Barney and the Backyard Gang is a direct-to-video series produced by The Lyons Group and was produced from October 13, 1988 to October 20, 1991. This series launched the stardom of the PBS television show Barney & Friends. Music for the Barney and the Backyard Gang videos was created by Stephen Bates Baltes and Phillip Parker. The series was a regional success, but only a moderate success throughout the rest of the country. Then one day, in 1991, Larry Rifkin, then head of Connecticut Public Television, rented a Barney video for his daughter Leora. He liked the concept and talked to Leach about possibly putting Barney on television through the Public Broadcasting Service. Rock with Barney was the last video in the series before the television show debuted. Also, only four of the kids from the videos (Michael, Luci, Tina and Derek) were carried over to the television show.

A Marine patrol stops at Firebase Gloria at the start of the Tet Offensive during the Vietnam war. With the firebase attacked, the patrol remains to help defend it.

After listening to a story about camping read by her mom, Tina wishes that she could go camping someday. After Tina falls asleep, she dreams about a camping trip with Barney and the rest of the Backyard Gang. Barney takes the gang through different fun experiences from pitching tents to having a snack. In the mist of things, a storm comes around and Tina gets lost in the woods. Thanks to Barney's advice earlier of "Stay where you are, hug a tree and blow your whistle," everyone finds Tina and they continue onto more campfire fun. They even explore a cave where a bear lives. Back at the campfire, songs are sung around it and everyone learns how to make S'mores. After the trip is over, Tina wakes up and realizes it was all just a dream - and a magical one at that.