Simon & Marcy "everyone [working on the series] was pitching in to make this one special". The episode features the voice of Ava Acres, who portrays the young version of Marceline. Acres had previously appeared in the third season episode "Memory of a Memory". As mentioned above, the episode makes notable use of the 1982 song "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" by Gary Portnoy—better known as the theme to the sitcom "Cheers". According to Sugar's father, Rob, on his official YouTube channel, the use of the song started merely as a placeholder. However, as the episode developed, Sugar decided to keep it in
Mike Portnoy and touring cycle. When the band decided it would rather continue without him, however, he departed, and Dream Theater later chose Mike Mangini to take his place after auditioning seven "world-class" drummers. When Avenged Sevenfold later decided to also sever ties with Portnoy, he announced that he had asked to return to Dream Theater, but had been turned down by their lawyer since the band (as later revealed) had already brought Mangini on board. Portnoy later announced that he had started two new musical projects: Adrenaline Mob, with Russell Allen, Mike Orlando, Rich Ward and Paul DiLeo; and Flying Colors,