Editing Barney Gumble (section)

===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>