0033 - Barney Gumble (Patreon)

Is Barney the most tragic character in the show? Obviously Springfield is full of tragedy, this is where a lot of the comedy comes from, but when I think too hard about Barney's role in the show it just seems especially sad.

Barney is shown to have been an honour student in his younger years, he has an incredible singing voice, and even qualifies to become an astronaut, but any potential he has to succeed as a human being is squandered by alcoholism - and possibly his relationship with his best friend.

Even when he conquers this, the show deems a sober Barney to be too boring, and he soon reverts back to his drunken ways. Listen, I know, he's fictional, but when I think about this arc, devoid of the context of jokes, it seems very sad. In my Lenny comic, the first draft had a moment implying that Barney is driven to drink by the existential nature of existing in an unchanging cartoon universe, but this seemed too dark for me.

It's a good job he's funny, I guess.

This post is part of my "Every Simpsons Character Ever" series. For a list of my rules in this project, click here.