PRODUCTION/CULTURAL REFERENCES (written 5/2/23)
-I originally came up with this episode in late 2021. At the time, the episode was called "Wade's Brain." It was going to be about Wade's struggles in junior high and his fears that he's slowly losing his intelligence. I knew I had to write an episode focusing on Wade and what he was dealing with as a sixth grader since he went to a different school, so when season nine was put on hold, this was on the table for a long time.
-The episode did reflect my original idea, but it was less about Wade struggling with all his classes and more about one specific class breaking down his confidence. I went through a lot of what Wade went through in this episode when I started junior high, so this was a personal script. Not turning in assignments, being scared by my teacher, hating the idea of going to class, the anxiety over failing in school for the first time. It wasn't that I didn't understand the material, but I couldn't transition fast enough into middle school which was faster-paced than elementary school. When the year started, I was already behind because we were given an assignment over the summer that I didn't know about. I was put in the #2 sixth grade class (each grade had three classes of different rankings, and the same students were usually put in the same rank every year), but by the end of the semester, I was transferred to the #3 class. I was failing three subjects (math, science, social studies). By the end of the year, I turned it around and became a good student again, so going to the #3 class and dealing with different teachers was the best thing that could have happened to me.
-I didn't think it was realistic that Wade would be failing his classes to the same extent that I did. Even though this episode was based on my personal experiences, Wade has already been established as a great student. "Wade Goes to Junior High" was a preview of what Wade would be dealing with in sixth grade, and it was just proving that Wade wasn't ready for middle school yet. I needed the story to fit him specifically. I knew there was no way Wade would ever fail science, or any of the major subjects. I chose music because it's a class that I thought was out of Wade's depth, something he wouldn't have been exposed to in iCarly Elementary. I never understood music class at any point in junior high, even after improving my grades. I was going for a situation where Wade wasn't failing, but he was afraid to fail. He was intimidated by Ms. Garibaldi, the subject bored him even when he tried to understand it, and he wasn't going to turn in anything other than his best work, so he chose to give up. Despite being an elective, it was still Wade worried about what people would think if he started struggling in school. He would rather not try than try and fail.
-A lot of this episode was figured out while I was writing it. I had both plots set up, and I had an idea of where they were supposed to go, but it wasn't like "These Drinks" where I already had certain things planned before I started working on it. Kenny, Ms. Garibaldi, Kelly, and Arlene didn't exist when I started writing the episode. They just came to me naturally and became important characters. As of right now, I have no idea if Kenny or Ms. Garibaldi will show up again. If they do, it most likely won't be planned.
-The subplot was something I came up with last year when I remembered that Esther went to Craig Bartlett Junior High. Once I remembered that, I knew she had to interact with Buster and Jaylynn again. Originally, "The Girl Next Door is Mine" was going to end with Buster and Jaylynn making peace with Esther. However, I decided not to include it because I knew the more important scene was Buster and Jaylynn making peace with each other. I considered bringing Esther back later on in season eight, but there weren't really any episodes left that she fit into, so I just kept things as they were. The subplot was a way to resolve what I couldn't three years ago, and it opened the door to bring Esther back for more episodes if I needed her. Now that she goes to the same school as Buster and Jaylynn, she won't feel out of place if she appears again.
-This was originally supposed to be the ninth episode of season nine, not the eighth. I also wrote it as the ninth episode. The episode I originally had planned for this week had a lot of problems and was rewritten until it no longer made sense to make it the eighth episode. In a couple weeks, I'll talk about it more.
-When I wrote the first draft, the episode originally started with Wade showing Buster who Pavarotti was in his textbook. That was actually a scene I had in my head before I wrote it. But I realized the subplot was taking up more time in the beginning and I needed to establish the main plot better than I was. I also needed to introduce Kenny and Ms. Garibaldi sooner, because they're the most important people in Wade's story. The first two scenes were part of the rewrite.
-The first two scenes also add further context to the third scene. In that scene, Wade is educating Buster on Pavarotti like he would in any other episode, because he's the smartest, most knowledgeable person in the group. But with the first scene, Wade is confused and not paying attention like the average student, then uses what Ms. Garibaldi said in class to make it seem like he has a full understanding of who Pavarotti was. It's part of Wade's conflict in this episode, a desire to keep his reputation and not acknowledge the fact that he's struggling.
-When I was in junior high, there were always these trips that the students would take every year to other states or countries. One of those trips was to D.C. which I went on and served as the inspiration for "A Long Walk to Washington." While I was in junior high, some kids actually did go to Ghana over mid-winter break. It was either when I was in sixth or seventh grade. The biggest trip I took was the European tour (London, Paris, Barcelona) over spring break when I was in eighth grade.
-I really liked writing for Esther again, because she's one of the characters that's not over-the-top and reacts to things realistically. Not someone I can use all the time, but she's a good contrast to Buster and Jaylynn. Like last time, I wrote her lines based on Sadie Stanley's performance as Brea Bee on The Goldbergs. Something I picked up on was Brea gets uncomfortable quickly and is very realistic compared to the other characters on the show, so I applied that to Esther.
-When I wrote Ms. Garibaldi's lines in the first draft, I just kept hearing Mo'Nique's voice and no one else's. That's when I decided to make Ms. Garibaldi a guest character. I'm very selective with having characters played by actual people because I have to hear their voice in the lines I write. Before, I would literally just have whoever voice any one-time or recurring characters I came up with. Now, it's a more natural process.
-RK made fun of Esther's name in "The Girl Next Door is Mine" so I made a callback to it.
-Wade mentions that he didn't like Coach Bergman, the gym coach from "For Your Playground Only" in season six.
-RK references the PBS series Homework Hotline. It used to air around 5:00 when I was younger, but I don't think the show has been in production for a while.
-That joke about the Calvin and Hobbes cartoon was something I've had for a long time, to the point where I was convinced that I've used it on the show already. As far as I know, I haven't, because my earliest memory of the joke was in 2019, but I wanted to use it here just so I know it belongs to a certain episode. The joke makes fun of the fact that Calvin and Hobbes creator Bill Watterson is famous for being against any kind of merchandising regarding the comic strip. That includes things like T-shirts and adapting the comic strip for television. As far as the comic strip itself, he stopped making it in 1995 and has had no desire to ever bring it back.
-I ate hot fudge sundae Pop Tarts a lot in the sixth grade, especially at the start of the year. There were probably a few times where I had class coming up and I wasn't looking forward to going.
-Ms. Garibaldi was based on a teacher I had in the sixth grade. One time, I came into class and she had asked me why I hadn't told her anything about my parents coming so they could discuss my grades. She ended up telling me "stop playing with me" in front of the whole class, and it was one of those moments that always stuck with me. However, I didn't throw up and I don't remember anybody laughing.
-The scene where Wade tells Kenny he's going home was added during the rewrite.
-Forgetting Esther's last name, Jaylynn makes a reference to Esther Rolle, the actress that played Florida on the CBS sitcom Good Times.
-I realized I didn't give Esther a last name in her first episode so I made a joke about Jaylynn taking a long time to remember it. Originally, it would have been that she genuinely didn't know and neither did Buster, but if RK had Esther's Facebook profile, they would have had to know themselves.
-Originally, when Buster and Jaylynn sat on the steps, Esther would have showed up and they would have their confrontation then. I didn't really like how the scene was written, so I changed it to them figuring out Esther's last name and meeting her in her condo. The dialogue when Buster and Jaylynn confronted her was rewritten slightly, but most of it was kept the same.
-About a month ago, I was trying to get into a building that you had to enter by buzzing in. Every time I buzzed in, the person on the other end wouldn't be able to hear me. Either because I kept taking my finger off the buzzer or it was just bad reception. I would try to keep my finger on the buzzer to continue the conversation, and eventually, the person on the other end told me to stop pressing it. That was what inspired the scene where Jaylynn tries to get into Esther's condo.
-The scene where Esther tells Kelly and Arlene to fix what they did was part of the rewrite. I didn't like the way I wrote it with Kelly and Arlene just harassing Buster and Jaylynn again, so I set it up to where the conversation is actually shown.
-Buster thinks that Wade has agoraphobia, but confuses it with arachnophobia (fear of spiders). Jaylynn tries to correct him, but ends up mistaking it for acrophobia (fear of heights). Buster then confuses that with ablutophobia (fear of bathing/washing/cleaning).
-I added the George Lopez scene during the rewrite. Not the scene with Adriana, but the George Lopez episode Wade watches.
-During the George Lopez episode, George references the ABC sitcom Home Improvement which starred Tim Allen as the main character.
-Adriana references the season six premiere "The Space Program" when talking about how Wade normally handles his issues.
-Originally, I had "Girlfriend" by Charlie Puth playing over the end credits. I don't know why because it didn't fit at all, so I replaced it with "The Pressure." It was a better choice because of the episode's plot and the fact that A Tribe Called Quest was dealing with the pressure of releasing their first album in three years (much like Thank You, Heavenly returning after three years).