# Ferd Burfel
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferd-burfel/381504
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [November 23, 2006, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferd-burfel/381504 "2006-11-23T01:32:07Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [November 23, 2006, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferd-burfel/381504/1 "2006-11-23T01:32:07Z")
I was browsing The Dope earlier today, and I ran across the name **Ferd Burfel**. I vaguely remember the name, and that he was friends with ‘Fred and Fannie Farkel’. Where is this from?
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### Author:  [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)
#### Post date: [November 23, 2006, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferd-burfel/381504/2 "2006-11-23T01:40:11Z")
Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-in. Joanne Worley was Fannie Farkel, Dan Rowan was her husband Fred, and next-door neighbor Ferd Burfel was played by Dick Martin.
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### Author:  [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)
#### Post date: [November 23, 2006, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferd-burfel/381504/3 "2006-11-23T01:41:45Z")
ISTR twin kids, Markle and Sparkle Farkel, too.
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### Author:  [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)
#### Post date: [November 23, 2006, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferd-burfel/381504/4 "2006-11-23T01:54:27Z")
And that–“_hi!_”–is Flicker Farkel.
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### Author:  [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)
#### Post date: [November 23, 2006, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferd-burfel/381504/5 "2006-11-23T01:54:27Z")
And the joke was that the ever-expanding family of Farkel offspring all looked just like Ferd Burfel.
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### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [November 23, 2006, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferd-burfel/381504/6 "2006-11-23T01:56:44Z")
The twins (one black, one white) were Simon and Gar Farkle. Though there may have been a second set later on that I don’t remember.
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### Author:  [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)
#### Post date: [November 23, 2006, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferd-burfel/381504/7 "2006-11-23T02:05:33Z")
Red silly-boy wig, freckles, eyeglasses.
IIRC, Arte Johnson was the original child, Fred Jr. Over the course of the show they kept adding children until the entire cast was dressed as a Burfel.
“Fine lookin’ family you have there, Fred.”
(Are we sure it was “Fred”? For some reason Frank Farkle is stuck in my head.)
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### Author:  [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)
#### Post date: [November 23, 2006, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferd-burfel/381504/8 "2006-11-23T02:07:19Z")
“Hi, I’m Frank Farkel, proud father and founder of the Farkel family. This is my wife, Fern Farkel, and these are the kids, Mark and Sparkle Farkel, the twins, Simon and Gar Farkel, and that–‘_hi!_’–is Flicker Farkel. And this is our good and trusted neighbor, Ferd Berfel.”
I swear to you, I did not Google that. This is what happens when you don’t take drugs, you remember _every goddam minute_ of your childhood . . .
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### Author:  [@DaddyTimesTwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaddyTimesTwo)
#### Post date: [November 23, 2006, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ferd-burfel/381504/9 "2006-11-23T02:48:10Z")
**Eve** , I can exactly hear Dan Rowan’s voice saying that line. I think I can vaguely recall seeing an episode, in reruns, of course, on Nick at Night featuring the Farkels.
Ahhh, _Laugh In_ what a great show. On an episode of “News of the Future”, Nov 2 1988, or whatever, “President Ronald Reagan” got a huge laugh. I however, was not laughing. 😉