Editing Professor Frink (section)

==Character==
[[File:Hankazaria05.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Hank Azaria]] voices Frink]]
Frink first appeared in the [[The Simpsons (season 2)|season two]] episode "[[Old Money (The Simpsons)|Old Money]]" that aired on {{nowrap|March 28, 1991}}.<ref name=tvguide/><ref name=oldmoney/> In that episode, [[Grampa Simpson]] inherits $106,000 from his girlfriend when she dies. He eventually decides to spend it on people who are in need of money and holds interviews. In one of these interviews, Frink introduces Grampa to his latest invention, the Death Ray, claiming that "it is just a prototype. With proper funding I'm confident this little baby could destroy an area the size of New York City!" Grampa responds with "But I want to help people, not kill 'em!", to which Frink replies "Oh. Well, to be honest, the ray only has evil applications. You know my wife will be happy, she's hated this whole Death Ray thing from day one."<ref name=Money/>

In the original script, Frink appeared more evil.<ref name=oldmoney>Groening, Matt; Jean, Al; Kogen, Jay; Silverman, David; Wolodarsky, Wallace (2002). [[Audio commentary]] for "[[Old Money (The Simpsons)|Old Money]]", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Second Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.</ref> However, when cast member Hank Azaria [[ad libitum|ad-libbed]] a voice for Frink, he did an impression of [[Jerry Lewis]]'s character Julius Kelp from the 1963 film ''[[The Nutty Professor (1963 film)|The Nutty Professor]]'', and the writing staff started making Frink more of a parody of that character. Julius Kelp is a nerdy, mad professor, albeit not evil, and is often unsuccessful with his experiments, so Frink became more like that as the show progressed.<ref name=oldmoney/><ref>{{cite news |title=Comedian Lewis recovering from heart attack |url=http://www.zap2it.com/movies/news/zap-jerrylewismildheartattack,0,377757.story?coll=zap-movies-headlines |access-date=2010-08-02 |newspaper=[[Zap2it]] |date=2006-06-14 |archive-date=2006-07-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060713043242/http://www.zap2it.com/movies/news/zap-jerrylewismildheartattack,0,377757.story?coll=zap-movies-headlines |url-status=dead }}</ref> ''The Simpsons'' creator [[Matt Groening]] told ''[[TV Guide]]'' that "He was just written as a mad scientist character until Hank did the voice, and suddenly he became this nutty professor persona. What I love about Hank is that, you give him a single line{{snd}}and most of these characters have very few lines{{snd}}and he just brings it to life. Every time."<ref name=tvguide/> Frink was originally animated without his buckteeth; they were added later on to make him look even more like Lewis's character.<ref name=oldmoney/> Writer [[Jay Kogen]] named the character after his friend and fellow television writer [[John Frink]], who was later hired on ''The Simpsons''.<ref name=oldmoney/><ref name="sprcon">{{cite book |last1=Reiss |first1=Mike |last2=Klickstein |first2=Mathew |title=Springfield confidential: jokes, secrets, and outright lies from a lifetime writing for the Simpsons |date=2018 |publisher=Dey Street Books |isbn=978-0062748034 |page=101|location=New York City}}</ref> Frink's nonsensical utterances are written in the scripts as "Frink noise".<ref name="#30">{{cite news |last=Chant |first=Lisa |title=30 things you didn't know about The Simpsons |newspaper=[[The Sunday Mail (Brisbane)|Sunday Mail]] |date=2005-01-30 |page=066}}</ref>

Azaria has voiced Frink ever since the first appearance of the professor.<ref name="Hollingworth"/> Of the many characters that Azaria voices, Frink is his favorite because he was a fan of Lewis in his younger years<ref name="NorthernEcho"/><ref>{{cite news |title=Raise your glass |newspaper=[[Daily Express|The Express]] |date=2000-08-12}}</ref> and he enjoys imitating the voice of the Nutty Professor.<ref>{{cite news |last=Knutzen |first=Eirik |title=Azaria finds therapeutic role as 'Huff' |newspaper=[[The State Journal-Register]] |date=2004-11-11 |page=9A}}</ref> He has said that "once you start talking like [Julius Kelp] it's very hard to stop. On each take, I'll make it sillier, I always have. I'll add more and more stupid noises and sounds to it. If they let me keep going, it gets ridiculous."<ref name="NorthernEcho">{{cite news |title=Mummy's the word |newspaper=[[The Northern Echo]] |date=2009-05-16}}</ref>

As a homage to Lewis, Azaria conceived the idea of the [[Treehouse of Horror XIV]] segment in which Frink revives his dead father, with Lewis guest starring as the father.<ref name="tvguide">{{cite news |title=Flash! 24 Simpsons stars reveal themselves |date=2000-10-21 |work=[[TV Guide]] |author=Rhodes, Joe}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Battaglio |first=Stephen |title=Chills and Thrills from 'The Simpsons' |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/nydn-features/chills-thrills-simpsons-article-1.516833 |access-date=2014-01-15 |newspaper=[[New York Daily News]] |date=2003-11-02}}</ref><ref name="sprcon"/> In a review of that episode, which aired around Halloween in 2003, Robert Bianco of ''[[USA Today]]'' wrote that it is hard to tell Frink and his father's voices apart: "Azaria voices Frink with such a spot-on Lewis imitation that it's sometimes hard to tell which one of the two nutty professors is talking."<ref name="Bianco">{{cite news |last=Bianco |first=Robert |title='Simpsons,' 'Hill' get star treatment |url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/television/reviews/2003-10-30-fox-cartoons_x.htm |access-date=2010-08-01 |newspaper=[[USA Today]] |date=2001-10-31}}</ref> In addition, ''[[The Knoxville News-Sentinel]]''{{'}}s Terry Morrow commented that "to hear Lewis doing Azaria doing Lewis is a mind-bending gut buster, the kind of pay-off that die-hard ''Simpsons'' fans live for."<ref>{{cite news |last=Morrow |first=Terry |title='Simpsons' marks 15 years of quirky humor |newspaper=[[The Knoxville News-Sentinel]] |date=2003-10-31 |page=E5}}</ref>