PRODUCTION/CULTURAL REFERENCES (written 2/19/17)

-I came up with the idea for this episode a while back, like maybe a few months ago. I don't know exactly what inspired it, but I knew from the moment I came up with it that it would be an RK story.

-This was a very relatable idea because there were always fundraisers going on in school, specifically elementary and junior high school where World's Finest Chocolate would start partnering with schools here.

-The weirdest thing about this episode is that it was actually really easy to write. I was being lazy again but I knew that I had to take care of things, so I started on Friday and finished last night. The last time I had this much success completing an episode was with "Raging Buster," but that was a cover episode and those are always easy to do. This was an original episode, with an original story and I was done with it in no time.

-It wasn't my intention to just stick with one plot. I was going to have a B-plot related to the fundraising (most likely involving Jaylynn) but I guess it wasn't necessary. I was actually thinking about going even bigger with the drug analogies and making RK into a drug lord, but I would have needed more time to work on it that I didn't have. Plus, I didn't want the episode to be like the Boondocks one where Riley starts selling chocolate.

-This might be one of the funniest episodes this season. I made myself crack up a lot when I was writing it and I really liked RK's characterization here. He acts on his impulses, always makes the decisions that he believes are the best, and only somewhat learns something at the end. Plus, he always has faith in whatever he tries, even if everyone else realizes that he's being ridiculous.

-The episode title is a reference to the classic children's book, The Little Engine That Could.

-When Jaylynn asks RK to name five people on his block, he responds by naming four members of the girl group Fifth Harmony, forgetting to include Ally Brooke and not knowing that Camila Cabello left the group last December.

-RK references the Everybody Hates Chris episode "Everybody Hates Houseguests" when trying to think of things he's done for Jaylynn. He later references the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Chocolate with Nuts."

-The Ghetto DuckTales joke needs some explaining. First off, I was originally going to include it in "Goodbye 2016, Hello 2017" as part of a running gag where RK constantly referred to what his friends said and did as "duck tales," a slang term used when someone lies. However, I couldn't find a place to make it fit so I decided to include it in the next RK-centric episode. I wrote this song a few months ago and decided to have Jeff Pescetto sing it since he performed the original DuckTales theme song. I also turned it into a television gag because it would have been more awkward if it broke up the pace of the story.

-The joke is actually funnier because the DuckTales reboot is coming to Disney XD this summer. I actually forgot that when I first put the joke in here and just chose Disney XD to choose it.

-RK makes a reference to T-shirts of losing Super Bowl teams that get packaged up and sent overseas to countries in need of clothing.

-The man and RK make a reference to Whitney Houston's 1985 cover of George Benson's "The Greatest Love of All," under the title "Greatest Love of All."

-I came up with the food shopping spree a few days before I started writing, and "You Wouldn't Understand" was playing in my head at the time so I thought it would be the perfect song to use in the montage.

-RK whistling "Mr. Telephone Man" and running into the cops was one of the first bits I came up with for the episode.

-Wade suggests that RK get a new therapist, after everything RK went through with his first one Dr. Osborne in seasons two and four.

-RK makes a reference to "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)" by Jay-Z, specifically the lines "Like I told you sell drugs; no, Hov did that/So hopefully, you won't have to go through that."

-I got the idea for the name "Killer Bees" from Inspectah Deck's verse on "Triumph" by the Wu-Tang Clan.

-RK references the Butterfinger commercials that starred Bart Simpson back in the day.

-The Ten Candy Commandments is a reference to the song "Ten Crack Commandments" by The Notorious B.I.G.

-I was thinking about making RK getting assaulted more of a big deal, but I felt like it would have been funnier if everyone just shrugged it off and pretended it never happened, especially since RK didn't feel any pain.

-I had no particular reason to use "I Can't Help It." It's just a really nice song.