The Lyons Group

Background: The Lyons Group was founded in 1988 by Richard Leach (father-in-law of Barney creator Sheryl Leach) and produced as well as handled distribution of Barney & the Backyard Gang, the predecessor to the popular Barney & Friends. In 1995, the company later produced and distributed other television shows under the name Lyrick Studios. In 2001, the company was later bought by HiT Entertainment (however is under copyright holders, as Lyons Partnership).

(1988-1992)
Nickname: "The Signature"

Logo: On a gray  background, we see "THE " flashing on the top left, then the "Lyons " script writing itself on an outlined square, and finally, "GROUP " flashing on the bottom right.

Variant: The "Lyons" script color is in a darker blue in the Sandy Duncan variant.

FX/SFX: The flashing and writing script.

Music/Sounds: A 15-note string and flute fanfare sounding like an Irish tune.

Music/Sounds Variant: On very early prints of The Backyard Show and Three Wishes, a toy piano is heard playing the first three notes of "I Love You" (Barney's favorite song) then Sandy Duncan singing, "Love you!".

Availability: Can be seen on tapes of Barney & the Backyard Gang, among others. The 1992 re-prints of those tapes (without any previews) also have this logo. Later Barney videos (as well as re-prints of the Backyard Gang videos) would contain the Barney Home Video logos.

Scare Factor: None to minimal. The animation and music (which altogether makes the logo seem a bit TOO peaceful) might give some young kids the chills. Otherwise, it's harmless. Raised to low for the Sandy Duncan variant if you weren't expecting it.