Cobra Kai, Masters of the Universe: Revelation, Saved By The Bell, and shit… there’s even a Chucky Tv series right now that I highly recommend. These shows came back recently and they are HOT. Ok, maybe SBTB isn’t as hot as the others, but I accidentally binged the first season last weekend on a curiosity watch. Are these rehashings of our favorite nostalgia-laced memories worth the watch? Hell yes, they are! Join me while I talk about the shows that once were and currently are.
First off, I love the Karate Kid movies, all 3 of them, because there are only 3 of them and I’ll fight anyone that says otherwise. I will acknowledge the “reboot” for one sentence only by stating that no jimmies would have been ruffled by anyone if they called it the Kung-Fu Kid because that’s what they practiced. Now back to the good part, Cobra Kai takes an age-old argument and runs with it. Johnny Lawrence was “not” the bad guy and Daniel was kind of a bully, but the real baddie was Kreese, John Kreese. If you’ve seen the show, it was so good that Netflix had to buy it from another streaming service and you already know what I’m talking about. If you’re one of the like 4 or 5 people that haven’t watched it yet, I’ll be short with a no-spoilers summary, because this series speaks for itself.
Forty years later, Johnny Lawrence is kind of burnout and still kind of a dick with a buried heart of gold. He has all but given up and is still bitter over his loss to Daniel LaRusso at the All-Valley Under 18 Karate Tournament. He gets the fire inside reignited when the stops a young Miguel Diaz from being bullied at the local Convenience store. Miguel eventually convinces Johnny to teach him his karate but then Johnny takes it one step further and opens up his old Dojo, Cobra Kai. Over on the other side of the tracks, Daniel LaRusso is doing pretty well for himself as he owns a chain of car dealerships, has a nice little family, and is still living the high of kicking Johnny Lawrence in the face to become the All-Valley Under 18 Karate Champion. Obviously, he sees the Cobra Kai logo and it pisses him right off. What follows is possibly my current favorite show and from what the creators are telling anyone they can, this will last for several more seasons. No spoilers here, just go watch this AMAZING series on Netflix. If you are a fan of The Karate Kid, you will love this show.
Rating:7 out of 5 Crane kicks to the face.
I’ll start this one by stating that Skeletor was my first action figure, and therefore my first best friend, and nothing can replace that bond. I’ll follow up that sentence by stating I hated the first half of this series so much I still haven’t watched the second half as of the time of this writing. Now I bet you’re saying “Oh great, another man-child is bashing on the new MOTU” and you’re not wrong. I was really mad at Kevin Smith for a few weeks, but not for the same reasons every other Man-child took to the internet to whine about it.
Picture this: Im home after a surgery discharge. I need something good in my life and the new, Kevin Smith (you’ll come to find I’m a huge fan of his) written MOTU series dropped on Netflix last week and I saved it for this occasion. I have snacks, drinks, and comfy clothes. I am home alone and life is about to be suh-weet… then within the first episode (MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THIS SERIES AHEAD) Skeletor and He-Man kill each other and are really, really dead from this point on. I’ll be quick about this one by saying that the commercial for this show was the new action figures of He-man and Skeletor dance fighting… that’s it. just some stop motion toys selling you on the idea of a show. the second biggest letdown was Mark Hamill (I also love this dude) and his choice to voice Skeletor like the Joker from Batman: The Animated Series. Not to sound Vain but if you’ve ever caught one of my Twitch streams, you know I do a better Skeletor and they should have just hired me.
Now going forward, I feel like the scenario of an Eternia without He-Man, Skeletor, and Magic was explored very well, but it wasn’t what I wanted and it’s not what was sold to us. They did poor Orko very wrong. What we got was a very dark, bleak, and depressing version of my happiest childhood memory and I just didn’t appreciate it. I’ll end this by stating that everyone hating on Teela getting center stage is hating on this show for the wrong reason because she honestly had the most story to be told in my opinion and was left out of the original series too often.
Rating: 2 out of 5 Nya-ha-ha’s
Now this one caught me by surprise. I seriously threw on the first episode with a heavy sigh and expected crap. I was pleasantly proven wrong as this show is much more decent than I expected… however, this is not the same Saved by the Bell I grew up with. Yes, it takes place at Bayside High. Yes, the main character freezes time to break the 4th wall and make comments on the current situation. Yes, the main cast came back (except Dustin Diamond, which they address), and YES, that big, freakin cell phone came back too. 
This new show kicks off with Governor Zack Morris (woah) closing down low-income area schools and distributing the students to other, better-funded schools in the rich areas. What follows is not as campy or badly written as I expected. The original series was kinda bad without retro tinted glasses if I’ll be honest and Zack Morris is a terrible person. Thankfully neither he nor his son Mack is the main character, and I feel that’s a huge plus for this revival.
There’s a weird dichotomy here because the new kids and their storylines are almost more fitting of a CW show than the SBTB I grew up with, but Slater, Jesse, and even The Max ground every episode and make it feel very much like the sequel series it is. The one thing that makes me go back and forth on my decision is the misplaced humor. In one episode, the son of Zack and Kelly Morris is fighting for the affection of the new girl (after there were a bunch of new students already) with the son of Jesse Spano. Classic SBTB. However, Slater, now the football coach tells about how the same thing happened with him and the boys’ parents and then alludes to doing the big nasty with Jesse, and other women too. There was no sex in the original series and drugs and alcohol were only referenced in a PSA kind of scenario. With this new series, not so much. That being said, they managed to do a great job of blending old with the new and I do recommend it.
Rating 4 out of 5 Big ass Cell-phones
Agree, disagree? Maybe you’d like to hear my thoughts on another renewed/rebooted show, movie, or game. Let us know in the comments and I’ll see you next time!
