Cobra Kai TV Series Details:
| Based on | The Karate Kid by Robert Mark Kamen |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Action Comedy-drama Martial arts |
| Season | 6 |
| Episodes | 55 |
| Release date | May 2, 2018 (YouTube Red) April 24, 2019 (YouTube Premium) January 1, 2021 – present (Netflix) |
| Running time | 22–48 minutes |
| Age rating | TV-14 |
| Starring | Ralph Macchio William Zabka Courtney Henggeler Xolo Maridueña Tanner Buchanan Mary Mouser Jacob Bertrand Gianni DeCenzo Martin Kove Peyton List Vanessa Rubio Thomas Ian Griffith Dallas Dupree Young |
| Created by | Josh Heald Jon Hurwitz Hayden Schlossberg |
| Directed by | Jon Hurwitz Hayden Schlossberg Josh Heald Jennifer Celotta Joel Novoa Steven K. Tsuchida Marielle Woods Steve Pink Michael Grossman Tawnia McKiernan Lin Oeding |
| Written by | Josh Heald Jon Hurwitz Robert Mark Kamen Hayden Schlossberg Michael Jonathan Smith Mattea Greene Bill Posley Joe Piarulli Luan Thomas Stacey Harman Bob Dearden Jason Belleville Kevin McManus Matthew McManus Ashley Darnall Olga Lexell |
| Produced by | Katrin L. Goodson Bob Wilson |
| Executive producers | William Zabka Ralph Macchio Will Smith James Lassiter Caleeb Pinkett Susan Ekins Josh Heald Jon Hurwitz Hayden Schlossberg |
| Cinematography by | Cameron Duncan |
| Edited by | Nicholas Monsour Jeff Seibenick Ivan Victor |
| Music by | Leo Birenberg Zach Robinson |
| Production locations | Atlanta, Georgia Los Angeles, California, USA |
| Production Company | Hurwitz & Schlossberg Productions (seasons 1–2) Overbrook Entertainment (seasons 1–2) Heald Productions (season 2) Counterbalance Entertainment (season 3–) Westbrook Studios (season 3–) Sony Pictures Television Studios |
| Distributor | YouTube Red YouTube Premium Netflix |
Cobra Kai TV Series Cast & Character:
Main cast
- Daniel LaRusso as Ralph Macchio
- Johnny Lawrence as William Zabka
- Amanda LaRusso as Courtney Henggeler
- Miguel Diaz as Xolo Maridueña
- Robby Keene as Tanner Buchanan
- Samantha LaRusso as Mary Mouser
- Eli “Hawk” Moskowitz as Jacob Bertrand
- Demetri Alexopoulos as Gianni DeCenzo
- John Kreese as Martin Kove
- Tory Nichols as Peyton List
- Carmen Diaz as Vanessa Rubio
- Terry Silver as Thomas Ian Griffith
- Kenny Payne as Dallas Dupree
Supporting cast
- Joe Seo as Kyler Park (recurring, seasons 1, 3–6)
- Annalisa Cochrane as Yasmine (recurring, seasons 1, 3; guest seasons 4–5)
- Bo Mitchell as Brucks (recurring, season 1; guest season 3)
- Bret Ernst as Louie LaRusso Jr. (recurring, seasons 1, 3; guest seasons 4–6)
- Hannah Kepple as Moon (recurring, seasons 1–4; guest, season 5)
- Dan Ahdoot as Anoush Norouzi (recurring, seasons 1–3; guest, seasons 4–6)
- Vas Sanchez as Nestor (recurring, season 2; guest, seasons 1, 4)
- Susan Gallagher as “Homeless Lynn” (recurring, season 1; guest, seasons 2–4)
- Griffin Santopietro as Anthony LaRusso (recurring, seasons 1, 4–6; guest, seasons 2–3)
- Nichole Brown as Aisha Robinson (recurring, seasons 1–2; guest, season 4)
- Rose Bianco as Rosa Diaz (recurring, seasons 1–2, 4; guest, seasons 3, 5–6)
- Terayle Hill as Trey (recurring, season 1; guest, seasons 2–3)
- Jeff Kaplan as Cruz (recurring, season 1; guest, seasons 2–3)
- Owen Morgan as Bert (recurring, seasons 1–6)
- Ed Asner as Sid Weinberg (guest, seasons 1, 3)
- Erin Bradley Dangar as Counselor Blatt (guest, seasons 1, 3–4)
- David Shatraw as Tom Cole (guest, seasons 1, 3)
- Diora Baird as Shannon Keene (guest, seasons 1–5)
- Ken Davitian as Armand Zarkarian (guest, seasons 1–3)
- Candace Moon as Laura Lawrence (guest, seasons 1, 4)
- Randee Heller as Lucille LaRusso (guest, seasons 1–2, 4)
- Paul Walter Hauser as Raymond “Stingray” Porter (recurring, seasons 2, 5; guest, season 4)
- Aedin Mincks as Mitch (recurring, seasons 2–6)
- Khalil Everage as Chris (recurring, seasons 2–6)
- Nathaniel Oh as Nathaniel (recurring, seasons 2–6)
- Selah Austria as Piper Elswith (recurring, season 4; guest, season 2)
- Kim Fields as Sandra Robinson (guest, season 2)
- Ron Thomas as Bobby Brown (guest, seasons 2–3)
- Rob Garrison as Tommy (guest, season 2)
- Tony O’Dell Jimmy (guest, season 2)
- Shawn Weston Thacker as Logan (recurring, seasons 3–6)
- Okea Eme-Akwari as Shawn Payne (recurring, seasons 3 and 6; guest, season 4)
- Yuji Okumoto as Chozen Toguchi (recurring, seasons 5–6; guest, seasons 3–4)
- Dee Snider as Himself (guest, season 3)
- Tamlyn Tomita as Kumiko (guest, season 3)
- Traci Toguchi as Yuna (guest, season 3)
- Terry Serpico as Captain George Turner (guest, seasons 3, 5)
- Seth Kemp as Ponytail (guest, season 3)
- Elisabeth Shue as Ali Mills (guest, season 3)
- Brock Duncan as Zack Thompson (recurring, season 4)
- Milena Rivero as Lia (recurring, season 4)
- Oona O’Brien as Devon (recurring, seasons 4–6)
- Salome Azizi as Cheyenne Hamidi (guest, season 4)
- Julia Macchio as Vanessa LaRusso (guest, seasons 4–5)
- Carrie Underwood as Herself (guest, season 4)
- Alicia Hannah-Kim as Kim Da-eun (recurring, seasons 5–6)
- Owen Harn as Gabriel (recurring, season 5)
- Luis Roberto Guzmán as Hector Salazar (guest, season 5)
- Sean Kanan as Mike Barnes (guest, seasons 5–6)
- Robyn Lively as Jessica Andrews (guest, season 5)
- Sunny Mabrey as Elizabeth-Anne Rooney (Lizzie-Anne) (guest, season 5)
- Tracey Bonner as Dr. Emily Folsom (guest, season 5)
- Carsten Norgaard as Gunther Braun (guest, season 5)
- Tyron Woodley as Sensei Odell/K.O. (guest, season 5)
- C.S. Lee as Kim Sun-Yung (guest, season 6)
Archival footage
The following characters only appear via archival footage from the film series:
- Pat Morita as Mr. Miyagi
- Danny Kamekona as Sato Toguchi
- Nobu McCarthy as Yukie
- Chad McQueen as Dutch
- Israel Juarbe as Freddy Fernandez
- Jonathan Avildsen as Snake
- Christopher Paul Ford as Dennis
Storyline:
Thirty years after their final confrontation at the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament, Johnny Lawrence is at rock-bottom as an unemployed handyman haunted by his wasted life. However, when Johnny rescues bullied kid Miguel from tormentors, he is inspired to restart the notorious Cobra Kai dojo. However, this revitalization of his life and related misunderstandings find Johnny restarting his old rivalry with Daniel LaRusso, a successful businessman who may be happily married, but is missing an essential balance in life since the death of his mentor, Mr. Miyagi. Even as this antipathy festers, it finds itself reflected in their protegees as Miguel and his comrades are gradually poisoned by Cobra Kai’s thuggish philosophy. Meanwhile, while Daniel’s daughter Samantha finds herself in the middle of this conflict amidst false friends, Johnny’s estranged miscreant son Robby finds himself inadvertently coming under Daniel’s wing and flourishes in ways worthy of Mr. Miyagi.
About Cobra Kai TV Series:
Cobra Kai is an American martial arts comedy-drama television series and a sequel to the original The Karate Kid films created by Robert Mark Kamen. The series was created by Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg, and is distributed by Sony Pictures Television. The series was released on YouTube Red / YouTube Premium for the first two seasons, before moving to Netflix starting with the third.
The series stars Ralph Macchio and William Zabka, who reprise their roles as Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence, respectively, from the 1984 film The Karate Kid and its sequels, The Karate Kid Part II (1986) and The Karate Kid Part III (1989).
Cobra Kai, a Karate Kid revival series, with ten half-hour episodes, was initially greenlit in August 2017. The show was written and executive-produced by Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg. Despite receiving offers from other platforms like Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and AMC, Cobra Kai ultimately premiered on YouTube Red.
Principal photography for the first season commenced in October 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia, with filming occurring at various locations including Union City, Marietta, and the Briarcliff Campus of Emory University. In November, shooting moved to places like the North Atlanta Soccer Association Tophat fields in East Cobb, and in December, production was based in Marietta and Conyers, with additional exterior shots filmed in Los Angeles areas like Tarzana and Encino, including iconic locations from The Karate Kid. The second season’s principal photography began in September 2018 in Atlanta, with continued shooting in Marietta in October, Union City in November, and at the closed Rio Bravo Cantina restaurant in December.
YouTube Premium released a six-minute commercial parodying ESPN’s 30 for 30 in April 2019, to promote the series, featuring the main cast members and select ESPN personalities analyzing the 1984 match between Daniel and Johnny. It was nominated for a Clio Award.
The series premiered on YouTube Red (later rebranded as YouTube Premium) in the first season on May 2, 2018, and the second season on April 24, 2019.
The first two seasons were well-received, and the show was renewed for a third season, which was initially set for a 2020 release on YouTube Premium. However, in May 2020, the series left YouTube Premium and moved to Netflix, taking the third season with it. Netflix released the first two seasons on YouTube on August 28, 2020, and the new third season on January 1, 2021.
The show’s success led to further seasons, including a fourth season released on December 31, 2021, and a fifth season that premiered on September 9, 2022. In January 2023, the series was renewed for a sixth and final season, which was halted in May due to the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike and 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike but resumed production sometime after January 1, 2024.
Season 6 has 15 episodes, and the first of these was released on July 18, 2024. A second part is set to release on November 15, followed by the final part in 2025.
Cobra Kai re-examines the “Miyagi-verse” narrative from Johnny’s point of view, beginning with his decision to reopen the Cobra Kai karate dojo, and the rekindling of his old rivalry with Daniel. The series also stars Courtney Henggeler, Xolo Maridueña, Tanner Buchanan, Mary Mouser, Jacob Bertrand, Gianni DeCenzo, Peyton List, Vanessa Rubio, and Dallas Dupree Young, with Martin Kove and Thomas Ian Griffith also reprising their roles from the films.
Cobra Kai has attained high viewership on both YouTube and Netflix and has received critical acclaim for its writing, performances, action sequences, humor, character development, and faithfulness to previous films. It has received numerous awards and nominations, with the third season being nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series at the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards.
Cobra Kai TV Series Episodes List:
| Season | Episodes | Originally released | Network |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | May 2, 2018 | YouTube Red |
| 2 | 10 | April 24, 2019 | YouTube Premium |
| 3 | 10 | January 1, 2021 | Netflix |
| 4 | 10 | December 31, 2021 | Netflix |
| 5 | 10 | September 9, 2022 | Netflix |
| 6 | 15 | July 18, 2024 (Part 1 – 5 episodes) November 28, 2024 (Part 2 – 5 episodes) 2025 (Part 3 – 5 episodes) | Netflix |
