When Spenser started waking up at 5:45-6am, I discovered the joys of Barney and Friends. He’s just UP and will not go back to sleep, like the old days when I could get him to sleep in till 8! . So now, he wakes up, we go in my bed, snuggle and watch Barney… well, he watches it and I rest my eyes.

 watching Barney in my bed.

Yes, the songs are cloying and stuck in my head non stop, but the show is educational and sweet. Lots of friendship themes. Spenser is learning words and imitating the dances and all in all it’s a good morning show for him.  He’s obsessed with it, actually and if I try another show, he always says, “Ba,ba*” which means Barney or “No no no” which is the name of one of the songs he loves.

* Ba probably has about 12 meanings these days, but in this case, I know it means Barney.

So, I usually rest while it’s on, but sometimes I get sucked in to it; not into the show, per say, but into stuff like, “Where is it filmed?” “What are the auditions like?” “Who choreographs it?”  “How much rehearsal do they get?”  “Do they have good craft services? “Are the kids on it local celebrities in their home towns?” “Why does the costumer put everyone in running shoes with pants, capris and shorts?”

 (Running shoes!!??)

Well, I noticed this actress in the Dog Show episode and became kind of fascinated by her. First of all, she was a good actress, which is rare on Barney. Second, she was just, I don’t know, actressy. It’s not that she stands out in a bad way… she’s just not really in the Barney world and I started thinking about her. I was pretty sure that she was a theater actress. She had that theater actress vibe – said one theater actress about another.

I finally remembered to look up the show and this actress one day during my 2 hour break aka Spenser’s nap, and saw the show is filmed in Texas and her name is Shannon McGrann…. and I kind of started googling her.

 This is Shannon in character as SUSAN, with all the kids in their running shoes.

Shannon is indeed a theater actress and has gotten many glowing revies for her stage work in Texas. http://www.examiner.com/review/shannon-mcgrann-shines-charming-wry-bad-dates-at-ctd  I’m cyber stalking Shannon a little bit.

It’s soooo weird that I’m spending my time looking up an actress on Barney. I feel like one of those weird people who write fan letters and  But I’ve seen her performance as SUSAN maybe 34 times.

Why don’t the actors on Barney have southern accents? Do they make a point of finding actors with no accents? Is Shannon good at accents?

I’m so weird. This is weird.