Editing Barney Gumble (section)

===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/>