Cobra Kai - Season 6 - Delayed

Let's Talk - Cobra Kai
Episode 146: Cobra Kai - Season 6 - Delayed

Jason Connell and Sal Rodriguez discuss the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike and its impact on Cobra Kai Season 6.

Recorded: 05-09-23
Studio: Just Curious Media
https://www.JustCuriousMedia.com/

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Transcript

Jason Connell: 0:01

Whoa, just curious. Welcome to Just curious media. This is let's talk Cobra Kai. I'm Jason Connell.

Sal Rodriguez: 0:11

And I'm Sal Rodriguez.

Jason Connell: 0:12

All right, so we are back with another episode.

Sal Rodriguez: 0:18

Yeah. And this was sort of bittersweet, it seems it's like and I'll tell you why it's bittersweet on one hand, I like it another hand. I don't like it.

Jason Connell: 0:26

Okay. All right. Well, this just came up. I knew something was brewing. I'm not in Los Angeles anymore, but I knew something was brewing. I have friends who are writers screenwriters. And today we are talking about Cobra Kai season six delayed because there is a writer strike.

Sal Rodriguez: 0:48

I see him out there. Jason, by the studios. I was driving by Disney Studios just the other day in Burbank. I saw them out there. I saw them. I was driving by Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank saw them out there.

Jason Connell: 0:59

What are the chance did you get any the chance? What's the chance? I don't know? What are they chanting? Oh,

Sal Rodriguez: 1:06

Cha n t s? Yeah. Unfortunately, I had the windows up and did not hear the chat. Hey, you know what, though? I would imagine it would be one of the most creative chants we've ever

Jason Connell: 1:17

heard as well. To be clear, the Writers Guild of America is on strike and saw that strike first strike art.

Sal Rodriguez: 1:28

Wow. I hadn't thought about how the writers? No, no mercy.

Jason Connell: 1:34

Yeah. When I saw strike. Perfect. It's perfect. Oh, perfect. Yeah.

Sal Rodriguez: 1:40

Why don't see this is where I think I'm so lame. Sometimes. It's like, Why did I not think about that at all? until this very day.

Jason Connell: 1:46

That's okay. But they are on strike. And this is not a funny thing. I have friends like I just mentioned who are writers. I saw firsthand like you're seeing now the last writers strike. It's been a while. Oh, 708. It was a 100 day walk out that strike. Wow. I remember that. And I mean, that displaces people jobs shows go on hiatus, some shows might not come back from such things. Now, I had no idea. I wasn't sure until I saw this article about Cobra Kai in particular, because I thought maybe they were done writing. And they were shooting we don't know the schedule. Until I got this article, which we'll get into here that definitely lets us know that the show is not all written. And it's on hold, which will inevitably delay the series.

Sal Rodriguez: 2:40

Jason just to go back to 2007 2008 that writers striking things. I would like to stress the impact of a writer strike it means a writer strike means a studio shutdown that has a ripple effect across the entire Greater economy of the area, Los Angeles, LA County, even probably the state of California. So the impact is far reaching when there is any any given strike probably in any industry has the far reaching impact, but for our local economy for certain, all over the surrounding area, it is very much a big deal. Now back in 2007 2008, I remember I was going to Griffith Park for a workout. And I was pulling into the parking lot and it just so happens I found out that striking writers will pick it productions sites, the locations themselves, like the studios, but also locations so they were filming at Griffith Park that very day, I pulled in and I was surrounded by a bunch of angry writers on strike surrounding my vehicle that day. Well, they were angry. I mean, they were it was kind of intended you are crossing the line. They thought I was crossing the picket line. And somebody I think came over to the window. And like I cracked the window a bit. And they said are you with the production? I said no, I'm not with any production. I'm here to do my workout. And they're like, oh, okay, they're like, Alright, and then they party there was like a parting of the sea. And then I drove through but I was very proud to have X 30 Hollywood writers surrounding my car it was it was it was very reminiscent of the LA riots

Jason Connell: 4:07

and you go on the park and then you put your big camcorder and you do a whole production filming yourself working out.

Sal Rodriguez: 4:14

This way men women productions guy. Oh, wow.

Jason Connell: 4:18

So to give more context on to writers start because we're insiders, right? I've seen them. I've been in LA for a long time. You've always lived in Los Angeles. You've been around this but some people are like what's going on? So we're gonna give a little more context before we get into what Cobra Kai had to say. So this is the headlines. Hollywood hit with writer strike after talks with Alliance of Motion Picture and Television producers the ANP TP fail. Guild slams studios for gig economy mentality. Now this is what the WGA sent out to its members a direct message and Sal please do the honors.

Sal Rodriguez: 4:59

Though we negotiated intent on making a fair deal. And though your strike folk gave us the leverage to make some gains, the studio's responses to our proposals have been wholly insufficient, given the existential crisis writers are facing, we must now exert the maximum leverage possible to get a fair contract by withholding our labor. Members of the negotiating committee board and council, we will be out with you on the picket lines. Whoa, those are very big lines. Wow, you

Jason Connell: 5:32

did a good job getting through that. But this is how serious it is.

Sal Rodriguez: 5:36

Those lines almost lead like a read like a declaration of war, you know, is this this is a serious business.

Jason Connell: 5:42

Yeah, this is no joke. This is not showing up to work. This is shutting down productions. People, all sides are losing money. studios are losing money writers, not just writers. This is trickle down producers, directors, actors, crew, everybody, no one's working. So it's pretty serious. And I remember the last strike, Oh, 708. It was a different time. It's funny how that doesn't feel like that long ago. But then it does. And it was really because internet was starting to come into play. Right? Like all internet rights. And what I've been reading is this particular strike also deals with streaming rights and things like that. Because there was a time when people would get residuals, like, I wrote that script. And I wrote on alpha versus a, for instance, for many years, and I got residuals for many more years after that. Well, if you're doing a streaming project, residuals are not part of the equation anymore. At least not for most people. You get paid handsomely. Hopefully, you do your job. And you move on, it doesn't go into syndication anymore. So it's just a different time. So you've really got to get paid. And yeah, that's like people might say, well, woe is me, you know, you're just a writer. Well, this, sit in front of a page that's empty and try to fill it out. Writing is essential to our industry. But you're getting paid less. I made some notes here. Now, there's a lot of non transparencies. Netflix doesn't divulge how show does or movie does. I know this firsthand. Like we had successful shows on Netflix, documentaries. Oh, it's doing great. What's that mean? No numbers, you'd have no idea how it did. They keep all of it. They're all cagey about numbers. So you can't say, oh, my show is doing great. You could produce a show and you never know how it's doing. They keep that behind lock and key. And then some of these writers rooms are shrinking. These are like many rooms I was reading because some writers room sounds I'm sure you know, it could have like 2030 people and they're all working, you know, you need that many people ideas, availability, they're shrinking, because there's just less to go around. And it's just, it's not a good situation. And I don't know how they get it resolved. But inevitably, they will. But still,

Sal Rodriguez: 7:59

but part of this, I understand. I don't know if we're gonna mention that today, but is knocking on every industries door right now. And believe me, I find it somewhat terrifying. AI, and how AI is affecting every industry, let alone the creative realms, like writing itself.

Jason Connell: 8:19

While while we were on this podcast, I went to chat GPT and had him finish season six of Cobra Kai, I just plugged it in, they banged out. Now, who knows?

Sal Rodriguez: 8:30

Jason is not that far. But he can can do that as to whether or not the producers would go for this is because if you think about it, you have the Writers Guild, you have the Producers Guild, and directors. Okay, when he has all the guilds, you have Don't you have possible show runners where they overlap? And they're in both guilds that are essentially competing? How does that work? Which Which do you have allegiance to?

Jason Connell: 8:54

That's a whole other episode. I don't know. I do know that we're in the middle of a writer's strike that I know. And it all starts with the writing. It truly does. Now, a question I would have for someone else's? What if they had written and finished season six already? Could you go into production? I always thought it was a yes. But I don't know for sure. So I'm not the guy to ask. But I think there are shows that, hey, we're done writing, there's no more changes, but we are shooting the scene. I think that can happen if I'm not mistaken. But more often than not, you're writing as you go, you're making changes. So then you really just say stop at all. We want to stand by our riders and not just go off and shoot a show and then alienate them and we're getting paid and they're not. So a lot of people are about solidarity, which our team of Cobra Kai is, which I I'm happy to hear that.

Sal Rodriguez: 9:46

Well, obviously they have publicly announced that they stand with the writers. Yes.

Jason Connell: 9:50

So phasing into the next part of this episode. And it talks about Cobra Kai and then we actually hear from one of the creators, so let's delve into this. So the trickle On effect is inevitable as I've just mentioned in season six of Cobra Kai is going to be impacted. And to that point show creator John Hurwitz confirmed that the Cobra Kai writers room will be on indefinite hold during the strike, but that the group will continue their work on the show after a fair deal has been made. When that happened, Sal, anyone's guess the last one again was 100 days, it's three plus months, it's a long time. Now, Cobra Kai's sixth and final season was originally going into production this month of May. Crazy What a coincidence. But it's likely that the date will be pushed back until the resolution is reached, of course, which means the release date, which we didn't know, we don't know, there's speculation that this could be a two part season, because it's going to be a lot more episodes, or at least they're hinting at that. So everything's getting pushed down the pike and for good reason. I mean, this is a reason to do so. So there's an impact. So you said initially good and bad news? What's the good news? That they're staying together? Or that you've got more time before the season starts? Was it a selfish thing? Well,

Sal Rodriguez: 11:21

there's something that I hold on to in life. And that is the it's an old saying, and that is the keys to happiness, three keys, something to look forward to something to do something to love something to look forward to have something to look forward to. And although we're all looking forward to season six, now that anticipation becomes longer, yeah, it stretches that looking forward to so I don't mind that because it keeps me in that realm of anticipation. And of of hope. Yeah. And of reaching for the near future. I'm

Jason Connell: 11:55

with you. There's something to getting over gratification. That's not good. I mean, listen, when they dropped this season, in all likelihood, unless they do a two parter, right? Whatever. Netflix gives you the whole thing that gives you the JSON, I don't wait, I don't like that. I know. And if they took it away, and went HBO style, and just spoon fed as the one or Hulu does that or just traditional television, we'd probably accept it. And we'd have a lot more like, Oh my gosh. So I totally, totally get that. So I do you get too much. And you're like, oh my gosh, what am I doing? So I'm with you. I agree I was gonna bring up, it reminds me of the NFL. I'm a huge fan of American football. But this season is only 17 games plus playoffs, right? Where they're playing so many more games and basketball in the 80s. In baseball, it's like 100 plus 160 games. So you get to 17. And then the season only last a few months, and then you're just missing it for like six months. I'm telling you what that feeds the fire. It's the reason why it's the number one sport because we are dying to have it and we get it. We just consume it over consume it. And then we gotta wait. And there's definitely something to that yin and yang. I tell you.

Sal Rodriguez: 13:08

I hadn't thought about how football seasons distinguish themselves from other sports.

Jason Connell: 13:13

Yeah, yeah, there's a real offseason where baseball it's like World Series just wrapped spring training opens. What?

Sal Rodriguez: 13:21

Okay, so yeah, I like that. I do like that anticipation. And so I'm okay with the delay. And I'm very pleased because I'm assuming that again, the show runners are probably members of the Producers Guild as well, and yet they're back in the writers. There's a solidarity. Yeah. And I almost wouldn't expect anything less. I think that the Cobra Kai entity has shown itself to be a family a real well oiled working machine cohesive. So I'm not surprised to hear this, but I'm happy to hear what the showrunners are saying. Yeah.

Jason Connell: 13:53

Well, I mentioned that we're going to hear from John Hurwitz, and this was on his Twitter may 2 2023. Sal, take it away.

Sal Rodriguez: 14:02

We hate to strike. But if we must, we strike hard. Pencils down in the Cobra Kai writers room. No writers on set. These aren't fun times, but it's unfortunately necessary. The moment a fair deal is in place. We'll get back to kicking ass in the meantime, sending strength and support to the negotiating committee. You got this hashtag WGA hashtag WGA strong hashtag writer strike. Oh, I got it. I'm kind of pumped up. I'm pumped up

Jason Connell: 14:32

those are some nice hashbrowns nice. No, that's really great or what's really well said inspiring words. In fact, when you said when he wrote pencils down and the Cobra guys writers room, I'm just thinking back to like someone on the LSAT okay times up and there's banging it out. Like like, no, I got one more joke. I gotta get this. I love the sequence as if it's in real time, but this is not going to hurt Cobra Kai. Let's be very clear here, it's not going to hurt them. They know this. In fact, it's going to feed the beast. And people are going to be like holy and no matter how long this writers strike is, hopefully they can hang on to their writers and they don't take other jobs, non writing jobs, or they want to come back when the deal is inked. But I don't think it's going to hurt Cobra Kai, they're gonna go out, they're gonna probably be the number one show on Netflix. And then they can rival stranger things because I think Stranger Things is going into his last season as well. So Netflix is not in trouble. It's just we got to wait and let this play out.

Sal Rodriguez: 15:36

Let me ask you to go back in time a little bit here. What was the longest we were ever between seasons, where we didn't know the premiere date of the next season? This little Limbo that we're floating around in right now where we have no definitive air date? Have we been here before? But for how long?

Jason Connell: 15:52

Well, I mean, let's just go back to before season three, before Netflix got involved. That was a strange time, we were already doing the show. And I was moving cross country. And then Netflix drops the first two seasons, and hence that there'll be a third season. And then they randomly pick a day. And then they jumped the gun by a week because Johnny went on the internet. So there was a little bit of vagueness there. But the show wasn't at this level. Like it was getting there. It was ramping up but now

Sal Rodriguez: 16:22

it was on the incline now we know it's gonna be the final season. So this is I almost feel like we're out at sea. We know land is up there live somewhere. Yeah, but we don't know when we're gonna get there. How do you know what it's gonna look like when we get there, but it's up there somewhere the

Jason Connell: 16:37

Point Judith lighthouse in Narragansett Rhode Island, just down the street, which Johnny likes to talk about. Yeah, so that is it. So I knew this was timely. Obviously, it deals with the release date. Now we know the show's not even in production yet. Maybe it's better. They didn't get going. And like, Ah, crap, I gotta pause. It's probably good to hit the eject button right now. And yeah, and just see how this thing plays out. And like I mentioned earlier a few times I do have close friends. I'm assuming they're picketing. I know they're not writing. It's funny. I was gonna land some to come on the podcast because they have availability now. Some writers have different screenplays. I was like, my gosh, so my heart goes out with that.

Sal Rodriguez: 17:20

What are you doing nothing.

Jason Connell: 17:22

Podcast? Let's talk movies. I can talk movies. I just can't write them right now. But yeah, that is it. So I hope to come back and do Cobra Kai season six, announcement date, release date, everything that we usually do the first look photos, all that stuff's coming. All that stuff's coming. Just not yet. Fortunately,

Sal Rodriguez: 17:43

sure. And I would just like to remind though, all the toy makers that hold licenses for Cobra Kai and Karate Kid Hey, you got a little more time now. So come out here now to bang them out. Some more merchandise mark more collectibles for Karate Kid Cobra Kai lovers. Yep.

Jason Connell: 17:58

So that's all I got. So until we come back with more news. That's a wrap. So thank you so much for listening and please be sure to subscribe to the let's talk Cobra Kai podcast and the let's talk Cobra Kai YouTube Live Channel. You can also really help us by giving the show a five star rating on Apple podcast.

Sal Rodriguez: 18:17

And for all your listeners that enjoy sharing your thoughts. You can leave us a review on Apple podcasts, send us a direct message or post a comment on any let's talk Cobra Kai social media platform.

Jason Connell: 18:28

We also highly recommend checking out our other podcasts and visiting just curious media.com

Sal Rodriguez: 18:35

No Mercy