Pineapple Express: Someone Is Wrong on the Internet?

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I did watch the first season a while ago. I think I kind of swallowed the premise that the tournament was a local culture phenomenon at the time, that Daniel had traded on that youthful fame, and that once he opened his dealership(s?) his face on billboards helped keep him a visible local celebrity. It seemed implied that he had done a bunch of TV interviews and locals all knew broad strokes of the story of the original movie, and that his TV ads and sales gimmicks (like the free bonsai with purchase) memeing on his original fame kept the story alive. It looked to me like the car dealership(s) was why he was so well-off.

I did get the sense that karate in general had continued as much more of a thing in this parallel reality, of course.

Googling a little, it sounds like he got his start on his dealership in 2002 after Mr. Miyagi left him his collection of classic cars? So 18 years passed between the tournament and Daniel resurrecting the story for advertising?

The later seasons get more deranged and make it clear that everyone who was in Southern California in 1984 still knows and cares about Johnny and Daniel. A later season plot point concerns the franchising of one of the dojos, where apparently every kid in Southern California is signing up to learn a particular school of martial arts, with all that goes along with it.

It's pretty funny, but I had to keep hitting the snooze button on my disbelief.

 

[Meech17]

If you watch Cobra Kai -- which you should, as it's an absolutely deranged love letter to the original movies -- everyone in the valley remains obsessed with the 1984 All Valley Under 18 Karate Tournament. It's the basis of Daniel LaRosso's extremely nice lifestyle, for instance.

The original was kind of, sort of, a decade or so late responding to America's new enthusiasm for martial arts. But Cobra Kai, decades later, is basically a parallel universe where people still care about a 40-year old teen tournament.

I wouldn't call everyone in the Valley obsessed with Karata in Cobra Kai. I think it's kind of framed in the beginning that Daniel is a like a weird almost former child celebrity who used that fame to launch his car dealership. He's wealthy, but he's also like those lawyers who are all over billboards and stuff. Kind of a joke to people in the community, despite his status. He's serious.. But no one takes him seriously.

Johnny meets Miguel and that inspires him to start up the Dojo, which in turn inspires Daniel to start his, and it seems like a lot of the community gets kind of sick of their crap pretty quickly.

With that said.. Cobra Kai was great, and worth watching. So campy though.. And probably could have been 1-2 seasons shorter.

 

[Aeson]

The later seasons get more deranged and make it clear that everyone who was in Southern California in 1984 still knows and cares about Johnny and Daniel. A later season plot point concerns the franchising of one of the dojos, where apparently every kid in Southern California is signing up to learn a particular school of martial arts, with all that goes along with it.

It's pretty funny, but I had to keep hitting the snooze button on my disbelief.

The LaRusso School of Anything Goes Martial Arts vs the Lawrence School of Anything Goes Martial Arts. Daniel and Johnny promise to marry their children to combine the two schools. During a training session Daniel's son falls in a cursed pool. Now every time the boy is dowsed with water he becomes a girl and hilarity ensues.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

With that said.. Cobra Kai was great, and worth watching. So campy though.. And probably could have been 1-2 seasons shorter.

For sure. It really wore out its welcome in its last few seasons when the producers were clearly excited to bring back adult actors from some of the lesser-known Karate Kid sequels and treating them like a very big deal.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

The LaRusso School of Anything Goes Martial Arts vs the Lawrence School of Anything Goes Martial Arts. Daniel and Johnny promise to marry their children to combine the two schools. During a training session Daniel's son falls in a cursed pool. Now every time the boy is dowsed with water he becomes a girl and hilarity ensues.

Given how hard they tried to get Hillary Swank to come back, and the repeated focus on the pond at Miyagi Do, this isn't far off.

 

[Meech17]

For sure. It really wore out its welcome in its last few seasons when the producers were clearly excited to bring back adult actors from some of the lesser-known Karate Kid sequels and treating them like a very big deal.

That, and the whole repeated make-up/break-ups that happened between Johnny and Daniel twice a season got very old.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

That, and the whole repeated make-up/break-ups that happened between Johnny and Daniel twice a season got very old.

It was almost as poorly plotted out as the Star Wars sequels!

 

[Aeson]

It was almost as poorly plotted out as the Star Wars sequels!

Lucas Law: "As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of someone crapping on Star Wars approaches 1".

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Lucas Law: "As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of someone crapping on Star Wars approaches 1".

I mean, there's a concurrent thread about Star Wars going on right now, so the parallels are top of mind.

 

[Aeson]

I mean, there's a concurrent thread about Star Wars going on right now, so the parallels are top of mind.

I get it. When I read your post my mind went to Godwin's law for some weird reason. I felt there should be a variant for Star Wars on a geek forum.