Quick Question with Soren and Daniel - The Strike is Over!

Episode Date: October 10, 2023

Rejoice! The strike is over. The guys report on the end of the WGA strike - where they were when they found out, the bittersweet feelings of going back to work, what the process is like of putting a TV show back on air, and much more. Follow the show on socials: https://www.linktr.ee/QQPodcast Soren Bowie: https://twitter.com/Soren_Ltd Daniel O'Brien: https://twitter.com/DOB_INC

I've got a quick, quick question for you, alright? I wanna hear your thoughts, I wanna know what's on your mind I've got a quick, quick question for you, alright? The answer's not important, I'm just glad that we could talk tonight So what's your favorite? Who did you get? What do I be? What was it I could wear? What do we know? I saw a movie, Daniel O'Brien When will I be remembered? Was it out there? Where did all the good weeks go? Oh, forget it I saw a movie, Daniel O'Brien

Two best friends and comedy writers If there's an answer, they're gonna find it I think you'll have a great time here I think you'll have a great time here So hello again and welcome to another very special episode of Quick Question with Soren and Daniel on the podcast. We're two best friends and comedy writers asking each other questions and give each other answers. I'm one half of that podcast. Senior writer for last week, tonight, author of How to Fight Presidents, and writer no longer on strike daniel o'brien joined as always by my co-host mr soren buoy soren say solidarity no more fuck the fuck the sag

yeah we made it we did it we won we did 148 day strike i feel like that's the only thing that we should talk about as of this recording um it was a little over a week ago that we got the email saying that um the guild and the studios had reached a tentative agreement and then just a few days ago uh that agreement was sent to us as members to ratify and it all signs point of the strike being officially over on october 6th assuming that it gets the ratification that we all expect it to get and in the meantime we have been allowed to go back to work and so we did that we both did that we did that pretty fast i think there's still a lot of shows that are like uh we'll wait until the votes

in like there's a lot of shows that are kind of like taking their time our shows did not no uh we got the email late sunday night and then the following sunday we were on hbo with a brand new episode of our show like we we got right back to it in a way that like, I'd been praying for the strike to end. It was like a thing that dominated the summer and, and my life and like the, a tremendous source of stress and anxiety. And then it ended. And then we got an email that was like, Hey,

we're all back to work Wednesday. And it was like, Oh, I got, I have plans though. Yeah. What I wanted was the paycheck. I really enjoyed the time that I had to myself. Is there a way we can do that?

Right. Can't we just like do the best of both worlds? I get paid and I don't have to work. What did we even strike about? Yeah. People, it's really funny to watch people when they're like, you're back to work. And my reaction is not what they're expecting, which is yes, it's over. I'm like, yeah. And they're like, yeah, is that, and they test the waters. They're like, is that a, is that a good thing? I'm like, I don't know, man. I don't know. I think so. I mean, it's going to be really nice to be able to be able to support my family again. That'll be good. But also there's this whole other thing I have to do every day now. Right. And it seemed like your fall baseball team was really starting to click. And now you're going to have to scatter your focus a bit. It's tough. It's tough to have peeled off from the kids. It's not just about them anymore. And, uh, I don't know.

Like it feels like culture in general is telling me, no, it should always be about the kids. And I'm, I'm saying, no, some of it has to be about this cartoon for adults. I make too.

Dad, why can't you hang out as much? I have to work on this cartoon. Can I watch? No, absolutely not. Of course not. Well, I always tell you, you're not allowed to watch this. Yeah. Um, I have let Ronan watch a couple of, so we do these things called animatic or color screenings, which is

just like various, various stages of the process where the show's not done yet, but it's like looking pretty close at about a color screening. And I have let him watch a few of those. And he is, it's so funny to see the things that like he picks up on in the show. Because a lot of the jokes are just, they're way over his head. Calvin Hobbes is over his head. And, but every once in a while, like someone will say something about a butthole and he'll be like, ha ha ha ha ha. He said butthole.

He's right. That is funny. I had to do my, when we got back into the office, obviously all of our passwords has expired on all of our computers. Because, you know, they want to keep that stuff under wraps so much at television shows for reasons they don't understand. They don't

want people checking in and seeing that, oh, we came up with a model design for Stan wearing pajamas. But all that stuff is like highly coded. And we had to change our passwords. And I went to the woman who is in charge of all of that. And she's like the same, a saintly person. She, I've seen her deal with the more elderly people on our staff and is just so patient with them as they're like trying to figure out their computer. And she's like, okay, you're going to want to open it. Have you tried opening it?

Like she's wonderful. And I went to her. I had to get like a little password, a temporary password, and it just gives you a number, two numbers. You want to guess what my two numbers were, Dan? Six, nine. Yeah. Hell yeah. And she went, she said she said okay so you're

gonna type in that one and i was like well it's weird and i look and i was like nice and no reaction from her there was no like shared like it is funny it is funny she was just like patiently waiting for me to do it and i was like okay that did not play and uh did it it didn't the machine didn't work had to do it again i got a new password which was 63 and and i go not as fun nothing and i was like i wonder if that was a crime i wonder what i just did um i have one uh 69 story and then we really got to get into this episode about the strike okay um but it was like an important moment for me. I was in seventh or eighth grade. I was taking Italian and part of this Italian class assignment was standing up in front

of the room and like calling bingo for the class. Like you're playing bingo, but you call it in Italian to practice your numbers. playing bingo but you call it in italian to practice your numbers and i i was calling the numbers and i came across 69 uh and i laughed for the the class and then i was like and the teacher said daniel and smacked me or daniele and smacked me. Not like hard, not like violent or abusive or anything like that. Um, and the thing that stuck with me wasn't the, the smack and the inappropriateness of it. The thing that struck,

stuck with me, like a lot of 14 and 15 year olds, I was under the impression that, that grownups had one kind of sex and then, and we invented all these new cool things. We invented 69 and blowjobs, like all this shit that was going to blow their minds if they ever found out about it. So the fact that my like old Italian teacher knew our secret code for the thing that I thought we invented, I was like, oh my God. Yeah. You're horrendous. And not only knows it,

probably it was like had practiced it right and that's that's rough man that's a rough thing to find out yeah all right let's get into the stupid show yeah i want to know uh because we didn't really uh in our our personal non-podcast lives talk about it too much uh is it dorky to just ask like where you were and what you were doing when you found out the news no i think that's great interesting for you yeah okay um i need to think about where it was but i think that's something i would like to remember because this is going to be historic yeah um you were at the as as far as i i know you were at the sherman oaks galleria with bob eiger telling him don't take

it don't take this deal it's it's bad don't let these writers fuck you it's poison it's poison uh i gotta think about it tell me where you were yeah so i had uh like a planned unrelated to the strike a planned dinner uh at my parents house with my girlfriend and uh we went there kind of thinking because at this point it was a sunday and the studios and the guild had met every day for the last four days or so and all signs were pointing to like we we will probably hear something today uh and i thought oh it'll be nice that'll be at my parents for, for dinner. And it didn't happen during the whole dinner. And like my mom had champagne in the fridge. Like we're not, we're not saying anything, but like, we think this might happen and we're all prepared to celebrate.

And then, you know, dinnertime came and went and I just went home after that. I was like, all right, I guess I'll text you guys if anything changes. And got home and was just sitting on my couch with Shay and finally got the email at, I don't know, nine something, ten something my time. I forget what it was. And she knew that I'd be looking at my email every second of the day waiting for this thing to come in. And I got the email. I didn't say anything for a second. And then I went to the kitchen and puttered the email i didn't say anything for a second and then i like went to the kitchen and and puttered around the kitchen for a bit i went to the uh like our patio and

was like looking outside just like idling myself and then i sat back down on the couch and i turned to her and i said we've reached a tentative agreement she's like when what the fuck how did you just find that out um because i was really uh again i'd wanted this for so long like all of us and i was i had like been visualizing this moment and also visualizing getting the the opposite of this visualizing the email coming from the guild that we'd seen a million times this summer where it was like we tried to negotiate in good faith but the studios are just trying to drag this out they're trying to torture us. So there's no deal and there's no, you know, plans to get back to the table. I'd, I'd been preparing for either scenario and then it

happened. And I was, I was just like shell shocked. I was, I was very happy to talk to, uh, Taylor Orsi. Taylor is a writer and actor and they were a strike captain, very active on the lines all summer. They tweeted something about how because there's like videos and photos of people in LA

and New York, writers getting together at bars and celebrating and screaming and having so much fun. Taylor was talking about how it's great that everyone can do that, that you're celebrating and you are having a great time. I personally just stared into space for five minutes unblinking. And I was really happy to read that. And I reached out to them when I saw that because I was like, yes, same.

I don't know what to do i just keep like looking at things and and and mumbling and just like being very aware of my breathing and and i had a little bit of fomo looking at people partying but i don't i wouldn't have had the energy to do that and i even i i turned to shay one point and i was like i i think i i want to party and she's like okay what do you mean i we can make that happen and i was like i don't know i think i just want to i want to i feel like i should party and she was like that's great you you do whatever you need to do i think she i think if you could get me some cocaine that would be good yeah right yeah uh and i obviously didn't party i like i like poured myself a little bit of whiskey and was like, ah, yes, here I am partying. And she was like, that's great. I'm going to go to sleep. Good. I will be partying out here. back of my mind i wanted to at some point be around writers and friends in a loud place and

just like like scream and exhale the same way much higher stakes but the same way i felt when they announced uh hitler died by uh biden uh won the election yeah that was like that was a saturday when that announcement came out and so we were uh working but we still like paused the work that we were doing because it was like we all uh very justifiably need to go stand outside and scream and or like honk horns or do something yeah and like i need to take a lap around my building that was kind of how i felt at the end of the strike which is like i need there like there's too much energy in me right now and it needs to go somewhere but i'm also so exhausted and shell-shocked and like even even sunday when you had every reason to be optimistic there was still a part of me that was like i don't know

what if they turn around tomorrow and and and say just kidding or what if the studios leak some terrible thing that that sends us back to square one i can't i'm not gonna be hard to be happy about it yeah yeah yeah but that was my whole journey and and like texted my parents like we're back we're doing it we're going to work and i didn't really um do anything resembling a party until uh two days ago as of this recording so the the sunday after we got the email that morning i had a planned uh half marathon i'd signed up for a race and i was like okay well i'm not gonna party the week of the race uh So I'm going to run this race and then there's going to be a race after party. And I'm going to go there to celebrate

the race and also invite a bunch of friends to celebrate the end of the strike. That was my plan. And then they're like, hey, you have to go back to work. I was like, oh, okay, new plan. I'm going to wake up early. I'm going to run a half marathon. I'm going to go home and I'm going to go to work for a few hours because we taped that day. And then I'm going to show up at the bar. The race after party will have been done. All of those people will be gone. And I'll get whatever friends I can cobble together to just like sit and be with me and have a meal. meal. And like everyone who came was very sweet. And I was like, still shell shocked from the strike and completely exhausted from the run. But it was still the way you talk to a child. They're all like, are you still having fun? Do you want another beer? We'll stay if you want another beer and some fries. I'm like, ah, yes. I need to keep being around people because as soon as I close my eyes, I will be asleep. And this is my party. I forgot that you, yeah, your schedule is different than most other human beings and that you,

like one of your hardest days is a Sunday, right? Well, we used to always be on the Wednesday to Sunday schedule. And then during COVID, the plandemic, we switched to Tuesday to Saturday to record on Saturdays because everyone working from home posts required more time to turn the episode around to HBO. And then

once we didn't have those COVID protocols in place, we decided to stick to the Tuesday to Saturday schedule anyway. It was like, because why not? Because we realized, oh, we actually can do this. We don't need to tape on Sundays.

We can give our staff a normal weekend day. And the only reason it was different for this first episode back was because we didn't know we would be allowed to work until Wednesday. And so we did a Wednesday to Sunday schedule. We had a one day weekend this week, and now we're back to Tuesday to Saturday. And this is the content that our audience craves. The reason I'm asking is that you, I mean, I know that you go to church, and I imagine that that job was cutting into your church time a little bit. getting into your church time a little bit. Uh-huh. And I used to have a job where I was testing DVDs and I worked with this guy, Otto, who belonged to a church. In fact,

several of the people at my job were all hired through this church. So they all kind of knew each other. And there was a day where we had to work on a Sunday and I was in his little cubicle because there's DVD players everywhere. So imagine you have to just like go into people's offices constantly, like make sure a DVD plays. And as I'm like testing this DVD, I'm talking to him about Sunday and I'm like, yeah, you gonna miss church? He's like, yeah, devil did it. And I was like, I'm sorry. And he goes, devil did it.

And not with like a smirk on his face or like, isn't that funny? He's like, the devil has organized this. The devil has ensured that I can't go to church on Sunday. Wow. That was like, oh, you believe different things than me. Yeah. Wow, incredible. when things like conspire against his faith in his life and it can't, it doesn't have to be like an individual who's doing it.

Like just like fate itself conspires against him. That's the devil doing it. That's kind of handy. I think so. I think it would be a really happy way to live. I met a, you have somewhere to put all that frustration. Go ahead. Yeah. way to live i met a uh you have somewhere to put all that frustration go ahead yeah i met a very religious guy in college and uh we would talk about church every once in a while and uh i didn't realize the degree to which he was into it and and what it had done to him until uh hurricane

katrina happened uh there's a connection i assure you we were just like talking about how me and my roommate and and and this very religious buddy were walking around campus talking about how devastating it was and and you know was anyone going to go and like use the next break to try to help rebuild that kind of thing uh and this guy whose name i'll call i'll say is Chris, because that was his name. He said, after like a quiet period while we're talking about how devastating it was,

he was like, well, New Orleans, city of sin. That's what happens if you sin. It was so freakish that none of us even clocked at the second that new orleans isn't the city of sin it's the big easy city of sin is the other one but no like we no desert one was even thinking about that at that time because it was like oh man chris is a fucking maniac chris thinks it was supposed to happen because right i don't know exactly because he thinks jazz is sinning i don't i'm not it's unclear what he thinks happens in new Orleans. That's incredible.

Uh, and I'm, I am like jealous of those people when a disaster happens and they have nowhere to put any of that, like all those questions. Like why, why, like,

why would this happen? Why is this hat? Like who would, if there's a benevolent God, why would why would this happen why is this hat like who would if there's a benevolent god why would they let this happen i love that there's somebody out there who's like it's god's plan because this city was the next sodom and gomorrah or like people do that with haiti all the time where they're just like yeah haiti's haiti's the portal to hell so that's why it keeps getting all these earthquakes and stuff because God's trying to shut it. And you're like, oh, shit. Like a whole separate bookcase of beliefs that I don't even understand.

Also, life must be super easy for you. I know. You could just move to one of the places that you don't think is going to open up a portal to hell. I know. Well, I do know where I was, and I'm going to reveal something on this podcast that I haven't talked about before, and I've talked to you just briefly about it, but only because of how strangely the timing laid out

throughout the strike. So I was at a memorial service when we got the news. So I didn't actually see it until the end of the memorial service when I like checked my phone. And then I was like, oh, ah, yes, we are done. But I was feeling a lot of other things as well. So at the beginning of the strike, basically, the day before we struck, I had traveled back to Colorado and my dad was dying. And so I was there for him when he died. And then we went on strike. Also, this is when I broke my wrist as well.

So it was a particularly low point for me. The strange thing about recording a podcast together as people who talk off podcast all the time it's just so the audience knows i i knew already that's the reason that i didn't say sorry and gasp or anything like that is we've talked about this right so uh we i had gone back home uh to witness a death and then, and, and, and I don't want anyone to be like, write me or anything. I don't want that.

He, he, it's something he wanted. He was, he had a debilitating disease that was making him very unhappy. And he was able to do through legal means. He was able to do an elective death. And so it's what he wanted and it was good for him.

And it was, it's a, it was a very brave choice of my mother's to make. And like,'s what he wanted and it was good for him. And it was, uh, it's a, it was a very brave choice of my mother's to make. And like, they did a great thing. They did a good thing. This is what he wanted. And we didn't do the memorial service until just recently. And so I was back in Colorado, uh, I was back in Colorado and at the, like I kept checking my phone. I thought it was going to happen on that Friday when they told everyone to get back on the lines.

There was a Friday that were like, there was buzz that something was happening that everyone's getting very excited. And then that Thursday night we got a message from the W the guild and they were like, get back on those lines tomorrow, please. Everybody,

I want them on the lines. And we all thought, Oh, they want everyone on the lines for when they make the deal. And that was only helped by the fact that as we were on the lines tomorrow, please. Everybody, I want them on the lines. And we all thought, oh, they want everyone on the lines for when they make the deal. And that was only helped by the fact that as we were on the lines that day, they're like, usually we only stay till noon in the summer

because it was so hot. The guild messaged everybody in the middle of the day and they were like, please stay till 2.30, which is our old schedule of picketing. And we're like, oh, shit. Like they, I think this is a deal. I think we're all gonna be here together for this. So like, we're all like on the lines, like checking our phones. It never comes down. We stay till the end. We, the deal never gets done. And maybe that was

their plan to just something fell apart in the deal. But yeah, we left, I went to Colorado, went to a memorial service, spoke at it. And then at the end, when we were like transitioning from like the service to, I don't even know what you call it. Not a reception, but like the more fun part. Repast? Is that what it's called? Yes. Yeah. So at a restaurant on the way there.

Repast. On the way to this, they should come up with a name for it, honestly. But I was going to this, I'm going to call it a repast. I think that would be a fun thing to call it. I was going to that and saw it. I was driving with my mom. And as I'm like also opening envelopes for her from, because people just bring stuff and reading letters to her, I also see that I'm like, oh, oh, I'm going back to work.

And she's like, that's good, right? And I was like, yeah, it's good. and that was the extent of like the celebration that i had yeah wow but it is strange that he i mean his death and then his memorial service book ended the entire strike it's absolutely i know i i and i i try to never encourage this kind of thinking, but it's possible you're the most important person in the world. That I did it, or at least my family somehow did it. I mean, it seems like things are – yours is one of the only lives that seems to make any kind of narrative sense. Yeah. Yeah.

I like to think we all matter, but there's a possibility we don't. And I'm glad I'm here at your coattails. Yeah. Because I'll get like, you know, this is Truman show. If you're getting Truman show, then I can, it sounds like I could be your Noah Emmerich. I could be your buddy that shows up every once in a while. Do you think, and I just, in a way I haven't figured out yet that the devil did it? Oh, probably. Yeah, it was.

And like, I commented on it to my brother and he's like, it is, it's weird. It's weird that that happened that way. Yeah. It was a, it was definitely a low point when I lost my job,

broke my arm. And then my dad died. I was like,, broke my arm, and then my dad died. I was like, okay, all right. Get it all out of the way at once. Yeah. Anne. So did you – when did you get back to L.A.? Did you party at all?

No, I didn't do shit, man. Man. You know what actually was really nice? Sorry, I'll tell you one more thing. We did go back to work yesterday. And that was the first time that I really felt like the vibe. That like, oh, baby, we're back. It was really fun.

As much as I ham and haw about going back to work on this podcast, I went back. I drove into the office. That felt good. And then when we were all there, we were all just buzzing. We were all so excited to see each other again and to hang out and just talk and we got none we none we got no work done whatsoever but no of course we all just sat around and just like hung out and like we're all on different pods so that means that we're like each each little room is working on something different it couldn't have ever worked because we were all just bombing each other's pods, being like, I haven't seen any of you.

Just like sitting down and being like, and now we're going to talk about the things I did and just taking ownership of the room. But yeah, it was, it felt really good yesterday, but that was the only celebration we did. I'm surprised because I live in Jersey, obviously, and I would go into the city every once in a while where we had a lot of marching and picketing. And when I was visiting out in LA, I would join you guys on the lines whenever I could. But really, I was disconnected from the bulk of the protesting. You were out there every day i'm surprised there wasn't like some kind of group chat coordination of like let's let's us the people who spent the entire summer walking in circles together lets us have a big meal somewhere or like some kind of party or something that would have been a really good idea i'm not even i i think i don't even have those people's contact information because because you just see each other every day you don't need it right and all

of a sudden it's like being a child again where you're like oh i need to reckon i remember phone numbers like you just this is the person you see every single day and i will likely never see a lot of those people ever again in my entire life man um i did go to the there was a wga event um there was like a big meeting that we were going to go to and i thought oh this will be a party this will be like a party party atmosphere and it was more like a state of the union it was not fun it was a lot of like we sat there and they talked on and they said stuff and in between pretty much every sentence, everyone had to stand up and clap. Oh, I would have hated that. And I was like, this isn't what I wanted.

I also – little things will like send me in a downward spiral. I got there and I expected there to be desserts or like food there because these WGA events famously, like there's good food. There's like stuff that I really want to eat. There's all these like little tiny finger desserts that I'm like, yes, I will try that. I'll try that. They didn't have that, but they did have tea and coffee. And I'm like, yeah, I'll get some hot water and some tea. And I pour some hot water into a cup and there's just all this like black, dusty specks in

it. And I was like, oh, that's bad. And I tell somebody who works there, I think that one's, I think there's something in that one. And then I went to a different one. Same thing. There's just all these old cisterns that had coffee in them at some point. And now I couldn't even have tea. And so I was like, and I don't know anyone here.

I don't like this event. I already don't like it. But there was like rallying of the troops and like it was supposed to be a celebration, but it didn't really feel like that. It felt like I had a lot of jobs to do there. Yeah. And I can picture exactly what that's like

and hate it because like the clapping, I'm sure we've talked about this before. I don't enjoy the physical act of clapping. It's like very irritating. I don't know who does like it, except people on stage. It's nice to hear it. And so I do my part as an audience member.

And specifically something like a WGA State of the Union victory lap is just like tailor-made to have a lot of some earned some unearned applause breaks yeah because you're introducing people that have been on the negotiating committee who have been working hard all summer long to get the deal that we all want them to get and you also just by virtue of what you're talking about a lot of sentences are going to end with something that like begs for applause yes not like and we're just like yeah right yeah but our numbers but we kept coming out and it's because of each and every one of you that we passed this historic deal yeah and now i won't say another word until you clap. Right. This day cannot continue until you all do your part and clap to my satisfaction. rally kind of um but and they did really these guys are heroic everyone up there on stage did

something really great and but man it's just a lot of clapping and then they went through like lock captains and i was like oh right yeah chris kaiser man he's so if anyone doesn't know he's a member of the negotiating committee uh he might be a co-chair. He has been with the Guild for decades. He co-created Party of Five. He's just been like working for so long. I had no idea who the hell he was until he was the guy on the strike Zooms who would explain the situation very eloquently

and then give us a pep talk of some kind. For this guy, I've never seen before in my life. And now I'm watching him on Zoom, just captivated. Like, I think this guy should be like president. I'll fucking follow this guy anywhere. Yeah. Him giving orations is like, you get it finally. When people talk about in ancient times,

like Alcibiades or Lincoln or somebody who like, they were really good orators. They could sway people with a speech. I was like, okay. Yeah, but people were just dumber then. I'm like, no, Chris Kaiser could do that. He just talks and I'm like, yeah, whatever you want, I want to get it for you. Especially in like early days of The Strike when I first saw him speak for the first time and like, it's such a well-written speech, very well delivered with like the kind of speeches they do in movies and because movies are written by writers but i still had the thought while i'm watching him speak and it's so

emotional and he's so captivating i'm just like why the fuck did anyone think they could win a war against writers you clowns win a pr war against writers look this is all we want to do all we want to do is write things where a character seems really important and says freedom and braveheart, or you can't handle the truth. And as we write these movies and TV shows, we're secretly thinking the guy saying the cool thing is us. And now you gave us an excuse to be the guy saying the cool thing. Yeah. You gave us a reason to like rally behind a cause, which is like what we wanted all along.

Yeah. Joke's on you. I wanted to be Jimmy Stewart and now I can be. Yeah, I would follow him anywhere. He was great. One other thing that I, I don't know if it's the same with you because you're in LA,

which is very aware of the strike in Hollywood and all that stuff. The day after it was made clear that we had reached tentative agreement, Shay was asking me, is there anyone from my life that reached out that I was surprised by? I was like, no. And in fact, almost no that reached out that I was surprised by. I was like, no. And in fact, almost no one reached out, which was very humbling as far as like, oh, the rest of, this is not huge news

to most of the people in my life and in the world. Like a few family members were like, hey, I've been monitoring this. And they they know that the strike was over but most people i i unless i tell them that it's over didn't know i a friend of mine susan like three months into the strike asked me if we were still striking and i i thought like yeah what the fuck don't you go to deadline every day to read about the read the strike diary to see what people are saying you gotta read the online newsletter yeah uh it was i had a similar experience where no one no one like contacted me um but people that i would run into they all seem

for and because it's los angeles maybe but they were all like, they knew, they knew immediately. They're like, hey, the strike's over. Like even my aunts and uncles and stuff, they were all aware, like it was in the news enough that they knew, but nobody was checking in. The only person during the strike who checked in with me was a neighbor who was like, hey, I mean, I don't know any other way to ask this other than just be like completely candid. Are you doing okay financially? Like he was like, oh, you're going to help me out. And I was like, yeah, yeah, we'll be okay. My wife's working.

But it was like, I thought about that for a long time because it's so long to not be working and for everyone in your life to just be like, I'm sure he's fine. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I would get that from family a few months in. And we're all very grateful we don't ask follow-up questions. But parents being like, still three months, you still, this has got to be hard, huh? I'm like, yeah, but I'm okay. And they're like, great.

No follow-up questions. But I'm always thinking in the back of my mind, like, am I? How did I do this? It was four months. So it was like a quarter of a year that you didn't work. Yeah. You were not getting a paycheck at all. And yeah, it was like I started to think about, well, okay, let's get real here.

If I need to get a job, could I go back to Patagonia and do retail for a little bit? They'd probably let me come back for a little. Yeah. But like nowhere that you can go, you can't get a job and tell them that you're a writer back to Patagonia and do retail for a little bit, they'd probably let me come back for a little. Nowhere that you can go. You can't get a job and tell them that you're a writer because they know that the minute the strike ends, you're leaving. So you basically have to start a career by lying to an employer. Did I tell you this is humiliating and then I have to leave because I have work? I, on a lark, applied for a couple of jobs. Yeah. Partly just like- On a lark applied for a couple of jobs, partly just like a lark. That's a, yeah. I mean, we, we weren't in dire straits or anything, but I did want to get out of the house more and have

like a sense of purpose. And also just like, even though my, my savings were healthy, it's undeniable when you're spending money, but not making it. And and so i was like let me just go on indeed and apply to a couple places and uh the last job i had before i was a professional writer was bartending in 2008 so i applied for some bartending jobs and uh got one of them and then didn't go to it i like had tremendous anxiety about uh what it meant to be going back to a bartending job during all this uh and a few of them i didn't get interesting and at that point i i was like don't because i did tell them that I was a writer for a television show, and I'm looking for work because we're on strike.

And I... When I... When these fucking beach restaurants emailed me back to say that they went with someone else, I thought, like, I don't... Isn't it interesting that I worked last week tonight? Like, just hire me for that.

I'm probably going to be a shit bartender at this point, but bring me on for a couple of days. Ask me what John's like. I'll tell you. Maybe you failed the test. Maybe when you did your blindfolded martini, they didn't like it. A few too many splashes came out of the shaker. I just kept stirring all the drinks with my finger because that's what I was used to.

Because that's what I've been doing for a while. Yeah. Starting with your finger and then sticking the whole thing in your mouth and going, just right. All right. You have to go to work, Dan. And I understand that. I have to go to work, thankfully. Yeah.

I do actually as well. Oh, yeah. One other dumb thing that someone in the comments of one of our, the YouTube versions of the show, someone said with a strike ending, does this mean you guys won't do filmed episodes anymore? Now that Daniel is back to work. I just want our listeners to know Soren is also a television writer. I don't know how we,

how much clearer we can be. The relief on my family's faces when I was at this memorial service and they'd be like, so what are you doing? And I'm like, I'm writing for an adult cartoon. It's called American Dad.

And they go, oh, I'll have to, I'll write that down. I'll have to check that out. And I'm like, it's okay. I don't watch it. The relief on their faces when you say that. I of course i watch the show it's my show but the relief that they feel when you're like it's not a big deal like i'm not being self-important

they're like no and it's also like don't worry you will not be quizzed on the show the next time i see you right this isn't gonna be also i don't think it's for you, honestly. When I'm writing it, I'm not thinking of you, Aunt Jane. I don't think that you're clearly the demographic. All right. Well, everybody, this is our show. It's Quick Question. You already know that. You can follow Daniel on Blue Sky.

The minute he blue skies something, the minute he skeets, I will let everybody know. But you can also follow him on Twitter at DOB underscore you can follow me soren underscore ltd i didn't say your blue sky account i think it's daniel dot o'brien i have no idea you don't even know all right well i'm so i'm so in the dark about blue sky that when you said skeet as the the euphemism for tweeting on blue sky i don't know if that's a joke or not it's half joke um early on everyone was like what are we going to call these they came up with skeets it became like the discourse of blue sky for i want to say two months ah and uh and now people have sort of settled on it because there's nothing better. Okay. I probably won't be there

or do anything. I'm there though. I'm doing jokes there into the dark, getting maybe two likes on a joke. So, you could go see those. You can also email the show at qqwithsornanddaniel at gmail.com.

We have a sound engineer, editor, just an all-around great guy, producer in Gabe Harder. You'll find him nowhere. And we have a Patreon, which is patreon.com. Our theme song is by Merex. You can find their music at merex.bandcamp.com or anywhere you listen to music.

We also have a YouTube, which is, you just go to youtube.com and then backslash at QQ podcast, and you'll find videos of Daniel and me looking like wartime presidents, just aged, aged more than you probably have. Yeah. God, our outro is so long that's so much stuff and there's no way it's working on anyone

anymore think about every podcast you listen to I am switched over to another podcast at this point in the episode once Evan's on behind the bastards is like well thanks for joining me do you have anything you want to plug? Do you have any pluggables?

I'm like, I'm fucking out. Yeah. Hope there's nothing important in the last six minutes of every podcast I've ever heard. Surely there's a psychopath somewhere who needs this information so that they can find us and hurt us. So this is for you, psychopath. Okay, bye. Bye. I've got a quick, quick question for you, alright

I wanna hear your thoughts, wanna know what's on your mind I've got a quick, quick question for you, alright The answer's not important, I'm just glad that we could talk tonight So what's your favorite? Who did you get? What do I be? Remember? What's it up with? Where did you get? What do I remember?

Where did all the good weeks end? Oh forget it! I saw a movie, Daniel O'Brien Two best friends and comedy writers If there's an answer they're gonna find it I think you'll have a great time here I think you'll have a great time here I think you'll have a great time here