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Barney Gumble
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Berni "Barney" Gumble is a recurring character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta, and first appeared in the series premiere, "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". Barney is the Springfield town drunk, the most prominent of several alcoholic Springfielders that are regularly seen at Moe's Tavern, and Homer Simpson's high school best friend.
CharacterBarney was partly based on Crazy Guggenheim, a character from Jackie Gleason's American Scene Magazine. Matt Groening noted: "Barney was taking the standard sitcom sidekick and just making him as pathetic as possible. And also there was a sort of unspoken rule about not having drinking on television as a source of comedy. So, of course, we went right for it." In "Days of Wine and D'oh'ses" Barney was sobered up, a move that many staff members were against, believing, "a wide-awake, freshly showered, sober Barney just isn't as funny as an unkempt, disoriented, drunk one." Castellaneta did not change his voice after the sobering, because "[he thinks Barney's] still got 15 years of booze left in his veins". The Season 1 DVD indicates that the script writers originally intended for Barney to be Homer's next-door neighbor.
Role in The SimpsonsPersonalityBarney is almost always seen in Moe's Tavern, where he is a regular. He is almost part of the furniture at Moe's, and can get into Moe's as fast as Moe throws him out. He once said if Moe's didn't close, he would never leave. 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 (although he sings completely differently, having a beautiful "Irish tenor" type voice), as well as a characteristic wandering eye. He remains friendly and good-natured despite his unfortunate condition. He genuinely enjoys spending time with Homer's children, especially Maggie (though he often calls her Bart), sometimes even saving them from danger. Heavyset, slovenly, and unmarried (though occasionally seen with women), he lives in a very untidy and sparsely-furnished apartment. It has also been implied that he has "lived" in Moe's Tavern. 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 . Although often Drunk , Barney has in the past shown brief flashes of intelligence.
Barney is generally portrayed as being Homer Simpson's best friend, 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 winning at the dog track.
He is occasionally seen doing some sort of menial labor, such as working for his Uncle Al at Barney's Bowl-O-Rama, but has also been the owner of a successful snowplowing business and been employed by NASA as an astronaut. In the episode "A Star Is Burns", Barney states that he is 40 years old and his first name was revealed to be Barnard, although he also appears to be in the same high school class as Homer in flashbacks. When streaking at his high school prom earned him "about a decade's worth of detention", it was hinted that he was either to be held back a year, or had already repeated.
When alcohol is not readily available, Barney is seen drinking just about anything, such as turpentine, varnish, rubbing alcohol, and brake fluid.
BiographyHis 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 in World War II.
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. 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 . 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, although he served in the U.S. Army for a brief period of time in his youth.
SobrietyIn 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. 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.
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