PRODUCTION/CULTURAL REFERENCES (written 11/19/18)

- This is the 150th episode of the series.

-When I started season seven, I knew that this episode wouldn't have the same special feel as the 100th episode two years ago. Not only because I had reached 100 episodes, but because of everything going on around that time period that made it even more special. However, I still wanted to come up with something to celebrate, even if the episode was quieter and more low-key than "You're Welcome, Hellish."

-Back in June, I came up with the idea of an episode where the kids are adults, and their lives in the future are explored as they deal with more mature situations. However, I lost interest in the episode quickly, and decided to delay it for a while and see what I could change to improve it. I thought the idea was perfect for the 150th episode, but I guess it will take some time before it turns into anything meaningful.

-In the spring of 2013, back when I was working on the first season, I came up with several episodes for season two. One of them was a two-part episode dealing with Jaylynn becoming a member of TSE and a main character on the show. The idea was that the guys would hate Jaylynn at first and try to get rid of her, but eventually warm up to her and become friends with her at the end of part two. Part one was entitled "Meet Jaylynn." I'm pretty sure I ended up not using any of the episodes I thought of because it was going to involve a story arc that I abandoned. Anyway, a while back, I remembered the "Meet Jaylynn" idea and tweaked it to become a flashback episode about the day Sparky introduced Jaylynn to the rest of the boys. When my original idea for the 150th episode fell through, I decided to replace it with "Meet Jaylynn."

-This is the second flashback episode of the series, after last season's "The RK Feline Fiasco Remix." I actually wasn't planning to write "Meet Jaylynn" so soon, and was considering saving it for the second half of the season. I really liked working on "The RK Feline Fiasco Remix" because it was my chance to rewrite the pilot episode and update it to fit the show's current style. With this episode, it was my chance to give Jaylynn's character a proper introduction and show a more realistic portrayal of what she was like in the beginning.

-One thing I regret about the first season, among a lot of other things, is that I never really brought Jaylynn into the series naturally. She came in almost a year after the pilot, only appeared in a few episodes, and became a main character in the second season. It was almost too quick and since she ended up being so important, I should have introduced her much earlier so her chemistry with the guys could have developed over the course of several episodes. Then again, I based her off an actual person, and I didn't meet that person until late 2012/early 2013.

-I was considering renaming this episode "Intro (Jaylynn's First Step)" or "Intro (Her First Step)," which would have been a reference to the Gang Starr track "Intro (The First Step)" off their 1994 album Hard to Earn. However, I felt like it was trying too hard so I kept the original title.

-RK assures Wade that him saying "separate but equal" is only in reference to the Jaylynn situation and not a comparison to the legal doctrine that kept racial segregation from being considered unconstitutional.

-RK makes another historical reference by comparing the Jaylynn situation to D-Day, which marked the invasion of Normandy by Allied forces on June 6, 1944.

-There was a bit in "The RK Feline Fiasco Remix" where Jaylynn mentioned locking RK in his own closet because she hated him. I wish I had remembered to include it in this episode because it was really funny.

-One bit I did remember to include that was mentioned in a previous episode ("Winner Takes Off") was Jaylynn ranting for an hour about what she would do with a million dollars.

-I was originally going to portray Bitch Clock as an antagonist, like I did back in the first season, but I thought it would be too irritating so I just kept his character the same. You know, other than offer Sparky some drinks.

-I went back to the script for "Buster's Pen Pal" because I wanted to make sure Jaylynn's retelling of how she met Sparky lined up with what Sparky told Buster in the original episode. I actually had to rewrite her lines because they were inaccurate.

-The bit where Buster called Conrad Fleem was originally supposed to be included in "Fourth Grade Friday." I was fully prepared to use it, but it just didn't happen for whatever reason and I decided to include it in this episode. However, with the original bit, Buster was actually going to talk to Conrad and it wasn't just a fantasy sequence.

-I threw in some hints here about Jaylynn being lesbian but showing some shyness about it, since she didn't come out until "Illuminati's for Idiots."

-I remember back in season one after iCarly ended, I threw in something in an episode about a statue of the cast members being built so I included it here.

-The gag about the guys always hugging each other was self-deprecating because it made fun of the show's quality back then, while also making fun of old sitcoms that would always resolve conflicts in the last scene while sappy music played in the background.

-An idea I had for this episode that I threw out was that Jaylynn would slowly warm up to Buster, RK, and Wade. She would bond with Buster over pop music, inadvertently make Wade fall for her, and then call a truce with RK at the end of the episode. Wade used to have a big crush on Jaylynn in the first two seasons, but I was unable to find a way to include it in this episode, so I just turned it into a joke.

-I used "Full Clip" at the end because it sounded triumphant and reflective, including Guru stating that Gang Starr's had more than a decade of hits at that point. "Full Clip" was released in 1999 on the compilation album Full Clip: A Decade of Gang Starr, which consisted of the group's greatest hits and three brand new tracks.