SHOWS FOR YOUNGSTERS AND THEIR PARENTS TOO : Barney’s purple passion for happiness hits the prime-time hours on NBC

If there are any grown-ups who have somehow not discovered Barney & Friends--led by that blissful, colorful dinosaur--at its usual morning slots on PBS, they can catch up with the dino’s antics in a prime-time special on Sunday.

In his hourlong network debut on NBC, Bedtime With Barney: Imagination Island, the Purple One takes his kiddie friends on an adventure to an island where they meet an eccentric toy inventor who learns the joy of sharing.

“That’s the key theme interwoven throughout this special--sharing,” says executive producer Dennis DeShazer, who has been associated with Barney creator Sheryl Leach since the birth of the friendly dinosaur. “He’s really designed for family viewing and it’s a nice fit” in prime time, DeShazer adds.

Explaining Barney’s popularity--which has confounded many adults--the Texas-based DeShazer says, “The youngest of children can understand that Barney is for them . He’s a friend who likes to sing and play and use his imagination, the way children do. He’s a security blanket for preschoolers.”

The Barney concept came about when Leach (then a marketing executive with the Lyons Group, which now produces “Barney”) felt that there really wasn’t much on TV to interest her 2-year-old son. Originally conceived as a teddy bear, Barney became a dinosaur after her son became smitten with a dinosaur exhibit that was visiting their hometown.

The move to prime time is only the latest evolution in the marketing of Barney, which began as a three-part video, then became a PBS show, Radio City Music Hall concerts and a radio show in 40 markets. Barney now gets 10,000 letters a week and boasts a million-member fan club, DeShazer says.

“Bedtime With Barney: Imagination Island” airs 7-8 p.m. Sunday on NBC. “Barney & Friends” airs weekdays at 7-7:30 a.m. on KCET and KLCS, 9-9:30 a.m. on KVCR and 10:30-11 a.m. on KPBS; Saturdays and Sundays at 6-7 a.m. on KPBS; Saturdays at 8-9 a.m. on KCET and 5:30 p.m. on KLCS. For ages 18 months to 5.

Another Family Show

There’s a gun. A fight ensues. Shots ring out and connect with flesh. Rewind. Same scenario, same fight, but no gun.

Kids Killing Kids, a prime-time special airing--without commercials--simultaneously on CBS and Fox, examines alternative outcomes in four dramas. The first scenario in each segment includes a gun; the second doesn’t.

The scenarios: A young man carries a gun to school hoping to impress a girl; a young man tries to protect his younger brother from the neighborhood gang; a depressed teen has easy access to a gun; and a promising teen, fearing for his safety, brings a gun to school.

When the stories are replayed, methods to counter or replace violence with peer intervention and suicide hotlines are examined. Also illustrated are how violence and its tragic aftermath can be avoided, and ways that conflict can be resolved peacefully and safely.

“Kids Killing Kids” originally was intended as a “CBS Schoolbreak Special,” according to executive producer Arnold Shapiro. “This show doesn’t preach or talk about laws or pitting police against citizens,” he says. “It’s a vivid portrayal of the same situation with and without a gun, where injury and/or death is the consequence of the story with the gun, and life and a peaceful resolution are the outcome in the version without the gun.”

Of the special’s intended audience, Shapiro says, “Teen-agers don’t really appreciate consequences, which are a hard thing to teach, but if a weapon is physically unavailable to them, they can’t wreak the havoc.”

In the 12 minutes of the 60 minutes that would have been reserved for commercials, Shapiro added the documentary short Kids Saving Kids, which looks at ways peers can help one another stop the cycle of random violence.

“Kids Killing Kids” airs Tuesday at 8-9 p.m. on CBS and Fox. For ages 7 and up.