*Barney goes on-line

Lyrick Studios, the Richardson, Texas-based producer of Barney & Friends last month teamed up with Larkspur, California-based Palladium Interactive to launch an official Web site for the world’s most famous purple dinosaur.

The Barney Web site, at www.barneyonline.com, features interactive games and activities for kids, as well as news about Barney-related products and events, a sign-up opportunity for the Official Barney Fan Club, a subscription form for Barney Magazine and a selection of items that can be purchased on-line.

*Bandai to release Surf Monkey Web navigation tool for kids

Bandai Digital Entertainment of Cypress, California, has announced plans to release a World Wide Web browser tool in December that will help kids navigate the Internet without encountering material that may be of an objectionable nature.

Bandai describes Surf Monkey as a fun and intuitive front-end tool that can be used with Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 4.0 to allow kids to safely access Web sites, chat rooms and e-mail functions on the Internet. The system relies on intelligent agent technology developed by Microsoft to search for and vet material that contains words or phrases that are unsuitable for children.

Surf Monkey’s interface features an animated monkey at the helm of a spaceship, the cockpit of which is the point of entry for the Internet, where oversized controls let kids easily navigate to their destination. The 3-D spaceship is loaded with gadgets and devices that do fun things, such as blow away screens and shatter them into thousands of pieces.

*At the Max extends TNBC to teen Web surfers

Teenage fans of the TNBC Saturday morning TV lineup now have a Web site they can visit to get more of their favorite shows, including Saved by the Bell: The New Class, Hang Time and City Guys.

Accessible through the nbc.com flagship Web site, At the Max features content areas that offer a mix of entertainment and education, while allowing teens to interact with each other, as well as with the characters on their favorite shows.

Several major charter sponsor advertisers have been integrated into the site, including Gap, which sponsors a fashion area on the site, and Kellogg’s, which provides content for At the Max’s gaming area.