What would Mr. Miyagi think?
“Cobra Kai,” a sitcom based on “The Karate Kid” franchise, made the jump from YouTube’s pay streaming service (YouTube Premium) to Netflix on Aug. 28. Ralph Macchio and William Zabka reprise their respective roles as titular karate kid Daniel LaRusso and bully Johnny Lawrence. As adults, the roles have reversed, with Johnny reopening the old dojo to give a new group of outcasts self-confidence, while Daniel has become something of an arrogant success.
With a 94 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes for the first two seasons, it’s likely there will be more to come. (Netflix has announced a third season set to debut next year but has not given a specific date.) After getting a karate fix, here are 10 other hit shows based on movies to check out.
• ‘The Odd Couple’ (1970-1975): Felix Unger and Oscar Madison, the mismatched roommates from Neil Simon’s play-turned-1968-box-office-smash, were too funny to leave on the silver screen. Within two years, the comedy duo was on the air, with Tony Randall replacing Jack Lemmon as the fastidious Felix and Jack Klugman taking over for Walter Matthau in the role of slovenly grouch Oscar. Both of the TV actors had performed in different productions of the play. The show made it 114 episodes over five seasons, earning three nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series from the Primetime Emmy Awards.
Watch it on CBS All Access or Hulu.
• ‘MASH’ (1972-1983): Hawkeye, Hot Lips, Trapper John and most of the other favorites from this hit TV series began life first in the novel by Richard Hooker and then in Robert Altman’s Best Picture nominee for 1970. The story of a medical unit during the Korean War provided an unexpected amount of laughs and more than a few tears over its 11 seasons. The final episode remains the most-watched series finale of all time. People loved it so much, it earned two spinoffs: “AfterMASH” and “Trapper John, M.D.”