The defining trait of Barney Gumble's character is that he's a drunk, he loves beer, and he is absolutely hilarious. The writers could've left Barney as a funny one-note character and everything would've been fine, but they decided to dig a bit deeper into his character by seeing what would happen if he sobered up. After years of having him be the town drunk, the writers decided that Barney should sober up in the episode "Days of Wine and Dohses". After a few mighty struggles, Barney manages to successfully stay off the booze but becomes addicted to coffee instead. Some writers were opposed to Barney being sober as it would make him less funny but they all eventually decided to let character enjoy a sober life for a bit. Barney's sobriety was great piece of semi-permanent character development, but one can't help but miss a good Barney one-liner during his coffee days. In a somewhat sad conclusion to Barney's struggle with sobriety, it was revealed that he eventually relapsed after a few seasons of being addicted to coffee. But it was probably for the best as a Barney who is struggling with alcoholism and sobriety is far too real and depressing to be on a show like the Simpsons. And besides, a sober Barney meant no more weekly doses of funny drunken Barney shenanigans and throaty Duff-smelling burps.
My life story is nothing special. I haven't cured ebola, I'm nowhere near stopping terrorism, and I'm still working on that climate change problem.
Instead, all I've done so far is put a few hundred words together in an attempt to make people laugh.
You can follow me at @Fry_ying_pan but don't be offended if I don't tweet back. It's usually because I've spent too long trying to think up a witty response that the reply window has closed.
