Editing Barney Gumble (section)

==Character==
===Creation===
Barney was inspired by [[Barney Rubble]], [[Fred Flintstone]]'s best friend and next-door neighbor from the animated series ''[[The Flintstones]]''.<ref name=firstepisode>Groening, Matt (2001). Commentary for "[[Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire]]", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete First Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.</ref> The writers originally wanted the character to be [[Homer Simpson]]'s sidekick and next-door neighbor, but instead, while still portraying him as Homer's best friend, they decided to make him an alcoholic. [[Ned Flanders]] would become the next-door neighbor instead.<ref name=firstepisode /> "Barney was taking the standard sitcom sidekick and just making him as pathetic as possible," said [[Matt Groening]], the creator of ''The Simpsons''.<ref name=tvguide>{{cite magazine |last=Rhodes |first=Joe |title=Flash! 24 Simpsons Stars Reveal Themselves |magazine=[[TV Guide]] |date=2000-10-21 }}</ref> The writers drew further inspiration from Crazy Guggenheim, a character played by comedian [[Frank Fontaine]] on ''[[The Jackie Gleason Show]]''.<ref name=tvguide/> Part of the reason the writers went in that direction, according to Groening, was because of "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/> The writers also patterned the character after [[Norm Peterson]] ([[George Wendt]]), a character from the sitcom ''[[Cheers]]''.<ref>Castellaneta, Dan; Groening, Matt; Jean, Al; Moore, Rich; Reiss, Mike; Silverman, David (2003). Commentary for "[[Flaming Moe's]]", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Third Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.</ref>

In some early [[The Simpsons (season 1)|first season]] episodes, Barney had yellow hair. Later in the production of that season, the producers had it changed to brown, because they thought that his hair looked like his skin;<ref>Jean, Al (2001). Commentary for "[[Some Enchanted Evening (The Simpsons)|Some Enchanted Evening]]", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete First Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.</ref> in addition, during an artistic convention of the show, Groening stated that he wanted only the [[Simpson family|Simpsons]] to have yellow hair.<ref name=firstepisode/> Animation director [[Rich Moore]] modeled Barney's apartment on one he and several other animators who worked on the show shared, particularly the [[Farrah Fawcett]] poster and the cable spool table.<ref>Moore, Rich (2001). Commentary for "[[Homer's Night Out]]", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete First Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.</ref> The writers originally intended for the character to be the owner of [[Springfield (The Simpsons)#Barney's Bowl-A-Rama|Barney's Bowl-A-Rama]].<ref name=fastlane>Groening, Matt; Jean, Al; Silverman, David (2001). Commentary for "[[Life on the Fast Lane]]", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete First Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.</ref> However, after making him "pathetic", they could not regard him as a business owner any longer, and it was explained seasons later in "[[And Maggie Makes Three]]" that his Uncle Al owns the alley and named it after him.<ref name=fastlane/><ref>Groening, Matt; Silverman, David (2005). Commentary for "[[And Maggie Makes Three]]", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Sixth Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.</ref>

===Voice===
[[File:Dan Castellaneta 2.jpg|right|200px|thumb|[[Dan Castellaneta]], the voice of Barney.]]
Barney Gumble is voiced by [[Dan Castellaneta]]{{sfn|Richmond & Coffman|1997|p=165}} who said he drew inspiration from [[Mr. Magoo]]'s nephew Waldo on the 1957 record album ''Magoo in Hi-Fi'' where Waldo was voiced by [[Daws Butler]] as well as a little big Frank Fontane's Crazy Guggenheim. Early on in the show, Castellaneta discovered that it was not easy for him to do Barney's trademark belch every time a script called for it, so he identified his best belch and told the producers to make that the standard, the belch also appears on an episode of [[The Pitts]].<ref>Jean, Al (2002). Commentary for "[[Blood Feud (The Simpsons)|Blood Feud]]", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Second Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.</ref> Castellaneta has voiced Barney every time he has appeared in the series, with the exception of the episode "[[Homer's Barbershop Quartet]]", in which some of Barney's singing is provided by a member of [[The Dapper Dans]], who recorded lines for all four members of the Be Sharps.<ref name="Barbershopcomment" /> Their recordings were intermixed with the cast's, often with a cast member singing the melody and the Dapper Dans providing backup.<ref name="Barbershopcomment">Martin, Jeff; Reiss, Mike (2004). Commentary for "[[Homer's Barbershop Quartet]]", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Fifth Season'' DVD. 20th Century Fox.</ref>

===Sobriety===
Castellaneta thought of the idea of Barney sobering up early in the series. He wrote a script together with his wife [[Deb Lacusta]]. They offered their script to [[showrunner]] [[Al Jean]]. Jean liked the story, but felt that it was too similar to a script the writers were already working on, "[[Duffless]]", so he turned it down. Castellaneta and Lacusta waited several years and offered their script, which they updated, to then-show runner [[Mike Scully]], who liked it and had them make a few changes.<ref name=daysofwine>Affleck, Neil; Castellaneta, Dan; Lacusta, Deb; Maxtone-Graham, Ian; Meyer, George; Scully, Mike (2008). Commentary for "[[Days of Wine and D'oh'ses]]", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Eleventh Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.</ref> Their script became the [[The Simpsons (season 11)|eleventh season]] episode "[[Days of Wine and D'oh'ses]]", which first aired April 9, 2000.<ref>{{cite book |last=McCann |first=Jesse L. |title=The Simpsons Beyond Forever! A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family...Still Continued |year=2002 |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |isbn=978-0-06-050592-9|title-link=The Simpsons Beyond Forever!: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family ...Still Continued }}</ref> The episode was directed by [[Neil Affleck]], who said that he had "a vested interest in getting Barney sober."<ref name=daysofwine/> However, some of the writing staff was opposed to the episode as they felt Barney sober would not be funny.<ref name=tvguide/> Castellaneta commented, "He's still a goofy man-child...he's still got 15 years of booze left in his veins."<ref name=tvguide/>

After a long discussion about how the episode should end, the writers decided that they did not want Barney to return to being drunk at the end of the episode. Barney stayed sober for several seasons. The animators modified the appearance of the character, straightening his hair, among other things, to indicate his sobriety. Castellaneta altered his voice for the character by no longer slurring.<ref name=daysofwine/> Barney was still seen at Moe's Tavern, but only drinking [[latte]]s.<ref>{{cite web|last=Loerzel |first=Robert |title=D'oh! Now He's Van Gogh |publisher=robertloerzel.com |url=http://www.robertloerzel.com/clipfile/castellaneta.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060813054508/http://www.robertloerzel.com/clipfile/castellaneta.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=2006-08-13 |access-date=2008-12-17 }}</ref> The character's new addiction to coffee was suggested by writer-producer [[David Mirkin]], who has friends who stopped drinking alcohol and became addicted to coffee.<ref name=daysofwine/>