NBC green lights: series of father/daughter law firm drama Bluff City Law, with Jimmy Smits and Caitlin McGee, and immigration comedy Sunnyside, with Kal Penn
The first season of Cobra Kai was far, far better than a modern-day sequel to classic 80s movie The Karate Kid had any right to be.
Set 30 years after Danny Lerusso (Ralph Macchio) defeated former school bully Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) in the All-Valley Karate Championships in California, Cobra Kai sees Zabka down on his luck, divorced, estranged from his son and unemployed. But when he uses karate one night to defend a put-upon kid (Xolo Maridueña), he’s soon finding a new calling in life and reopening the karate school that caused him so much pain as a kid – Cobra Kai. Could he put the mistakes of the past behind him and learn from his failures? And would the man who once defeated him be willing to forgive and forget?
One of TMINE’s Top 14 shows of 2018, the first season of Cobra Kai was a sort of American Flashman for the streaming age. It managed to be faithful to the original and its characters, referring back constantly in flashback to the most famous moments of the first movie and its sequels and embodying their philosophy and attitude to karate.
Yet at the same time, it was clearly a show that knew it would have two audiences. The first is the standard youthful YouTube viewer who only ever saw the movie on reruns, if at all, and would be less interested in Macchio and Zabka than their students and children, their relationships and rivalries, and their experiences as they followed the paths walked by their elders 30 years earlier. The second is a middle-aged audience who saw the movie when it first came out, have had children of their own, and know full well that life’s no simple parable of good and evil. Bullies become bullies for a reason and the oppressed can become oppressors, and heroes villains – and vice versa.
Jacob Bertrand, William Zabka and Xolo Maridueña in Cobra Kai
Cobra Kai – season two
Cobra Kai and Impulse were the first/only two incontestably good shows produced by YouTube’s premium ‘Red’ service – subsequently renamed YouTube Premium and soon to not be premium at all. It therefore wasn’t a big surprise when both was renewed for a second season. The question was whether a second season could be as good as the first.
Ladies and gentlemen, I’m happy to report that Cobra Kai‘s second season is every bit as good as its first. Mild spoilers for both the first and second season after the jump. And in the trailer.
Every Friday, TMINE lets you know when the latest TV shows from around the world will air in the UK
Netflix’s The Society
The Society (Netflix) Premiere date: Friday, May 10
Netflix US original. Some teenagers struggle to survive after they’re mysteriously transported to a replica of their wealthy town with no trace of their parents.
Think Lord of the Flies but with even richer kids.
Stars: Kathryn Newton, Rachel Keller, Gideon Adlon, Jacques Colimon, Olivia DeJonge, Alex Fitzalan, Kristine Froseth, Jose Julian, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Alex MacNicoll, Jack Mulhern, Salena Qureshi, Grace Victoria Cox, Sean Berdy and Toby Wallace.
Global (Canada)’s Mary Kills People
Mary Kills People (Canada: Global; UK: More4) Premiere date: Tuesday, May 14, 9pm
Dr Mary Harris works at the emergency department of the Eden General Hospital and has a side business as an ‘end of life counsellor’ – she and her partner Des provide assisted suicide. Their lives get complicated when the police start investigating them.
Stars: Caroline Dhavernas, Jay Ryan and Joel Collins
Arthdal Chronicles (S Korea: TVN; UK: Netflix) Premiere date: Saturday, June 1
Arthdal Chronicles depicts the birth of civilisation and nations in ancient times. It is a story of mythical heroes, their struggle, unity and love of people living in a virtual land called Arth.
Stars: Song Joong-ki, Jang Dong-gun, Kim Ji-won and Kim Ok-bin
It’s “What have you been watching?”, your chance to recommend to fellow TMINE readers anything you’ve been watching this week
Yes, it’s Thursday! After a temporary relocation to Tuesday, WHYBW is back on its God-ordained day thanks to last week’s viewing queue cull. Fingers crossed, that’ll allow me to start boxsetting again at the weekends. Fingers even more crossed, we won’t need to reschedule anything for a while.
There’s been a trickle of new shows over the past week, although I’ve skipped the likes of Netflix’s Chambers, on the general grounds it sounded rubbish. But elsewhere, I’ve reviewed:
And this week’s Orange Wednesday took in Avengers: Endgame (2019) and Godzilla (1954)
William Zabka, Martin Kove and Ralph Macchio in season 2 of YouTube’s Cobra Kai
What’s coming this week
The observant will have noticed that I’ve been watching the second season of YouTube’s Cobra Kai. I’ll be reviewing all of that tomorrow.
I’ve also started watching TVNZ’s The Bad Seed and as that ain’t bad, I’ll hopefully be doing that as a boxset on Tuesday (it’s another Bank Holiday in the UK on Monday).
That makes Netflix’s Dead to Me unlikely to fit into the schedule when it starts on Friday, but I might do that later next week. The Spanish Princess starts on Starz (US) on Sunday, but I’ll be working to Lovely Wife’s schedule on that one, her being the Tudor/Philippa Gregory expert.
There’ll be other stuff, too, I’m sure, maybe even in countries other than the US. But I’m not sure what.
Apparently, there was a big fight this week in HBO (US)’s Game of Thrones
The regulars
After last week’s cull, we have a much more stable stable of regulars to talk about this week. However, as WHYBW has been pushed back a couple of days, some of them are on double-episode duty.
After the jump then, Doom Patrol, Game of Thrones, The Twilight Zone, Warrior, and What We Do In the Shadows – one of them is getting promoted to the recommended list. Can you guess which one? It was also the season (and possibly series) finale of The Orville, so I’ll be talking about that, too.
