Some of the appeal of the characters may have been due to their name, which sounds similar to fark, in turn a euphemism for a word banned from the airwaves by US censors.
Farkle (or "farkel") is also the name of a medieval dice game, now popular at Renaissance Faires, that has much in common with the modern game craps except that it uses six dice instead of two. The word "farkle" should not be confused with the medieval word "fardle" (or "fardel") meaning "bundle."
Farkleberry (Vaccinium arboreum) is a close relative of the bilberry ( = Vaccinium myrtillus) plant (in the blueberry family), sometimes called the "tree huckleberry," although it is not a true huckleberry ( = Vaccinium ovatum). The farkleberry is the most astringent of the herbs in its immediate family and therefore of significant medicinal value. Among the many other common names for the farkleberry are "sparkleberry," "trackleberry," "whinberry," and "whortleberry."