Rugrats Wiki
Register
Advertisement
My Friend Barney Gallery Transcript
Season 2 Episode 20b
Rugrats - My Friend Barney
My Friend Barney
Original Airdate March 14, 1993
VHS release Chuckie the Brave
Volume 4
DVD release Season 2
Complete Series
Previous Episode The Seven Voyages of Cynthia
Next Episode Feeding Hubert

"My Friend Barney" is an episode from Season 2.

Characters Present[]

Characters Mentioned[]

Character Introduced[]

Synopsis[]

Chuckie's new friend Barney is fun, fearless, and full of great ideas. But when the Rugrats insist on meeting him, Barney is nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, Didi runs with Betty in the "Save the Grunion" 10k marathon. - Description from Klasky Csupo

Plot[]

Tommy, Phil and Lil are bored until Chuckie, who just came over, talks about his new friend Barney, a neat kid who is really smart and really brave. Chuckie tells them that the both of them went through some neat stuff together, like the recent garage encounter. When asked if he was afraid, he answers that he's not, as long as Barney's around. He also says that Barney looks kind of like him, lives far away in a castle, and neither he nor his parents are allowed to cross the street, only coming to the Finsters' house. Meanwhile, Chas is trying to relabel his self-help videos. Didi offers him red labels. Chas thanks her anyway but says he could only use brown ones to match his tapes. Didi asks Chas to take care of the kids while she is running at the "Save the Grunion" 10-kilometer marathon tomorrow. This delights the kids, who say that they're going to meet Barney.

The next day at Chuckie's, the two-year-old Rugrat takes his friends to the closet and shows them his dad's fish. Chas finds the babies and notices his fish, explaining to Chuckie that Chuckie's mom didn't like it much, but now, he can finally put it back up on the wall. The other babies ask where Barney is. Chuckie fibs, saying that Barney was sent to prison for only eating his broccoli, and he also says that he'll go to the park after they bail Barney out tomorrow.

In the car, Tommy, Phil and Lil really want to meet Barney. Tommy, remembering how Chuckie said Barney was going to go to the park tomorrow, gets an idea. After Didi comes back from the race with cramping feet, she and Betty pick the other kids up. The next day, Tommy convinces Didi to take him to the park, presenting his shovel and pail, and crying. Knowing that she has so much work to do, Didi reluctantly takes Tommy to the park. While there, Tommy overhears Chuckie talking to someone. Chuckie says that he's talking to Barney, whom Tommy can't see because he's "invisible" and is shy. Didi picks Tommy up, telling him that they have a new game to play: "Getting these reports downtown before Mommy gets in trouble."

Back at Tommy's, the little one-year-old tells Phil and Lil about Barney. As the Finster's come over, Chas suggests that he could use red labels for his nature documentaries while dropping Chuckie off into the playpen. Tommy thinks that Chuckie brought Barney over, too. Asked if Barney has any games to play, Chuckie offers games of "what's under the rug" and "basketball", only to think the others need practice. Back at the playpen to be safe, Chuckie says that Barney's tired, but the others ask him to do something fun. Chuckie thinks that Barney and the others should go on the roof. Tommy and the others think that's a great idea. In Grandpa Lou's room, Chuckie tries to talk the others out of going up on the roof, finally admitting that Barney's just made up. They realize that it was Chuckie who decided to go to the closet and play "what's under the rug", and that he himself has really good ideas for games.

Back at the playpen, Phil suggests that Chuckie bring Barney back so that they can go up to the moon, but Chuckie says that once you say someone is made up, it's hard to get them to come over anymore. Chas picks up Chuckie, with a sheet of red labels in hand, then puts Chuckie on the welcome mat, telling him to wait here as he calls to Didi that his red labels were printed off center. While at the mat, Chuckie apologizes to Barney for telling the others "That fib" about his being made up. He reassures Barney that they'll always be friends.

Trivia[]

  • The early title for the episode was "Chuckie's Imaginary Friend".
  • Studies say that traits such as having imaginary friends or romantic partners, talking and interacting with someone who could be either alive or dead as if they were physically present even though they aren't, talking to a deceased person's ghost/spirit, having fictitious flashbacks, detailed and delusional daydreams, having a vivid conscious and split personality etc., are very common towards people that experienced a traumatic experience. Judging by other evidence pointed in this episode, we can safely assume that (albeit it's never discussed or brought up in this particular episode) Chuckie's mother unfortunately passed away very recently time wise to this episode.
  • Chas mentions that Chuckie's mother didn't like the fish that Chuckie found in the closet and figures they can put it back up since she's gone. This is another time, after "A Visit From Lipschitz", when Tommy suggests Chuckie might be getting a new mom, that Chuckie's mother is no longer around (it is not until "Mother's Day" that she is revealed to have died).
  • Nickelodeon originally wanted the mention of Melinda cut because, while Chas's deceased first wife had never appeared in the show at this point, the line implied that she was no longer with him. The line survived and made it into the episode. It was later revealed she died long before the show started.
  • When this episode was on TeenNick's The 90s Are All That/The Splat, the title card wasn't shown. It is seen on the Chuckie the Brave VHS and DVD releases.
  • In a scene (following the 10K marathon), Didi comments to Betty, saying: "You didn't tell me what a 'K' is!" Originally, the script had Betty saying that it was a 10K race with Didi saying that she didn't know that it was six miles. It was replaced with the present punchline because Nickelodeon felt it was funnier than the fact that 10 kilometers equals 6 miles.
  • Near the end of the episode, Chuckie tells the Rugrats that Barney is not real and at the end of the episode, he is outside, still talking to Barney after he closes the door. Nickelodeon originally felt that it can't be done both ways and that the episode should end when Chuckie mentions that Barney's not real, but the original ending remained in the episode.
  • According to Chuckie, Barney looks just like him.
  • This episode was possibly inspired by the children's television show Barney & Friends, where Barney the Dinosaur is the children's real make-believe friend alongside with Baby Bob, BJ, and Riff
  • Barney is indirectly mentioned in the All Grown Up! episode "Izzy or Isn't He?".
  • Moral: Always have positive thoughts when bad things happen.

Video Clip[]

Chuckie_&_Tommy’s_Best_Friendship_Moments!_😁_Rugrats_BFFs_NickRewind

Chuckie & Tommy’s Best Friendship Moments! 😁 Rugrats BFFs NickRewind

Advertisement