I am one of the original PBS kids. I was born in 1970, and thanks to three older siblings, I discovered “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood and Sesame Street” on WYES-TV in New Orleans before I could walk.

Barney’s story starts in late 1987 in Allen, Texas. At the time, a former teacher named Sheryl Leach had a two-year old son, Patrick. She struggled to find videos that held his attention. “I was a ...