John Frink is an American television writer and producer. He has written several episodes of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons, 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. They wrote their first episode of The Simpsons in 2000, and Frink still works on the show as a writer and executive producer.

John Frink
Born
Whitesboro, New York, United States
Occupation(s)Writer, producer

Early life and career

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Frink was born in Whitesboro, New York. A graduate of Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts, he holds a degree in creative writing. Frink began his career as a writer for several sitcoms together with his writing partner at the time, Don Payne.[1][2] The two met at UCLA, 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?'"[3] In 2006, Payne told the Los Angeles Times that "I hooked up with a writing partner, John Frink, out of college. I wanted to do films. He wanted to do television."[2] 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 (1995–1996) and The Brian Benben Show (1998).[2] These sitcoms were short-lived and Payne has deemed them as failures.[1]

Further career

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Don Payne, Frink's writing partner for several years

Frink and Payne joined the writing staff of the animated sitcom The Simpsons in 1999, participating in the show's communal rewriting process beginning in its eleventh season. The earliest episode co-written by Frink and Payne was the season twelve episode "Insane Clown Poppy",[1] 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.[1] Payne said in an interview with TV Squad 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 (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, who read our spec script and met with us, then hired us on."[1]

After a few years of working on The Simpsons together, Frink and Payne's writing partnership ended.[1][2] They both continued to work on the show, though, and Payne has described their split-up as amicable.[3] 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.

The Simpsons character Professor Frink, a The Nutty Professor-esque scientist, was named after Frink, although the character was introduced before he was hired as a writer on the show.[4][5]

Awards

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Frink has won several awards for his work on The Simpsons. He has also received several award nominations.

Accolades for John Frink
Year Award Category Series Notes Result Ref.
2000 Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour) The Simpsons As producer Won [6]
2001 Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour) The Simpsons As producer Won [6]
2002 Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour) The Simpsons As supervising producer Nominated [6]
2003 Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour) The Simpsons As co-executive producer Won [6]
2003 Writers Guild of America Award Animation The Simpsons For the episode "The Bart Wants What It Wants" Nominated [7]
2004 Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour) The Simpsons As co-executive producer Nominated [6]
2005 Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour) The Simpsons As co-executive producer Nominated [6]
2006 Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour) The Simpsons As co-executive producer Won [6]
2006 Writers Guild of America Award Animation The Simpsons For the episode "The Girl Who Slept Too Little" Nominated [8]
2007 Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour) The Simpsons As co-executive producer Nominated [6]
2007 Writers Guild of America Award Animation The Simpsons For the episode "The Italian Bob" Won [9]
2008 Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour) The Simpsons As co-executive producer Won [6]
2008 Writers Guild of America Award Animation The Simpsons For the episode "Stop, or My Dog Will Shoot!" Nominated [10]
2009 Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour) The Simpsons As co-executive producer Nominated [6]
2009 Writers Guild of America Award Comedy series The Simpsons As a member of the writing staff Nominated [11]
2010 Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour) The Simpsons As co-executive producer Nominated [6]
2010 Writers Guild of America Award Animation The Simpsons For the episode "Eeny Teeny Maya, Moe" Nominated [12]
2010 Annie Award Writing in a Television Production The Simpsons For the episode "Stealing First Base" Nominated [13]
2011 Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour) The Simpsons As executive producer and writer of the episode "Angry Dad: The Movie" Nominated [6]

Credits

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John Frink credits outside of The Simpsons
Year Series Role Notes
1995 Hope and Gloria Writer Co-wrote the episode "A Fine ROM-ance"
Pride & Joy Writer Co-wrote the episode "Brenda's Secret"
1995–1996 Can't Hurry Love Writer Co-wrote the episodes "Annie Get Your Armoire",
"Glove Story", and "Valentine's Day Massacred"
1997 Men Behaving Badly Writer Co-wrote the episodes "Wet Nurse" and "Playing Doctor"
Veronica's Closet Co-producer Co-produced the episode "Veronica's First Thanksgiving"
1998 The Brian Benben Show Writer and producer Co-wrote the episode "House of Blues"
2000–present The Simpsons Writer and producer For a list of episodes written, see below
2007 The Simpsons Movie Consultant writer

The Simpsons episodes

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Episodes of The Simpsons written by John Frink
Title Season Airdate Notes
"Treehouse of Horror XI" 12 2000 Co-written by Don Payne
"Insane Clown Poppy" 12 2000 Co-written by Don Payne
"Bye Bye Nerdie" 12 2001 Co-written by Don Payne
"Simpsons Tall Tales" 12 2001 Co-written by Don Payne
"Treehouse of Horror XII" 13 2001 Co-written by Don Payne
"The Bart Wants What It Wants" 13 2002 Co-written by Don Payne
"The Great Louse Detective" 14 2002 Co-written by Don Payne
"Old Yeller Belly" 14 2003 Co-written by Don Payne
"The Wandering Juvie" 15 2004 Co-written by Don Payne
"Bart-Mangled Banner" 15 2004
"The Girl Who Slept Too Little" 17 2005
"The Italian Bob" 17 2005
"Stop! Or My Dog Will Shoot" 18 2007
"All About Lisa" 19 2008
"Lost Verizon" 20 2008
"Eeny Teeny Maya Moe" 20 2009
"Stealing First Base" 21 2010
"The Bob Next Door" 21 2010
"Angry Dad: The Movie" 22 2011
"500 Keys" 22 2011
"Politically Inept, with Homer Simpson" 23 2012
"Black Eyed, Please" 24 2013
"What to Expect When Bart's Expecting" 25 2014
"Waiting for Duffman" 26 2015
"Peeping Mom" 26 2015
"Love Is in the N2-O2-Ar-CO2-Ne-He-CH4" 27 2016
"Simprovised" 27 2016
"Treehouse of Horror XXVIII" 29 2017
"Gone Boy" 29 2017
"Left Behind" 29 2018 Co-written by Joel H. Cohen & Al Jean
"'Tis the 30th Season" 30 2018 Co-written by Joel H. Cohen & Jeff Westbrook
"Go Big or Go Homer" 31 2019
"Bobby, It's Cold Outside" 31 2019 Co-written by Jeff Westbrook
"The 7 Beer Itch" 32 2020 Co-written by Joel H. Cohen & Al Jean
"Treehouse of Horror XXXII" 33 2021
"Pixelated and Afraid" 33 2022
"Bartless" 34 2023

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Weinberg, Scott (2006-05-09). "Don Payne: The TV Squad Interview". TV Squad. Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2011-09-30.
  2. ^ a b c d King, Susan (2006-07-20). "A dream finally takes flight". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-09-30.
  3. ^ a b Sullivan, Brian Ford (2007-01-23). "Interview: 'The Simpsons' Co-Executive Producer Don Payne". The Futon Critic. Retrieved 2011-09-30.
  4. ^ Rhodes, Joe (2000-10-21). "Flash! 24 Simpsons Stars Reveal Themselves". TV Guide.
  5. ^ Groening, Matt; Jean, Al; Kogen, Jay; Silverman, David; Wolodarsky, Wallace (2002). Commentary for "Old Money", in The Simpsons: The Complete Second Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Primetime Emmy Award Database". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 2011-10-01.
  7. ^ "55th Annual Writers Guild Awards Nominees Announced for Television and Radio". Writers Guild of America. Archived from the original on 2010-07-03. Retrieved 2011-10-17.
  8. ^ "2006 Writers Guild Awards Television and Radio Nominees Announced". Writers Guild of America. Archived from the original on 2013-10-12. Retrieved 2011-10-17.
  9. ^ "Awards Winners". Writers Guild of America. Archived from the original on 2012-05-25. Retrieved 2011-10-17.
  10. ^ "2008 Writers Guild Awards Television & Radio Nominees Announced". Writers Guild of America. Archived from the original on 2007-12-19. Retrieved 2007-12-13.
  11. ^ "2009 Writers Guild Awards Television, Radio, News, Promotional Writing, and Graphic Animation Nominees Announced". Writers Guild of America. 2008-12-09. Archived from the original on 2008-12-12. Retrieved 2008-12-09.
  12. ^ "2010 Writers Guild Awards Television, Radio, News, Promotional Writing, and Graphic Animation Nominees Announced". Writers Guild of America. 2009-12-14. Archived from the original on 2010-01-29. Retrieved 2010-01-12.
  13. ^ "38th Annual Annie Nominations". Annie Awards. Archived from the original on 2009-12-04. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
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