PRODUCTION/CULTURAL REFERENCES (written 1/24/17)
-I have no idea where to start with this one.
-In July, I had a chance to talk to the person who I based Anna off of for the first time in two years. She had told me that she didn't remember any conversations we had together, but she remembered my name. She talked about her having a bad memory when it comes to people she hasn't talked to in a long time. It was disappointing because the memories I have talking to her are now one-sided. The next day when I was at the store, I thought up an idea for a Halloween episode because I was inspired by the person's poor memory. I called it "The Undesirable Cognitive Redaction of Anna Revia," and I told the person about it but she never responded. I haven't spoken to her since that one night and I don't see myself ever talking to her again. I felt hurt by what happened, but I'm glad I got the chance to talk to her because it led me to this episode.
-I had this new idea in place but I had problems developing the story in a way that made sense. It was supposed to be an episode where Savanah and Diana erase Anna's memory, but it wouldn't have worked since they had already appeared in the previous episode. I decided to just make it a regular episode and just wait until January to do it, but then I felt inspired and tried to write it for December.
-I actually started working on the script in November, but I didn't get too far and I was starting to get bored so I just left it alone and moved on to the next episode. When it came time to write it again, I once again got bored and I was struggling to finish the story. I had an idea where Anna left Seattle for six months and came back with no recollection of her past life. I also had an idea where Anna convinces Wade to erase her memory so she won't have to be afraid of burgers anymore, but that never developed into anything either. This has been the hardest episode to write this season, and I felt like throwing in the towel, especially since I was now behind schedule.
-I came up with "Buster Plays the Field" sometime last year. I had no plans to even do it this season, but I thought about my days in junior high and I started getting inspired to rewrite the episode, with Anna's plot as the B-plot. It's the same thing I did with "Young Black Prepubescents,"and since it's already worked twice, I realized I might as well keep using this method whenever I'm really stuck on an idea.
-I felt like it was time for Buster to meet Trina again. He referenced her as a gag in the first two seasons, then I dropped it but the idea of the two meeting again was always in the back of my head.
-I ran into a problem when writing this episode: I had to change Trina's name. Even though I had used her real name on the show before, I really didn't want to run into any more trouble after the whole mess with Jaylynn's name. Plus, I told myself at the end of season three that any new characters based off of real people have to have their names changed. And since Trina's never actually appeared in any previous episodes, I didn't have to use her real name. That's when I decided to have Buster realize that he's been getting Trina's name wrong this whole time, as a way of getting around it.
-Jaylynn was supposed to have a bigger role in one of the plots, but I couldn't find a way to include her and I felt like the episode was good enough without her needing more screentime. It's weird because I usually try to include all five main characters as much as I can, but it didn't work out this time.
-I really liked writing for Trina, mostly because she felt more realistic and human than a lot of the characters on this show. Originally, she was only going to appear in this episode but I felt like her story with Buster wasn't over yet, so I'm going to include her in the episode on February 12.
-Originally, this episode was going to be more over the top, with Trina becoming obsessed with Buster in a reversal of what happened in second grade, and the rest of the guys trying to help him, but I decided that the low-key, subtle approach was better. The next episode is going to bring the insanity, though.
-I took a psychology class in my first semester here at college, and I learned more about classical and operant conditioning. I decided to incorporate that into the Anna plot.
-My favorite Buster jokes to write are the ones where he doesn't understand simple things or references, like in the 100th episode where he thinks Sparky forgot what his name was.
-When Jaylynn calls RK a jackass, he responds by using Pee-Wee Herman's famous quote from his 1985 film Pee-Wee's Big Adventure.
-I'm surprised that "phantasmagorical" is actually a word. I probably heard it before, but I was just coming up with gibberish.
-The joke about RK being afraid of astronaut helmets was supposed to be in "Young Black Prepubescents," but I couldn't make it fit so I waited for the next time to use it and altered it.
-When Sparky said that Buster's breath smelled fine, I started writing Buster's line and it didn't really fit with what Sparky just said but I left it in because it sounded like something he would say as a response.
-Buster references the Kit Kat "Gimme a Break" jingle from the 1980s when trying to cover what he just said.
-Buster's story involving Trina was inspired by certain experiences I went through in junior high.
-The multiple personality disorder cutaway was one of the first jokes I came up with for this episode. I felt like RK would love a character like Sheldon and want to imitate him.
-Dand telling Trina that she has no reputation is a callback to "Fake It" where Wade tells RK the same thing, which is a reference to "Parents Just Don't Understand" by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. In the original draft of this episode, RK was supposed to say this to Anna.
-When I first came up with "Buster Plays the Field" months ago, I had an idea where Sparky sticks up for Buster with a speech. I'm glad I didn't forget about it and I was able to use it here.
-This is the third appearance of Hot Daddy Puppet Monkey Boy and Saul the Seal, after "RK vs. LPC & Mrs. Tuxedo Pants" in season two and "The Halloween from Hell" last season.
-Buster references a line from the Boondocks episode "The Story of Gangstalicious" when seeing Trina. The original line is from Riley when he says, "A shame? Granddad, a n***a stepping on your sneakers is a shame! This is a catastrophe! It's catastrophic!"
-Buster references the 1998 single "Cha Cha Slide" by DJ Casper.
-Buster makes references to "Illuminati's for Idiots," both parts of "Slice of Fantastica," "The Life and Times of Diana Katanova," "Savi's Revenge," and "The Trouble with Militants." He then references the hook from "Energy" by Drake.
-It took me a while to find a new last name for Trina, since I wanted to find something similar to the one she had before and reflected her ethnic background.
-Buster references "Viva Las TSE" when talking about the socks he bought from Vegas, and the writer's block that stopped me from doing "Bienvenue a Paris" as the season four premiere. I still want to give that episode another shot, maybe in season seven or eight if next season doesn't work out.
-The song I originally had in the end credits was "Hey You" by the Jonas Brothers but I wasn't feeling it enough so I went with "Infinite" instead.