PRODUCTION/CULTURAL REFERENCES (written 10/8/18)
-I forgot to really talk about this last week, but with season seven, when I talked about wanting the show to be different, I meant I wanted to take things in a new creative direction. I don't want to do anything too drastic to where it doesn't feel like Thank You, Heavenly anymore, but I want to feel like the show is going places again and trying to do new things. I put myself in the mindset of giving the series away to a new showrunner, like I did back in season five (2016-2017) and season three (2014-2015). What would I want them to do to make the show better? What kind of ideas can they come up with that will make things a little more interesting? This is one of those episodes that reflect where I want the show to go.
-When I originally came up with this idea, I imagined it being in a later season, after the kids had left the fourth grade. I was inspired by the Everybody Hates Chris episode "Everybody Hates the Guidance Counselor" and thought something like that would work well as a Thank You, Heavenly episode. However, when season seven came around and I was thinking about ideas, I thought it was perfect. It was something that I thought would be easy to not mess up and add something to RK's character.
-This episode is self-aware because this is a story that's been done many times before. Thank You, Heavenly was inspired/influenced by shows like Family Guy and The Simpsons, where characters experience events one week and go back to doing the same thing next week. I always wanted Thank You, Heavenly to be a little different, where instead of hitting the reset button every week, the characters would remember certain events and it would have an impact on their actions in future episodes. I don't know how many more times I can write an episode where RK realizes his potential as a student. That doesn't mean I'll never make another joke about RK being lazy or not liking school, but I do want this episode to mean something.
-One thing that's always been consistent is that RK doesn't respond well to people telling him he has no worth. He doesn't trust school or the people who work there because the people have always seen him as a failure, and barely give him any help beyond lecturing him about straightening up. Ms. McDermott was one of the very few people in RK's life (outside of his friends and family) who saw him as an actual person with unique qualities and not just another student. He only does well in school when someone like Ms. McDermott or Mr. Robertson encourages him to believe in himself, because it's something he rarely ever hears.
-I don't know why, but when I was thinking of people that could play the guidance counselor, Winona Ryder was one of the very few voices I was hearing. I feel like there's a certain sensitivity and charm when she talks that would make her perfect as someone who works with kids.
-I came up with the subplot this summer and it was inspired by real-life events. I was in Jaylynn's position when I was working a job with this one girl who I thought I really liked, but it was just a physical attraction.
-I was a little surprised at how much stayed the same from the first draft. I barely changed anything outside of tightening up a few lines and adding some new dialogue. Those episodes tend to be the best (like "Raging Buster" or "War of the Salehs") because it's like they're telling me what they want to be from the beginning.
-Buster references the "We were on a break!" catchphrase used by Ross Geller from the NBC sitcom Friends (1994-2004).
-RK references Stevie Wonder's Album of the Year Grammy wins back in the 1970s for Innervisions (1974), Fulfillingness' First Finale (1975), and Songs in the Key of Life (1977).
-I noticed that Anja wasn't in any of the previous episodes so far this season, so I wanted to make a joke about it.
-RK references the late children's show host Fred Rogers, and the original host of the Nick Jr. educational show Blue's Clues (1996-2006), Steve Burns. He left the show in 2002 and was replaced by Donovan Patton, who appeared as Joe (this show made a joke about Steve getting replaced before in "Sparky Inflates the Grade").
-This is the second time RK has referenced Mrs. Spinerman, the first time being in last season's "Student-Teacher Conference: The Half Days from Hell."
-Mrs. McDermott references the season five episode "Young Black Prepubescents," where RK decides to go on strike against iCarly Elementary.
-Sparky references the season four episode "S-P-A-R-K-Y the Letter Man," where RK develops a crush on the new social worker at school and gets her attention by telling her stories about his "unstable" home life. Once she finds out that none of the stories are true, she quits her job due to psychological reasons and RK gets suspended.
-In the season four episode "11 Ways to Ruin a Birthday," Jaylynn admits to Halley that before she realized she was lesbian, she used to have a crush on Sparky. She told her that in confidence, but now that Sparky knows, I plan to have Jaylynn deal with it sooner or later.
-Sparky references Buster's former pen pal Jennessa, who made a few appearances in season two (2013-2014) but was written out of the show after that.
-Originally, when Wade comforted RK, Manny was going to walk up to them and mention that just because he stepped in dog shit, doesn't mean they have to cry about it. I felt like the line was taking away from the moment, so I made Manny's appearance more subtle.
-Jaylynn references Diff'rent Strokes (1978-1986) character Arnold Jackson's catchphrase "Whatcha talkin' 'bout, Willis?" when talking to Katrina.
-Originally, when Anja asked Jaylynn if she was going to stay friends with Katrina, she just said that she would forget the whole thing ever happened. I didn't like how it sounded because it made it seem like Jaylynn would stop talking to Katrina because she's asexual, something that would be wildly out of character, so I changed it to her realizing that Katrina just wasn't that interesting.
-Buster and Sparky reference the season four Full House episode "A Fish Called Martin."
-RK references the television trope called "Status Quo is God." The trope means that no matter what happens in an episode, the characters have to be back in the same place they were in the beginning. If I applied it to this episode, RK would forget all about Ms. McDermott and return to his old habits like nothing ever happened.
-The original song in the end credits was "Form of Intellect," another Gang Starr song. However, I started to think it didn't really fit with the episode. Last season, when I didn't have a song to play at the end of an episode, I would just use "Next Time." It's a really good song and it says everything it needs to just from the title. Like, "The episode's done. See you next time." I thought that would just be a season six thing, but I'm going to keep it around from now on.
