PRODUCTION/CULTURAL REFERENCES (written 2/2/18)
-This was an idea that I've been wanting to do since season three, but it hasn't worked out until now for a few reasons. In season three, I was starting to get burnt out from writing the show which prevented me from being able to write this episode. I think I had only done some of the first segment and it never materialized into anything more. The only thing I was able to do was a short segment in an episode that came out after the Super Bowl. In season four, I tried again, but the episode became an RK story when I realized there was more to it than I thought. I didn't even try last season because I was just using an idea I came up with for season four and felt like I could write a whole episode based off that. Plus, it became a complete mess finishing it to the point where I had to make a joke about the episode coming out late. This year was going to be different.
-I came up with the three segments a few months ago, and they all turned out pretty much the way I imagined them. The episode ended up being much longer than normal because of the fact that I was doing three smaller episodes of varying lengths and I had to set up each one. Plus, I had to make sure I included the guest appearances in every segment, which ended up being a lot harder than I thought since there was hardly anything to joke about.
-The one thing I was hoping for was that the episode came out on time, and while it was only one day late, it still wasn't on time. I actually could have released the episode on the 28th, but I was doing rewrites due to my procrastination last week. In fact, I was still doing rewrites on the night the episode was posted. I don't see myself doing another Super Bowl episode next season. If I have any ideas for it, I'll just take the approach from the last two seasons and write an episode off one story, but I don't know where else I can go after this.
-This was the first episode of the second half of season six that I worked on. I started on New Year's Day.
-"The Radical Ones" was a commentary on former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick's police brutality/racial injustice protests by kneeling during the national anthem. I felt like I had to write a segment based on that because it was such a huge topic during the season and I wanted to make fun of how many people viewed the protest. In order to make Sparky and Wade more in the right, I had them recite the pledge while they were sitting down, instead of not doing it at all. There were other things I would have liked to touch on (certain characters close to the guys believing that Sparky and Wade were wrong, for example), but I really like how it turned out.
-The episode worked out well because along with the satirical segment, I had the regular segment just meant to show RK's frustration at missing the game. "Who Cares About the Super Bowl?" was inspired by and based off the Full House episode "Super Bowl Fun Day," with RK as Joey, Wade as Jesse, and Michelle as Anna. I had no trouble with this segment as you would expect, and I wanted to capture the feeling that was had this past season. It felt nowhere near as compelling or interesting as previous seasons, and I feel like the Super Bowl is a reflection of that: A team that has been to the game more than enough times versus a team that is the clear underdog and has been underrated as the #1 seed in the NFC, held in a city where the game time temperature outside is going to be less than ten degrees.
-"By the Time I Get to Minneapolis" was going to be the opening segment in the cancelled season three Super Bowl episode, featuring the kids trying to get to Phoenix for Super Bowl XLIX. It was actually called "To the West, Whitewards." I was going for an off-the-wall, absurd road trip. However, I had actually developed the story while writing it and at one point, it was going to be Buster's idea. If I had another chance to rewrite it, I would have shortened it.
-This is the first Super Bowl episode where the game is being broadcast on NBC (the Super Bowl short during season three featured NBC commentators, however).
-I was listening to "Legend" back in October on my way to pick up food and while the song was playing, I came up with the opening sequence. Ever since the third Super Bowl episode, I've wanted to use special NFL-style presentations to introduce each one. I knew "Legend" was going to be a great song to use because the NFL had used it to advertise the opening night game between the Patriots and the Kansas City Chiefs. The only change I made to it during the rewrite was including scenes of the Patriots and the Eagles, and having Carrie Underwood leave after seeing RK's face instead of getting shooed away.
-Sparky references the Atlanta Falcons' loss in Super Bowl LI last year, where they went from a 28-3 lead against the Patriots in the third quarter to giving up 34 unanswered points on their way to losing in overtime.
-Michele Tafoya references the This is Us episode that is scheduled to air after the Super Bowl.
-When Wade is talking to RK while he's playing Madden, he imitates rappers The Notorious B.I.G. and Jay-Z with their respective ad-libs, "Bigga, baby" and "G'yeah."
-RK references Malcolm X's famous quote, "We didn't land on Plymouth Rock; the rock landed on us."
-Direct references to the original Full House episode include: RK taking the others to a sports bar, Heather Cox trying and failing to take a look at U.S. Bank Stadium's scoreboard, Adriana and Anna changing the TV, the TVs being ruined, and RK taking everyone somewhere else to watch the game.
-The scene where RK threatens the bar patrons with his gun was originally a reference to Rush Hour 3, where Big Paul holds up RK by his neck while RK talks about him potentially being on steroids and tosses him on the floor. He then stomps on Wade's stomach, but Adriana and Anna knock him out by hitting him in the skull with pool cues. I came up with the line about CNN saying RK has a mental illness and thought it would be really funny to include.
-RK being confused by Buster still eating Papa John's is a reference to the pizza chain's founder and chairman John Schnatter's comments during a conference call with investors a few months ago, showing his distaste for the national anthem protests going on in the NFL, and citing them as a reason why restaurant sales were down. He was heavily criticized for his comments and ended up stepping down as the CEO of Papa John's.
-To distract Adriana and Anna, Wade tells them the story of "The Time Machine," (#TYH228) and then tries to tell them the story of "Night of the Radioactive Hamsters" (#TYH411).
-RK references the halftime show controversy during Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2004, where Janet Jackson's right breast ended up being exposed by Justin Timberlake in an incident near the end of the show. Jackson faced the majority of the criticism and ended up being blacklisted in certain areas, while Timberlake was left relatively unscathed and denied any involvement in the incident.
-The title of "By the Time I Get to Minneapolis" is a reference to the song "By the Time I Get to Arizona" by Public Enemy.
-Buster and Wade reference the signature play of Super Bowl XLIX where the Seattle Seahawks decided to go for a pass play in the end zone instead of handing the ball to running back Marshawn Lynch. The pass ended up being intercepted by Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler, and was the key in the Patriots winning the game after trailing by ten points earlier.
-The scene where RK comes to Halley's house playing "Survival of the Fittest" was actually something I came up with in 2015, when Jaylynn was in Halley's role.
-Before Halley interrupted him, RK was about to reference the Baltimore Colts' move to Indianapolis, Indiana in 1984, when in the middle of the night, Colts owner Robert Irsay called several different moving trucks to pack up the team's offices in Maryland and take the belongings to Indianapolis.
-Wade references Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne who ended up being assassinated on June 28, 1914. The assassination was the catalyst in World War I taking place.
-Sparky and Jaylynn being accused of shooting the corner store clerk is a reference to the 1992 film My Cousin Vinny.
-Buster and Wade's car conversation was going to be rewritten into something more related to football, but I couldn't come up with anything better than what I already had. Another scene between them was planned, but I felt like it was unnecessary.
-Originally, Sparky and Jaylynn were pulled over and arrested in Billings, Montana, but after doing research, I found out that Missoula County actually voted Democratic traditionally so I changed the city.
-Buster and RK's slap fight was originally the ending of the segment and the episode, but I knew it was a non-ending so I added more scenes.
-Sparky states that Super Bowl LII is the Eagles' third appearance in the championship game in franchise history (having previously lost Super Bowl XV in 1981 and Super Bowl XXXIX in 2005), and then makes a reference to the Buffalo Bills losing four Super Bowls in a row from 1991-1994.
-The original song playing in the end credits was "Champion" by Carrie Underwood featuring Ludacris, but I didn't think it was the right fit so I went with a song I was into more. Then I remembered that for Super Bowl XLVI in 2012, Faith Hill recorded a version of "Waiting All Day for Sunday Night" for the game, so I decided to use it.