Local roots inspire ’Simpsons’ writer
Whitesboro native won Emmy award for work on the show

When John Frink let his friend — a writer for ‘The Simpsons‘ — use his name for one of the show’s characters, he never thought he’d end up writing for the show, too.

But he did — and now he has an Emmy to prove it.

Frink, who grew up in Whitesboro, received an Emmy award at the 52nd Creative Arts Awards in Pasadena, Calif., for his work as a writer/producer on The Fox show ‘The Simpsons.‘ The episode, ‘Behind the Laughter,‘ was awarded Outstanding Animated Program at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences presentation Aug. 26.

Frink, 41, now lives in Topanga, Calif., with his wife, Lori, and three children, Brody, Madison and Makena.

His creativity stems from childhood.

His parents, Clifford and Joyce Frink of Hamilton, said their son always had a lot of ideas when he was growing up.

‘He always was coming up with something,‘ Joyce said.

While many people who work on the show are from big cities, Frink uses his small-town roots.

‘Every day I draw from the people and experiences that took place when I was a kid,‘ he said.

After graduating from Oriskany Central School and Herkimer County Community College, Frink went on to Emerson College in Boston, where he graduated with a degree in creative writing.

He then moved to California and took his first job delivering newspapers.

Success didn’t happen overnight for Frink. He worked 10 or 11 years before he got his break, but he didn’t mind.

‘As long as you can be happy and moving along toward your goal,‘ he said, it’s worth the effort.

And moving along he did.

Before ‘The Simpsons,‘ Frink wrote for a number of shows including NBC’s ‘Hope and Gloria,‘ ‘Men Behaving Badly,‘ and ‘Veronica’s Closet.‘ He also wrote for CBS’s ‘Can’t Hurry Love,‘ and ‘The Brian Benben Show.‘

Now he is part of the longest running prime time show on television, which airs at 8 p.m. Sundays on Fox.

Frink said the show works on all levels.

‘If you have a parent there explaining stuff, it is an educational experience,‘ he said.

Frink is part of a team of writers.

‘A lot of people who work on the show went to Harvard,‘ he said.

Frink said the difference between ‘The Simpsons‘ and other shows he worked on, is that it focuses on the writing.

‘It is a writer’s show,‘ he said. ‘It is run by the writers, most other shows are star driven. This one is absolutely revolved around script and writing.‘

Frink said he still turns to his parents to get ideas.

‘There’s always a story in the real people and real events taking place back home,‘ he said. ‘I just have to figure out how it would be funny if Bart or Homer did it.‘

Even though Professor John Frink is named after him, his wife said he is more like Homer.
‘We see a lot of John in him,‘ Lori said.

Frink said he is constantly looking at the funny side of things.

‘You have to soak in every minute of your life,‘ he said. ‘You can’t walk through life.‘

‘He’s pretty funny,‘ Lori said. ‘It definitely rubs off on our son, too.‘

While this was the second time the couple attended the Emmys, it was Frink’s first award.

He said it feels good to have won.

‘It is a job I’m embarrassed to have,‘ he said. ‘I get to go to work and get to laugh at work.‘

His parents, who love to see their son’s name on the television screen and have a room filled with Simpsons stuff, will soon get a glimpse of something even bigger.

Like John, the Emmy also will be coming home for the holidays.

‘I’ll leave it with my folks,‘ he said. ‘Leave it under or on top of the tree.‘

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