PRODUCTION/CULTURAL REFERENCES (written on 11/6/15-11/7/15)
-Alright, where do we start? This episode was actually the fourth one produced for the season, but "The Halloween from Hell" was completed first. So "Fake It" is 404 in production order, 405 in broadcast order.
-This episode was originally meant for an October 18 airdate, but was pushed back two weeks because "To Be or Not to Be a Role Model" was unfinished. I was hoping to have both of them air on the same night, but that did not work out.
-For the time being, Thank You, Heavenly will be airing new episodes on Fridays instead of Sundays, since it allows more time to work on each show. "Fake It" needed some additional editing so that is why it has a Saturday release. The next episode to air on Sunday will be the Christmas episode on December 13 (hopefully).
-Because this episode was supposed to pick up right where "To Be or Not to Be a Role Model" left off, there was a breach in continuity since Carmine's death was not addressed at all in the Halloween episode.
-Believe it or not, the concept for this episode dates all the way back to the first season. Originally, RK was supposed to fake his death in this episode, and it was meant to be a satire about how people tend to be valued more in death than when they are alive. For one reason or another, the episode was never produced, mostly because I was burnt out at the time. I still had the idea of "Fake It" in the back of my head while working on seasons two and three, but it never felt like the right time. I decided to do it this season, as a display of RK's abilities of influence and scheming. He saw Uncle Carmine as a fraud and that people were blindly praising him because he died. RK then goes through a crisis period where he believes that nobody will care about him when he dies. To combat this, he decides to fake his death to see if people will care by leaving behind a phony suicide note. At some point, I just stopped being interested in the story. I also didn't see how possible it was for RK to pull this off without anyone other than TSE, KG, and Anna figuring it out. I still wanted the basic outline of RK doing something self-destructive to help him cope with Carmine's death.
-The inspiration for the Asperger's plot actually came from Girl Meets World. About two months ago, the show aired an episode entitled "Girl Meets I Am Farkle" that dealt with Farkle potentially being on the autism spectrum. He ended up testing negative for Asperger's Syndrome, but finds out that his academic rival has it. The reception for the episode was mixed for the most part, but when I first heard about the episode, I thought about what would happen if one of the characters on Thank You, Heavenly had Asperger's. RK fit the criteria the most and I came up with the idea that he would be misdiagnosed with it.
-"Fake It" was not written as a shot towards people with Asperger's or any form of autism. In fact, the condition is not really the main focus at all. It was written as a character-driven story about RK having to cope with the loss of his uncle. One of the most important characteristics of RK is that he rarely ever does anything out of malicious intent, and if he does, it is usually triggered by what he believes is right. After Carmine's death, he became uncharacteristically cold and distant. Then when he was diagnosed with Asperger's, he realized that people were treating him differently because of it. Taking advantage of everyone being misinformed on Asperger's, RK decided to lie about the symptoms and exaggerate them for his benefit. However, it was just his way of dealing with Uncle Carmine's death while gaining control of the situation. Once he found out that he had went too far at the expense of losing his friends, he lost it and broke down because his walls had been shattered. The one thing RK can never recover from is losing his friends. The characters on Thank You, Heavenly are defined by their actions, how they react to certain situations that affect their actions, and the people they know.
-This episode marks the second appearance of RK's parents, after "A Thank You, Heavenly Christmas" in season one. I wanted to keep their personalities in this episode consistent with that one, so I kept Gerald as dimwitted and Melissa as his mild-mannered counterpart.
-I had fun working on this episode due to its emotional moments and insight into the heart of RK's character.
-This episode was partly influenced "A Farewell to Nick" from Who's the Boss, which ironically came during that show's fourth season. In fact, the 28-year anniversary of the episode is this week. RK has the same reaction to the death of a loved one as Sam does. They are both deeply affected, but they refuse to let anybody see how much they are really hurt by it. In the end, they both break down and realize they can no longer bottle up their emotions. I always liked "A Farewell to Nick" and believed that the writers did a great job of handling death.
-The subplot might come off as a little odd, but it came from a realistic place. Sparky and Buster were finding out about these health-related issues for the first time and wanting to inform everybody since they were just kids, hoping everyone else would share their curiosity.
-The episode was named after the same song used in the first montage, "Fake It" by Seether. Because this was originally meant for season one, the montage has been three years in the making.
-Originally, Uncle Carmine was going to die because of an illness of some sort, but I changed it to better reflect his shady lifestyle and add some dark humor.
-The psychiatrist's clinic was named after animator Genndy Tartakovsky, most known for creating the popular Cartoon Network series Dexter's Laboratory and Samurai Jack. He was also the director of both Hotel Transylvania movies.
-In season two, RK was diagnosed with depression and went looking for a therapist, which is how he found Dr. Osborne. Osborne was implied to be an alcoholic in a cutaway gag while also suggesting that RK should start spending more time with the people he loves. Because Osborne disappeared after that, I decided to bring him back as a man who is looking to get back on his feet, but continues making the wrong decisions.
-RK's line "All I know is, I don't wanna see no crying at my funeral" is a reference to the song "Ready to Die" by The Notorious B.I.G.
-The subplot was originally going to constantly bring up Sparky and Buster's fear of being raped, but I felt like it was out of place for this show and the joke would have gotten stale very quickly, so it was only for that one scene.
-A lot of research had to be done for both plots. For example, the ASDS is an actual exam administered to help determine if kids have the disorder or not.
-Uncle Carmine's knock knock joke was one of the first bits I came up with for this episode.
-Dr. Osborne's initial reasoning for suggesting RK has Asperger's was being drunk or high at the time. However, I decided to make the explanation more realistic and tragic since that one really did not make any sense to me.
-RK references the introductions to two Nickelodeon shows when talking to Sanna and Ashley: Henry Danger and The Secret World of Alex Mack, respectively.
-There were three scenes written for this episode that never made it. Well, the support group scene did, but it was never meant for a montage. In one scene, RK decides to tell his parents about the misdiagnosis when he overhears them having a conversation about how things are easier now, always wondering if there was something wrong with him. In another scene, RK is visited by Uncle Carmine's ghost in bed, and he convinces him to continue reaping the benefits of lying about having Asperger's.
-RK's panic attack was never planned at all. In fact, the original idea was for Wade to approach RK one last time about his lie and RK's response would be, "Well, maybe it's for the best!" Wade would then find RK skipping rocks at the pond and they would finally have a conversation about how things have been lately. Instead, I made it more dramatic, as RK is at his wit's end about to lose almost all of the people he truly cares for.
-"Hero" is one of my favorite songs right now and I grew to love it with more listens. It was originally intended for a future episode, but I changed plans.
-The Asperger's assembly and Dr. Osborne's arrest were meant to wrap up the subplot in a satisfying way while tying it into the main plot at the same time.