John Frink is an American television writer and producer. He has written several episodes of the American animated
sitcom
A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...
''
The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...
'', many of which he co-wrote with his former writing partner Don Payne. Frink and Payne started their career in television writing for the short-lived sitcom ''
Hope and Gloria
''Hope & Gloria'' is an American sitcom television series created by Bill and Cheri Steinkellner, that aired on NBC from March 9, 1995, through June 22, 1996. The show was canceled after 35 episodes. It starred Cynthia Stevenson as Hope, a high ...
''. They wrote their first episode of ''The Simpsons'' in 2000, and Frink still works on the show as a writer and
executive producer
Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...
.
Early life and career
Frink was born in
Whitesboro, New York
Whitesboro is a village in Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 3,772 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. The village is named after Hugh White, an early settler.
The Village of Whitesboro is inside the Whitestown ...
. A graduate of
Emerson College
Emerson College is a private college in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It also maintains campuses in Los Angeles and Well, Limburg, Netherlands (Kasteel Well). Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a "school of Public Speaking, o ...
in
Boston, Massachusetts
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, he holds a degree in
creative writing
Creative writing is any writing that goes beyond the boundaries of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on craft and technique, such as narrative structure, character ...
. Frink began his career as a writer for several sitcoms together with his writing partner at the time, Don Payne. The two met at
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...
, where Frink was the boss of the Media Laboratory in which Payne worked. Payne has said to the website TheFutonCritic.com that "one day we were both trying to write individually so I said, 'why don't we pool our resources and write together and see what happens?'" In 2006, Payne told the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' that "I hooked up with a writing partner, John Frink, out of college. I wanted to do films. He wanted to do television." The pair reached the agreement that they would pursue a career in the medium that they first got a job offer in—whether it be film or television. They eventually ended up writing for television sitcoms such as ''
Hope and Gloria
''Hope & Gloria'' is an American sitcom television series created by Bill and Cheri Steinkellner, that aired on NBC from March 9, 1995, through June 22, 1996. The show was canceled after 35 episodes. It starred Cynthia Stevenson as Hope, a high ...
Insane Clown Poppy
"Insane Clown Poppy" is the third episode of the The Simpsons season 12, twelfth season of the American television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network in the United States on November 12, 2000 ...
", itself a holdover from season 11. " Treehouse of Horror XI", another season 11 holdover written by the pair, was broadcast earlier than "Insane Clown Poppy", but was produced after. Payne said in an interview with
TV Squad
Weblogs, Inc. was a blog network that published content on a variety of subjects, including tech news, video games, automobiles, and pop culture. At one point, the network had as many as 90 blogs, although the vast majority of its traffic could b ...
in 2006 that "My partner and I were actually working on one of a long string of failed sitcoms (and most sitcoms are failed sitcoms!) On the day a show is officially cancelled, it's kind of a tradition for the writing staff to go out to a restaurant, eat a nice meal, and drown their sorrows. On the way there, a writer named
Jace Richdale
Jace Richdale is an American producer and writer. He served as co-executive producer for seasons 5 and 6 of ''The Simpsons'' and wrote the season five episode " Burns' Heir". He was a part of the ''Simpsons'' writing staff during seasons 5, 6, 9 an ...
(who had also worked on ''The Simpsons'') told my partner and me that ''The Simpsons'' was looking for some writers. He wanted to know if we'd be interested in it, because he would recommend us. My jaw literally dropped. So he contacted the show-runner, a guy named
Mike Scully
Michael C. Scully (born October 2, 1956) is an American television writer and producer. He is known for his work as executive producer and showrunner of the animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' from 1997 to 2001. Scully grew up in West Springfield, ...
, who read our
spec script
A spec script, also known as a speculative screenplay, is a non-commissioned and unsolicited screenplay. It is usually written by a screenwriter who hopes to have the script optioned and eventually purchased by a producer, production company, or ...
and met with us, then hired us on."
After a few years of working on ''The Simpsons'' together, Frink and Payne's writing partnership ended. They both continued to work on the show, though, and Payne has described their split-up as amicable. The first episode Frink wrote on his own was season fifteen's " Bart-Mangled Banner" (2004). Since the twenty-first season of ''The Simpsons'' (2009–2010), he has been credited as an
executive producer
Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...
.
The ''Simpsons'' character
Professor Frink
Professor John I.Q. Nerdelbaum Frink Jr. is a recurring character in the Animated cartoon, animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Hank Azaria, and first appeared in the 1991 episode "Old Money (The Simpsons), Old Money". Fr ...
, a ''
The Nutty Professor The Nutty Professor may refer to:
* ''The Nutty Professor'' (1963 film), directed by and starring Jerry Lewis
* ''The Nutty Professor'' (1996 film), directed by Tom Shadyac and starring Eddie Murphy
** ''The Nutty Professor'' (soundtrack), sound ...
''-esque scientist, was named after Frink, although the character was introduced before he was hired as a writer on the show.Groening, Matt; Jean, Al; Kogen, Jay; Silverman, David; Wolodarsky, Wallace (2002). Commentary for "
Old Money
Old money is a social class of the rich who have been able to maintain their wealth over multiple generations, in contrast with new money whose wealth has been acquired within its own generation. The term often refers to perceived members of th ...
", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Second Season'' VD 20th Century Fox.
Awards
Frink has won several awards for his work on ''The Simpsons''. He has also received several award nominations.