Jeffrey Scott (writer)
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Jeffrey Scott (May 7, 1952–) is an American writer. His extensive resume of writing credits goes back to the 1970s, and includes a mix of television scripts, movie scripts, and series pitches. Shows that he's done work on include the Super Friends franchise, M.A.S.K., Dungeons & Dragons, Muppet Babies, and James Bond Jr.
Across February and March 1984, in response to the The Transformers toyline's hugely successful debut at New York Toy Fair, Scott was hurriedly commissioned by Marvel Productions to write a development bible and the script for a pilot episode entitled "A Robot's Best Friend Is His Dog" as part of a larger effort to sell the series to network television, following the three-part pilot mini-series already being produced for syndication; <ref>Detailed entry for his Transformers writing credits, as listed on his official website</ref>. Scott's second draft bible included original female Transformers characters 'Fire-Cycle' and 'Whirlpool' (by network request), and a trio of human allies: trucker Matt Conroy, driver of Optimus Prime, along with his dog Burt. As well as teenager Wendy Fairchild, owner of clutzy VW Beetle 'Muffler', and her younger brother Eddie Fairchild.
Instead, the decision was made to continue the series in syndication. Bryce Malek and Dick Robbins were hired as story editors and wrote a new production bible. They reviewed Scott's work, looking to salvage usuable ideas. By late April 1984, they had chosen to drop the female Transformers (given that they were not part of the toyline), as well as Wendy Fairchild. Later —after some deliberation— they also rejected Matt and Eddie in favor of continuing with Spike and adding the character Chip Chase. However, the names Eddie Fairchild and Matt Conroy were eventually recycled for a pair of characters from Transformers: Animated.
In an interview on Rhino Entertainment's release of the third season of the cartoon, writer David Wise recalled Scott's involvement with the early development of the cartoon, as related to him by Malek. The description of Optimus Prime as "an Abraham Lincoln" was attributed to Scott, as a result of him transcribing Bob Budiansky's character profiles for the development bible, with only minor edits.