Weaponized nostalgia has become a very powerful tool for Hollywood over the last decade, as the industry scrapes the barrel of originality and frequently relies on a familiar property with name recognition and a built-in fanbase at the expense of something new and fresh. The approach has been characterized by inconsistency, but based on Netflix’s Top 10 most popular TV shows, it looks as though subscribers overwhelmingly approve of the latest update to a beloved 1980s classic that’s been added to the streaming service’s library.
The fifth season of Lucifer has been dominating the charts for the last week after scoring the biggest opening weekend for any TV show on Netflix, but the supernatural procedural has now been dislodged by the most unlikely of successors. After the first two seasons aired exclusively on YouTube Premium, the leader in the streaming wars picked up the distribution rights to small screen Karate Kid sequel Cobra Kai, and the series has already reached the top spot on the most-watched TV shows list despite only being released on Netflix on Friday.
Cobra Kai had proven hugely popular on YouTube, with the premieres of both seasons racking up well over 80 million views, but it still comes as a surprise that the continuation of a story that started all the way back in 1984 and spawned three sequels of vastly diminished quality has rocketed to the position of Netflix’s most popular show already.
A combination of nostalgia and curiosity seems to have done the trick, though, with original stars Ralph Macchio and William Zabka both reprising their roles as rival karate proteges Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence, this time as middle-aged fathers that have taken very different paths in life. The critical consensus has been overwhelmingly positive, and with a whole new audience set to discover Cobra Kai, it could well prove to be one of Netflix’s newest hidden gems.