PRODUCTION/CULTURAL REFERENCES (written on 9/28/15)
-Despite being the first episode produced for the season, "The Fourteenth Year" was not the first one completed (as it ended up being "S-P-A-R-K-Y the Letter Man," which will be next week's episode). I started writing the episode sometime in mid-August and got about 60% of it done before I picked it up again this weekend. In classic Thank You, Heavenly fashion, "The Fourteenth Year" came out a few hours later than I intended while still reaching its airdate.
-How did this end up being the season premiere when another one had been on the table for months? Sometime in July, I started writing the original two-part season opener "Bienvenue a Paris." I actually was able to get the main cast to Paris at that point, but the problem was the episode was spread too thin. There was really only one plot I had at the time and a majority of the episode was just "Look, we're in Paris" stuff. Nothing was really working in this episode that made it stand out other than the fact that it was a travel episode, and if I was unable to actually make it into an experience that only the show's characters themselves could go through, it was not worth it. I just spent some time racking my brain trying to figure out what to do. I could have just started a new episode, but nothing really screamed "season premiere" like the Paris one did. I like a strong, heavy hitter of a season premiere. It just sets the tone right and gets you in the mood for what the other episodes have to follow. For a while, it just seemed like I would have to finish the whole script if it killed me.
-One Saturday morning in August, I woke up and the idea for this episode just came to me. It was just something that I was thinking about and when I started developing the idea further along with the subplot (which I came up with that same day), I knew this had to be the season premiere. It felt special while staying true to Thank You, Heavenly at the same time. Plus, a KG episode was long overdue. I like writing for him and I believe he has one of the few unique perspectives of life outside of the main cast.
-Because I knew the episode would take place in the summer, I had to come up with a subplot that fit accordingly. I just felt like the water basketball story would give some great jokes and help balance out the main story, which was still goofy but had more emotion behind it.
-This is only the second episode in the history of the series to take place during the summer ("Isn't Summer the Worst?" in season one being the first).
-Larisa Oleynik was originally supposed to voice a younger version of Denise in a season three episode ("The Girl Next Door is Mine"), but it was scrapped so her role was transferred to this episode as KG's love interest. She might make more appearances in the future.
-The episode title is a reference to the 1999 Disney Channel Original Movie The Thirteenth Year. The episode is also loosely based off of the 2000 film Seventeen Again.
-During the episode's production, an episode of Rick & Morty called "Big Trouble in Little Sanchez" aired. Rick transferred his conscience into a teenage clone of himself (deciding to go by "Tiny Rick" for the time being) and started sending cryptic messages that he wanted to be let out of this form when his adult body started dying in a vat in the garage. Because "The Fourteenth Year" was similar to that one, I avoided making any reference to the episode. One thing that the show has started growing out of is making topical references, to keep the episodes more relevant in a few years.
-The Wallace & McQuade Community Pool is named after the advertising agency that Angela worked for on Who's the Boss during the first two seasons. She was fired at the beginning of season three and went on to open her own agency.
-Craig Sager's role was initially meant for Rachel Nichols, but she was replaced due to Sager being more recognizable to basketball fans.
-In the script for the first part of the Paris episode, there is a scene where Lynne is moving out of Anja's house and heading to her new apartment. This was briefly mentioned in this episode as well. I decided to have Anja and Lynne stop living together because Lynne's feud with Jaylynn had run its course. "Thank You for Being an Enemy" was written as a swan song for their rivalry. While Lynne will still be a recurring character on the show, most of her appearances will now see her interacting with the other kids in an attempt to further develop her personality.
-Wade is such a wonderful character to write for, especially when he is upset. His role as the cynical straight man is really beneficial to the show.
-Until she stayed primarily in the subplot, Jaylynn's role was making fun of the fact that she hardly has anything to do with the episode unless she is in the main plot. By contrast, Sparky and Buster's nonchalance towards the main plot was making fun of the fact that usually, the two plots in an episode come together or the characters at least acknowledge what other characters are doing.
-KG's hatred towards whipped cream actually reflects my hatred for it, or at least eating it without any ice cream.
-When RK said he was supposed to "stay ten until the ratings dip," it was a reference to long-running shows Thank You, Heavenly has been influenced by where the characters hardly ever age, leading to the eventual point where the writers start running out of original ideas. It was also hinting at the fact that I plan to age up the kids if I intend to keep the show running longer in its current state. It will help keep things from getting stale and I can start looking at the kids from new perspectives. This is why season five will see the main cast start fifth grade and KG become a high school freshman, if it gets to that point. Everything is just season by season now, but I will be happy if I can get the kids to junior high.
-RK also makes a reference to the scrapped two-part Paris episode. I felt like it only made sense on Thank You, Heavenly to talk about it.
-The guest appearances by the NBA on TNT crew were fun to write. I love Marv Albert's voice so I thought he would be a great commentator for the waterball tournament.
-The original idea was for Sparky and Buster to enter their games using "Wicked Ones" but that would have taken up too much time so to make up for it, a montage was used instead. I actually considered other songs they could use for their entrance music ("Machine Gun Funk" by The Notorious B.I.G., "Enter Sandman" by Metallica, etc.).
-At the pool, KG references Marilyn Monroe's famous quote, "But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best."
-Wade was originally supposed to give the big moral speech that gets KG to change back, but for obvious reasons, it was changed to RK.
-I do want the main cast to travel abroad, but if they do, it would have to be because I know I have something interesting planned for them, not just because I want them to travel. I have done travel episodes in the past, but I felt like this one was revolving completely around the fact that they were in Paris. I really had nothing going on except for part two, and that was only one plot that I wanted to surround with other plots.
-The original plot of The Thank You, Heavenly Movie was that the kids travel to three European cities: London, Paris, and Barcelona. It was based off my real-life experiences going to those cities for spring break in eighth grade, but I chose Paris for the scrapped season opener because it was my favorite city out of the three. I even considered doing three episodes spread out over three weeks that would follow the kids in London for Part I, Paris for Part II, and Barcelona for Part III. I might look into that in the future.
-I knew the first end credits song of the season had to be a banger, so I went with "Come and Get It." However, if I had thought about it a bit more, I would have also used "Award Tour" by A Tribe Called Quest.