The episode was the first to air after nearly a two-month hiatus, during which Thomas came up for the idea for season four to take place in the FBI Academy. Possibly done as a last-resort attempt to save the show from cancellation, the series was very much on the brink of cancellation at this point in production. Prior to the airing of "Un-American Graffiti", Enrico Colantoni stated that The CW had seen the filmed first ten pages and reacted negatively. However, Thomas denied this testimony and commented that The CW had not yet seen the FBI pitch and would on May 2, the day after the series' return, a statement that was confirmed to be true by a representative for the network. Prior to the episode's airing, information was released stating that middle school students would be involved in the episode, leading BuddyTV to speculate that Logan's young friend from "Postgame Mortem" would make an appearance.