PRODUCTION/CULTURAL REFERENCES (written 5/30/16)
-Yeah, this one is coming out really late. Let's not waste any time though.
-This episode's origins date back to a little over a year ago, when I was working on the third season. It was originally called "Driven to Hell," and while both plots were similar, there were a few changes. RK was supposed to be in Jaylynn's role and Jaylynn was in Lynne's role. KG would have warned RK about his reckless driving, and if he got in one more accident, RK would get his license taken away. He does end up getting into another accident, but Jaylynn finds out and covers it up in exchange for RK becoming her servant. I wasn't really considering making this episode at the time, but when season four came around and I needed ideas, I decided to write it. I also felt like Jaylynn would act out of character by torturing RK so I went with the better idea of her being tortured by her nemesis.
-The subplot was originally Buster being taught how to drive well by every other member in TSE, then all three boys bickering over which one is the best teacher when Buster rejects their help. As I was writing it, it just flowed better as a Buster/Sparky story. I really like how it turned out, actually. This might even be one of my favorite stories this season.
-Originally, Jaylynn was going to crash the car into a tree, and when Lynne found out, she would have gotten the car fixed before Anja knew anything happened. However, as I was writing it, I realized it would have been just as simple as Lynne seeing Jaylynn drive Anja's car, especially since it would have been impossible for Jaylynn to get into an accident without the police's involvement.
-Had this episode been scrapped from season four, it would have become a holdover and aired as one of the first few episodes of season five.
-The episode title is a reference to the song "Jesus, Take the Wheel" by Carrie Underwood and a line in "Rap God" by Eminem where he says, "I'm drunk, so Satan, take the f***ing wheel, I must sleep in the front seat."
-Jaylynn's license plate is a reference to the show's initials and the production code of this episode - season four, episode 14.
-I loved writing the useless cops. The day before I started the episode, by chance, I watched the Everybody Hates Chris episode "Everybody Hates the Car" where Chris bought his first car and all of these horrible things would happen to it. Whenever the cops arrived, they barely did much else other than ask Chris stupid questions like if a baby was in the car. I thought the episode was really funny, so that served as inspiration for the opening scene.
-The Mad Rocker gag was meant to make fun of people who often criticize everything about this current generation and talk about how things were better in their era. It is also a reference to the Mad Rapper from The Notorious B.I.G.'s "Kick in the Door."
-Buster's cutaway references the Simpsons episode "Bart vs. Australia" where Bart has to go to Australia to apologize for an international incident, then he later references the two-part episode "Who Shot Mr. Burns?"
-Buster calls Sparky "Copernicus," making an indirect reference to Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus.
-RK was originally going to have his own subplot about feeling unappreciated because he had no prominent role in this episode, but I felt like it was better having him contribute to the two plots instead.
-I really enjoyed writing the meta conversation that Sparky and Buster were having. Buster refers to Mr. Ping Wing Hing Zing, the Chinese Burger King owner, as Tuong Lu Kim, the owner of the restaurant City Wok from South Park.
-When Jaylynn tries to explain to Lynne why she was driving Anja's car, she references the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air episode "Mistaken Identity."
-When RK asks Buster where he wants to go, they imitate a bit from the Full House episode "Smash Club: The Next Generation." In the original episode, the bit ends before the bowling part can be explained.
-It's odd to me that I don't pair up Buster and RK that much because they play off of each other really well. Their flaws and eccentricities work well together.
-The joke about Buster and RK listening to Shiloh was one of the earliest bits I came up with for the episode.
-Jaylynn's reactions to Anja giving her the title were inspired by the Kenan and Kel pilot, because one of the scenes showed Kenan receiving the title to a stolen car, but also needing to remember the code line so the guy who gave him the title could be apprehended by the police.
-Buster references the Austin & Ally theme song when talking about how much he needs Sparky's mentoring.
-Jaylynn references the cartoon Yakkity Yak when talking about the song being played during the montage. It was because of the cartoon that I even knew about the song's existence but I always wanted to use it on the show.
-There were some jokes here about Adriana and Anna, referencing their lack of presence on the show despite dating two of the main characters. I plan to change that in future episodes because I like them, but they are usually unnecessary in a lot of these recent episodes.
-RK performs the Ickey Shuffle during the frisbee game, a dance made popular by Cincinnati Bengals running back Elbert "Ickey" Woods during his career.
-Jaylynn references the Canadian preschool series The Big Comfy Couch, then RK references a WWE storyline from late 2008 to early 2009 where Shawn Michaels worked for John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) to help make ends meet for his family.
-Lynne waking up Jaylynn and asking to be taken to Burger King is a reference to the Drake and Josh episode "Driver's License" where Drake wakes up Josh and asks to be taken for tacos. In fact, this episode was directly inspired by that one.
-Buster needing to go out on his own, and then being aided by an imaginary Sparky is a reference to the Boy Meets World episode "I Love You, Donna Karan." In that episode, Eric has to study for an upcoming history test without the help of Mr. Feeny, who tells him he has the skills to do it himself. Eric is then assisted by an imaginary Feeny, who helps him get a B on the test before leaving Eric to deal with studying on his own.
-I realized while writing this episode that I did not include Billy and his mother this season so I added them to this episode. I always want them to appear once a season.
-Lynne's elementary school is named after the original showrunner of Family Guy, David Zuckerman.
-The only thing I regret about this episode is that I never revealed the status of Jaylynn's car. That whole situation was dealt with briefly in "The Trouble with Militants."
-I'm going to start using post-credits gags as a way to wrap up subplots and end on strong jokes. I liked the way the first one turned out, so expect more in the future.