PRODUCTION/CULTURAL REFERENCES (written 9/23/17-9/24/17)
-First things first: Welcome back.
-Now that that's out of the way, here's how I came up with probably the most bizarre episode in the entire series: I was listening to A Tribe Called Quest's We Got It From Here, Thank You 4 Your Service album last year. It was a few days after it came out. I was a big fan of the opening track "The Space Program" and I was thinking about an episode where Wade led the kids on a trip to outer space which I would name after the song. I also thought about it being the season opener and how it would tackle kids like Wade being denied opportunities in science due to their race. I was thinking about the episode for days after that, and eventually, I got serious about writing it.
-I was going to drop the racism aspect of the episode after a while and knew I needed a plot that would be worth the guys going into space. That's when I came up with the idea of RK going to jail not because he actually committed any crimes, but because he couldn't help himself. I was inspired to go on with the episode after watching The Vernon Johns Story, and I reintroduced the theme of racism but with a twist: The aliens and humans would serve as stand-ins for white people and minorities, respectively. I had the episode in my head and knew it would be the season premiere, but I didn't exactly know what to do with it until I watched that movie.
-I was originally going to write this episode while I was working on season five and then come back a few weeks later to officially start season six, but I was already tired as hell and couldn't go anymore.
-Writing for this episode started on June 24, five years after I came out with the first episode of the series. With this season, I actually had the same feelings towards it that I did when I started season three: I couldn't wait to start writing again. However, this was definitely among the hardest episodes I've ever written. I finished the first draft on July 17, and only this week, I started doing rewrites. There were several scenes added, changed, or cut entirely, and I ended up with an episode longer than I thought it would be. I decided not to shorten it because I felt like it was fine as is, and every scene built on each other to create a really tight story. It's great that nowadays, I give myself more time to improve episodes and see what doesn't work, because the first draft was a complete mess once the guys went into space.
-I found out that October 1 was when all the prime-time animated shows were coming back, but I decided to keep the season opener a week ahead because I already set the date and didn't feel like changing it. Besides, with the exception of last season, I always like to come back with new episodes on the last Sunday in September.
-Buster's line about bugs, tsunamis, and goblins originally had "hurricanes" in place, but after the many hurricanes that have taken place over the last few weeks, it made it sound like I was making fun of the people affected by them.
-Wade's line about freeze dried food was originally about cheese on the moon, but I later went on to make a moon cheese joke during the rewrite so I changed it.
-I like the thought of RK hanging out with Anja and Lynne and never actually showing it. Sounds funnier that way.
-The Pete Conrad Center of Astronomical Research was named after astronaut Pete Conrad, who was the third man to walk on the Moon during the Apollo 12 mission in November 1969.
-Wade references a simulator he created in the episode "Heterosexuality 101" (#TYH512) where Jaylynn took a pill designed to turn her straight.
-In the original scene where Wade is flying the shuttle, his crazed look and confused rambling make Buster think he's trying to kill them, so he fights Wade for the controls and they end up landing in an intergalactic area flooded with traffic. The aliens turn their heads towards Jaylynn when she hopes that they won't, then they start throwing rocks at the shuttle. The kids take off and then land on Centauris X later. The scene didn't work for me so I edited it.
-Wade's rambling is a reference to the boat ride scene from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. Audio of this scene was sampled at the end of "The Space Program" which is why I included it here.
-Centauris X was originally named Andromeda Centauri but I didn't like it so I changed it.
-The Be Like Mike Tyson Experience references Tyson's guest appearances in the WWE leading up to WrestleMania XIV in 1998, and his rape conviction in 1992.
-RK references Troy McClure, an old Simpsons character used for documentaries and instructional videos. He was retired after the death of his voice actor Phil Hartman in 1998.
-The scene at the Schmeckle Club is a direct reference to The Vernon Johns Story, and is the scene that I created when I decided to look at the episode in a different way.
-This episode also contains several references to the fourth season of Power, which also helped as an inspiration for writing this:
Buster saying that RK did whatever he was accused of doing, referencing Kanan's lines "Whatever they say he did, he did that shit" and "He did that shit. Guilty as f***."
Jerry Ferrara's guest spot as Flankston. Ferrara plays a lawyer named Proctor on Power. When I first wrote that scene two months ago, I didn't have anyone in mind for this role but I kept hearing Proctor's voice so I made him Flankston.
RK and Flankston's scene in the conference room. This is something that I was a little on the fence about because I had no idea if a scene like this even belonged in the series. The scene references a similar scene in the second episode of season four, "Things Are About to Get Worse."
-Kaygin is one of the reasons I'm glad I was able to do a rewrite, since he wasn't in the original draft at all. He mocks RK for his name, referencing the fact that I named RK after Hot Chelle Rae member Ryan Follesé.
-A lot of the rewriting I did was explaining why certain things were happening, like the aliens speaking English, the guys going to a higher court, and RK's motivation for a prison riot.
-Wade references the old Nickelodeon kid's television series Gullah Gullah Island.
-I thought it would be funnier and have more of an impact if Judge Bloopleford was the same judge using cocaine in the higher court. I wrote the higher court scene after the courtroom scene so I changed the name.
-#601922TSP: The season, episode number, date and month I wrote the scene, episode initials.
-In the summer, I wrote Wade's speech about human nature and alien intelligence on a piece of paper, along with RK's motivational speech about the prison riot. I liked both speeches, but neither one made the original draft because I wasn't completely sure if they would work. I added them both in the rewrites.
-In the original draft, Flankston introduces himself to RK in the courtroom as the attorney that gets everyone off. However, I felt like the innuendo should have been acknowledged so I included it in the scene where the kids meet him.
-At this point in the original draft, Sparky was going to start questioning RK's innocence and agree with the restaurant's policy, stating that RK didn't belong there and was trespassing. However, I felt like it was slightly out of character for him and it wasn't going anywhere meaningful, so I changed it to him questioning how many people in prison actually deserve to be in prison.
-The scene where RK meets Flankston in the federal prison wasn't in the original draft, as well as RK thinking of a prison riot.
-The courtroom scene was heavily rewritten. In the first draft, the trial actually happened. RK meets Flankston for the first time, then the Schmeckle Club's lawyer starts to speak. Flankston gives his opening statement, then he calls Wade to the stand to disprove the theory that RK is naturally violent. After struggling with being under oath, Wade finally collects himself and gives a speech defending RK and criticizing the world for its treatment of him. The jury reaches a verdict that RK is guilty and he is sentenced to death by plasma cannon.
-RK goes manic and begins attacking the jury while "Everybody Plays the Fool" by The Main Ingredient plays in the background and things turn to slow-motion. Trying to defend RK, the guys are all killed and RK ends up kicking and screaming all the way to his death. I was already planning on changing at least half of this. I kept the courtroom in flames because in scenes like this, I always feel like something inexplicably catches on fire.
-The original case number in the courtroom scene was #601717TYH, but after referencing it in the higher court scene, I was forced to change it.
-I had thoughts of using "Intergalactic" in this episode for obvious reasons so I'm glad I was able to get it in when it almost didn't happen. I think I also thought about using "Sensitivity" by Ralph Tresvant but I can't remember why.
-Buster's last line in the episode was originally "In that case, I hope they burn Mars alive" but I didn't think it was funny enough so I changed it.
-One of the hardest things about this episode was picking a song to play at the end of it. Since season three, I've been using a certain song to kick off the season and start it on a high note. This season, I spent months thinking about what song would play in the end credits. I was deciding between two Rakim songs ("It's Been a Long Time" and "The 18th Letter (Always and Forever)") and "Still D.R.E." by Dr. Dre featuring Snoop Dogg. "No Introduction" was also on the list, but I wasn't sure about it. In the original draft, I put in "Moment of Truth" by Gang Starr but it didn't sound right after a while. I then decided to go with "No Introduction" because not only did it have what I wanted, but the title was also perfect for the show: Thank You, Heavenly is back, so allow it to reintroduce itself.
-This episode was dedicated to Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, who died last Sunday at age 72 from organ failure. Heenan was a wrestling manager and commentator, best known for his commentary work in WWE with the late Gorilla Monsoon and having assisted a legendary list of wrestlers including Nick Bockwinkel, André the Giant, "Ravishing" Rick Rude, Paul Orndorff, Harley Race, Mr. Perfect, Ric Flair, Lex Luger, and CM Punk. Heenan is considered by many to be the greatest manager in the history of wrestling.