Written 8/6/20

-Even though I finished season eight a month ago, I still don't know if I have the right words to describe how I feel about it. It's definitely bittersweet, because on one hand, I was able to end the show on my own terms and I was able to accomplish most of what I wanted to with this season. But on the other hand, this will always be a season that was affected by procrastination, multiple delays, a tight schedule, and some of my own personal issues.

-Before I reflect on the season, I want to talk about some episodes I had plans to write, but I wasn't able to. Either I didn't have the time to, the idea wasn't interesting enough, or I couldn't push the story as far as I wanted to. Season eight ended up having 24 episodes, but I originally was envisioning 27 or 28.

-"Dreaming of a Black Market Christmas" was originally going to be on December 15, 2019. It was going to be the fifth and final Christmas episode of the series. The main plot revolved around Sparky, Buster, Jaylynn, Adriana, and Anna. RK and Wade would have been in the subplot. I didn't have a lot worked out here, but the main plot was going to involve Secret Santa, the dark web, and the FBI. I never wrote anything past the opening scene, which I didn't even finish and that part was actually written in advance.

-"Goodbye 2019, Hello 2020" was originally going to be on December 22, 2019. It would have been the fifth and final New Year's episode of the series. Halley's little sister Annabelle was going to visit for New Year's Eve, and the main plot was going to revolve around her, Sparky, and Halley. The subplot was going to be about RK, Buster, Wade, and Jaylynn doing something memorable to commemorate the end of the 2010s. I wrote a few scenes here, but didn't get anywhere past that. Part of me is happy that I didn't go through with it, because I might have already done everything I could do with New Year's episodes. On the other hand, I didn't get a chance to work anything out.

-"Culture Day" was an episode meant for April 26. I actually had it planned out for weeks, and I didn't expect anything getting in the way of me being unable to write it. In this episode, Jaylynn begins to feel like she's no longer embracing her Dominican heritage, and she's become whitewashed. She talks to her grandmother about it, and she encourages Jaylynn to start leaning more into her roots, so Jaylynn becomes obsessed with Dominican pride. I wrote almost half the episode, and I was going to include a variation of the Halley/Annabelle plot here. But I didn't think the episode was good enough, and I underestimated just how much more work I would have to put into the story.

-"21 Years Later" was originally meant for May 3. It was going to be the sequel to "20 Years Later," the season seven episode that explored the kids' lives in the future as working adults. This episode was going to use some of the ideas that were left behind in "20 Years Later," because I felt like there was a lot more story material with potential. However, with not much time left to write, I decided not to make the episode. I also felt like it would just rehash some of what happened in "20 Years Later," which at least stands on its own as the only Thank You, Heavenly episode to take place in the future.

-When I started Thank You, Heavenly, I wanted to combine elements of my three biggest influences: Family Guy (pop culture references), South Park (satire/social commentary), and Arthur (educational value). Years later, I decided to write an episode paying tribute to one of the influences, and I chose Arthur. The episode was called "What I Learned in Elwood City," and I was planning for it to come out in season seven. The only problem was that I couldn't figure out what I wanted the episode to be. An anthology? A dream episode? I really didn't know. So the slot it originally had in season seven went to "The Heavenly Tapes," and I put the episode on hold for a while.

-I tried giving "What I Learned in Elwood City" another try in season eight, but I had the same problem as before. I just couldn't decide on the direction the episode should go, and I didn't want to write a mediocre tribute for a show that inspired me to do this in the first place. I decided it wasn't worth it and scrapped the episode.

-My overall view on season eight is that it was a good season. There are definitely episodes worth going back to, and I was able to tie certain things in while exploring the idea of change throughout the 24 shows. However, if you ask me right now, I think season seven is better. There are certain things that worked against season eight from the beginning, some of it being my own fault. But I feel like I had a lot of ideas for where I wanted the season to go, and only some of those ideas ended up being realized.

-With this season, I had three goals: To finish writing the season early, have a perfect season where every episode was turned in on time, and write an episode with someone else. I only accomplished the last goal, and not in the way I expected.

-I always imagined co-writing an episode of Thank You, Heavenly the old-fashioned way: I work on the script with the other writer simultaneously, we bounce ideas off each other, they write scenes without me, we give each other suggestions on what we could do to improve the episode. I didn't get the opportunity to do that, but "The Blackout from Hell" is the closest I ever came to that. Sykadelix is the sole reason this episode exists. She came up with the idea on her own, we traded suggestions back and forth, she contributed important parts of the story, and we both came up with outlines for the episode. It was even her idea to use "Thought Contagion." The episode wouldn't have been what it was without her, and I owe her a lot of credit for giving me an extra Halloween episode. Thanks to her, I finally got to know the feeling of collaborating on the show with someone else.

-This season was heavily influenced by real-life events, moreso than any other season of the series. "I Lost My Mind in San Diego" started out as an over-the-top episode celebrating Buster's birthday. It ended up being a tribute to the late John Witherspoon. The subplot of "Buster the Neoteric" was changed due to Kobe Bryant's death. "J.D.A., Pt. III" had an allegory for the COVID-19 pandemic. I came up with a third Cimorelli episode ("My Interview with the CimFam") because of Dani's decision to leave the group. It's not like I haven't taken things that happened in real life and used them on the show before. But between October 2019 and July 2020, there were a large number of events that forced me to rethink things in terms of writing. It was like a unique set of circumstances that couldn't have happened at any other time.

-Last year, when I was planning season eight, I had a whole list of songs that I planned on using. In this reality, the season started on September 29. I don't have the list anymore so I can't remember all the songs I picked from it, but most of these songs didn't even make it. "When Will They Shoot?" by Ice Cube, "Stakes is High" by De La Soul, "When the Music Stops" by Eminem featuring D12, "Tradin War Stories" by 2Pac. The list was a reflection of the songs I was listening to at that specific time, and what I wanted season eight to feel like in the beginning. But my mind was in a different place, one that just had trouble writing anything. So then I had to give season eight another look, and when I did, my whole mindset changed.

-One thing that I can't lie about is the fact that I thought about a ninth season. Even if I had already said that season eight would be the last one, part of me was thinking that I could make it work. Season nine wouldn't have to be 25 episodes. I could make it shorter. I wouldn't have to open it up in September. I could wait until the start of 2021. I could even relax a bit in season nine and write more episodes that are just really funny or weird, because season eight did most of the hard work. And I would get to 200 episodes.

-I couldn't even try convincing myself to go through with it. A lot of it has to do with the fact that I already made the announcement. It wouldn't feel right to go back on my word, especially since a ninth season would have to start one of two ways: With the kids still in the fifth grade, or in the sixth grade. Neither option felt right to me. And after everything I went through trying to get season eight done, I couldn't do it again. By the time "Heavenly Life" came out, I was more than tired. I had used a lot of my best ideas. The world of Thank You, Heavenly had been explored enough. And I lacked the commitment, discipline, and passion to keep going. I say all this to say that I made the right choice. Ending the show when I was still capable of writing a good episode is what I always wanted. And now, I can actually say that I didn't overstay my welcome. I knew when it was time to move on.

-Most of the time, I tend to have more polish to the first half of a season, or the September/October episodes because I write those in the summer, and pretty much everything after that is done up to the deadline, or beyond it. But because of what happened last summer, there were only a few episodes that I wrote in advance. And even with the season premiere, I was rewriting it up until the last minute. I can't say the first or second half is better, at least not now.

-If I had to come up with a top five on the spot, it would look like this: "Fourth Grade Friday II: Our New Arrivals," "The Blackout from Hell," "Weekend at Jaylynn's," "The Heavenly Tapes II," and "The Graduation from Hell." Honorable mentions include "Halloween XIII: The Unauthorized Tales," "Cancel Thanksgiving," "I Lost My Mind in San Diego," "10,000 Remy Martins Ago," "The Time Machine IV," and "Heavenly Life."

-I don't dislike or hate any episodes this season, but "Toys Have All the Fun" took a lot out of me. Even though "The Blackout from Hell" was worked on for months, it's interesting to see how smoothly the writing went for it compared to "Toys Have All the Fun," where I had to rewrite almost the entire first half and didn't even have the ending done when I released it. I didn't give myself any time to write "Brothers & Basketball." It turned out fine, but not great. And "The Girl Next Door is Mine" was just...there. I always have two or three episodes a season that are like that.

-I guess I can wrap this up. I still have one more chapter to go, but the eighth season of Thank You, Heavenly is officially in the books. It wasn't easy to get to this point, but I finally did.

Thank You, Heavenly Season 8

October 11, 2019 - July 12, 2020

In production from August 7, 2019 - July 12, 2020

24 episodes

SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR GUEST STARS:

Larisa Oleynik (recurring)

Kira Kosarin (recurring)

Dorien Wilson (recurring)

Tony Sirico

Meredith Bishop

Jason Weaver

Sabrina Carpenter

Divide the Day (Joseph Nichy, Billy Haig, Darren Lantz, Justin Canela, David Strickland, Daniel Frost)

Joe Buck

Troy Aikman

Cimorelli (Christina, Katherine, Lisa, Amy, and Lauren Cimorelli)

Dani Cimorelli

Sadie Stanley