“My name is Barney and I'm an alcoholic,” Barney Gumble says.
A man replies, “I feel for you pally but you want AA - this is Triple A.”
(A door with a sign that reads "AA meeting tonight" is shown.)
Homer Simpson opens the door, and a man greets him, “Uh, welcome back Homer, I see you finally hit rock bottom.”
Homer answers back, “Not a chance! I can sink way lower.
I just came to help my friend, Barney.”
“We all know why we're here don't we?” the upbeat woman running the meeting says.
“To keep ourselves sober... and to network!
So let's get started.”
Barney starts, “I have a problem with alcohol and I need help.”
“Well, your recovery begins today,” The woman responds. “And we promise you all the sugar cookies and second hand smoke you can handle!”
“These cookies that you speak of,” Homer says, scratching his chin, “Are they real or symbolic?”
The woman tells him, “They're on that table over there.”
“Aw, I don't want to walk that far,” Homer complains.
“Anything that takes twelve steps isn't worth doing!
Get it, huh? Haha! Twelve? Steps? Hehe!”
(“Days of Wine and D’Oh’ses,” The Simpsons).
In the fictional town of Springfield, Homer Simpson agrees to help his good friend Barney Gumble overcome his addiction to drinking alcohol. Homer thinks he is the right person to help Barney, as he himself has been charged with drinking and driving in the past, and (as one can gather from the man’s greeting to Homer when they walk into the meeting), has attended ‘Alc-Acon’ (Springfield’s version of Alcoholics Anonymous) meetings in the past. Although they are both regular customer’s at Moe’s (the local bar), Homer considers his own alcoholism to be less serious than Barney’s.
This episode of The Simpsons makes fun of Alcoholics Anonymous in several ways. When Barney introduces himself, using the famous line “My name is (insert name here)...