Ralph Macchio, William Zabka and the creators of the YouTube Red series break down the long road back to the dojo
(by Andy Greene rollingstone.com 4-24-18)
In September 2016, William Zabka – best known for portraying quintessential 1980s teen movie villain Johnny Lawrence in the original The Karate Kid – was summoned to his favorite Mexican restaurant in L.A. The reason: A mysterious meeting with three young comedy writers who had found big success in recent years with the Hot Tub Time Machine and Harold and Kumar franchises. He had absolutely no idea what they wanted. "We must have finished four or five baskets of chips and salsa," says Zabka. "But they kept pushing away the waiter from taking our order so they could tell me their idea."
The elaborate plan they unveiled left the 52-year-old actor in a state of absolute shock: They wanted to bring back The Karate Kid as a serialized television series. "I said to them, 'This sounds too good to be true,'" says Zabka. "'To do something like this you'd need to get everybody to sign on it, including [rights holders] Sony, [Will Smith's production company] Overbrook [Entertainment] and [the estate of late Karate Kid producer] Jerry Weintraub.' They said, 'Everybody is in. The next step is to get Ralph Macchio.' I said, 'All right, just make sure at his lunch they serve broccolini. That's the secret to his youth.'" When the long meal ended, Zabka walked out and drafted a text to the guys that he was ultimately too embarrassed to send: "The Johnny in me just opened one crusty eye."
https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/features/cobrai-kai-karate-kid-TV-show-w519028
