Everybody walk the dinosaur...

Tia has got into Barney, the purple friendly T- Rex, that inspires the imagination, and teaches the little children how to share and have fun...etc

It took me awhile to get into the idea though.

Firstly he's a purple T Rex for pete's sake. With a green belly. I know kids TV requires reality suspension, but it was a bit of a stretch even for me. And I didn't like his voice.Petty prejudices I know, but I just couldn't help it.

However I realised that once I could get past the purple dino with the schmaltzy songs, there was one other problem. Barney and his dino posse are accompanied by these children. They sing with them, talk with them, hug Barney etc .

Its not the inevitable precociousness of these kids that makes me so uncomfortable, the acting and the saccharine smiling. There's more to it than that.

I was thinking of the Mickey Mouse Club and the stars it produced from all the kids on the show. From the boys you have Justin Timberlake and Ryan Gosling - and the people they turned down like Matt Damon. But then you look at the girls and you've got Christina Aguilera and erm.. Britney Spears. So when I look at the girls on Barney, I can't help but wonder who is going to be getting "Dirrrty" or singing "Hit me Baby one more time". Or shaving their heads and having meltdowns. It makes for very disconcerting viewing.

Suddenly Tia giving all the love and attention to Barney instead of the kids on the show is not such a bad thing after all.