Back at the Barnyard

Plot

The plot generally revolves around Otis (a male cow with udders) and his barnyard friends. Otis wants to horse around, but has to be responsible and protect the inhabitants of the Barnyard. He and his friends Pip the mouse, Abby the cow, Pig, Freddy the ferret, Peck the rooster, Duke the sheepdog, and Bessy the cow have many crazy adventures, while at the same time help Otis protect the farm. The setting is unknown but it is heavily implied to be in the fictional Arizona town of Oedeville. While the setting strongly resembles Arizona (the Grand Canyon has been depicted in some episodes, i.e. Cowman and Ratboy), some have questioned whether or not it is in Arizona or a made-up setting. According to the original film and an episode of the spin off, Oedeville (which Steve Oedekerk most likely named after himself) is 20 miles from the actual city of Phoenix. There is still debate of whether this should be the official location because there are many scenes in the show where the nature background does not look at all like Arizona (it is green and hilly, whereas Arizona is more of a desert-like area which is dry, arid and sandy). Otis and his friends have to overtake many obstacles like preventing Mrs. Beady from proving that animals can talk and distracting the farmer, so that they can throw a party. In many episodes, Otis gets himself in a sticky situation where his friends have to come to the rescue, resulting in him learning a lesson. Sometimes, the animals dress up like people when out in public, which nobody notices except Mrs. Beady.

Otis

Otis (voiced by Chris Hardwick) is a male holstein cow who is the leader of the barnyard. Although male, he is called a "cow" in the show and has a pink udder, which in reality would make him female. This discrepancy is not explained in the series. In the episode "Cowman and Ratboy", Otis becomes a superhero named "Cowman". He also appears as Cowman in the special 1-hour episode "Cowman, the Uddered Avenger". Otis is also a huge party animal and enjoys anything with action or stunts and enjoys watching sports bloopers. He has a big crush on Abby. Some of his other aliases are "Professor Exposition", politician "Ned Bovine", newsman "Gil O'Malley", golfer Heifer Woods (punning off the famous golf star Tiger Woods) along with many other human disguises, and in the show's Christmas special, we learn he went to high school with two of Santa Claus' reindeer, Donner and Blitzen. He also plays a lot of pranks on Nora Beady and tries to gets them expose on the news but she aways fails (their next door neighbor, who claims to hear them talking and having their wild parties). Otis makes a cameo in the pilot episode of Planet Sheen. His catchphrases can include "sweet cud" or "Milk me" when he gets surprised or scared. In the film, Otis cannot produce milk, but in the series, he can lactate efficiently from his udder.

Pip

Pip (voiced by Jeff Garcia) is a great, gray, barn mouse who speaks with a slight Mexican accent and often rides around on his best friend Otis' shoulder. He is known for his crush on Bessy, the sassy and sarcastic cow best friend of Abby, but she always rejects him. Pip's superhero ego is "Ratboy", the sidekick of Cowman. Pip is not usually involved with the gang's crazy schemes as much as Freddy, Peck, Pig, etc. are, but still, he usually comes along for the ride. Pip's human disguise makes people question him, to which another animal says, "He's the world's smallest man!".

Abby

Abby (voiced by Leigh-Allyn Baker) is a southern, blonde, blue-eyed cow who resides in the barnyard and was created in order to replace Daisy, Otis' former love interest in the film, who failed to make any appearances in the series at all. Abby possesses a number of rowdy, tomboyish qualities (such as a love of sports) and has held multiple past occupations, including one as a trapeze artist, and likes to organize items which she has since given up for whatever reason. She holds a mutual infatuation for Otis, who refuses to admit his feelings in return for her albeit at many points throughout the program, signs of him holding a fondness for her that are inevitable have appeared (such as when Otis' miniature clone, which failed when they thought their where biger in which all of Otis' personality traits are duplicated, fell in love with a small clone of Abby). It was revealed in one episode that Abby actually dyes her hair blonde, though her natural hair color has never been revealed, and she is close friends with Bessy, who was Daisy's best friend in the movie (though all traits of there being such a character have been erased from the series). Her superhero name is "Cowgirl".

Pig

Pig (voiced by Tino Insana) is filthy, bright, fat and is the only character in the show to be named after his own species living in a mudhole. He is very gluttonous and would eat anything, and he does so uncontrollably. In several episodes, Pig has various segments on the show that often interrupt the episode at its most important parts, with a few memorable segments are "Viewer Mail", "Ask Dr. Pig", a makeover segment and "Hollywood: Fact or Fiction?", which serves as filler time when an episode story is slightly shorter than its air time. Pig has a strong, but quite strange, love for unicorns, and he wished for one in the Christmas special, and is also the animal on the barnyard to dress up and disguise as humans the most times. He has a pet skunk named Skunky, and in one episode he is shown to have a beautiful singing voice. In another episode, after Pig sat on Pip's hand, it left a mark, and the animals believe that he is related to the pet pigs of Prince Fripplehoot, telling by a birthmark shaped like a crown on his backside and is therefore royal, but the stuck-up pigs turned him down. His superhero name is "Mr. Hamtastic". Pig makes a cameo with Otis in the pilot episode of Planet Sheen.

Freddy

Freddy (voiced by Cam Clarke) is a very funny, but dim-witted, ferret and is best friends with Peck, a weak rooster whom he's often tempted to eat; he used to be a carnivore, but then he's become a vegetarian to assimilate to the barnyard. However, in multiple times in the series, Freddy has shown gestures of or attempted to eat Peck, but every time when he tries, his attempt is thwarted, either intentionally or unintentionally. He is illiterate, and suffers from paranoid delusions and has multiple personality disorders. It is notable how Freddy is the only character to almost be banished from the barnyard twice for thinking he ate Peck the rooster crimes he never committed. Also, he's a character who's been struck by lightning multiple times and lighting rods throughout the series, but once and only once, he temporarily became a genius after being struck. Freddy's superhero name is "Paranoid Man" and at one point he admits to being a vegetarian to his friends and parents.

Peck

Peck (voiced by Rob Paulsen), is an intelligent, but weak rooster who is best friends with Freddy and appears to be unaware of Freddy’s recurring urges to eat him. He is considered to be extremely accident prone, especially with flying meteorites. Peck seems to share a slight rivalry with Root, a larger, braver rooster on the barnyard, such as in "Pecky Suave", where we learn that Peck (as the titular alter ego) is shown to have a crush on a beautiful hen named Hanna. Due to Peck’s accident-proneness and Freddy’s insanity, Peck and Freddy are the show's resident comic relief. Peck's superhero name is "The Green Rooster". Peck almost gets cooked by Freddy's mom and dad.

Duke

Duke (voiced by Dom Irrera) is a sheepdog who is in charge of the Farmer's flock of intelligent sheep. Duke is clearly no match for the intellect possessed by the sheep he herds. Duke loves being a leader and being in charge of things, though no other animal wants him to be the leader because he is too irresponsible. This was first shown in the movie after Ben, the barnyard leader, was killed by dag and Duke wanted to take his position as leader, but no other animal except his fellow dogs and a cat, wanted him to take the place of Ben and wanted Otis instead. In the series, Duke fancies himself as the barnyard's unofficial safety inspector and makes the barnyard watch a boring safety film once every year. Duke only enjoys dog activities, such as playing ball, so he doesn't hang around with Otis and his friends much, and as a result, sometimes feels lonely and left out and almost gets replaced by a dog named Baxter.

Bessy

Bessy (voiced by Wanda Sykes) is a sassy big brown cow who lives on the barnyard, and is best with sarcastic comments toward the others. In the movie, she was Daisy's best friend, but after Daisy was replaced by the more tomboyish Abby, she now serves as her best friend. Bessy is the smartest than the other animals in the barnyard and doesn't like their antics. Even though Bessy is known to be the object of Pip's affections, she scornfully fails to return the same feelings. In one episode, Bessy reveals that she lost her little son at a county fair, and mistakenly believes that her son's Otis; but then it was revealed that this is not true as Otis lost his mom on a different date.

Mrs. Beady

Noreen "Nora" Beady (voiced by Maria Bamford), more commonly known as Mrs. Beady, is a woman who lives close by to the barnyard. She is aware about the animals and does various attempts to expose their antics to the world. But no one else believes her because everyone else thinks she's insane, and whenever she attempts to expose the talking animals, the animals always find a way to sabotage her plan.

Farmer Buyer

Farmer Buyer (voiced by Fred Tatasciore) is the owner of the barnyard for whom Otis cares deeply. Still, when the animals need some time alone to work on a private project (a movie they are trying to make, a theme park they are attempting to build, etc.), that does not stop them from trying to drive him away with a prank phone call, especially when they are planning something even bigger. Though, sometimes, they find themselves in trouble, such as when they almost ruined the crops, but always fix the problems they face. He is noted, in one episode as being a loving man when Otis expresses his gratitude to the other animals that the farmer is a Vegan farmer.

Cast

Note: As this show is translated into several languages (e.g. into Irish on TG4 in Ireland), the voice actors will be different than the English version.

Principal voice actors

Much of the original cast from the movie reprised their roles. However, Kevin James, who had voiced Otis in the previous film, Andie MacDowell, who voiced Etta, and Megan Cavanagh, who voiced Hanna, did not return for the series. Others, such as Abby the cow, were created especially for the series.

Recurring voice actors

Guest stars

DVD releases

When No One's Looking

Cowman: The Uddered Avenger

Lights, Camera, Moo! (Australian release only)

Club Otis (Australian release only)

Season 1

Season 2

Note: The episode "Aliens!!!" from this season was unaired at the time when this DVD was released. The episode later aired 11 days later on November 12, 2011.

Video games