The hosts say Robert Mark Kamen was approached by Columbia to rip off Rocky after it signed Avildsen, building on an optioned news story about a single mother's child earning a black belt against neighborhood bullies.
Writers do not just go off with those instructions—it is more complicated than that. — Ryen Russillo
Cruel Summer, a 1983 song, is said to have hit No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1984 after the movie; Macchio reportedly still has the yellow 1948 Ford Super Deluxe Club convertible, valued around $20,000 online.
How Miyagi owns so many cars is joked to suggest bootlegging.
The producers reportedly wanted to cut the drunk scene for length, and Avildsen fought to keep it.
In the oral history Chad McQueen is quoted saying he never really talked to Ralph and would have said something nasty if he had.
Two scenes said to have been shot and cut deepened the Daniel-Johnny feud: the blueberry-pie cafeteria fight and a water-fountain confrontation in which Daniel asks Johnny whether he might be wrong about his sensei; that is preferred to extra remodeling footage.
The hosts say the fly-catching used a crew member dangling a fake fly on fishing wire, and that Macchio thought the title corny and lost the fight to change it.
Pat Johnson, the referee and choreographer, is said to have trained since 1963, learned a Korean form of karate while in Korea with the Army and trained with Chuck Norris; Zabka is quoted saying they trained five days a week, four hours a day for the month before shooting.
Zabka reportedly had no martial arts background but was an accomplished wrestler, which makes his Vision Quest casting odd.
Zabka's footwork is compared to Barry Sanders, including a scissor kick in rehearsal that reaches head height.
The hosts say Columbia's Coca-Cola ownership meant product placement—orange juice at breakfast and a Sprite—that is said to annoy Macchio; Daniel's No. 89 jersey is described as a Chargers replica.
Shue is quoted from the oral history on feeling uncomfortable in the bathing suit, training for the beach scene and then slowly gaining weight across the shoot; Vidal is said to have doubled for Morita in the cool moves.
It is called one of the biggest Dion Waiters categories in 106 or 107 episodes; three nominees are named, with Tommy's eligibility left open.
Kreese is barely in the movie yet puts up huge stats, a bench player with a double-double in 14 minutes.
Dutch, played by Chad McQueen, is the scariest Cobra Kai and the one who would lead a coup against Johnny; his loss to Daniel seems unrealistic.
The tournament announcer ('Daniel LaRusso is going to fight!') is praised for his jacket-collar look and mysterious identity and is initially given the award.
An anecdote about an anchor questioning low energy in a pre-show rehearsal before a strong live show is used to compare the announcer's rehearsal footage with his performance when the red light goes on.
The announcer pick is disputed: Tommy is ruled ineligible and Dutch is not in it enough, leading to Kreese over the MC.
The announcer is looked up as Bruce Malmuth, said to have died in 2005, who also announced in Karate Kid II and appeared in Lean on Me and Pentathlon.
The award goes to Kreese, though the karate announcer could have won.
Larry B. Scott (Lamar from Revenge of the Nerds) and Happy Gilmore's grandma as the lying, chain-smoking old lady are mentioned as classic That Guys.
The pick is Randee Heller as the mom, for a run including Gabe Kaplan's wife in Fast Break, a stripper girlfriend on The White Shadow, and later a lawyer on Melrose Place—an '80s Gary Oldman' range.
Dutch is floated as a That Guy as the most psychotic Cobra Kai, but because the actor is Chad McQueen, Steve McQueen's son, he is judged not a That Guy.
Chad McQueen is placed in the first wave of troubled celebrity kids of the cocaine era, with a wild look in his eyes.
