One thing worth noting about Cobra Kai season three is that, despite all the hype surrounding the show being picked up by Netflix, the third season was produced while it was still under the YouTube Premium umbrella. Ralph Macchio revealed to us, in a recent press day for the show, that Sony, the studio that produced the show had to urge YouTube not to air it.
“After we completed shooting season 3, we heard Google through YouTube was changing their business model and were not going to continue the show. Sony, our studio, was very adamant: “don’t air it” so we can shop it. And now we have a global pandemic and have to ask people to spend money to buy it – it’s unbelievable (the hurdles) but the universe the Karate Kid was born in has some light on it – Billy (Zabka) says it's kissed and it always has been, it’s just been wonderful.”
Of course, the first two seasons got an incredible boost of renewed popularity once Netflix re-issued them this fall, with many only then discovering the show for the first time. The timing, in some ways, couldn’t have been more opportune given the pandemic. Macchio, while not wanting to put too much weight on whether the pandemic is responsible or not for Cobra Kai's global success, noted that it provides a “warm embrace and brings a smile”, adding that “hopefully we’re all out of it soon and can continue the show.”
Having seen the entirety of the their season myself, I can promise most viewers that they won’t be disapointed in the epic third season (even if our TV critic, Alex, was a touch lukewarm if still generally positive). We’ll have more from our interviews with the Cobra Kai team after season 3 airs so stay tuned, but one word of caution – avoid all spoilers!