PRODUCTION/CULTURAL REFERENCES (written 10/21/24-10/22/24; 10/26/24; 10/27/24)

NOTE: This will most likely be my last Backstage Pass for the next couple weeks. I'm still writing season ten and I feel like I slowed down this month compared to last month. I want to make sure I'm using my time properly, so when things open up more, I'll get back to it. In the meantime, my focus will be on finishing season ten and rewriting the upcoming episodes (10/26/24).

10/21/24

-I came up with the idea for this episode in March 2023. I was inspired by the Degrassi episode "Tell It to My Heart" and I wanted to write something similar. In that episode, Marco has a crush on Tim, a fellow gay student in his acting class. Marco sees Tim as a younger version of himself and tries to serve as a mentor like Yoda from Star Wars. It took an entire year before I started writing it, but I knew for months that I wanted it to be a part of season ten.

-This ended up being another episode that was very difficult to write, but not for the same reasons as "The Trouble with Ghostwriting." With that episode, it wasn't even the original episode I had planned after "The Late Dr. Osborne," and I had to go through several different ideas before I found a story I could work with. The rule was that it had to be a Buster episode, so I was trying anything. With this episode, I was debating with myself for months about how things would play out. This was a new experience for Jaylynn because it's the first person she's met that's confirmed to be lesbian, and she's able to be the object of someone else's admiration. Jasmine looks up to Jaylynn, and it's implied that the attraction is mutual, but I didn't want to be explicit about it.

-It took months for me to figure out exactly where I wanted the story to go. Even in my down periods when I was barely writing anything, I still thought about this episode because I wanted to get it right. I was strongly considering making it a two-parter because I had a lot of material to work with, but that became more challenging when I moved season ten from the summer to the fall. I decided to keep it at one episode, but the issue was that I didn't know what the ending should be. Had Jaylynn ended up with Jasmine, I would have been more interested in writing a two-parter. But then I thought about what would happen if Jaylynn came up short, and how that could turn into a storyline for her this season. This episode definitely had a lot of ideas that I tried to incorporate, but I didn't want to feel like I left anything out.

-This episode was a character study for Jaylynn and I think it's one that represents a lot of who she is. She's hyper self-aware, afraid to do anything that could make her lose points with Jasmine, and she's tired of coming up short. In trying her best to avoid pain and heartbreak, she sabotages herself and dumbs herself out of position. Not only does she lose a potential relationship with Jasmine, she loses a potential friendship/mentorship with her as well. By the time she decides to make a move, it's too late.

-I had the idea for the subplot for a while, but it wasn't anything I was actually considering. It was just a general idea I kept thinking about, but I didn't see myself using it until now. I knew this episode needed a subplot and I went with something simple that could still be entertaining. This is one of those "Crazy KG" stories, but he's not as unhinged as he was in "16 Candles."

-I started writing this episode on March 28 and I didn't have a finished draft until September 26. During that time, I was adding ideas, deleting scenes, and trying to fine-tune everything so it made sense. I knew I wanted Jasmine to admire Jaylynn, but I didn't want her to be an obsessed fan of Jaylynn. I also knew I wanted her to be a little naïve and inexperienced, but not a helpless baby. It had to make sense that Jaylynn would have feelings for her, and like I said before, this was different because Jaylynn liked someone that was actually lesbian. None of her other crushes ever had a chance, but Jasmine is the first person that she could realistically end up with.

-The title of this episode never changed, despite the fact that Jaylynn and Jasmine never end up dating. I just thought it was perfect and I had no interest in finding another title.

-Despite being the fifth episode of the season, and the fifth episode that I started working on, it was actually the last episode I finished for the first half of season ten.

-When I had RK in the kitchen singing "Lollipop," I was thinking about the 2009 Dell Inspiron commercial where the factory workers performed the song while putting colors on the laptops. It was months before I actually listened to the song because the commercial was a childhood memory.

-Jaylynn references the singer Jazmine Sullivan and her most recent project, the 2021 EP Heaux Tales. Originally, the joke was that Jaylynn would say that Sullivan doesn't release music anymore and she most likely died, but I realized it didn't make sense since Heaux Tales came out three years ago and it was a hugely successful project.

-The names of Jaylynn's classmates reference American Dad! (Steve and Roger) and the Jackson 5 (Jackie and Marlon). Mr. Blutman himself is named after Mark Blutman, a television writer/producer best known for working on Boy Meets World.

-Buster asking Jaylynn why she invited Jasmine over and Jaylynn's response was inspired by an old comic strip I saw on Facebook when I was in high school. This girl was bragging about catching up on her homework assignments, and when her friend asked her why she didn't just do the assignments on time, the girl grabbed his face and said "Because I'm a piece of shit." I thought it was one of the funniest things I had ever seen when I first looked at it.

-Jasmine's story about coming out to her friend is a direct reference to "Tell It to My Heart." The only person that knew Tim was gay was his best friend, and just like Jasmine, he was punched in the face for coming out of the closet.

-RK references lyrics from the theme song for Who's the Boss? when he tries to get Jaylynn to reveal her feelings for Jasmine. This is the second time RK's done this ("A Very Heavenly Thanksgiving"), so I decided to make it a joke about how he is constantly referencing the series.

-KG references the storyline in season seven of Buster moving in with the Jennings brothers after he accidentally causes a fire in his condo. He becomes roommates with them in "Welcome Home, Mr. Newman" and moves back to his condo in "Goodbye 2018, Hello 2019."

-Jaylynn references RK's original characterization of being bisexual, exemplified by his obsession with Buster in the first two seasons. Up until season five, RK identified as bisexual, but I didn't think it fit his character anymore, so I phased it out.

-Jaylynn mistakes Yoda from Star Wars with Mr. Spock from Star Trek. Later, she once again mistakes Yoda for a different character, this time being Gollum from Lord of the Rings.

-KG references the scene in Roots where the chief warns Kunta Kinte and the other Mandinka warriors in training to stay safe because the white man ("slave trader") has arrived to their village and is looking to sell them into slavery. This is at least the fourth time I've referenced Roots on the show (previous instances include "J.D.A., Pt. III," "10,000 Remy Martins Ago," and "The Heavenly Tapes II," all from season eight).

-In the original scene, KG played cat noises to scare away the rat, and that's what made Mrs. Tuxedo Pants come in the room. After doing some research during the rewrite, I found out that the number one enemy of rats is birds of prey, so I edited the scene. However, I still thought the joke of Tuxy running around the room was funny, so I found a way to keep KG playing cat noises in the episode.

-RK references the Nickelodeon series The Wild Thornberrys, stating that he's not Eliza Thornberry because the show's premise is that Eliza has the ability to talk to animals.

-The "Reminder" montage wasn't planned before I started writing the episode, and I added it in last month when the script was still unfinished. I just thought it would be really funny to have a highlight reel of times that Jaylynn had issues with other girls. Originally, it was only going to involve her crushes, but I expanded it to include her friends. The clips of Sparky, RK, and Wade dancing were only there to be funny.

10/22/24

-RK saying that him and KG are victims is a reference to the Sopranos episode "Live Free or Die." Phil tells Tony that Vito's wife and kids are victims that have done nothing, and they have to live with the shame and humiliation. This is after Vito is outed as gay and Phil (the cousin of Vito's wife) demands that something is done about it.

10/26/24

-RK saying that Wade's appearance almost feels like a crossover episode is a reference to BoJack Horseman. Whenever Mr. Peanutbutter saw BoJack, he would usually say "What is this? A crossover episode?" Both Mr. Peanutbutter and BoJack were stars of family sitcoms in the 90s (Mr. Peanutbutter's House and Horsin' Around).

-KG references Roman Reigns' "Tribal Chief" gimmick and his desire to be acknowledged as the Tribal Chief by his peers and the audience.

-I wrote scenes out of order for this episode. It's not the only time I've done it this season and it probably won't be the last, but that was a result of me having a bunch of ideas that I needed to figure out. I'm saying this because the scene where RK confronts the rat was written before several other scenes, including the "Reminder" montage and Jaylynn's old lady nightmare.

10/27/24

-RK saying good morning to the rat is a reference to the Sopranos episode "College." When Tony finally catches a well-known mafia informant and starts strangling him, the first thing he says is "Good morning, rat."

-I settled on the ending to this episode sometime in the summer, where Jaylynn finally decides to make a move and gets crushed because she waited too long. I was thinking about the ending to The Last American Virgin, where the main character is ready to make a grand gesture and gets their heart broken. I'm not done with Jasmine as a character, so I was willing to let the episode end this way.