‘Cobra Kai’ Narrowly Missed out on Major Award for Season 3

The 27th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards take place on Sunday and will feature several fan-favorite projects up for top honors. The Karate Kid sequel series Cobra Kai is among this group. The third season now has it’s first-ever stunt ensemble nomination, but sadly doesn’t have its first win.

According to Variety, the series would not be eligible for the awards due to it releasing on New Year’s Day. “Normally a calendar year denotes the SAG Awards’ in-contention ability, but because the ongoing pandemic has caused so many production pauses and theater closures, the window was widened to allow projects that were released between Jan. 1, 2020, and Feb. 28, 2021, to be included,” the outlet explained. This change in the timeline provided ample opportunity for Cobra Kai to receive the nomination.

Walking away with the award was never a simple task. The karate-centric Netflix series went against multiple high-profile contenders. The list includes Star Wars: The Mandalorian, The Boys, Westworld, and Lovecraft Country.

Cobra Kai originally started life on YouTube as an exclusive series, resulting in two full seasons. The show generated positive reviews, but it did not have a massive audience. However, Netflix increased the viewership numbers by purchasing the right to the series and releasing them on the large platform. Audiences viewed 2.17 billion minutes of the show in its premiere week.

When Netflix released the third season on Jan. 1, even more viewers began binging episodes in order to learn more about the rival dojos. Netflix announced in mid-January that the show was on pace to have 41 million households streaming the new episodes. These numbers brought the total to 73 million households checking out all three seasons.

Netflix responded to the show’s popularity by renewing it for a fourth season. The show reportedly began shooting in Atlanta in mid-January. The show began casting “skateboarding teens,” as well as people that could play wait-staff, sushi chefs, and customers. One month later, the show’s Instagram account created excitement by posting a photo of a script. The first page revealed that episode 401 is officially called “Let’s Begin” and that a trio of writers penned it.

The viewers don’t know if Cobra Kai will win Outstanding Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series, but they will not have to wait long to find out. The 2021 Screen Actors Guild Awards will air Sunday night at 9 p.m. ET. TNT and TBS will provide coverage for the high-profile event.