Talk:Barney Gumble/Archive 1

Why no mention of the episode about the film festival, where Barney, against all odds, makes a black-and-white masterpiece? 163.1.111.26 (talk) 18:10, 5 December 2007 (UTC)

Barney Gumble is an important secondary character on one of the most iconic shows in the history of television. He's as deserving of his own Wikipedia article as any half-god of Greek mythology. Del arte 19:50, 23 Jul 2004 (UTC)

"...he lives in a messy apartment with very little furniture, over where Moe's is placed." Moe's Tavern is a single-story building; Barney's apartment wouldn't fit there. Homer once briefly moved in with Barney and we heard a little about the singles' complex where he lives, but I don't have a reference. Does anyone else? Wyvern 21:11, 13 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * That episode was "Homer's Odyssey", where we're introduced to Barney's messy apartment (first season episode); several other episodes in latter seasons have also consistently shown Barney's mess of an apartment. The implication of jokes like "if you didn't close, I'd never leave" is more a statement about Barney's alcoholism being to the point that he spends nearly every waking minute at Moe's as a perpetual barfly. Anthony Dean 14:21, Jun 10, 2005 (UTC)
 * Barney's home, like many Simpson's facts, changes depending on what episodes you take into account. In one episode, Barney steps out of the bathroom in a bathrobe after brushing his teeth, implying that he actually lives there. I think Barney also came into Moe's bar one day by sliding down a pole to the lower floor. Also, Moe points to Barney saying he'll be back. To which Barney responds: "Of course I'll be back. If you didn't close, I'd never leave". (Or something to that affect) Agreed though, a definitive source which we can agree upon would be useful--Will2k 04:44, Jan 14, 2005 (UTC)

Didn't he also sober up briefly when he and Homer were attempting to become astronauts?

Desirable?
"Something of a running joke in the series and the comics is that Barney is considered extremely desirable by the opposite sex. In the episode where Selma goes to the Springfield Sperm Bank, Barney walks out from the donation room and is greeted with familiarity by a staff member. Seconds later a mother with a baby appears on screen, Barney exclaims that the baby is a beautiful little girl, whereupon the baby removes her pacifier and emits Barney's distinctive belch. The next shot shows a line of happy mothers and babies trailing from the Sperm Bank, and a continuous chorus of Barney Belches following them."

I think this was more a joke about the perils of choosing a sperm bank than about Barney's attractiveness.
 * Agreed. What about the woman who asked Barney if something crawled down his throat and died?--Will2k 12:54, May 20, 2005 (UTC)
 * I removed it, it was a clear case of misinterpretation on the part of the writer. Ramanpotential 02:04, 12 November 2005 (UTC)

It didn't die!

Future
"Barney is one of the few regulars to not appear in any of the three episodes of The Simpsons set in the future, all featuring older versions of the cast. This is possibly the writers' way of implying that he dies relatively young."

This is NOT true. In Bart to the Future, Barney is at Nelson's club, shouting "Get off the stage" at Bart.


 * Barney pre-deceases all of his friends., which episode is that? Sherurcij (talk) (Terrorist Wikiproject) 20:25, 15 April 2006 (UTC)

First Name
Bernard or Barnard? ☺ AP  clark   Be nice not nasty  09:03, 25 December 2005 (UTC)

I heard it as "Barnard."208.27.111.121 19:35, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

Age
In the episode, "A Star is Burns", Barney directly states he's 40 years old.
 * Yet, in other episodes, he and Homer are clearly the same age. I don't think they're too worried about accuracy.  Homer's age varies too.  In an early episode he says he's "36 and 239" but in a later episode he says he's 38...  Everyone else, however, has stayed the same age (or at least Bart, Lisa, and Maggie have).  Barney saying outright that he's 40 doesn't necessarily mean much, because he was drunk at the time and years of alcohol abuse may have damaged his once first rate mind.  70.49.240.200 21:11, 18 June 2006 (UTC)
 * please cite your sources... if we have a direct cite of his age, that makes it easy... 40 is the correct information, until we can get a cited range... if anyone can cite other episodes for other ages, please do, and then we can make an accurate range for the age information... - Adolphus79 22:36, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

Sailor?
He never became a sailor at all....all he said was "i dont know where you pixies came from but i sure like your pixie drink..."....the sailor in this episode is just a generic sailor who joins but and milhouse whilst they "go crazy broadway style" singing "springfeild, springfeild" he then joins in saying "New york, New york"...to which bart responds "new york is thattaway man.....
 * After this scene, when Bart wakes up to find he's joined the Junior Campers, it cuts to Barney waking up on on a boat in a generic sailor outfit and says "oh no not again!". As the scene is about Bart joining the junior campers then it can be assumed that Barney has joined the crew of that ship. According to the TV.com page on this episode in the trivia section, this small clip is cut in syndication, which is another reason to buy the DVDs! BillPP 15:33, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the memory jog dude...god i love this site! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 60.229.81.83 (talk • contribs)

And let's not forget "Simpson Tide"

Heritage
"It is told that he is at least half-Norwegian, since his mother comes from Norway." Does anyone have a source of this? It's the coolest thing I've read in ages, but it seems weird to me that I don't remember seeing it in any episode. As he's one of my favourite characters and I'm from Norway, I think I would've remembered hearing such a thing, but I might have missed it.
 * He said his (immigrant) mother came from Norway in "Lisa the Greek" episode. He also said he was "half-Polish" in Treehouse of Horror XVII. I'm going to add him in Fictional Polish-Americans category list and Norwegian American category list. --Pilot expert (talk) 05:26, 30 November 2007 (UTC)
 * At the risk of nitpicking, he says his ma's visiting him from Norway, not that she is from there originally, so he may not have Norwegien ancestry.--MartinUK (talk) 21:39, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

Uncle Al
Is Al's last name really Gumble? Maybe he's Barney's maternal uncle.

His Birthdate
He was born on April 20, as stated in an episode of the show. At no time has the show itself invalidated that birthday, so it makes no sense to say he has another birthdate. It is also in poor taste to bring up the Columbine massacre in the opening paragraph. Nobody wants to hear about that when reading about Barney Gumble. Last but not least, the website that supposedely verifies he has a different birthdate is, just like Wiki, a site where anybody can add information, so that hardly counts as validation. As many times as you change it back to two birthdates, I will gladly change it back to his April 20th birthdate. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.195.44.152 (talk • contribs)

Barney Google?
This comic strip character is mentioned in passing in the "Character origins" section, apparently to suggest another inspiration for Barney Gumble's name. The sentence mentioning Google reads almost like a non sequitur in context. Unless someone can verify that it has any relevance, I think it should be deleted. B7T 22:49, 10 September 2007 (UTC)

Offspring
In the episode I saw today, it showed that Barney was a regular sperm donor, and implied that there were dozens of miniature, belching baby Barneys all over Springfield. Should this be noted in the article? Yeanold Viskersenn (talk) 23:30, 23 November 2007 (UTC)

Dancer?
There was an episode (i think mr burns casino) where Barney is waiting in the unemployment line and talks to Kent Brockman, revealing that he has 5 years of modern dance and 6 years of tap dance training or experience? should this be noted somewhere on his page. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Civicnation (talk • contribs) 08:51, 8 October 2008 (UTC)
 * No, we leave out one episode quick jokes like that, from all Simpsons pages.  C T J F 8 3 Talk 15:55, 8 October 2008 (UTC)

This article is nowhere near GA status
It is poorly organized (with too many sub-sections), minute details are given undue weight, there is an insufficient lead and there is a lack of citations in the role section. I would try to clean it up, but the local overlord would immediately revert me. -- Scorpion 0422  17:13, 28 October 2008 (UTC)
 * I'm unfortunately inclined to agree. I did try and improve the article's prose, but my edits were reverted without much explanation. Gran2 14:48, 29 October 2008 (UTC)

Okay, rather than blindly reverting improvements to the page, why don't you let go of your ownership issues and explain things.


 * "Barney's Mother", that is not the name of the character, nor is it a nickname. It's a description, and is this case it would be better to simply describe her as "unnamed"
 * And because drinking as comedy on TV was taboo, said Groening, "we went right for it."
 * Couple things here, you start a sentence off with and & because, both of which should never start a sentence. Second of all, you are stating one person's opinion {that drinking in comedy is taboo) as a fact. A quote would be much better there.
 * "However, Barney appears in "Some Enchanted Evening", which was the first full-length episode produced and was meant to be the first to air, but 70% of the episode's animation had to be redone, said the episode's co-director David Silverman."
 * This part can easily be shortened, and should be.
 * Per the MOS, when you cite more than two pages from a book, you should use "author, p. #".
 * "The barbershop quartet The Dapper Dans in the episode "Homer's Barbershop Quartet", performed the singing voices of The Be Sharps, except during certain instances when the lead vocals were performed by the cast."
 * The other version properly introduces the statement (and why it is notable) and provices more detail about exactly how it went down. Yes, there is more information here than the above statement, but in this case it relates directly to the character. In the above case, it is just extra info.
 * The other version properly introduces the statement (and why it is notable) and provices more detail about exactly how it went down. Yes, there is more information here than the above statement, but in this case it relates directly to the character. In the above case, it is just extra info.

So that is some of the justification for the changes that have been made. Instead of immediately reverting, please discuss them here first. -- Scorpion 0422  15:33, 29 October 2008 (UTC)

An some more points:


 * "Barney was inspired by the cartoon character Barney Rubble of the animated cartoon series The Flintstones."
 * Most of the time, the characters in cartoon series tend to be cartoon characters. You don't need to use the word twice. Also, "from" makes more sense than "of".
 * "However, Barney appears in "Some Enchanted Evening", which was the first full-length episode produced and was meant to be the first to air, but 70% of the episode's animation had to be redone, said the episode's co-director David Silverman."
 * This sentence is far too long. Also, if Silverman said that, they why is it not shown as a quote?
 * "the staff was" should be "the staff were".
 * "Animator Rich Moore, for the episode "Homer's Night Out", which he directed, modeled Barney's apartment—including the Humphrey Bogart and Farrah Fawcett posters and the cable spool table—after one he and other Simpsons animators shared while in college."
 * Brackets would work much better than hyphens and "on" should be used instead of "after".

I've tried to assume good faith, but you (Tj terrorible1) continually revert the edits of every single user who edits this page and ignore every single comment we give to try and improve it. I strongly suggest you stop edit warring, and instead discuss these issues here. Gran2 16:18, 29 October 2008 (UTC)

WP:GAN
I'm removing this article as a GAN candidate. With all the edit warring, it wouldn't possibly pass. I suggest the editor who continues to nominate the article talks out the problems on the talk page before nominating again. Thanks. Nikki 311  21:42, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

Cite in book
They give him as example for the sterotypes about the irish! The End of Irish History? Von Colin Coulter, Steve Coleman Google books --Stone (talk) 21:16, 1 November 2008 (UTC)

Richmond ref
So why exactly do you (Tj terrorible1) keep removing the general ref to the Richmond book? See this for more information. We've been trying to work with you and get you to voice your opinions, but you've been choosing instead to ignore us and do whatever you please on the page. Please start discussing things first. -- Scorpion 0422  20:03, 3 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Now this is a textbook example of ownership issues. You seem to have taken a dislike to the proper style for some reason, so rather than accepting it (or discussing it), you keep removing one of the Richmond refs. -- Scorpion 0422  16:28, 4 November 2008 (UTC)

You seem to have misinterpreted what constitutes as a "dicussion". It does not mean edit warring and adding a message, it means discussing things here and trying to reach an agreement. So, in response to this, 1. yes there is one ref to Richmond, but that doesn't mean that we can't use that style. 2. How is it innacurate? It provides a reliable back up to the statement that the Dapper Dans voiced characters (in case one can't access the DVD commentaries) and there is no such thing ad too many references. Citations are good, and the more, the better. -- Scorpion 0422  17:14, 4 November 2008 (UTC)
 * I think the only thing that will get through to him, is a block. He is clearly not interested in working with the other project members, to improve the article, he is working against us.  C T J F 8 3 Talk 17:22, 4 November 2008 (UTC)

The book (which I own) only states that the Dans performed the singing voices of The Be Sharps. So if you want to reference that, and only that, fine.Tj terrorible1 (talk) 17:53, 4 November 2008 (UTC)

Is Barney Gumble good article ready?
If you guys have any more problems before I nominate this article for good article, please let me know.Tj terrorible1 (talk) 17:57, 4 November 2008 (UTC)
 * The lead needs to be expanded. See the Lisa Simpson and Bart Simpson articles. -- The Le ft orium  18:01, 4 November 2008 (UTC)

If you agree to stop edit warring, then I will help you out. These are some of my immediate impressions:


 * 1) There isn't much of a role section. Yes, there isn't much for Homer, but he is a character who has appeared in 424 episodes (plus there is a lengthy personality section). So my first suggestion would be to add more to the role section about his various individual appearances. Also try and avoid jumping all over the place, some episodes are mentioned several times. See some of our current GAs for some examples: Ned Flanders, Krusty the Clown, Sideshow Bob or Kang and Kodos (admittedly, some of them are a little outdated and need to be brought up to current standards, especially with their leads).
 * 2) A longer lead would be nice
 * 3) One of the big gaps is voice information. Where did Castellaneta get the voice from? Who did he base it on? Castellaneta has done a lot of interviews and commentaries, so I suggest you start looking throught some of them for this.
 * 4) There seems to be a lot of overlinking, why exactly is "à la" linked?
 * 5) Try and find some helpful comments about the character from reviewers for the reception section.
 * 6) The pukahontas image seems decorative, and per the image rules should probably be removed.
 * 7) It's been a while since I've listened to the commentaries, but I don't recall Barney getting much of a mention in the one for "And Maggie Makes Three" (in fact, that specific statement was originally sourced to a season one episode)
 * 8) Do we really need to explain what a PRISM award is? I know it's not very well-known, but that is what a wikilink is for.
 * 9) Does the sobriety section need its own section?

It's getting there, but it seems that the page is just pieced together from little bits from other wikipedia articles. Try and find some interviews where Barney is mentioned (google is your friend) and try listening to some of the commentaries involving Castellaneta. -- Scorpion 0422  18:10, 4 November 2008 (UTC)

Polish ancestry
What's the source of his ancestry? There's nothing in the article! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Zoomazooma (talk • contribs) 08:43, 15 June 2009 (UTC)

Development
When I look at the development section of good article characters like Ned and Bob and Smithers, they include key characteristics. I don't think the "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" info is all that important to belong in Barney's development section.Tj terrorible1 (talk) 19:37, 6 November 2008 (UTC)

Only ONE of these is canon!
First it says: He had his mind set on going to Harvard University until his best friend Homer Simpson introduced him to beer the day before they were to take the SATs.[4]

Then the next sentence: Barney took to drinking when his high school love interest Chloe Talbot left Springfield to pursue a journalism career.[5]

The fact that both statements are sourced is irrelevant; anything from a late-season episode that contradicts the continuity established in the early season is not canon. Chloe Talbot is a character made up in a very late-season episode, she wasn't in any of the early-season flashback episode. Therefore she does not exist in canon. I consider anything from later than season 13 as non-canon, because from season 14 aqnd later they absolutely destroy the continuity because the writers changed and started caring more about making money than they did about maintaining plausible, non-contradictory continuity in their show.


 * It doesn't matter what you care or what you think is canon. The fact is both of those appeared on the show as explanations. Unless a member of the creative team specifically denies one then both do in-fact remain canon (and there are numerous examples in the series where items are explained differently and the contradiction is never addressed). And despite what you may think, the truth is later season material is more likely to be referenced again by the creative team than earlier material so it's actually probable that the later season explanation is now the true canon with the earlier explanation having been retconned.207.237.208.153 (talk) 05:27, 30 January 2012 (UTC)

Polish
Barney said he was Polish in Treehouse of Horror XVII (Season 18, Episode 4). Does this mean he is Polish in the series, or would it not count since it was a non-cannon episode and set in the 1930s? 66.44.26.250 (talk) 05:00, 30 April 2012 (UTC)

Bail bondsman
Am I correct in saying he's a bail bondsman? Kiko4564 (talk) 02:44, 6 July 2013 (UTC)

Voiced by
Why does the article state that "The character is voiced by Joe Alaskey" (also in the infobox), when in the Voice section there is no mention of this, and is contradicted by stating Dan Castellaneta did the voice (which seems to be the correct voice actor)? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.242.38.206 (talk) 23:05, 28 February 2016 (UTC)