Barney Gumble

Simpsons character
name = Barney Gumble


gender = Male
job = Various
relatives = Father: Arnie Gumble (deceased)
Mother: Barney's Mother
Uncle: Al
appearance = "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire"
voiceactor=Dan Castellaneta

Barnard "Barney" Gumble is a recurring character in the animated television series "The Simpsons". He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared in the episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire." Barney is the town drunk and Homer Simpson's best friend.

Barney was inspired by the cartoon character Barney Rubble from "The Flintstones" and by Crazy Guggenheim, a character on "The Jackie Gleason Show".

Role in "The Simpsons"

Personality

Barney is regularly seen in Moe's Tavern. His desperation for alcohol has been the source of many jokes. Moe once had NASA calculate Barney's bar tab, which ran to $14 billion altogether. He has a quavering, slightly broken voice and a distinctive loud belch, which has become a catchphrase-of-sorts for Barney, (although he sings completely differently, having a beautiful "Irish tenor" type voice). He remains friendly and good-natured despite his unfortunate condition. He lives in a very untidy and sparsely-furnished apartment, with a cable spool for a table and a Farrah Fawcet poster on the wall. In the episode Days of Wine and D'oh'ses his apartment was located on top of Moe's Tavern and he had a rod to slip down to Moe's floor.

Barney is one of Homer Simpson's best friends, knowing Simpson from when they went to high school together. Barney first appeared in the episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire," in which he worked as a department store Santa and gave Homer a tip for which dog to bet on at the dog track. Barney worked for his Uncle Al at Barney's Bowl-A-Rama [cite episode |title=And Maggie Makes Three|episodelink=And Maggie Makes Three |series=The Simpsons |serieslink=The Simpsons |credits=Crittenden, Jennifer; Scott III, Swinton O. |network=Fox |airdate=1995-01-22 |season=6 |episode=13] (which his uncle named after him), but has also been the owner of a successful snowplowing business [cite episode |title=Mr. Plow|episodelink=Mr. Plow |series=The Simpsons |serieslink=The Simpsons |credits=Vitti, Jon; Reardon, Jim |network=Fox |airdate=1992-11-19 |season=4 |episode=9] and been employed by NASA as an astronaut [cite episode |title=Deep Space Homer|episodelink=Deep Space Homer |series=The Simpsons |serieslink=The Simpsons |credits=Mirkin, David; Baeza, Carlos |network=Fox |airdate=1994-02-24 |season=5 |episode=15] . In the episode "A Star Is Burns," Barney states that he is 40 years old and his first name was revealed to be Barnard.

Biography

Barney's father, Arnie Gumble, died in a 1979 parade float accident along with Sheldon Skinner, Iggy Wiggum, Etch Westgrin, and Griff McDonald, all of whom had served in Abe Simpson's squad The Flying Hellfish in World War II. [cite episode |title=Raging Abe Simpson and His Grumbling Grandson in "The Curse of the Flying Hellfish"|episodelink=Raging Abe Simpson and His Grumbling Grandson in "The Curse of the Flying Hellfish" |series=The Simpsons |serieslink=The Simpsons |credits=Collier, Jennifer; Lynch, Jeffrey |network=Fox |airdate=1996-04-28 |season=7 |episode=22]

As a teenager, Barney showed much potential. He was Harvard-bound until Homer introduced him to beer on the night before they had to take the SATs. [cite episode |title=Mr. Plow|episodelink=Mr. Plow |series=The Simpsons |serieslink=The Simpsons |credits=Vitti, Jon; Reardon, Jim |network=Fox |airdate=1992-11-19 |season=4 |episode=9] According to the episode "She Used to Be My Girl", he took to drinking after his high-school sweetheart Chloe Talbot left Springfield to become a successful TV reporter.

Later on, with Homer, he was a member of The Be Sharps barbershop quartet, in which his stellar Irish singing voice was discovered while he was trying to find his toothpick on the toilet floor. [cite episode |title=Homer's Barbershop Quartet|episodelink=Homer's Barbershop Quartet|series=The Simpsons |serieslink=The Simpsons |credits= Martin, Jeff; Kirkland, Mark |network=Fox |airdate=1993-09-30 |season=5 |episode=1] Barney showed his artistic side again in the episode "A Star Is Burns", in which Barney won top prize at the Springfield Film Festival for his moving documentary about his life as an alcoholic, unfortunately titled "Puke-a-hontas". Interestingly, Barney's prize was a lifetime supply of Duff Beer, at which he exclaimed "Just hook it to my vein!" after swearing off alcohol just seconds earlier. Despite this good fortune, he is still seen at Moe's without any future reference to his having won a lifetime supply of beer.

Barney also served in the United States Navy Reserve for a short time, as a submariner on the USS Jebediah with his own mother as his superior officer, [cite episode |title=Simpson Tide|episodelink=Simpson Tide |series=The Simpsons |serieslink=The Simpsons |credits=Sternin, Joshua; Ventimilia, Jeffrey; Gray, Milton |network=Fox |airdate=1998-03-29 |season=9 |episode=19] although he served in the U.S. Army for a brief period of time in his youth.

obriety

In the episode "Days of Wine and D'oh'ses", Barney kicked the alcoholism habit. For his birthday, Moe gave him a gift certificate for helicopter flying lessons, not expecting Barney to actually use them. "Can you imagine this tanked-up loser at the wheel of a whirlybird?", Moe asked. This comment, coupled with a humiliating videotape of Barney's actions while inebriated, gave Barney the drive he needed. Barney attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, became sober, and took the helicopter lessons. He became fairly proficient at it, though he admitted he had not yet mastered right turns. He also tidied up his hair and clothes, though his voice did not change. Since then, Barney has drifted in and out of sobriety for varying reasons, such as piloting his helicopter to save his old girlfriend from a volcano. [cite episode|title=She Used to Be My Girl|episodelink=She Used to Be My Girl|series=The Simpsons|serieslink=The Simpsons|credits=Long, Tim; Nastuk, Matthew|network=Fox|airdate=2004-12-05|season=16|episode=4] Even in "The Simpsons Movie", Barney's sobriety is not consistent. In one episode he claims to have classes to stop drinking, and has stopped the drinking six times. In another he is forced to stop when Moe's is closed due to health code violations. In another he is seen in one class in church. Homer, since he lived in the church where the classes were, kicked him and the rest of his class out.

Development

Barney first appeared on television December 17, 1989 in "The Simpsons" series premiere and Christmas special "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire"cite video|people=Brooks, James L.; Groening, Matt; Silverman, David|title=The Simpsons: The Complete First Season DVD Video Collector's Edition commentary for the episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire"|medium=DVD|publisher=Twentieth Century Fox|year=2001] (suggesting to Homer Simpson to bet at the dog track what little Christmas money he has). [cite episode|title= Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire |episodelink=Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire|series=The Simpsons|serieslink=The Simpsons|credits=Pond, Mimi; Silverman, David|network=Fox|airdate=1989-12-17|season=1|number=1] Barney was inspired by the cartoon character Barney Rubble from "The Flintstones". He was designed to be the Simpsons' next-door neighbor and Homer's sidekick until the writers decided to make him an alcoholic. They drew inspiration from the Crazy Guggenheim character,cite news|title=Flash! 24 Simpsons Stars Reveal Themselves|accessdate=2007-08-15|date=2000-10-21|publisher=TV Guide|author=Joe Rhodes] a barfly played by Frank Fontaine on "The Jackie Gleason Show" from the early to mid-1960s. "... [T] here was a sort of unspoken rule about not having drinking on television as a source of comedy," said Matt Groening, the creator of "The Simpsons". "So, of course, we went right for it."

Barney's hair originally was yellow but it was changed to brown because Groening wanted only the Simpsons to have hair the same color as their skin. It was going to be revealed that Barney was the owner of Barney's Bowl-A-Rama but the writers had difficulty imagining him as a business owner.cite video|people=Brooks, James L.; Groening, Matt; Jean, Al; Silverman, David|title=The Simpsons: The Complete First Season DVD Video Collector's Edition commentary for the episode "Life on the Fast Lane"|medium=DVD|publisher=Twentieth Century Fox|year=2001] Barney's apartment is based on one directors Jim Reardon, Rich Moore, and others shared in college.cite video|people=Groening, Matt; Moore, Rich; Vitti, Jon|title=The Simpsons: The Complete First Season DVD Video Collector's Edition commentary for the episode "Homer's Night Out"|medium=DVD|publisher=Twentieth Century Fox|year=2001]

In the eleventh season episode "Days of Wine and D'oh'ses" (co-written by Barney's voice actor Dan Castellaneta and his wife Deb Lacusta), Barney sobers up. Much of the staff was against this change as they felt Barney sober was not funny. Castellaneta told "TV Guide": "I don't do the voice any differently, because I think [Barney's] still got 15 years of booze left in his veins."

Reception

IGN in 2006 ranked Barney fifth on their list of the "Top 25 "Simpsons" Peripheral Characters," stating that, "he's been a dependable source of humor through his many drunken asides, burps included...Occasionally he's sobered up...But let's face it, for comedy's sake, "The Simpsons" is better off with a drunken Barney, mouthing off at Moe's."cite web|author=Goldman, Eric; Iverson, Dan and Brian Zoromski|title=Top 25 "Simpsons" Peripheral Characters|date=September 6, 2006|url=http://tv.ign.com/articles/730/730957p4.html|accessdate=2008-09-16|publisher=IGN] "Mr. Plow" in 2003 was placed sixth on "Entertainment Weekly"'s list of the best 25 "The Simpsons" episodes.cite web|url=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,417748~3~0~25bestand1,00.html|title=The Family Dynamic|date=2003-01-29|accessdate=2008-09-16|publisher=Entertainment Weekly]

References

External links

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