Difference between revisions of "Barney Gumble"

{{Featured article}}

|name= Bernard Arnold Gumble

|image= [[File:Barney Gumble.PNG]]

|gender= {{Male}}

|job= Unemployed<br>'''Previous:'''<br>Sailor<br>Snow plow driver

|relatives= '''Parents:''' [[Arnie Gumble]] and [[Mrs. Gumble]]<br>'''Uncle:''' [[Al Gumble]]  

|appearance= [[Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire]]

|voiced by= [[Dan Castellaneta]]

'''Bernard "Barney" Arnold Gumble''' is the [[Springfield]] town drunk, the most prominent of several alcoholic Springfielders and [[Homer Simpson]]'s best friend. He is also friends with Carl, Lenny, Moe, Dr Hibbert, Apu and Rev. Lovejoy (sometimes).

Barney was born on April 20, 1956, sharing his birthday with [[Adolf Hitler]] <ref>[[Viva Ned Flanders]]</ref>. His 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 [[Abraham Simpson|Abe Simpson]]'s [[The Flying Hellfish|WWII squad]], the [[Flying Hellfish]]. Barney once had a near-death experience in which he expects to be reunited with "my loved ones, my dad, and that plant I never watered, " perhaps implying that he did not get along with his father, though this line could also be interpreted as Barney reuniting with his "loved ones: my dad and that plant I never watered." <ref name="Simpson Tide">[[Simpson Tide]]</ref>

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. He took to drinking after his high-school sweetheart Chloe Talbot left Springfield to become a successful TV reporter. He used to have blond hair, but later dyed it brown <ref>[[She Used to Be My Girl]]</ref>.

Later on, with Homer, he was a member of [[The Be Sharps]] barbershop quartet, in which his stellar Irish singing voice was discovered. Barney showed his artistic side again when he won top prize at the Springfield Film Festival for his moving documentary about his life as an alcoholic, unfortunately titled "Puke-a-hontas"<ref name="A Star Is Burns">[[A Star Is Burns]]</ref>.

[[Mr. Black]] also hired Barney to act like Krusty the Clown for the campers at Kamp Krusty, although Bart was not fooled by his attempt at defaming Krusty (as Barney was poorly disguised as Krusty), and also ends up confirming Bart and the rest of the campers suspicions of Black just "slapped a clown suit on some wine-o" by answering that he is "Krunchy the Clown," as well as declaring for Krusty's return (or as he calls him, "Krunchy")

Barney was inspired by Homer's Mr. Plow business to have his own snow removal service, calling himself the Plow King and buying a snow removal truck much bigger than Homer's. He even got [[Linda Ronstadt]] to sing on his commercials. "We've been looking for a project to do together for a while," he explained. He took away all Homer's customers and earned the key to Springfield (which was taken away from Homer). Homer eventually fools Barney into traveling to "Forbidding Widows' Peak" to plow through the snow for a $10,000 bill, but is caught in an avalanche. Homer ends up saving Barney, they become friends again and team up, only to find the snow melting (after Homer comments "When two best friends team up, not even [[God]] himself can stop them." To which a voice from the sky replies "Oh, no?" and promptly beams down a ray of light to melt the snow), and Homer's truck repossessed <ref>[[Mr. Plow]]</ref>. Barney is seen driving his plow as the Plow King again in several occasions <ref>[[Miracle on Evergreen Terrace]]</ref><ref>[[Oh Brother, Where Bart Thou?]]</ref> .

When [[Charles Montgomery Burns|Mr. Burns]] caused Moe's Tavern to close down and was shot later, Barney became a major suspect for shooting Burns after Burns blocked the sun (despite his easygoing nature, Barney apparently carries around a derringer at all times) <ref>[[Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part One)]]</ref><ref>[[Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part Two)]]</ref>.

Barney 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 briefly served in the U.S. Army during his youth <ref name="Simpson Tide"/>.

[[File:Burp.gif|left|thumb|Barney Burping]] Before [[Barney]] started drinking, he was a very intelligent young man, but while studying for the S.A.T.s [[Homer]] offered one of [[Abe]]'s beers. After giving into [[Homer]], [[Barney]] took his first sip and quickly downed the entire can. His clothes and hair quickly began a mess and he ran out of [[Homer]]'s house.

Barney is almost always seen in [[Moe's Tavern]], where he is a regular. His desperation for alcohol has been the source of many jokes. 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 [[wikipedia:strabismus|wandering eye]]. He remains friendly and good-natured despite his unfortunate condition. 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]]. Barney drinks so compulsively that [[Moe]] had to send his beer tab to [[wikipedia:NASA|NASA]] for it to be calculated: it ultimately came out as fourteen billion dollars worth of beer (Although Moe mistakenly stated it was seventy billion dollars until he realized that that was actually the cost of the Voyager Spacecraft),<ref>[[22 Short Films About Springfield]]</ref> and has contributed to at least one of his fellow barflies' beer tab (such as when Homer went to Japan).<ref>[[Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo]]</ref>

He is occasionally seen doing some sort of manual 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. Barney states that he is 43 years old and his first name was revealed to be Bernard, although he also appears to be in the same high school class as Homer in flashbacks <ref name="A Star Is Burns"/>. 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. He had also ended up having to do court-issued community service with picking up roadside litter where he attacked Principal Skinner [who was trying to cross the interstate with a tank of gasoline for his car at the time] after hallucinating that Skinner was a giant beer can.<ref>[[Lost Verizon]]</ref>

Barney has survived experiences such as exploding zeppelins<ref>[[Lisa the Beauty Queen]]</ref>, malfunctioning Jet packs <ref>[[Deep Space Homer]]</ref>, and being crushed by a falling table<ref>[[The Boy Who Knew Too Much]]</ref>.

Barney also apparently takes pictures of Legs' sister. As stated in "Homie the Clown" when Homer states he is "Barney Gumble" after the mob picks him up thinking he is Krusty.  

[[File:BarneySober.png|thumb|A sober Barney]]

Barney was once forced to remain sober for the drinking night at Moe's when he received the position of Designated Driver that night (Coincidentally on the same night that he was to get free beer from Duffman as a reward.). As revenge, he decided to drive Homer's car to New York City and leave it there <ref>[[The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson]]</ref>.

Unwilling to lose one of his most crucial customers to his tavern, Moe figured out a way to channel Barney's tendency for addiction into a dependency on the caffeine in espressos <ref>[[Days of Wine and D'oh'ses]]</ref>.

Barney once made a [[Pukahontas|movie]] about his struggle with alcoholism and submitted it to the [[Springfield Film Festival]]. When he won the grand prize, he vowed to remain clean and sober from that point forward, but quickly backed off his vow when it was announced that the grand prize was a lifetime supply of [[Duff Beer]]<ref name="A Star Is Burns"/>.

Homer encouraged Barney to drink a beer when he played Ulysses S. Grant in a re-enactment of the Battle of Springfield (though this, surprisingly, did not cause him to become alcoholic again, even surprising Barney, who was hesitant to drink a beer, even for the role, as he was a recovering alcoholic.). He briefly sobered up and got back behind the controls of his helicopter to rescue his old girlfriend Chloe from a volcanic lava flow. He was also relatively sober and piloting his helicopter again when helping [[Homer]] take celebrity photographs <ref>[[Homerazzi]]</ref>. When he suggested that an indicted Marge go to a particular rehab clinic to help her kick her drinking habit,  

He stated that the clinic had "cured him six times," implying that he has been switching between a current and recovering alcoholic <ref>[[Co-Dependent's Day]]</ref>. It's revealed that he's always sober in the morning until he enters [[Moe's Tavern]] <ref>[[Lost Our Lisa]]</ref>.

During [[Trappuccino]], he was one of the barflies who run into the church, and even later Barney was attending an Alcoholics' Anonymous meeting and went crazy when the coffee ran out <ref>[[The Simpsons Movie]]</ref>.

==Non-Canon Appearances==

===The Simpsons Game===

Barney first appears as one of the contestants in the Duff Ultimate Eating Challenge in the level [[Around the World in 80 Bites]]. He also appears in [[Mob Rules]] as one of the people Marge can use to protest the sales of the ''Grand Theft Scratchy'' videogame to minors.

==Behind the Laughter==

[[File:BarneyGumble-Blond.jpg|thumb|Barney with blond hair.]]

Barney was partly based on "Crazy" Guggenheim, a character from Jackie Gleason's ''American Scene Magazine''.<ref name=tvguide>{{cite news|title=Flash! 24 Simpsons Stars Reveal Themselves|accessdate=2007-08-15|date=[[2000-10-21]]|publisher=[[TV Guide]]|author=Joe Rhodes}}</ref> [[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."<ref name=tvguide/> 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."<ref name=tvguide/>

The name Barney Gumble is a parody (and near homonym) of Barney Rubble, Fred Flintstone's best friend on Hanna-Barbera's ''[[wikipedia:The Flintstones|The Flintstones]]''. In several of the episodes of the first season, Barney Gumble's hair was yellow, just like Barney Rubble's hair. He was also born on April 20, 1956.  

Barney is also a major character on the show and has been central in a few episodes such as [[Mr. Plow]], [[Homer's Barbershop Quartet]], and [[Days of Wine and D'oh'ses]]. Barney has also appeared in every single season although in season 19 he made only cameo appearances. In season 2,3,4,5, Barney made lots of speaking appearances aproximately 10-15 episodes, because he was always seen in Moe's. He has appeared in 274 episodes.

==Trivia==

*In Homer's Triple Bypass, Barney once mistook Homer's heart operation as him trying to go through a sex-change operation.

*Barney in Season 1 had blond hair.

*Barney's bar tab at Moe's is at $14 billion, but after Barney payed $2,000 Moe said that it's "at least halfway". But could be him not going to school or missing math lessons.

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*{{ep|Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire}}

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*{{ep|Homer's Night Out}}

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*{{ep|Dancin' Homer}}

*{{ep|Bart the Daredevil}}

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*{{ep|The Way We Was }}

*{{ep|Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment}}

*{{ep|Principal Charming}}

*{{ep|Old Money}}

*{{ep|Brush with Greatness}}

*{{ep|The War of the Simpsons}}

*{{ep|Three Men and a Comic Book}}

*{{ep|Blood Feud}}

*{{ep|Stark Raving Dad}}

*{{ep|Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington}}

*{{ep|When Flanders Failed}}

*{{ep|Homer Defined}}

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*{{THOH|Treehouse of Horror II}}

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*{{ep|Flaming Moe's}}

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*{{ep|I Married Marge}}

*{{ep|Lisa the Greek}}

*{{ep|Homer Alone}}

*{{ep|Homer at the Bat}}

*{{ep|Dog of Death}}

*{{ep|Colonel Homer}}

*{{ep|Black Widower}}

*{{ep|Brother Can You Spare Two Dimes?}}

*{{Ep|Kamp Krusty (Episode)}}

*{{ep|A Streetcar Named Marge}}

*{{ep|Homer the Heretic}}

*{{ep|Lisa the Beauty Queen}}

*{{THOH|Treehouse of Horror III}}

*{{ep|New Kid on the Block}}

*{{ep|Mr. Plow}}

*{{ep|Homer's Triple Bypass}}

*{{ep|Marge vs. the Monorail}}

*{{ep|Selma's Choice}}

*{{ep|I Love Lisa}}

*{{ep|Duffless}}

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*{{ep|The Front}}

*{{ep|Whacking Day}}

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*{{ep|Homer's Barbershop Quartet}}

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*{{ep|The Last Temptation of Homer}}

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*{{ep|Homer Loves Flanders}}

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*{{ep|Homer vs. Patty and Selma}}

*{{ep|A Star is Burns}}

*{{ep|Lisa's Wedding}}

*{{ep|'Round Springfield}}

*{{ep|The Springfield Connection}}

*{{ep|Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part One)}}

*{{ep|Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part Two)}}

*{{ep|Radioactive Man}}

*{{ep|Bart Sells His Soul}}

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*{{ep|The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular}}

*{{ep|Team Homer}}

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*{{ep|Homer vs. the Eighteenth Amendment}}

*{{ep|Grade School Confidential}}

*{{ep|The Old Man and the Lisa}}

*{{ep|In Marge We Trust}}

*{{ep|Homer's Enemy}}

*{{ep|The Simpsons Spin-off Showcase}}

*{{ep|The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson}}

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*{{ep|Lisa's Sax}}

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*{{ep|Lisa the Skeptic}}

*{{ep|Realty Bites}}

*{{ep|Miracle on Evergreen Terrace}}

*{{ep|All Singing, All Dancing}}

*{{ep|The Joy of Sect}}

*{{ep|The Last Temptation of Homer}}

*{{ep|Dumbbell Indemnity}}

*{{ep|Simpson Tide}}

*{{ep|The Trouble with Trillions}}

*{{ep|Trash of the Titans}}

*{{ep|King of the Hill}}

*{{ep|Lost Our Lisa}}

*{{ep|The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace}}

*{{THOH|Treehouse of Horror IX}}

*{{ep|When You Dish Upon a Star}}

*{{ep|D'oh-in' in the Wind}}

*{{ep|Lisa Gets an "A"}}

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*{{ep|Viva Ned Flanders}}

*{{ep|Wild Barts Can't Be Broken}}

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*{{ep|Homer to the Max}}

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*{{ep|Maximum Homerdrive}}

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*{{ep|The Old Man and the "C" Student}}

*{{ep|Monty Can't Buy Me Love}}

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*{{ep|Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo}}

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*{{THOH|Treehouse of Horror X}}

*{{ep|E-I-E-I-D'oh}}

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*{{ep|The Mansion Family}}

*{{ep|Alone Again, Natura-Diddily}}

*{{ep|Pygmoelian}}

*{{ep|Bart to the Future}}

*{{ep|Days of Wine and D'oh'ses}}

*{{ep|It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, Marge}}

*{{ep|Behind the Laughter}}

*{{THOH|Treehouse of Horror XI}}

*{{ep|A Tale of Two Springfields}}

*{{ep|Insane Clown Poppy}}

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*{{ep|Homer the Moe}}

*{{ep|The Blunder Years}}

*{{ep|Sweets and Sour Marge}}

*{{ep|Jaws Wired Shut}}

*{{ep|Tales from the Public Domain}}

*{{ep|Weekend at Burnsie's}}

*{{ep|Gump Roast}}

*{{ep|The Sweetest Apu}}

*{{ep|The Frying Game}}

*{{ep|Papa's Got a Brand New Badge}}

*{{THOH|Treehouse of Horror XII}}

*{{ep|How I Spent My Strummer Vacation}}

*{{ep|Large Marge}}

*{{ep|Helter Shelter}}

*{{ep|Special Edna}}

*{{ep|Pray Anything}}

*{{ep|I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can}}

*{{ep|C.E.D'oh}}

*{{ep|Three Gays of the Condo}}

*{{ep|Dude Where's My Ranch}}

*{{ep|Brake My Wife, Please}}

*{{ep|The Bart of War}}

*{{ep|Moe Baby Blues}}

*{{THOH|Treehouse of Horror XIV}}

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*{{ep|Today I Am A Clown}}

*{{ep|Diatribe of a Mad Housewife}}

*{{ep|Smart and Smarter}}

*{{ep|The Ziff Who Came to Dinner}}

*{{ep|Co-Dependent's Day}}

*{{ep|My Big Fat Geek Wedding}}

*{{ep|Simple Simpson}}

*{{ep|The Way We Weren't}}

*{{ep|Bart-Mangled Banner}}

*{{ep|Fraudcast News}}

*{{THOH|Treehouse of Horror XV}}

*{{ep|She Used to Be My Girl}}

*{{ep|Mommie Beerest}}

*{{ep|Homer and Ned's Hail Mary Pass}}

*{{ep|There's Something about Marrying}}

*{{ep|The Seven Beer Snitch}}

*{{ep|Don't Fear the Roofer}}

*{{ep|The Heartbroke Kid}}

*{{ep|A Star is Torn}}

*{{ep|Home Away from Homer}}

*{{ep|The Girl Who Slept Too Little}}

*{{THOH|Treehouse of Horror XVI}}

*{{ep|See Homer Run}}

*{{ep|Simpsons Christmas Stories}}

*{{ep|We're on the Road to D'ohwhere}}

*{{ep|The Seemingly Never-Ending Story}}

*{{ep|Bart Has Two Mommies}}

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*{{ep|Million Dollar Abie}}

*{{ep|The Wettest Stories Ever Told}}

*{{ep|The Monkey Suit}}

*{{ep|Marge and Homer Turn a Couple Play}}

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*{{THOH|Treehouse of Horror XVII}}

*{{ep|G.I.D'oh}}

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*{{ep|Ice Cream of Margie (with the Light Blue Hair)}}

*{{ep|Revenge is a Dish Best Served Three Times}}

*{{ep|Little Big Girl}}

*{{ep|Springfield Up}}

*{{ep|Homerazzi}}

*{{ep|The Boys of Bummer}}

*{{ep|Crook and Ladder}}

*{{ep|Stop or My Dog Will Shoot}}

*{{ep|You Kent Always Say What You Want}}

*{{ep|He Loves To Fly And He D'ohs}}

*{{ep|The Homer of Seville}}

*{{ep|Midnight Towboy}}

*{{THOH|Treehouse of Horror XVII}}

*{{ep|Funeral for a Fiend}}

*{{ep|Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind}}

*{{ep|E. Pluribus Wiggum}}

*{{ep|That 90's Show}}

*{{ep|Papa Don't Leech}}

*{{ep|Any Given Sundance}}

*{{ep|Mona Leaves-a}}

*{{ep|Lost Verizon}}

*{{ep|Double, Double, Boy in Trouble}}

*{{THOH|Treehouse of Horror XIX}}

*{{ep|Homer And Lisa Exchange Cross Words}}

*{{ep|The Burns and the Bees}}

*{{ep|How the Test Was Won}}

*{{ep|No Loan Again, Naturally}}

*{{ep|Wedding For Disaster}}

*{{ep|Eeny Teeny Maya Moe}}

*{{ep|The Good, the Sad and the Drugly}}

*{{ep|Father Knows Worst}}

*{{ep|Four Great Women and a Manicure}}

*{{ep|O Brother, Where Bart Thou?}}

*{{ep|Million Dollar Maybe}}

*{{ep|The Squirt and the Whale}}

*{{ep|Moe Letter Blues}}

*{{ep|Judge Me Tender}}

*{{ep|The Fool Monty}}

*{{ep|Flaming Moe}}

* {{Ep|The Ned-Liest Catch}}

*{{Game|The Simpsons: Hit and Run}}

*{{Game|The Simpsons Road Rage}}

*{{Game|The Simpsons Skateboarding}}

*{{Game|The Simpsons Game}}

*{{Game|The Simpsons: Minutes to Meltdown}}

*{{Bk|Simpsons World The Ultimate Episode Guide: Seasons 1-20}}