PRODUCTION/CULTURAL REFERENCES (written on 6/25/18; 7/22/18)

6/25/18

-I came up with the idea for this episode two years ago. I was working on "The Zombies Come Out at Night" and when I wrote the scene where the kids were getting in RK's car to avoid the invasion, it reminded me of the scene in The Simpsons Movie where the family was trying to escape the people of Springfield. Right then and there, I knew I had an idea that would make a really good episode. However, I had problems getting it developed for season five. I came up with another episode idea that was almost like the Simpsons Movie one, but this episode was a cover of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. Sparky and Buster would be put in the roles of SpongeBob and Patrick. Either of those episodes were going to be the season finale, but then I went with "Girl Meets the Express" and saved both ideas.

-When I was working on season six, I knew the Simpsons Movie cover had way more potential than the SpongeBob one, and in the back of my mind, I had it penciled in as the season finale for months. I literally couldn't come up with anything else I wanted to do. It was either this episode or nothing at all. I felt like the episode would not only give me a little bit of a break due to being a cover, but would also give me a chance to imagine what it would be like if I was writing a Thank You, Heavenly movie.

-I started writing this episode on June 5, and I finished last night. Near the end of the season, I always become tired and annoyed. I can see the end coming and my mind is looking toward putting the next season together, so half of me is already checked out. This ended up keeping me from finishing the last four episodes of the season on schedule. While I was working on the episodes before this one, I was considering posting the season finale on June 24. It would mark the six-year anniversary of the series, and the first episode to be released on this day since the pilot. The other episodes would have been posted on their original dates, but I needed to make sure I had enough time for an episode of this size. Plus, I wasn't too crazy about the last cover episode I did ("The Trouble with Religion"), so I knew I had to raise the bar with this one. My procrastination just got worse, and I ended up not only moving the finale to June 24, but pushing back every remaining episode to this month also. If I didn't delay anything, "Buster Loves Ashley" would have been on April 29, "12 Angry Kids" on May 6, "War of the Salehs" on May 13, and this one on May 20.

-Because this was the first time I was covering a movie, and it was the season finale, I wanted it to be two parts. I always had it in my mind that it was supposed to be a double-length episode. It would have been the first one in two years, and the first one with the one-hour format since season two. However, while writing it, I started realizing there wasn't enough of a story to do two entire episodes. The only way I would have been able to get to that length is by coming up with filler scenes that would have done nothing to advance the plot so I settled with a 45-minute episode.

-To help make the episode more consistent with the events of the show, I introduced Lisa in "12 Angry Kids" specifically so I could use her here. Buster and Ashley's relationship was originally going to be more important to the story, but then I just left it alone after Buster made up with Jaylynn.

-I really underestimated how much work was needed to write this episode. I'm not even satisfied with it right now. There were times where I was wondering if it even made sense as a cover because I wanted it to follow a similar path as The Simpsons Movie, but not exact. I was considering delaying it further, but then I remembered that's exactly what I would have done in the past and didn't want to do it again. It was either June 24 or it wouldn't come out at all. I remember saying this all the way back in season three, but this is the closest I have ever come to writing a film version of the series.

-Some elements of the film I borrowed for this episode were: A new antagonist (Russ Cargill in the movie, Lisa in this episode), the city becoming chaotic because of one event (Homer dumping the silo in Lake Springfield, Lisa burning down Ike's), the main characters becoming wanted criminals, an emotional plea (Marge's video tape for Homer, Wade's phone video for RK), and the house of a main character becoming destroyed. I also wanted to write a different story for each of the main characters, but it didn't work out.

-I was considering using the 20th Century Fox intro for the episode, to make it feel more like a movie. However, I thought it would be too much so I left it out.

7/22/18

-After looking at the episode again, I'm even less happy with it now than I was before. I wrote last month that it felt like a Thank You, Heavenly movie, and it did at the time, but now, it just feels like an average extended episode. I backed myself into a corner having this as my only idea for a season finale, and also procrastinating so much when this episode needed more time for editing.

-I wanted this episode to have a different vibe to it, or at least make things feel like they could only happen in this episode and no other. That's why I used so many songs, or did something like have the "Visionz" instrumental play in the background while Lisa and Veronica talked.

-Buster and Ashley's relationship was never supposed to last. In fact, in the original episode, the plan was to have them date for a while and then break up at the end of it. However, I couldn't figure out a way to finish the episode how I wanted to and decided to have them become a couple. That's why after that episode, they don't have any scenes together and their relationship is hardly talked about until this episode.

-When Sparky talks about wanting to figure out what his vision meant, Jaylynn makes a reference to the Disney Channel sitcom That's So Raven (2003-2007).

-I needed an instrumental to play while Lisa was burning down Ike's, so I chose "Threat" because during one of the song's spoken-word sections, comedian Cedric the Entertainer talked about throwing a Molotov cocktail through a person's grandmother's house. This is what also helped me figure out how Lisa would burn the place down.

-Jaylynn makes a self-aware joke about how usually when I refer to all the main characters one by one, her name is always last. It goes Sparky, Buster, RK, Wade, and then her.

-RK dropping the two quarters on the table and then loading his gun is a reference to the intro for 50 Cent's debut album Get Rich or Die Tryin'. I was thinking about playing "What Up Gangsta" (the song that comes right after the intro) during the brawl, but I felt like that made the reference too obvious.

-Sparky going back to the house to get Santa's Little Helper is a reference to Marge going back to the Simpson house to get the wedding video of her and Homer.

-Buster makes another self-aware joke about how a majority of the antagonists on this show have either died or only appeared in one episode, never to come back. The only consistent villain in the series is Lynne, but she's just an antagonist for one character (Jaylynn).

-Sarah quotes herself from "Going Back to Portland: Part One" when she lets the guys stay at her house. I was looking through that episode for something else and saw that she said that, so I decided to include it here.

-RK refusing to leave Portland to go back to Seattle is a reference to Homer refusing to leave Alaska to go back to Springfield, after the family finds out that there are plans to destroy the town and use the remains to create a new Grand Canyon.

-In the movie, Marge mentions on the videotape how she's always stood up for Homer and stayed with him by overlooking his character flaws, but she can no longer do that and says this is the end of their marriage by taping over their wedding video. I knew I couldn't have a scene with that kind of emotion or dialogue because nothing in the episode justified it, so I decided to have Wade plead with RK to come back, instead of abandoning him for good like Marge did. I could be wrong about this, but this is most likely the first time Wade has ever told RK that he loves him. I knew I needed a line like that because Wade is rarely ever emotional to that degree. Also, Wade is one of the few people that can get through to RK and make him change the way he thinks.

-The FBI captures the kids to take them back home by force, similar to what the EPA did to the Simpsons.

-One of the earliest scenes I came up with was the FBI using "Remind Me" to torture the kids into a confession.

-I was originally going to make a reference to the Malcolm in the Middle theme song in "Student-Teacher Conference: The Half Days from Hell," but it didn't work out so I just used it here.

-I was thinking about killing Lisa off, but with her in prison, there will always be the opportunity to bring her back if I want to. I don't have any plans for her right now, but the choice will continue to be there.

-Ever since I decided to go through with the episode, I wanted The Clarks' version of Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" to play at the end of it. Ironically, the first time I heard this song was at the end of the Simpsons episode "Every Man's Dream" back in 2015. A montage was not my first idea for the last scene, but I needed something quick to write and could tie up some loose ends, like the fate of Woody's store or RK realizing he dropped his gun during the brawl. I knew "What a Wonderful World" wouldn't be long enough to continue playing through the whole end credits, and this episode was meant to feel more like a movie, so I used Green Day's cover of The Simpsons theme for the rest of it. I used it because the Green Day version was made specifically for the movie.