PRODUCTION/CULTURAL REFERENCES (written on 10/23/14-10/26/14)
-Before I begin, I just want to say that it has been very difficult writing the third season of Thank You, Heavenly. The season where everything was supposed to come together and move up into a higher level of entertainment has taken a lot out of me. To really put this in perspective, "The Life and Times of Diana Katanova" was the last episode I had finished writing. That was more than two months ago. So you see my problem, right? I love writing the show but I feel like the workload for it has definitely increased this season. I'm not exactly sure why. Maybe it's the fact that I've written more than 50 episodes alone and potentially interesting ideas go nowhere because I don't have the kind of brain to develop ideas anymore? I. Don't. Know. Or at least I didn't know.
-The original idea for the November 2 episode, and I literally mean the first idea I came up with for it, was RK and Wade revisiting the events of "The Time Machine" and going back in time to the Cola Wars. After a mistake by RK caused Pepsi to go bankrupt and never return, Wade corrects it and later on becomes a ghostwriter for MC Shan during the Bridge Wars. When Shan ends up destroying Boogie Down Productions in the Wars and ends KRS-One's career, RK and Wade have to fix that problem as well. The story didn't flow well after a while, so I abandoned that idea. I then came up with the idea of a crossover with Girl Meets World. This was very tricky having an adult cartoon meet up with a kid's live-action show, but I still tried it regardless. It was going to have the entire main cast as guest stars. Basically, Wade decided not to rebuild the time machine and instead built a teleportation device with a multiverse function. The two go to New York, but because Wade hadn't figured out the multiverse guide yet, it takes them randomly to the Girl Meets World version of New York. The two end up helping Riley come to terms with her crush on Lucas. Sparky, Buster, and Jaylynn even join in. I didn't think the episode was that bad, but it was taking too long to get to the conflict and it was starting to really drag. I couldn't have the second act fall apart like that, so I abandoned that idea too.
-While writing "Girl Meets the Express," I came up with the idea for two religion-based episodes, not consciously, but it just happened. Both of them are the episodes you just read. I was thinking about having them both be a half-hour, but because I was having trouble developing ideas for that long of a runtime, I cut them to 11 minutes each and put them together. I thought the 11-minute format was great for creating a tighter story and not having to rely on one too many jokes. I don't know how many times I'm going to do this since "Night of Divinity" just happened, but I can tell you right now that you're definitely going to see it again. Episodes originally slated for 22 minutes that I can't write for that long will now be cut down to 11. The next episode on deck ("The Creamy Crack Manifesto," a Sparky and Buster episode) might fall into this category.
-Because it's two episodes in one, you might wonder which one I think is better. Honestly, neither one. I enjoyed writing both because the characters learned something important and there was some real depth added to Buster, RK, and Jaylynn. These episodes, specifically "RK the Anarchist," were inspired by religion-based episodes of The Simpsons such as "Homer the Heretic." This season, the show is becoming a little more Simpsons-influenced and that's always a good thing.
-Both episodes also experienced changes in writing for the better. Originally in "RK the Anarchist," RK was supposed to cause a scene at the church feast and make Sparky and Buster look bad. Later on while eavesdropping, he finds out they hate the way he acts sometimes. KG grounds him for a week as punishment for the church ruckus (He would have grounded him for two, but admits his parenting skills are shoddy), but RK refuses to believe he's in the wrong until Jesus Christ comes to set him straight. RK then has a dramatic scene with Sparky and Buster that serves as the resolution, with this line from RK: "I'm not going to stand here and say I'm going to change or become a better person because that's never been who I am and that's never been what I represent. But if I knew that I was able to make you guys stop talking to me for good, I would be devastated." I changed the ending because RK came off as unlikable and his attempt to sabotage Sparky and Buster would be played for laughs when he was supposed to be in the wrong. Plus, RK is never stubborn enough to the point where it takes him a while to realize what he did, especially with Sparky and Buster. If it was Wade or Jaylynn, the story might have been different but RK tends to take things more seriously around Sparky and Buster because he highly values his friendship with them and they're the main characters closest to actual children.
-"Young, Stupid, and Pseudo-Religious" took a more drastic change in the writing that will also affect this season for good. And all it took was one bad conversation at school to change everything. First off, Lynne was never supposed to be the antagonist. She was simply supposed to recognize Jaylynn's crush and suggest that she might have a chance if she was Muslim. In fact, she was even supposed to like Jaylynn. But one Friday just recently, I asked the inspiration for Lynne's character about Muslims and relationships because I needed to make sure the episodes involving Anja portrayed Islam in a respectful and accurate way. She was extremely uncomfortable the whole time, and had facial expressions and a tone that made her come off as an asshole. It was somewhat jarring because in all my other run-ins with her, she never acted like that. I asked my other two Muslim friends and they basically told me what Lynne told Jaylynn. That heavily affected the episode's writing and the dynamic between Jaylynn and Anja. I decided to have Anja find out that Jaylynn liked her and make Lynne Jaylynn's enemy. I feel like Jaylynn hasn't been given much to do other than having a crush on Anja. Giving her an enemy fleshes out her character again and brings her closer to her original personality. You know, the sarcastic, devil-may-care antihero with a short temper. Jaylynn and Anja's relationship will still be focused on, but it will now be based on strengthening their bond as friends.
-Lynne will also be set to make future appearances, specifically in episodes centered around Jaylynn. The animosity between the two is partially influenced by the standard face/heel feuds in the WWE.
-You might have noticed that Wade's role was mostly as the voice of reason. I realize now that Wade is the most undeveloped main character. He's basically supposed to be Lisa Simpson and Brian Griffin in the body of an eight-year-old black guy. However, I'm not exactly sure if he's gotten to that point yet. He teeters between being stoic and sophisticated or and just being a cynical asshole. The episode in the dugout ("Positive Rein-dunce-ment") focuses primarily on Wade and his relationship with Adriana so there might be some character development there.
-"RK the Anarchist" was titled after several Simpsons episodes that use this naming formula, such as "Bart the Murderer" and "Lisa the Iconoclast." The title of "Young, Stupid, and Pseudo-Religious" is a reference to the Big Daddy Kane song "Young, Gifted, and Black" off of his 1989 album It's a Big Daddy Thing.
-RK's displeasure with church is actually based off of real-life experience. In August, I went to this church function with my mother and sister because my other sister was performing that night. Everything was terrible. Just terrible. Being a Unitarian with no religious beliefs, I wanted to poke my eyes out. I actually came up with the plot that night while I was there and thought about using it for "The Creamy Crack Manifesto" but then it looked out of place so I decided to leave it alone.
-Buster's conversion to Christianity is official as of this episode's airing. I decided to make him Christian naturally as the episode's writing went along. I also started feeling like his atheism was pointless now. When I first made him atheist, it was out of irony since the most dimwitted of the group had the most scientific beliefs. Now, it just comes off as a weak character trait so I had to do it.
-Originally, Jaylynn was actually supposed to become a Muslim and not just attempt it, but as I was writing it, I realized it would go on for too long and changed it.
-The rarity of RK playing the straight man to Buster's stupidity isn't a one-time thing. It's actually going to be addressed later on in an episode called "RK Gets Tough." However, in this one, RK is a lot more hesitant to play the straight man because he doesn't want to lose Buster's respect. The episode is a combination of "Joey Gets Tough" from Full House and "Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie" from The Simpsons.
-There was an episode I had planned before the events of "Young, Stupid, and Pseudo-Religious." It was called "Jaylynn's Purple Heart," and this was the episode where Anja was going to find out about Jaylynn's crush on her...in the most embarrassing way possible. Anja has a new boyfriend (voiced by Ross Lynch from Austin & Ally), and everyone thinks he's perfect except for Jaylynn. Obviously jealous, she schedules a girl's night with Anja that results in her impulsively trying to kiss her. Anja gets upset when Jaylynn does this and things become awkward between them for a while. The B-plot of this episode will be retained and put in another episode since it's going to be continued later on, but I just need to find the right one to do it in.
-Another potential Jaylynn episode that I can't do was called "Buster vs. Jaylynn." In this episode, Buster develops a crush on Anja after she helps him thoroughly with his schoolwork. His new attraction threatens drive a wedge between his friendship with Jaylynn. I could still do that episode because it's not like Buster understands Muslim customs any more than Jaylynn does, but I worry it will just be a sequel to "Young, Stupid, and Pseudo-Religious." There are many angles to take an episode like this. I could do one where Buster reluctantly falls for one of the guys' girlfriends, like Halley. Or the entire episode could be done from Buster's perspective and he finds out that Jaylynn doesn't care. I don't know, I'm kinda excited now. There are a lot of possibilities for new stories now that the Jaylynn/Anja storyline has taken a different turn.