There has been a surprising amount of buzz surrounding the Karate Kid sequel series Cobra Kai but now we know how well that buzz has translated into ratings.
Cobra Kai started streaming Wednesday on YouTube Red and according to YouTube, the first episode Cobra Kai was viewed by 5.4 million people on its opening day.
To put into perspective just how impressive that is — the big budgeted Lost in Space adaptation from Netflix attracted 3.2 million viewers on its first day.
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As a matter of fact, 5.4 million viewers would be fairly respectable numbers for most network shows these days much less from a streaming service like YouTube Red struggling to achieve the relevance of Netflix and Hulu.
Cobra Kai serves as a continuation of The Karate Kid movie series.
The series centers around one of the antagonists of the original movie — Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka). Johnny, 34 years after the original movie, is now a drunk loser whose life apparently never fully recovered after his loss to Daniel Laruso (Ralph Macchio).
Then, after saving his young neighbor from a group of bullies (sound familiar?), Johnny decides to redeem himself by reopening Cobra Kai. Why he would use the brand of the psychotic sensei who arguably ruined his life though is anyone’s guess.
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This is met with understandable skepticism from Daniel, who is now a successful car dealership owner.
Have you watched Cobra Kai yet? What did you think of it? Could this lead to bigger things for YouTube Red? Give us your thoughts in the comment section.