Preteen girl looking at a cell phone with her parents

Personalized picks at your fingertips

Get the mobile app on iOS and Android

Get the app
Parents' Guide to

I Love You, You Hate Me

By Ty'Kira Smalls, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Docuseries dissects violence and backlash toward kids' show.

TV Peacock Reality TV 2022
I Love You, You Hate Me TV show: Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.

Community Reviews

See all

There aren't any parent reviews yet. Be the first to review this title.

What's the Story?

Barney's journey in I LOVE YOU, YOU HATE ME starts with Sheryl Leach creating the fictional purple dinosaur in the 1980s. As a stay-at-home mom, she needed something to hold the attention of her two-year-old son, Patrick. "Hopefully the world will be a better place someday because of Barney," she said. But what started as a children's show highlighting positivity, love, and acceptance, turned into a surprising societal backlash of violence, hate, controversy, and public scrutiny.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

This docuseries balances the love/hate relationship that the public seems to have around this fictional purple dinosaur. I Love You, You Hate Me is an engaging, enlightening, heartfelt, and heartbreaking show about the media response to Barney. This is a thorough deep dive, from the history to the successes and failures, the cultural backlash, the cast, crew, and expert interviews. It's entertaining, thought-provoking, and shocking, and viewing the original Barney & Friends isn't even necessary. Parents will want to be mindful of the violence and graphic discussions.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • I Love You, You Hate Me analyzes the amount of negativity that followed the success of Barney. How do you feel about people's reactions to disliking Barney? How do you react when you strongly dislike things?

  • Barney was originally made to promote love and acceptance, but many people, reacted the opposite of that and felt that he was even harming people. Does a show's audience reaction outweigh the intention? With it being a children's show, how do you feel about the adult response to it versus children's response?

  • Are there any media that you dislike that everyone else likes? Or vice versa? How do people voice their likes/dislikes for it? Do you think the way people voice their opinions about media is healthy in today's landscape?

TV Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

See all recommended tv lists

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate