Written 7/22/18
-After I finished the finale, I started writing the Backstage Pass and then I just didn't feel like continuing it. I knew I had to finish because I wouldn't truly feel like season six was over without wrapping everything up, even though all the episodes are done. Despite being gone for a month, I wasn't spending my time doing nothing. I've been keeping up with my classes and I also recently started working at a day camp for the summer. But beyond that, I have been busy putting together the first half of season seven. You know, just deciding which order the episodes will be written, what date this or that episode will come out, setting up the main plots for each episode. So I still know where my focus is and what my priorities are.
-Even though I'm starting later than I wanted, I'm going to begin work on season seven this week. With recent seasons, I usually do most of the writing for the first couple episodes around this time anyway. I remember it took me almost two weeks in July 2016 to finish "How Five Idiots Spent Their Summer Vacation," and then "Raging Buster" took only a day. Last year, the first draft of "The Space Program" took almost a month to finish, and it wasn't until the days leading up to the episode's premiere that I did any editing or rewriting. So hopefully, this slow July leads to me having a really productive August.
-I'm going for a different vibe with season seven. Nothing that will make anyone think the show is completely different, but just the way I write episodes and approach stories. All the way back in season three, I started becoming a fan of The Simpsons and I wanted to pattern this show after it. I feel like it worked out because that was the season where Thank You, Heavenly really started to develop its own voice and become a little more sophisticated. I never forgot about that Simpsons influence because it ended up affecting season five in a positive way. I was irritated because seasons three and four were shorter than they were supposed to be, and I felt like I wasn't working hard enough. That influence helped me with season five because it definitely felt different from the two seasons that came before it. I want that same feeling to come back with season seven, and I have a few ideas on how to make it come back.
-The new season will begin on September 30, and from then until December, there are only two Sundays where I know I'm not coming out with a new episode: November 4 and December 2. If everything works out, the first half will end on December 30. I wanted the first half of season six to have 13 episodes, and I got close but couldn't reach my goal. This year, I want at least that amount.
-The 150th episode of the series is coming in November, so just like in season five, I have a milestone to look forward to and motivate me to keep the energy flowing. I already know what I'm going to do for it, and it's an episode that I've never done before. I came up with the idea before I chose it as the 150th episode, and that will be one of the early ones I write. It won't be the 150th episode written, but the 150th episode released, if that makes sense.
-I have a really...interesting idea for this year's Halloween episode. Of course, I'm not spoiling anything, but this is one of the most ambitious ideas I've ever come up with. Usually, the Halloween episodes take extra work so that will be one of the first episodes I write for the season. I say "episode" because instead of doing two different Halloween episodes, I want to do a two-part, one-hour Halloween episode. It will prevent one episode from being really polished and tight, and the other one from looking like I paid it less attention and put in less effort. There is a high chance that this episode might not happen, and if it doesn't, then I'll just write two different episodes again. But until then, I know what I want to do and I'm not backing down from the challenge.
-There's nothing major happening to the Backstage Passes, but from now on, I'm most likely going to pick and choose which episodes get one. If I don't feel like there's enough information for a certain episode, it won't get one. I don't want another situation like with "For Your Playground Only" where I didn't have a lot to talk about. The season six episodes that don't have Backstage Passes right now won't get them. Maybe "War of the Salehs," but that's because I have something to work with. I'm not about to write a whole season of episodes and only eight or nine of them have a Backstage Pass, but every once in a while, an episode won't have one.
-I still want to co-write an episode with someone else. That was one of my goals for season six, and I came close to making it a reality but it just didn't work out. It's amazing how I've tried twice to collaborate on an episode, and the first time, I was the reason it didn't happen, while the second time, the other person disappeared and I haven't talked to them in a year. I'm not giving up though. If it doesn't happen in season seven, it's happening in season eight. Yeah, I'm planning on doing an eighth season.
-I'm giving the New Year's episode another shot. I talked about it before, but there were just too many issues I had with it last year to release it. It most likely won't be the same episode in terms of story, but pieces of it will stay. Right now, I want to work with it and see if I can make it happen this time. I was thinking that it would be in the style of "The Space Program" if everything works out.
-There are at least two other episodes I wanted to do this season that I couldn't, because I got bored with them or the story wasn't working out. I'm giving them both another shot in season seven.
-There's not really a chance of me doing another Super Bowl episode next season. My feelings haven't changed at all since January. I feel like I've worn out the gimmick at this point. The "story box" format gave it some new life, but I don't even have any ideas for it this time. Plus, it's a lot more work writing it than it should be. I might feel differently in a few months, or even a few weeks because nothing is set in stone. But right now, I don't have any interest in it.
-I mentioned last year that I wanted to do an episode in season six that played with the format of the show. I tried writing it, and it just failed. It was a disaster trying to write it and I already reworked it into another episode ("The Real Thank You, Heavenly"), so I have no desire to try it again. I guess you could say "The Space Program" was that episode, but in some ways, it still felt like a regular episode to me. Maybe I'll get a chance to write that episode next season.
-Here are the potential episode dates for season seven in 2018. Remember, everything is subject to change:
September 30 (season premiere)
October 7
October 14
October 21
October 28 (two-part Halloween episode or Halloween doubleheader)
November 11
November 18 (150TH EPISODE)
November 25
December 9
December 16
December 23
December 30
