PRODUCTION/CULTURAL REFERENCES (written 5/23/23)
-Like a lot of episodes this season, I came up with the idea for this one in the summer of 2021. However, unlike most of these episodes, it took a different route. In fact, I had no plans on writing this episode until a few months ago.
-Originally, this episode was a cover episode of the Wayans Bros. episode "Help a Brother Out." In it, Jaylynn decides to take in a homeless man around Christmas, and RK convinces her to write about the experience for a school assignment on doing one charitable act during the holidays. It was going to be the second episode of season nine, back when I wanted to start writing again as soon as I could. It had the same title and it was also going to follow "Dreaming of a Black Market Christmas." However, after "Dreaming" didn't work out and I decided to push back season nine, I put this episode on the shelf. I actually got halfway through the script and I still have it. But I didn't think it was strong enough for season nine and I left it behind.
-Earlier this year, when I reached the end of season nine, I had plans for a two-part season finale. However, I got through one scene and I realized immediately that it wasn't going to work out. I was already getting fatigued around the time of "An Interview with the Gelatin Community," and I pushed through almost all the episodes I had left, but I hit a wall at the worst time. If this episode didn't happen, I had no season finale. Initially, it was disappointing because this finale had been planned for months, but there wasn't enough of a story for one episode, much less two. Instead of trying to force the episode to happen (like I did with "The Simpsons Movie: Thank You, Heavenly Edition"), I changed my plans and replaced the original finale with two new episodes. One of them became the new season finale, and the other one was this episode.
-I wasn't interested in the main plot anymore, but I was still interested in the subplot and thought it had a lot of potential. In the original script, the subplot was about Sparky helping Buster pay off his overdue car insurance and Buster getting upset with him for doing it. RK tries to warn Sparky about helping Buster, but Sparky refuses to believe Buster wouldn't accept his help until it actually happens. When I decided to write this episode, I switched Sparky and RK's roles because it was a lot more true to the characters. Sparky would be the first person to know Buster is sensitive about people helping him, and RK sees Buster as his second brother so he wouldn't hesitate to help him. In the original script, Jaylynn is the one that says "for the sake of our fellow man" multiple times, but I kept the title and gave the line to RK instead.
-When I decided to rewrite the original episode and make it an RK/Buster story, I no longer had a subplot. I didn't even know if I was going to write one, but I ended up getting inspiration from a real-life experience. I was in Halley's shoes, but I actually got help flushing the toilet and found out what was wrong with it. That same morning, I had the idea for a subplot involving Halley and thought about the scene where she told Jaylynn what happened. I had started writing this episode the day before, and after I came up with the subplot, I immediately incorporated it into the script. I ended up finishing the episode in less than three days.
-The subplot was also a way to finish up the Sparky/Bitch Clock storyline that started in "These Drinks." When I wrote that episode, I couldn't get to the point where Sparky and Bitch Clock fell out. I just decided to leave it as is and carry on with the rest of the season. But as I did that, I thought it would be interesting to play the long game and have Sparky grow more resentful of Bitch Clock over time. "These Drinks" was the point where Sparky no longer had faith in Bitch Clock and lost whatever respect he had for him, and later episodes ("Live from British Columbia," "Lost One") made his feelings stronger. I felt like even though the subplot started in a weird place, it could be an opportunity to have Halley bridge the gap between Sparky and Bitch Clock when no one else would. I still love writing scenes where Sparky gets annoyed with Bitch Clock, but his energy in this episode was different because of everything that's happened this season. This subplot also unintentionally ends the running gag of Bitch Clock not knowing who Halley is.
-Since this episode wasn't part of season nine at first, I had to change the schedule to find the right place to put it. Episodes 13-15 were already set and I wasn't going to move them, and since this episode was written late in the season, it had to come late in the season. Scheduling it after "Lost One" made the most sense, and it made even more sense after everything that happened with next week's episode. More on that when the time comes.
-Originally, the opening scene was the scene at Ike's where the guys talk about Buster's smell. It was the only scene I had written so far. A day later, I decided to write more scenes to set it up, and then I started writing the subplot so scene #1 became scene #6.
-At the time I wrote this episode, they had just announced the making of Toy Story 5 so I decided to have the guys talk about it. Sparky and Jaylynn both reference the ending of Toy Story 4 where Woody decides to leave the other toys and restart his relationship with Bo Peep.
-As I mentioned earlier, Sparky makes explicit references to things Bitch Clock has done this season that were destructive, like lying about his sobriety in "These Drinks" and inadvertently making the situation between Sparky and KG worse because of his Denise rant in "Live from British Columbia." I was thinking about referencing "A Smooth Sea Never Made a Drunk Sailor," but Bitch Clock actually made things right in that episode.
-RK indirectly references John F. Kennedy's famous quote "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country."
-RK makes another indirect reference to Jay-Z's "I think we've moved past kneeling" quote, which was said after Roc Nation signed a partnership deal with the NFL in the summer of 2019.
-This was unintentional, but Halley agreeing to be Bitch Clock's personal assistant is very similar to how Jaylynn agreed to be Lynne's personal assistant in the season four episode "When Satan Takes the Wheel."
-Bitch Clock references the season seven episode "Welcome Home, Mr. Newman" where Buster moves in with him and becomes his consigliere. It leads to Buster being caught in the middle of a shootout between Bitch Clock and some Italian clientele that almost kills him.
-RK references the Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever special where Michael Jackson performed the moonwalk for the very first time.
-RK references the fact that in the earlier seasons, Thank You, Heavenly constantly used cutaways and random transitions in the same way that Family Guy does. Nowadays, scenes transition normally, and there are no cutaways except for the occasional flashback or fantasy sequence.
-Bitch Clock references the season five episode "The Blight Before Christmas." In that episode, Sparky and Buster get drunk off of Bitch Clock's alcohol in the attic so they can avoid thinking about the bad luck a curse might have brought them.
-Bitch Clock reveals that not only is he still banned from Twitter after the events of "These Drinks," but Steve Burns also filed a restraining order against him after the events of "Live from British Columbia."