Professor Frink
Template:Simpsons character Professor John I.Q. Nerdelbaum Frink, Jr. is a recurring character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria, and first appeared in the episode "Old Money". He is Springfield's local scientist and college professor, and is extremely brilliant, though somewhat socially inept. Frink often tries to use his bizarre inventions to aid the town in its crises, especially during the Treehouse of Horror episodes, but they usually only make things worse.
Role in The Simpsons
Prototype
John Frink (referred to as Frink in the episode "Future-Drama") is generally depicted as Springfield's local stereotypical nerdy scientist/inventor. Frink is a college professor at Springfield Heights Institute of Technology. He has a trademark mannerism of using gibberish when excited, such as "HOYVIN-GLAYVIN!" and shouting other words that have no relevance to the situation at hand, possibly suggesting that he has Tourette's syndrome[citation needed]. He also occasionally refers to the importance of remembering to "carry the one" in various mathematical calculations and also has a tendency to over complicate simple matters, such as "Father and I got along like positrons and antineutrinos!". He is rarely seen without his glasses and almost never takes them off.
Frink has an IQ of 197; 199 before he sustained a concussion during the collapse of Springfield's brief intellectual junta, and is a member of the Springfield chapter of Mensa.[1]
Frink is also the inventor of, among other things, automatic tapping shoes for tap dancing, the frog exaggerator, monsterometer, the sarcasm detector, hamburger earmuffs (which are apparently much more complicated than one would think, with problems that include the "pickle matrix") and the 8-month after pill. Some of Frink's inventions, such as the automatic phone dialer, work better than others, such as his radio-controlled plane, which carries babies as passengers under their parents' control (it crashed), or a secure building that sprouts legs and runs away from potential danger (the legs of which often collapsed causing the house to crash to the ground and catch fire). Also, in the 1960s, Frink made napalm to drop on Da Nang.[2] Frink has also discovered and cured "Frink's Disease" and discovered "Frinkonium." Frink has mastered astrology to the point where he can use it to accurately predict the future, and has been shown to be capable of time travel.
Many of Frink's major appearances have been in the Treehouse of Horror episodes, which are usually not accepted as canon. Frink's bizarre inventions and understanding of advanced physics usually fit very well into these supernatural plotlines. This makes many of Frink's facets revealed in these episodes, such as his college degree and relationship with his father, difficult to accept as canon.
Family
Frink has a wife, who he refers to in his first appearance and has appeared as an equally nerdy scientist, though in later episodes they may be separated or divorced based on dialog, and a young son who looks similar to him. His son, who resembles him, has only been seen on two occasions: during a convention for infant and toddler products as a pilot of a remote-controlled plane in "Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?" (Frink's son flew out the window while in the plane), and the other at a robot battle in "I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot" (operating the robot).
Character
Originally, Frink was simply written as a "mad scientist". When Hank Azaria first performed Frink's voice, he based it on Jerry Lewis's character from The Nutty Professor. As reference to this, Azaria pitched the section of "Treehouse of Horror XIV" in which Frink brings his father back to life, with his father being voiced by Jerry Lewis. The character was named after The Simpsons writer John Frink.[3]
A programming language and a space reactor analysis tool[4] have been named in honor of Professor Frink.
References
- ^ Selman, Matt; Michels, Pete. "They Saved Lisa's Brain". The Simpsons. Season 10. Episode 22. Fox.
{{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter|episodelink=ignored (|episode-link=suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|serieslink=ignored (|series-link=suggested) (help) - ^ Cohen, Joel H.; Anderson, Mike B. "Homer's Paternity Coot". The Simpsons. Season 17. Episode 10. Fox.
{{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter|episodelink=ignored (|episode-link=suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|serieslink=ignored (|series-link=suggested) (help) - ^ Joe Rhodes (2000-10-21). "Flash! 24 Simpsons Stars Reveal Themselves". TV Guide.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ David I. Poston David D. Dixon Thomas F. Marcille Benjamin W. Amiri (2007-01-30). "FRINK - A Code to Evaluate Space Reactor Transients". AIP.
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