0:01

Whoa, just

0:01

curious. Welcome to Just curious

0:07

media. This is let's talk Cobra

0:07

Kai. I'm Jason Connell.

0:11

And I'm Sal Rodriguez.

0:12

All right, so we

0:12

are back with another episode.

0:18

Yeah. And this was sort of bittersweet, it seems it's like and I'll tell

0:20

you why it's bittersweet on one

0:23

hand, I like it another hand. I

0:23

don't like it.

0:26

Okay. All right.

0:26

Well, this just came up. I knew

0:30

something was brewing. I'm not

0:30

in Los Angeles anymore, but I

0:33

knew something was brewing. I

0:33

have friends who are writers

0:36

screenwriters. And today we are

0:36

talking about Cobra Kai season

0:41

six delayed because there is a

0:41

writer strike.

0:48

I see him out

0:48

there. Jason, by the studios. I

0:51

was driving by Disney Studios

0:51

just the other day in Burbank. I

0:54

saw them out there. I saw them.

0:54

I was driving by Warner Brothers

0:57

Studios in Burbank saw them out

0:57

there.

0:59

What are the chance did you get any the chance? What's the chance? I

1:00

don't know? What are they

1:03

chanting? Oh,

1:06

Cha n t s? Yeah.

1:06

Unfortunately, I had the windows

1:10

up and did not hear the chat.

1:10

Hey, you know what, though? I

1:14

would imagine it would be one of

1:14

the most creative chants we've

1:17

ever

1:17

heard as well. To

1:17

be clear, the Writers Guild of

1:22

America is on strike and saw

1:22

that strike first strike art.

1:28

Wow. I hadn't

1:28

thought about how the writers?

1:32

No, no mercy.

1:34

Yeah. When I saw

1:34

strike. Perfect. It's perfect.

1:37

Oh, perfect. Yeah.

1:40

Why don't see this is where I think I'm so lame. Sometimes. It's like, Why

1:42

did I not think about that at

1:45

all? until this very day.

1:46

That's okay. But

1:46

they are on strike. And this is

1:48

not a funny thing. I have

1:48

friends like I just mentioned

1:51

who are writers. I saw firsthand

1:51

like you're seeing now the last

1:57

writers strike. It's been a

1:57

while. Oh, 708. It was a 100 day

2:02

walk out that strike. Wow. I

2:02

remember that. And I mean, that

2:06

displaces people jobs shows go

2:06

on hiatus, some shows might not

2:12

come back from such things. Now,

2:12

I had no idea. I wasn't sure

2:16

until I saw this article about

2:16

Cobra Kai in particular, because

2:20

I thought maybe they were done

2:20

writing. And they were shooting

2:24

we don't know the schedule.

2:24

Until I got this article, which

2:29

we'll get into here that

2:29

definitely lets us know that the

2:32

show is not all written. And

2:32

it's on hold, which will

2:36

inevitably delay the series.

2:40

Jason just to go

2:40

back to 2007 2008 that writers

2:43

striking things. I would like to

2:43

stress the impact of a writer

2:49

strike it means a writer strike

2:49

means a studio shutdown that has

2:52

a ripple effect across the

2:52

entire Greater economy of the

2:57

area, Los Angeles, LA County,

2:57

even probably the state of

3:00

California. So the impact is far

3:00

reaching when there is any any

3:04

given strike probably in any

3:04

industry has the far reaching

3:07

impact, but for our local

3:07

economy for certain, all over

3:11

the surrounding area, it is very

3:11

much a big deal. Now back in

3:14

2007 2008, I remember I was

3:14

going to Griffith Park for a

3:17

workout. And I was pulling into

3:17

the parking lot and it just so

3:20

happens I found out that

3:20

striking writers will pick it

3:23

productions sites, the locations

3:23

themselves, like the studios,

3:27

but also locations so they were

3:27

filming at Griffith Park that

3:30

very day, I pulled in and I was

3:30

surrounded by a bunch of angry

3:35

writers on strike surrounding my

3:35

vehicle that day. Well, they

3:39

were angry. I mean, they were it

3:39

was kind of intended you are

3:42

crossing the line. They thought

3:42

I was crossing the picket line.

3:45

And somebody I think came over

3:45

to the window. And like I

3:48

cracked the window a bit. And

3:48

they said are you with the

3:50

production? I said no, I'm not with any production. I'm here to do my workout. And they're like,

3:52

oh, okay, they're like, Alright,

3:55

and then they party there was

3:55

like a parting of the sea. And

3:57

then I drove through but I was

3:57

very proud to have X 30

4:02

Hollywood writers surrounding my

4:02

car it was it was it was very

4:05

reminiscent of the LA riots

4:07

and you go on the

4:07

park and then you put your big

4:09

camcorder and you do a whole

4:09

production filming yourself

4:13

working out.

4:14

This way men

4:14

women productions guy. Oh, wow.

4:18

So to give more

4:18

context on to writers start

4:21

because we're insiders, right?

4:21

I've seen them. I've been in LA

4:24

for a long time. You've always

4:24

lived in Los Angeles. You've

4:27

been around this but some people

4:27

are like what's going on? So

4:30

we're gonna give a little more

4:30

context before we get into what

4:32

Cobra Kai had to say. So this is

4:32

the headlines. Hollywood hit

4:37

with writer strike after talks

4:37

with Alliance of Motion Picture

4:41

and Television producers the ANP

4:41

TP fail. Guild slams studios for

4:47

gig economy mentality. Now this

4:47

is what the WGA sent out to its

4:56

members a direct message and Sal

4:56

please do the honors.

4:59

Though we

4:59

negotiated intent on making a

5:02

fair deal. And though your

5:02

strike folk gave us the leverage

5:06

to make some gains, the studio's

5:06

responses to our proposals have

5:11

been wholly insufficient, given

5:11

the existential crisis writers

5:14

are facing, we must now exert

5:14

the maximum leverage possible to

5:19

get a fair contract by

5:19

withholding our labor. Members

5:23

of the negotiating committee

5:23

board and council, we will be

5:27

out with you on the picket

5:27

lines. Whoa, those are very big

5:31

lines. Wow, you

5:32

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

5:36

Those lines

5:36

almost lead like a read like a

5:38

declaration of war, you know, is

5:38

this this is a serious business.

5:42

Yeah, this is no

5:42

joke. This is not showing up to

5:45

work. This is shutting down

5:45

productions. People, all sides

5:49

are losing money. studios are

5:49

losing money writers, not just

5:54

writers. This is trickle down

5:54

producers, directors, actors,

5:58

crew, everybody, no one's

5:58

working. So it's pretty serious.

6:04

And I remember the last strike,

6:04

Oh, 708. It was a different

6:07

time. It's funny how that

6:07

doesn't feel like that long ago.

6:10

But then it does. And it was

6:10

really because internet was

6:14

starting to come into play.

6:14

Right? Like all internet rights.

6:18

And what I've been reading is

6:18

this particular strike also

6:21

deals with streaming rights and

6:21

things like that. Because there

6:25

was a time when people would get

6:25

residuals, like, I wrote that

6:29

script. And I wrote on alpha

6:29

versus a, for instance, for many

6:33

years, and I got residuals for

6:33

many more years after that.

6:36

Well, if you're doing a

6:36

streaming project, residuals are

6:40

not part of the equation

6:40

anymore. At least not for most

6:42

people. You get paid handsomely.

6:42

Hopefully, you do your job. And

6:47

you move on, it doesn't go into

6:47

syndication anymore. So it's

6:50

just a different time. So you've

6:50

really got to get paid. And

6:54

yeah, that's like people might

6:54

say, well, woe is me, you know,

6:56

you're just a writer. Well,

6:56

this, sit in front of a page

7:00

that's empty and try to fill it

7:00

out. Writing is essential to our

7:04

industry. But you're getting

7:04

paid less. I made some notes

7:08

here. Now, there's a lot of non

7:08

transparencies. Netflix doesn't

7:13

divulge how show does or movie

7:13

does. I know this firsthand.

7:17

Like we had successful shows on

7:17

Netflix, documentaries. Oh, it's

7:21

doing great. What's that mean?

7:21

No numbers, you'd have no idea

7:25

how it did. They keep all of it.

7:25

They're all cagey about numbers.

7:29

So you can't say, oh, my show is

7:29

doing great. You could produce a

7:32

show and you never know how it's

7:32

doing. They keep that behind

7:35

lock and key. And then some of

7:35

these writers rooms are

7:38

shrinking. These are like many

7:38

rooms I was reading because some

7:42

writers room sounds I'm sure you

7:42

know, it could have like 2030

7:45

people and they're all working,

7:45

you know, you need that many

7:47

people ideas, availability,

7:47

they're shrinking, because

7:51

there's just less to go around.

7:51

And it's just, it's not a good

7:54

situation. And I don't know how

7:54

they get it resolved. But

7:57

inevitably, they will. But still,

7:59

but part of this,

7:59

I understand. I don't know if

8:01

we're gonna mention that today,

8:01

but is knocking on every

8:05

industries door right now. And

8:05

believe me, I find it somewhat

8:10

terrifying. AI, and how AI is

8:10

affecting every industry, let

8:15

alone the creative realms, like

8:15

writing itself.

8:19

While while we

8:19

were on this podcast, I went to

8:22

chat GPT and had him finish

8:22

season six of Cobra Kai, I just

8:26

plugged it in, they banged out.

8:26

Now, who knows?

8:30

Jason is not that

8:30

far. But he can can do that as

8:34

to whether or not the producers

8:34

would go for this is because if

8:39

you think about it, you have the Writers Guild, you have the Producers Guild, and directors.

8:40

Okay, when he has all the

8:44

guilds, you have Don't you have

8:44

possible show runners where they

8:48

overlap? And they're in both

8:48

guilds that are essentially

8:51

competing? How does that work?

8:51

Which Which do you have

8:54

allegiance to?

8:54

That's a whole

8:54

other episode. I don't know. I

8:57

do know that we're in the middle

8:57

of a writer's strike that I

9:00

know. And it all starts with the

9:00

writing. It truly does. Now, a

9:04

question I would have for

9:04

someone else's? What if they had

9:08

written and finished season six

9:08

already? Could you go into

9:12

production? I always thought it

9:12

was a yes. But I don't know for

9:15

sure. So I'm not the guy to ask.

9:15

But I think there are shows

9:18

that, hey, we're done writing,

9:18

there's no more changes, but we

9:21

are shooting the scene. I think

9:21

that can happen if I'm not

9:24

mistaken. But more often than

9:24

not, you're writing as you go,

9:28

you're making changes. So then

9:28

you really just say stop at all.

9:31

We want to stand by our riders

9:31

and not just go off and shoot a

9:35

show and then alienate them and

9:35

we're getting paid and they're

9:39

not. So a lot of people are

9:39

about solidarity, which our team

9:42

of Cobra Kai is, which I I'm

9:42

happy to hear that.

9:46

Well, obviously they have publicly announced that they stand with the

9:48

writers. Yes.

9:50

So phasing into

9:50

the next part of this episode.

9:54

And it talks about Cobra Kai and

9:54

then we actually hear from one

9:57

of the creators, so let's delve

9:57

into this. So the trickle On

10:01

effect is inevitable as I've

10:01

just mentioned in season six of

10:04

Cobra Kai is going to be

10:04

impacted. And to that point show

10:08

creator John Hurwitz confirmed

10:08

that the Cobra Kai writers room

10:13

will be on indefinite hold

10:13

during the strike, but that the

10:18

group will continue their work

10:18

on the show after a fair deal

10:23

has been made. When that

10:23

happened, Sal, anyone's guess

10:27

the last one again was 100 days,

10:27

it's three plus months, it's a

10:30

long time. Now, Cobra Kai's

10:30

sixth and final season was

10:36

originally going into production

10:36

this month of May. Crazy What a

10:42

coincidence. But it's likely

10:42

that the date will be pushed

10:46

back until the resolution is

10:46

reached, of course, which means

10:50

the release date, which we

10:50

didn't know, we don't know,

10:53

there's speculation that this

10:53

could be a two part season,

10:56

because it's going to be a lot

10:56

more episodes, or at least

10:58

they're hinting at that. So

10:58

everything's getting pushed down

11:03

the pike and for good reason. I

11:03

mean, this is a reason to do so.

11:07

So there's an impact. So you

11:07

said initially good and bad

11:11

news? What's the good news? That

11:11

they're staying together? Or

11:14

that you've got more time before

11:14

the season starts? Was it a

11:19

selfish thing? Well,

11:21

there's something

11:21

that I hold on to in life. And

11:23

that is the it's an old saying,

11:23

and that is the keys to

11:28

happiness, three keys, something

11:28

to look forward to something to

11:32

do something to love something

11:32

to look forward to have

11:35

something to look forward to.

11:35

And although we're all looking

11:39

forward to season six, now that

11:39

anticipation becomes longer,

11:43

yeah, it stretches that looking

11:43

forward to so I don't mind that

11:47

because it keeps me in that

11:47

realm of anticipation. And of of

11:52

hope. Yeah. And of reaching for

11:52

the near future. I'm

11:55

with you. There's

11:55

something to getting over

11:57

gratification. That's not good.

11:57

I mean, listen, when they

12:00

dropped this season, in all

12:00

likelihood, unless they do a two

12:03

parter, right? Whatever. Netflix

12:03

gives you the whole thing that

12:06

gives you the JSON, I don't

12:06

wait, I don't like that. I know.

12:09

And if they took it away, and

12:09

went HBO style, and just spoon

12:13

fed as the one or Hulu does that

12:13

or just traditional television,

12:17

we'd probably accept it. And

12:17

we'd have a lot more like, Oh my

12:20

gosh. So I totally, totally get

12:20

that. So I do you get too much.

12:25

And you're like, oh my gosh,

12:25

what am I doing? So I'm with

12:28

you. I agree I was gonna bring

12:28

up, it reminds me of the NFL.

12:32

I'm a huge fan of American

12:32

football. But this season is

12:36

only 17 games plus playoffs,

12:36

right? Where they're playing so

12:41

many more games and basketball

12:41

in the 80s. In baseball, it's

12:44

like 100 plus 160 games. So you

12:44

get to 17. And then the season

12:49

only last a few months, and then

12:49

you're just missing it for like

12:53

six months. I'm telling you what

12:53

that feeds the fire. It's the

12:56

reason why it's the number one

12:56

sport because we are dying to

13:00

have it and we get it. We just

13:00

consume it over consume it. And

13:03

then we gotta wait. And there's

13:03

definitely something to that yin

13:07

and yang. I tell you.

13:08

I hadn't thought

13:08

about how football seasons

13:11

distinguish themselves from other sports.

13:13

Yeah, yeah,

13:13

there's a real offseason where

13:15

baseball it's like World Series

13:15

just wrapped spring training

13:19

opens. What?

13:21

Okay, so yeah, I

13:21

like that. I do like that

13:23

anticipation. And so I'm okay

13:23

with the delay. And I'm very

13:27

pleased because I'm assuming

13:27

that again, the show runners are

13:30

probably members of the

13:30

Producers Guild as well, and yet

13:32

they're back in the writers.

13:32

There's a solidarity. Yeah. And

13:35

I almost wouldn't expect

13:35

anything less. I think that the

13:39

Cobra Kai entity has shown

13:39

itself to be a family a real

13:43

well oiled working machine

13:43

cohesive. So I'm not surprised

13:49

to hear this, but I'm happy to

13:49

hear what the showrunners are

13:52

saying. Yeah.

13:53

Well, I mentioned

13:53

that we're going to hear from

13:55

John Hurwitz, and this was on

13:55

his Twitter may 2 2023. Sal,

14:01

take it away.

14:02

We hate to

14:02

strike. But if we must, we

14:05

strike hard. Pencils down in the

14:05

Cobra Kai writers room. No

14:09

writers on set. These aren't fun

14:09

times, but it's unfortunately

14:13

necessary. The moment a fair

14:13

deal is in place. We'll get back

14:16

to kicking ass in the meantime,

14:16

sending strength and support to

14:20

the negotiating committee. You

14:20

got this hashtag WGA hashtag WGA

14:25

strong hashtag writer strike.

14:25

Oh, I got it. I'm kind of pumped

14:30

up. I'm pumped up

14:32

those are some

14:32

nice hashbrowns nice. No, that's

14:38

really great or what's really

14:38

well said inspiring words. In

14:41

fact, when you said when he

14:41

wrote pencils down and the Cobra

14:45

guys writers room, I'm just

14:45

thinking back to like someone on

14:48

the LSAT okay times up and

14:48

there's banging it out. Like

14:51

like, no, I got one more joke. I

14:51

gotta get this. I love the

14:55

sequence as if it's in real

14:55

time, but this is not going to

14:59

hurt Cobra Kai. Let's be very

14:59

clear here, it's not going to

15:03

hurt them. They know this. In

15:03

fact, it's going to feed the

15:06

beast. And people are going to

15:06

be like holy and no matter how

15:09

long this writers strike is,

15:09

hopefully they can hang on to

15:12

their writers and they don't

15:12

take other jobs, non writing

15:16

jobs, or they want to come back

15:16

when the deal is inked. But I

15:20

don't think it's going to hurt

15:20

Cobra Kai, they're gonna go out,

15:23

they're gonna probably be the

15:23

number one show on Netflix. And

15:26

then they can rival stranger

15:26

things because I think Stranger

15:28

Things is going into his last

15:28

season as well. So Netflix is

15:32

not in trouble. It's just we got

15:32

to wait and let this play out.

15:36

Let me ask you to go back in time a little bit here. What was the longest we

15:38

were ever between seasons, where

15:41

we didn't know the premiere date

15:41

of the next season? This little

15:46

Limbo that we're floating around

15:46

in right now where we have no

15:48

definitive air date? Have we

15:48

been here before? But for how

15:51

long?

15:52

Well, I mean,

15:52

let's just go back to before

15:54

season three, before Netflix got

15:54

involved. That was a strange

15:58

time, we were already doing the

15:58

show. And I was moving cross

16:02

country. And then Netflix drops

16:02

the first two seasons, and hence

16:07

that there'll be a third season.

16:07

And then they randomly pick a

16:11

day. And then they jumped the

16:11

gun by a week because Johnny

16:14

went on the internet. So there

16:14

was a little bit of vagueness

16:16

there. But the show wasn't at

16:16

this level. Like it was getting

16:20

there. It was ramping up but now

16:22

it was on the

16:22

incline now we know it's gonna

16:24

be the final season. So this is

16:24

I almost feel like we're out at

16:27

sea. We know land is up there

16:27

live somewhere. Yeah, but we

16:32

don't know when we're gonna get

16:32

there. How do you know what it's

16:34

gonna look like when we get

16:34

there, but it's up there

16:37

somewhere the

16:37

Point Judith

16:37

lighthouse in Narragansett Rhode

16:41

Island, just down the street,

16:41

which Johnny likes to talk

16:44

about. Yeah, so that is it. So I

16:44

knew this was timely. Obviously,

16:49

it deals with the release date.

16:49

Now we know the show's not even

16:52

in production yet. Maybe it's

16:52

better. They didn't get going.

16:56

And like, Ah, crap, I gotta

16:56

pause. It's probably good to hit

16:59

the eject button right now. And

16:59

yeah, and just see how this

17:03

thing plays out. And like I

17:03

mentioned earlier a few times I

17:06

do have close friends. I'm

17:06

assuming they're picketing. I

17:09

know they're not writing. It's

17:09

funny. I was gonna land some to

17:13

come on the podcast because they

17:13

have availability now. Some

17:16

writers have different screenplays. I was like, my gosh, so my heart goes out with

17:18

that.

17:20

What are you doing nothing.

17:22

Podcast? Let's

17:22

talk movies. I can talk movies.

17:25

I just can't write them right

17:25

now. But yeah, that is it. So I

17:29

hope to come back and do Cobra

17:29

Kai season six, announcement

17:33

date, release date, everything

17:33

that we usually do the first

17:37

look photos, all that stuff's

17:37

coming. All that stuff's coming.

17:40

Just not yet. Fortunately,

17:43

sure. And I would

17:43

just like to remind though, all

17:46

the toy makers that hold

17:46

licenses for Cobra Kai and

17:48

Karate Kid Hey, you got a little

17:48

more time now. So come out here

17:52

now to bang them out. Some more

17:52

merchandise mark more

17:54

collectibles for Karate Kid

17:54

Cobra Kai lovers. Yep.

17:58

So that's all I

17:58

got. So until we come back with

18:00

more news. That's a wrap. So

18:00

thank you so much for listening

18:05

and please be sure to subscribe

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18:08

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18:35

No Mercy