Editing That's My Bush! (section)

==Production==
===Development===
Parker and Stone stated before the [[2000 United States presidential election|2000 presidential election]] that they would create a satire about whoever won. According to their DVD commentary, they were "95% certain that [[Al Gore|Gore]] would win" and began developing the series under the title ''Everybody Loves Al''. When the [[Florida election recount|final election results]] were in limbo, production was delayed until the winner was determined. With Bush's election, the title became the entendre ''That's My Bush!'' The final episode involves [[Dick Cheney]] forcing Bush to step down, and featured an alternate title music called ''That's My Dick!'' which, later in the episode, changed to ''What a Dick!''

The show was pitched to [[HBO]], [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]], [[NBC]], [[CBS]], [[ABC (United States)|ABC]], [[FX (TV channel)|FX]] and [[MTV]], who all turned down the series.

===Writing===
The entire idea behind the series was to parody sitcoms. The premise developed into one of the U.S. President in office. Parker recalled the idea came about three months before the [[2000 United States presidential election|2000 presidential election]]. The duo were "95 percent sure" that [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] candidate [[Al Gore]] would win, and tentatively titled the show ''Everybody Loves Al''.<ref name="Parker2" /> It was, essentially, the same show: a lovable main character, the sassy maid, the wacky neighbor.<ref name="Stone2">{{Cite video | people=[[Matt Stone|Stone, Matt]]| date=October 2006 |title=That's My Bush! The Definitive Collection: "A Poorly Executed Plan" |id=Audio commentary |medium=DVD|publisher=[[Paramount Pictures#Paramount Home Entertainment|Paramount Home Entertainment]]}}</ref> Parker said the producers did not want to make fun of politics, but instead lampoon sitcoms.<ref name="Parker2" /> The duo watched a lot of ''[[Fawlty Towers]]'' in preparation.<ref name="Stone2" />

The duo signed a deal with [[Comedy Central]] to produce a live-action sitcom, titled ''Family First'', scheduled to debut on February 28, 2001.<ref name="salon">{{cite news|url=http://www.salon.com/news/politics/feature/2000/11/08/parker_stone/index.html |title=Bush or Gore, it's trippy either way |author=Carina Chocano |date=November 8, 2000 |work=[[Salon.com]] |access-date=June 17, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103095650/http://www.salon.com/news/politics/feature/2000/11/08/parker_stone/index.html |archive-date=November 3, 2012 }}</ref> They threw a party the night of the election with the writers, with intentions to begin writing the following Monday and shooting the show in January 2001 with the inauguration. With the [[2000 United States presidential election#Results|confusion of who the President would be]], the show's production was pushed back.<ref name="Parker2" /> The duo wanted to write a "family sitcom", with the Bush family.

Comedy Central, however, prohibited Parker and Stone from including the Bush twins ([[Jenna Bush Hager|Jenna Bush]] and [[Barbara Bush (born 1981)|Barbara Pierce Bush]]). The writers then turned the Bush twins character into Princess.<ref name="Parker2" /> "An Aborted Dinner Date" was the show's pilot episode. The episode features Felix the Fetus, made and operated by [[the Chiodo Brothers]], who later worked with Parker and Stone on ''[[Team America: World Police]]'' (2004).<ref name="Stone1">{{Cite video | people=[[Matt Stone|Stone, Matt]]| date=October 2006 |title=That's My Bush! The Definitive Collection: "An Aborted Dinner Date" |id=Audio commentary |medium=DVD|publisher=[[Paramount Pictures#Paramount Home Entertainment|Paramount Home Entertainment]]}}</ref> They also created the cat Punk'kin in "The First Lady's Persqueeter". The show's producers consider the second episode aired, "A Poorly Executed Plan", the ''true'' first episode.<ref name="Parker1">{{Cite video | people=[[Trey Parker|Parker, Trey]]| date=October 2006 |title=That's My Bush! The Definitive Collection: "An Aborted Dinner Date" |id=Audio commentary |medium=DVD|publisher=[[Paramount Pictures#Paramount Home Entertainment|Paramount Home Entertainment]]}}</ref>

This was Parker and Stone's first live-action production in association with the [[Writers Guild of America, West]].<ref name="Stone2" /> The show's writers got a big dry-erase board and on one side, they would write down political ideas (abortion, capital punishment) and on the other side would be typical sitcom stories (frat buddies show up, trapped in a small space).<ref name="Parker3">{{Cite video | people=[[Trey Parker|Parker, Trey]]| date=October 2006 |title=That's My Bush! The Definitive Collection: "Eenie Meenie Miney Murder" |id=Audio commentary |medium=DVD|publisher=[[Paramount Pictures#Paramount Home Entertainment|Paramount Home Entertainment]]}}</ref> They would then combine the two ideas, in what Stone described as "a ''[[Three's Company]]'' mix-up kind of thing."<ref name="Stone3">{{Cite video | people=[[Matt Stone|Stone, Matt]]| date=October 2006 |title=That's My Bush! The Definitive Collection: "Eenie Meenie Miney Murder" |id=Audio commentary |medium=DVD|publisher=[[Paramount Pictures#Paramount Home Entertainment|Paramount Home Entertainment]]}}</ref>

===Pre-production===
''That's My Bush!'' was filmed at [[Sony Pictures Studios]], the first time Parker and Stone shot a show on a production lot. It was not shot in front of a live audience, so as to maintain control and by necessity, thanks to various shots they would be unable to do in a normal show.<ref name="Parker4" /> They had built several rooms from the [[White House]] in their studio (bedroom, dining room) and were allowed "one new, rotating set" per week.<ref name="Parker3" />

Parker described the sets as "amazing," and they were in fact packaged up after the show's run and sent to other White House-related productions. The show's producers gained inspiration by going on a private tour of the White House thanks to Anne Garefino, executive producer, who once worked at the White House for [[PBS]]. A White House usher showed the producers various rooms not allowed on normal tours, which allowed them to detail each set effectively.<ref name="Stone3" />

{{quote box |width=30em | bgcolor=transparent |align=right |quote=At 3 ([[Pacific Time Zone|PST]]) Tuesday afternoon, just like everybody else, we were thinking, "Well, it's going to be a show about [[Al Gore|Gore]]." And we're sitting here with the writers and coming up with Gore ideas, and all of a sudden [[United States presidential election in Florida, 2000|they pull Florida back out]]. And it was like, "Oh, wait a minute." It's just so funny that this election, the one our show hinged on, was the one that was just too close to call.|salign=right|source=—[[Trey Parker]], on the revision of the show<ref name="salon"/>}}

===Casting===
Casting was relatively simple; Parker and Stone came across a photo of [[Timothy Bottoms]] in ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' for a play he was doing in [[Santa Barbara, California|Santa Barbara]]. Parker and Stone called him in, and they found he was "perfect" for the role.<ref name="Parker3" /> The plan was not to viciously "rip on" Bush or make him out to be a monster; in accordance with sitcom stereotypes, Bush was made a sweet and lovable oaf.<ref name="Parker3" /> [[Kurt Fuller]] was the last to be cast.<ref name="Stone7">{{Cite video | people=[[Matt Stone|Stone, Matt]]| date=October 2006 |title=That's My Bush! The Definitive Collection: "Trapped in a Small Environment" |id=Audio commentary |medium=DVD|publisher=[[Paramount Pictures#Paramount Home Entertainment|Paramount Home Entertainment]]}}</ref> Jeff Melman directed all eight episodes. This was the first time Parker was only writing, not directing.<ref name="Parker5">{{Cite video | people=[[Trey Parker|Parker, Trey]]| date=October 2006 |title=That's My Bush! The Definitive Collection: "The First Lady's Persqueeter" |id=Audio commentary |medium=DVD|publisher=[[Paramount Pictures#Paramount Home Entertainment|Paramount Home Entertainment]]}}</ref>

===Filming===
Each episode was shot in two days. The weeks were spent in writing and pre-production while the cast rehearsed.<ref name="Parker6">{{Cite video | people=[[Trey Parker|Parker, Trey]]| date=October 2006 |title=That's My Bush! The Definitive Collection: "Mom "E" D. E. A. Arrest" |id=Audio commentary |medium=DVD|publisher=[[Paramount Pictures#Paramount Home Entertainment|Paramount Home Entertainment]]}}</ref> Like ''South Park'', in which Parker would be able to write a scene and see it animated a short time later, he and Stone could walk to rehearsals and see the cast rehearsing their script.<ref name="Parker6" /> Each episode commenced with a [[cold open]], with a "cheesy" joke that segued into the theme song. The duo recalled that, with stupid titles, these scenes were often the hardest to write.<ref name="Parker7">{{Cite video | people=[[Trey Parker|Parker, Trey]]| date=October 2006 |title=That's My Bush! The Definitive Collection: "Trapped in a Small Environment" |id=Audio commentary |medium=DVD|publisher=[[Paramount Pictures#Paramount Home Entertainment|Paramount Home Entertainment]]}}</ref>

The episode "SDI-Aye-AYE!" features the first utterance of the word "Lemmiwinks", which Parker and the writers intended to be a parody of ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''. The word was later famously used in the ''South Park'' episode "[[The Death Camp of Tolerance]]".<ref name="Parker4">{{Cite video | people=[[Trey Parker|Parker, Trey]]| date=October 2006 |title=That's My Bush! The Definitive Collection: "S.D.I. -Aye-Aye!" |id=Audio commentary |medium=DVD|publisher=[[Paramount Pictures#Paramount Home Entertainment|Paramount Home Entertainment]]}}</ref> The show's first episode set a Comedy Central ratings record (at the time) for highest debut with over 2.9 million viewers tuning in; however, ratings dropped after this, with an average of 1.7 million viewers.<ref name="sun">{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ZwFHAAAAIBAJ&pg=5498,471464&hl=en|date=August 3, 2001| title=''That's My Bush'' cancelled|publisher= AP Newswire|work=Sun Journal|access-date=March 14, 2010}}</ref>

During the production of "Fare Thee Welfare", the series finale, producers knew the end was near as it would be very expensive.<ref name="Parker8">{{Cite video | people=[[Trey Parker|Parker, Trey]]| date=October 2006 |title=That's My Bush! The Definitive Collection: "Fare Thee Welfare" |id=Audio commentary |medium=DVD|publisher=[[Paramount Pictures#Paramount Home Entertainment|Paramount Home Entertainment]]}}</ref> For example, for the episode "Eenie Meenie Miney Murder", Parker and Stone used a live bear, an animatronic bear, an actor in a bear suit, and a puppet bear, which ended up breaking their budget.<ref name="Stone3" /> Although the show received a fair amount of publicity and critical notice, according to Stone and Parker, the budget was too high, "about $1 million an episode."<ref name="herald">{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1876&dat=20010803&id=yCUfAAAAIBAJ&pg=4871,422240| title=Comedy Central Cancels "That's my Bush"|author=Lynn Elber|publisher= AP Newswire|work=Spartanburg Herald-Journal| date=August 3, 2001|access-date=March 14, 2010}}</ref>