Barney & Friends "Season 9" (partially found alternative version of PBS children's series; 2004-2005)
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Title card for season.
Status: Partially Found
The ninth season of the long-running edutainment show Barney & Friends aired on PBS Kids from September 6th, 2004 to May 13th, 2005. It was notable for being somewhat of a departure from previous seasons in that Barney would come to life in front of a white screen and address the viewer about an episode's specific topic. While the educational curriculum of the format remained the same, interstitials featuring Barney, Baby Bop, and BJ engaging in activities and songs in the white space would often appear.
It was also known for having a shorter version made exclusively for the UK with different scenes that took place at that park. Other international markets opted for the original version instead, contributing to these revised episodes' rarity.
Background and Changes
Around 2002, Barney & Friends began airing on Channel 5's Milkshake! block. Even though the episodes being imported were shortened to 25 minutes, the network still felt that the show's runtime was too long for the block. In addition, they were not keen on the child cast of the show. To accommodate these issues, HiT Entertainment had all 20 episodes of Season 9 reduced to 15 minutes and changed the park scenes to solely focus on Barney, Baby Bop, and BJ. Head writer Stephen White was responsible for writing the new material.
The results varied depending on the episode. In some instances, the storyline would play out similarly to what it was in the original version, only with Baby Bob and BJ taking the place of the kids. In others, the plot would depart from what happened in its initial incarnation while still focusing on its main theme. There were also instances where scenes or individual shots from the original episode that only had the dinosaurs were kept intact and worked into the new format. As for the "white screen" segments, some of them had to be shortened for time constraints. Fortunately, there were times when footage featuring the kid cast was used if their role in a certain scene were too vital to edit out.
Availability
Only a quarter of these revised episodes have seen DVD releases in the UK and they have since been uploaded to YouTube by fans. In 2006, HiT issued the compilation Let the Games Begin & Other Stories, featuring the episodes "Coming On Strong," "Let's Play Games!," and "Look What I Can Do!." This title was also released in Australia the next year. "My Friends, The Doctor and the Dentist" was included as a bonus feature on the interactive DVD On the Go: A Collection of Stories while "Imagine That!" was featured on a bonus disc that came with a Thomas & Friends book.
Eventually, "Everybody's Got Feelings" was found on Archive.org in 2024, and subsequent posted to YouTube. The rest of the episodes have not surfaced and it is unknown if recordings of them exist. Not helping matters is that Barney was dropped from the Milkshake block in 2007 when it moved to Cartoon Network and whether they went with the alternative version or the original has yet to be determined.
Episode List
| # | Episode | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Everybody's Got Feelings | Found |
| 2 | Caring Hearts | Lost |
| 3 | Let's Make Music! | Lost |
| 4 | Movin' Along | Lost |
| 5 | Let Your Creativity Fly! | Lost |
| 6 | Imagine That! | Found |
| 7 | All About Me | Lost |
| 8 | My Baby Brother | Lost |
| 9 | Keep On Truckin' | Lost |
| 10 | I'm A Builder | Lost |
| 11 | Coming On Strong | Found |
| 12 | Let's Play Games! | Found |
| 13 | You Can Count on Me! | Lost |
| 14 | A Wonderful World of Colors and Shapes | Lost |
| 15 | Easy as ABC | Lost |
| 16 | Look What I Can Do! | Found |
| 17 | Making a Move! | Lost |
| 18 | Home, Safe Home | Lost |
| 19 | On the Road Again | Lost |
| 20 | My Friends, The Doctor and the Dentist | Found |
See Also
Bumpers
- Bookworm Bunch (partially found interstitials from PBS Kids channel block; 2000-2001)
- PBS Kids (partially lost schedule bumpers and interstitial material of TV channel block; 1999-present)
- PBS Kids Vote-A-Rama (lost bumpers of "Arthur" themed marathon; 2002)
- Someday School (partially found PBS Kids channel block; 1998-2000)
PBS
- Adventures with Kanga Roddy (partially found PBS children's series; 1998-2000)
- Backyard Safari (found PBS children's educational series; 1997)
- Christmastime with Mister Rogers (found holiday special of PBS children's educational series; 1977)
- Feeling Good (lost PBS health series; 1974-1975)
- Lamb Chop's Play-Along (partially lost PBS children's puppet series; 1992-1995)
- Mister Rogers Talks About Conflict (found episode arc of PBS children's educational series; 1983)
- The Puzzle Place (partially found PBS puppet series; 1994-1998)
- Reading Rainbow (found Johnny Kemp opening sequence for PBS children's educational series; 1999)
- Shining Time Station (found season one intro of PBS series; 1989-1990)
- Springtime with Mister Rogers (found primetime special for PBS children's educational series; 1979)
- Storytime (found PBS children's reading series; 1992-1998)
- Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego? "Auld Lang Gone" (non-existent episode of PBS children's game show; 1992)
- Zoom (found pilot of revival of 1972 PBS children's series; 1995)
- Zoom (partially lost revival of PBS children's series; 1999-2005)
PBS Kids
- The Charlie Horse Music Pizza (partially lost PBS Kids "Lamb Chop's Play-Along" spin-off series; 1998-1999)
- Curious George (lost test pilot of PBS Kids animated series based on books; existence unconfirmed; 2004/2005)
- Cyberchase "The Poddleville Case" (found test pilot of PBS Kids educational animated series; 1999)
- Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood (lost pitch pilot of PBS Kids animated musical series; 2006-2008)
- Dragon Tales "One Small Step for Cassie" and "Circle of Friends" (lost pilots of PBS Kids animated series; 1999)
- Dragon Tales Live! (partially found footage of live stage shows; 2001-2006)
- The Good Night Show with Melanie/Leo (partially found PBS Kids Sprout series; 2005-2006)
- The Good Night Show with Nina & Star (partially found PBS Kids Sprout series; 2006-2017)
- Jet Propulsion (partially found pitch pilot of "Ready Jet Go!" PBS Kids CGI-animated series; 2013)
- Kratts' Creatures (found PBS children's educational series; 1996)
- The Let's Go Show (partially found PBS Kids Sprout series; 2007-2008)
- Make Way for Noddy (partially found PBS Kids version of British children's TV series; 2005)
- Molly of Denali (partially found pitch pilot of PBS Kids animated series; 2018)
- Nature Cat (lost pitch pilot of PBS Kids educational animated series; early 2010s)
- Peg + Cat (partially lost pitch pilot of PBS Kids educational animated series; 2011)
- Preschool Musical... On a Stick (partially lost PBS Kids Sprout "High School Musical" parody; 2008)
- Seven Little Monsters (found episodes of PBS Kids animated series; 2000-2004)
- Space Race (partially found PBS Kids web series; 2011)
- The Sunny Side Up Show (partially found PBS Kids Sprout series; 2007-2017)
- Super Why! (partially found British dub of PBS Kids CGI animated series; late 2000s-2010s)
- Super Why! (lost second pitch pilot of PBS Kids CGI-animated series; 2004-2006)
- What's The Big Idea? (non-existent pitch pilot of "Sid The Science Kid" PBS Kids CGI animated series; 2007)
- WordGirl (lost pitch pilot of PBS Kids educational animated series; existence unconfirmed; 2005)
- WordWorld (found test pilot of PBS Kids CGI animated educational series; 2005)