John Frink is an American television writer and producer. He has written several episodes of the American animatedsitcomThe Simpsons, many of which he co-wrote with his former writing partnerDon Payne. Frink and Payne started their career in television writing for the short-lived sitcomHope and Gloria. They wrote their first episode ofThe Simpsons in 2000, and Frink still works on the show as a writer andexecutive producer.

Frink was born inWhitesboro, New York. A graduate ofEmerson College inBoston, Massachusetts, he holds a degree increative 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 atUCLA, 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 theLos 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 asHope and Gloria (1995–1996) andThe Brian Benben Show (1998).^[2] These sitcoms were short-lived and Payne has deemed them as failures.^[1]

Frink and Payne joined the writing staff of the animated sitcomThe 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 withTV 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 namedJace Richdale (who had also worked onThe Simpsons) told my partner and me thatThe 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 namedMike Scully, who read ourspec script and met with us, then hired us on."^[1]

After a few years of working onThe 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 ofThe Simpsons (2009–2010), he has been credited as anexecutive producer.

TheSimpsons characterProfessor Frink, aThe 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]

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

• John Frink atIMDb

• 1964 births
• Living people
• American television writers
• American male television writers
• Emerson College alumni
• Primetime Emmy Award winners
• People from Whitesboro, New York
• Screenwriters from New York (state)
• Writers Guild of America Award winners

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