"BURRRRRRPPPP!!!" -Barney's catch phrase
Barney Gumble
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Character Information
Gender:
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Male
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Status:
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Unknown
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Age:
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40
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Hair:
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Messy brown
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Occupation:
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Once became a sailor after tasting the all-syrup Squishee, was also once a snow-plow driver but all the snow melt when he and homer challenged god and said "when two best friends work togather not even god can stop them!"
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Relatives:
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Arnie Gumble (father,deceased), Unnamed mother (U.S. Naval officer), Al Gumble (uncle, owner of "Barney's Bowl-a-Rama")
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First appearance:
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Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire
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Voiced by:
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Dan Castellaneta
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Bernard "Barney" Gumble is the Springfield town drunk, the most prominent of several alcoholic Springfielders and Homer Simpson's best friend.
Creation
Barney was partly based on "Crazy" Guggenheim, a character from Jackie Gleason's American Scene Magazine.[1] 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."[1] In "Days of Wine and D'oh'ses" Barney was sobered up, a move that many staff members were against believeing "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."[1]
The name Barney Gumble is a parody (and near homonym) of Barney Rubble, Fred Flintstone's best friend on Hanna-Barbera's The Flintstones. In several of the episodes of the first season, Barney Gumble's hair was yellow, just like Barney Rubble's hair.
Personality traits
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 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 has the largest beer tab in the show. Moe needs to send it to NASA just figure out what it is.
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.
barney is also homer's best friend barney is also friends with moe, lenny and carl.
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 daays of wineand d,ohses.
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.
Life Story
He was born on April 20, sharing his birthday with Hitler (Viva Ned Flanders). 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 Abe Simpson's WWII squad. In the episode "Simpson Tide," Barney has 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."
Barney is generally portrayed as being Homer Simpson's best friend, knowing Homer from when they went to 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. The Season 1 DVD indicates that the script writers originally intended for Barney to be Homer's next-door neighbor.
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. He used to have blond hair (see above), but later dyed it brown.
Later on, with Homer, he was a member of The Be Sharps barbershop quartet, in which his stellar Irish singing voice was discovered. It was heard again in "Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious" and in "Mommie Beerest". 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".
According to "Simpson Tide," 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.
Notable events
Conflicts
He has been involved in several altercations at Moe's with various visiting celebrities: after severely criticizing Joe Frazier, the two men stepped outside, with Frazier victorious in the fight. Barney was more successful with Wade Boggs, knocking him unconscious after an argument over who was Britain's greatest Prime Minister; Barney argued it was Lord Palmerston, while Boggs preferred Pitt the Elder.
In the episode "Mr. Plow", 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 toSpringfield (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. Barney is seen driving his plow as the Plow King once again in "Miracle on Evergreen Terrace."
When Mr. Burns caused Moe's Tavern to close down in "Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part One)", 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).
Barney has been involved in several experiences such as exploding zeppelins, malfunctioning Jet packs, and being crushed by a falling table. Barney, like most characters on animated shows, always survives these incidents, though he is generally put out of action for the remainder of the episode.
Sobriety
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. This new skill helped Homer rescue Bart and Lisa from a forest fire.
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. This led to the disappearance of his trademark belch. Barney has had relapses in "The Blunder Years" and "I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can" and was back on the sauce in "My Big Fat Geek Wedding" (in a scene that was a parody of Jimmy Stewart in Harvey).
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). Early in season sixteen, though, 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 in "Homerazzi". In "Co-Dependent's Day", he stated that the same rehab clinic had "cured him six times," implying that he has been switching between a current and recovering alcoholic. In "Lost Our Lisa", he seemed sober until he entered Moe's Tavern.
In The Simpsons Movie, Barney had been on and off with his sobriety. When Green Day performed in Springfield, Barney was one of the townspeople who threw beer bottles at them, and has his trademark 'drunk' hairdo. In church several minutes later, he once again has his well-combed hair. Once the Dome began descending upon Springfield, 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.
When Barney was sober he wasen't in Moe's as much and he never burped although in several season 12 episodes Barney was meant to be sober but he was seen in Moe's and his hair was dirty but towards the end of the season it went back to neatly combed.
Appearances
Episode – "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire"
Episode – "Homer's Odyssey"
Episode – "There's No Disgrace Like Home"
Episode – "Moaning Lisa"
Episode – "The Telltale Head"
Episode – "Homer's Night Out"
Episode – "Some Enchanted Evening"
Episode – "Bart Gets an F"
Episode – "Simpson and Delilah"
Episode – "Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish"
Episode – "Dancin' Homer"
Episode – "Bart the Daredevil"
Episode – "Bart Gets Hit by a Car"
Episode – "One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish"
Episode – "The Way We Was "
Episode – "Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment"
Episode – "Principal Charming"
Episode – "Old Money"
Episode – "Brush with Greatness"
Episode – "The War of the Simpsons"
Episode – "Three Men and a Comic Book"
Episode – "Blood Feud"
Episode – "Stark Raving Dad"
Episode – "Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington"
Episode – "When Flanders Failed"
Episode – "Homer Defined"
Episode – "Like Father, Like Clown "
Episode – "Treehouse of Horror II"
Episode – "Saturdays of Thunder "
Episode – "Flaming Moe's "
Episode – "Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk "
Episode – "I Married Marge "
Episode – "Lisa the Greek "
Episode – "Homer Alone "
Episode – "Homer at the Bat "
Episode – "Dog of Death "
Episode – "Colonel Homer "
Episode – "Black Widower "
Episode – "Brother Can You Spare Two Dimes? "
Episode – "Kamp Krusty "
Episode – "A Streetcar Named Marge "
Episode – "Homer the Heretic "
Episode – "Lisa the Beauty Queen "
Episode – "Treehouse of Horror III "
Episode – "New Kid on the Block "
Episode – "Mr. Plow "
Episode – "Homer's Triple Bypass "
Episode – "Marge vs. the Monorail "
Episode – "Selma's Choice "
Episode – "I Love Lisa "
Episode – "Duffless "
Episode – "So It's Come To This: A Simpsons Clip Show "
Episode – "The Front "
Episode – "Whacking Day "
Episode – "Marge in Chains "
Episode – "Krusty Gets Cancelled "
Episode – "Homer's Barbershop Quartet "
Episode – "Cape Feare "
Episode – "Rosebud "
Episode – "Marge on the Lam "
Episode – "Bart's Inner Child "
Episode – "Boy-Scoutz N the Hood "
Episode – "The Last Temptation of Homer "
Episode – "$pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling)"
Episode – "Homer the Vigilante "
Episode – "Homer and Apu "
Episode – "Bart Gets Famous "
Episode – "Deep Space Homer "
Episode – "Homer Loves Flanders "
Episode – "Bart Gets an Elephant "
Episode – "The Boy Who Knew Too Much "
Episode – "Lady Bouvier's Lover "
Episode – "Secrets of a Successful Marriage "
Episode – "Another Simpsons Clip Show "
Episode – "Sideshow Bob Roberts "
Episode – "Homer Badman "
Episode – "Grampa vs. Sexual Inadequacy "
Episode – "Fear of Flying "
Episode – "Homer the Great "
Episode – "And Maggie Makes Three "
Episode – "Bart's Comet "
Episode – "Homer vs. Patty and Selma "
Episode – "A Star is Burns "
Episode – "Lisa's Wedding "
Episode – "'Round Springfield "
Episode – "The Springfield Connection "
Episode – "Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part One) "
Episode – "Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part Two) "
Episode – "Radioactive Man "
Episode – "Bart Sells His Soul "
Episode – "Lisa the Vegetarian"
Episode – "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular "
Episode – "Team Homer "
Episode – "Two Bad Neighbors "
Episode – "Lisa the Iconoclast "
Episode – "Homer the Smithers "
Episode – "Bart on the Road "
Episode – "22 Short Films About Springfield "
Episode – "Much Apu About Nothing "
Episode – "Homerpalooza "
Episode – "You Only Move Twice "
Episode – "The Homer They Fall "
Episode – "Burns, Baby Burns "
Episode – "Bart After Dark "
Episode – "Hurricane Neddy "
Episode – "El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer"
Episode – "The Springfield Files "
Episode – "Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious "
Episode – "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show "
Episode – "Homer's Phobia "
Episode – "Brother from Another Series "
Episode – "My Sister, My Sitter "
Episode – "Homer vs the Eighteenth Amendment"
Episode – "Grade School Confidential "
Episode – "The Old Man and the Lisa "
Episode – "In Marge We Trust "
Episode – "Homer's Enemy "
Episode – "The Simpsons Spin-off Showcase "
Episode – "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson "
Episode – "The Principal and the Pauper "
Episode – "Lisa's Sax "
Episode – "The Cartridge Family "
Episode – "The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons "
Episode – "Lisa the Skeptic "
Episode – "Realty Bites "
Episode – "Miracle on Evergreen Terrace "
Episode – "All Singing, All Dancing "
Episode – "The Joy of Sect "
Episode – "The Last Temptation of Homer "
Episode – "Dumbbell Indemnity "
Episode – "Simpson Tide "
Episode – "The Trouble with Trillions "
Episode – "Trash of the Titans "
Episode – "King of the Hill "
Episode – "Lost Our Lisa "
Episode – "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace "
Episode – "Treehouse of Horror IX "
Episode – "When You Dish Upon a Star "
Episode – "D'oh-in' in the Wind "
Episode – "Lisa Gets an "A" "
Episode – "Mayored to the Mob "
Episode – "Viva Ned Flanders "
Episode – "Wild Barts Can't Be Broken "
Episode – "Sunday, Cruddy Sunday "
Episode – "Homer to the Max "
Episode – "I'm with Cupid "
Episode – "Marge Simpson in Screaming Yellow Honkers "
Episode – "Maximum Homerdrive "
Episode – "Mom and Pop Art "
Episode – "The Old Man and the "C" Studant "
Episode – "Monty Can't Buy Me Love"
Episode – "They Saved Lisa's Brain "
Episode – "Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo "
Episode – "Beyond Blunderdome "
Episode – "Brother's Little Helper "
Episode – "Treehouse of Horror X "
Episode – "E-I-E-I-D'oh "
Episode – "Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder "
Episode – "Eight Misbehavin' "
Episode – "Faith Off "
Episode – "The Mansion Family "
Episode – "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily "
Episode – "Pygmoelian "
Episode – "Bart to the Future "
Episode – "Days of Wine and D'oh'ses "
Episode – "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, Marge "
Episode – "Behind the Laughter "
Episode – "Treehouse of Horror XI "
Episode – "A Tale of Two Springfields "
Episode – "Insane Clown Poppy "
Episode – "Lisa the Tree Hugger "
Episode – "HOMR "
Episode – "Tennis the Menace "
Episode – "Bye Bye Nerdie "
Episode – "Trilogy of Error "
Episode – "I'm Goin' to Praiseland "
Episode – "Children of a Lesser Clod "
Episode – "Simpsons Tall Tales "
Episode – "Treehouse of Horror XII "
Episode – "Homer the Moe "
Episode – "The Blunder Years "
Episode – "Sweets and Sour Marge "
Episode – "Jaws Wired Shut "
Episode – "Tales from the Public Domain "
Episode – "Weekend at Burnsie's "
Episode – "Gump Roast "
Episode – "The Sweetest Apu "
Episode – "The Frying Game "
Episode – "Papa's Got a Brand New Badge "
Episode – "Treehouse of Horror XII "
Episode – "How I Spent My Strummer Vacation "
Episode – "Large Marge "
Episode – "Helter Shelter "
Episode – "Special Edna "
Episode – "Pray Anything "
Episode – "I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can "
Episode – "C.E.D'oh "
Episode – "Three Gays of the Condo "
Episode – "Dude Where's My Ranch "
Episode – "Brake my Wife, Please "
Episode – "The Bart of War "
Episode – "Moe Baby Blues "
Episode – "Treehouse of Horror XIV "
Episode – "The Regina Monologues "
Episode – "Today I Am A Clown "
Episode – "Diatribe of a Mad Housewife "
Episode – "Smart and Smarter "
Episode – "The Ziff Who Came to Dinner "
Episode – "Co-Dependent's Day "
Episode – "My Big Fat Geek Wedding "
Episode – "Simple Simpson "
Episode – "The Way We Weren't "
Episode – "Bart-Mangled Banner "
Episode – "Fraudcast News "
Episode – "Treehouse of Horror XV "
Episode – "She Used to Be My Girl "
Episode – "Mommie Beerest "
Episode – "Homer and Ned's Hail Mary Pass "
Episode – "There's Something about Marrying "
Episode – "The Seven Beer Snitch "
Episode – "Don't Fear the Roofer "
Episode – "The Heartbroke Kid "
Episode – "A Star is Torn "
Episode – "Home Away from Homer "
Episode – "The Girl Who Slept Too Little "
Episode – "Treehouse of Horror XVI "
Episode – "See Homer Run "
Episode – "Simpsons Christmas Stories "
Episode – "We're on the Road to D'ohwhere "
Episode – "The Seemingly Never-Ending Story "
Episode – "Bart Has Two Mommies "
Episode – "Homer Simpson, This is Your Wife "
Episode – "Million Dollar Abie "
Episode – "The Wettest Stories Ever Told "
Episode – "The Monkey Suit "
Episode – "Marge and Homer Turn a Couple Play "
Episode – "Jazzy and the Pussycats "
Episode – "Please Homer, Don't Hammer 'Em... "
Episode – "Treehouse of Horror XVII "
Episode – "G.I.D'oh "
Episode – "Moe 'N' a Lisa "
Episode – "Ice Cream of Margie (with the Light Blue Hair) "
Episode – "Revenge is a Dish Best Served Three Times "
Episode – "Little Big Girl "
Episode – "Springfield Up "
Episode – "Homerazzi "
Episode – "The Boys of Bummer "
Episode – "Crook and Ladder "
Episode – "Stop or My Dog Will Shoot "
Episode – "You Kent Always Say What You Want "
– The Simpsons Movie
Episode – "He Loves To Fly And He D'ohs "
Episode – "The Homer of Seville "
Episode – "Midnight Towboy "
Episode – "Treehouse of Horror XVII "
Episode – "Funeral for a Fiend "
Episode – "Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind "
Episode – "E. Pluribus Wiggum "
Episode – "That 90's Show "
Episode – "Papa Don't Leech "
Episode – "Any Given Sundance "
Episode – "Mona Leaves-a "
Episode – "Lost Verizon "
Episode – "Double, Double, Boy in Trouble "
Episode – "Treehouse of Horror XIX "
Episode – "Homer And Lisa Exchange Cross Words"
Episode – "The Burns and the Bees "
Episode – "How the Test Was Won "
Episode – "No Loan Again, Naturally "
Episode – "Wedding For Disaster "
Episode – "Eeny Teeny Maya Moe "
Episode – "The Good, the Sad and the Drugly "
Episode – "Father Knows Worst "
Episode – "Four Great Women and a Manicure " |
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Joe Rhodes. "Flash! 24 Simpsons Stars Reveal Themselves"TV Guide. Retrieved on 2007-08-15.