PRODUCTION/CULTURAL REFERENCES (written 10/4/15)
-This was the first episode of season four that was actually completed. I started writing it on September 11 and finished on the 26th, I believe. There was some time between then where I was putting it off.
-I don't exactly remember how or why I came up with this episode. I just know that a spelling bee story was simple enough that I could get a lot of comedy out of it. It was interesting writing Buster as an over-competitive loon who doesn't listen to Sparky when most of the time, he doesn't do anything selfish or malicious. Sparky/Buster episodes are always fun for me to write since, as said before, they are more mild-mannered and childlike than RK, Wade, and Jaylynn.
-The subplot was created entirely from a dream. The dream was that my school had a new social worker and her name was Valerie Henderson, but I knew it was Inga Cadranel because of what she looked like. The rest is blurry, but I knew that kind of plot would be perfect for RK. Originally, he was supposed to be a lot more aggressive with his advances, but then I realized he had to be kept likable to a certain degree in order for the plot to work. One thing that I always loved when it comes to writing for RK is that he is usually unaware of the consequences of what he's about to do until he actually does it. He legitimately believes in his heart that his ideas are going to work out despite everyone telling him that he's out of his mind. When the show was first conceived, I thought of RK as a schemer, someone who slacks off in school and is a little insensitive but he's a master at coming up with all these wild plans. The plan would usually succeed or fail depending on how much thought RK put into it.
-In August, I was watching a lot of Everybody Hates Chris episodes and wanted to find a way to do an affectionate parody of the show. That's when I came up with the idea to use the RK/Anja conflict as the parody itself while also having it affect the characters on the show. Part II might be delayed by another week since I really want to focus on next week's episode while not having to worry about the short and some other stuff going on in the background. I'm having a lot of trouble with finding an ending to the short that's not only funny, but makes sense. It would also have to remind you of something you would see on Everybody Hates Chris.
-This is Chris Rock's second appearance on the show ("The Theory of God-olution" in season one being the first).
-The guest appearances by Andre Kim and Jared Leong were meant to tie into the episode while also making more pop-culture references. Leong's most known role was when he played Davey Chu, Stephanie's spelling rival in the Full House episode "Spellbound." It made sense to have him in this episode encouraging his son Simon. This is actually a double reference to Degrassi, the show Kim is known for right now. He plays Winston Chu on the show and in the most recent season, Winston ended up putting on a musical at Degrassi called Captain Who, and he played the titular character whose real name was Simon. You get the idea.
-William Daniels' guest appearance was originally supposed to be him as Mr. Robertson teaching at iCarly Elementary, but when I remembered that Robertson was set to retire at the end of the previous school year ("Sparky Inflates the Grade"), I changed his role to him just visiting the school.
-In "Spellbound," Davey's nickname was "The Human Dictionary," so that's why it was used for Sparky. Also, Sparky's use of the mnemonic device is a reference to a scene in the episode where Stephanie is struggling to remember the word "success," so Danny teaches her about the mnemonic device.
-At the time of writing this, the Astros were one of the best teams in the MLB, and still are at this point so that is why I used them. The reference is even more timely considering the current situation with the playoff picture.
-I remember being unable to control myself at the library when I was working on scene six. Of course I think my own material is funny, but there are those special moments where I write something and I make myself crack up.
-Months before I wrote this episode, I knew the "Spellbound" montage was going in. I was listening to the song a lot at the time and figured it would be perfect for this episode.
-Because Everybody Hates Chris was set in the 1980s, a majority of the songs played on the show were from that decade. Using "Set 'Em Straight" was more of a twist on it since it was released in 1990.
-I was going to have RK narrate, but I figured it would be more authentic and funnier if Chris Rock did it himself. To make it simple, I wrote lines that I imagined he would come up with on his own.
-Buster asking Nurse Patricia if Sparky's dead is one of my favorite lines in the whole episode.
-RK references the time he shot KG in "Duck Infection," as a cutaway joke when he thought KG had anthrax.
-I always believed that if Sparky was unable to put Buster in check for whatever reason, RK would be the next best person.
-Originally, Sparky was going to screw up the word on purpose as an act of defiance against Buster, but then I thought it would be funnier and more in line with his competitive streak if he actually misspelled the word and thought he got it right.
-Buster was originally supposed to miss the lesson entirely, but that felt uncharacteristic of him so I made it into a stupid joke to add to what he had already learned in his dealings with Sparky.
-To get pumped for season four a few months ago, I used "Nas is Like" as a promotional song for it, much like how "Berzerk" by Eminem was used to help ring in season three. That's why it plays here. Originally, the end credits song was going to be "Unbelievable" by The Notorious B.I.G.