YouTube channel on September 23, 2022, before being officially released publicly on September 28, 2022. Due to the release of the trailer, Barney became the number one trending topic in the United States on Twitter on the same day of the trailer's public release.
Following the trailer's release, and leading up to the premiere of the documentary, Tommy Avallone, who directed the documentary, and Bob West, the original voice of Barney, did various interviews with various media outlets as well as a satellite media tour to discuss about the documentary.
Reception[]
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 78% approval rating for the series[16] with an average rating of 7.50/10, based on nine reviews. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 65 out of 100 based on six critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[17]
Gallery[]
Behind the scenes[]
Interviewees[]
Trivia[]
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I Love You, You Hate Me poster
- The title parodies the first line of the song, "I Love You".
- The copyright on the VHS of the poster is sourced from a fanmade VHS image on DeviantArt based on the idea of a Precious Moments film.
- When Andrew Olsen was interviewing for the documentary, he wasn't allowed to refer to 'Barney History Fans' as a Facebook group, hence introducing himself as being from the 'Barney History Fans' website (which was nonexistent at the time).
- The episodes in the documentary were named by Trent Johnson, producer of the documentary.
Clips[]
- Clips featured in the documentary from episodes of Barney & Friends include "The Queen Of Make-Believe", "My Family's Just Right For Me", "Be A Friend", "Happy Birthday, Barney!", "Everyone Is Special", "The Exercise Circus!", "Shawn & The Beanstalk", "Up, Down and Around!", Splish! Splash!", "Playing Games", and "Sharing".
- Clips featured in the documentary from home videos include Barney Goes to School, Barney in Concert, Barney's Big Surprise, Be My Valentine Love, Barney, and Hi! I'm Riff!.
Cut scenes[]
- As it was meant to be a three-part series, twenty to thirty-five minutes of additional footage was cut from the documentary.
- Jess Nelson, a production designer for Barney & Friends, painted an image of Barney, BJ and Baby Bop, which was meant to be a whole segment for the documentary.[18]
- According to Tommy Avallone, director of the documentary, certain things that got cut included a segment about Barney & Friends being cancelled after the first season, more footage with Steve Gomer about directing Barney's Great Adventure, more footage with Carey Stinson and Dean Wendt, footage about the Barney live tours (which would've included Josh Martin), footage of political individuals using Barney & Friends to takeaway funding from PBS, (which showed individuals using an object to push their own agenda), and Bob West doing a zoom call with various Barney fans.
Videos[]
Trailers[]
Behind the scenes[]
See also[]
- Barney Celebrates Children - a 1994 documentary special acknowledging the positive effects Barney has on children worldwide.