‘Cobra Kai’ bumped from Netflix chart by new hit show
Cobra Kai, the martial arts comedy-drama, arrived on Netflix in 2021 and has, over the past three years, grown from strength to strength to become one of the platform’s most popular titles. The first episodes of the sixth season, which aired on July 18th, shot straight to the top of the leaderboard but have already been dethroned by a new kid on the block: Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam.
After debuting on YouTube in 2018, Cobra Kai has enjoyed six years in the sun. As creators Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg bring their show to a close, they have decided to distribute the final season in three parts. With the first instalment available on the streamer now, Netflix has scheduled the follow-up for November.
Meanwhile, part three is expected sometime in 2025, though an exact date has not yet been announced. This is a new strategy for release on the platform rolling out to allow creators to spread the time of impact for their shows while still catering for binge-watching habits. “15 episodes felt like the perfect number, in terms of the real estate of space, to tell the final chapter,” the creators said in a new statement. “It’s tough to binge all that in one sitting.”
Beating Cobra Kai to the top spot on Netflix this week is Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam. The brand new documentary series explores how talent manager Lou Pearlman exploited groups in the late 1990s and early 2000s boyband wave, such as Backstreet Boys and NSYNC.
In 2006, Pearlman faced accusations of orchestrating one of the most extensive and prolonged Ponzi schemes in American history, resulting in over $300 million in debt. After trying to escape the country, Pearlman was captured in Bali, Indonesia, in June 2007.
Following his arrest, Pearlman pleaded guilty to conspiracy, money laundering, and false statements during bankruptcy hearings. In 2008, he was convicted, receiving a 25-year prison sentence. He passed away in federal custody in 2016.
Alongside NSYNC and Backstreet Boys, Pearlman managed Aaron Carter, Take 5, O-Town, Brooke Hogan, Natural, LFO and Innosense. The official synopsis for Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam reads: “Lou Pearlman – the music mogul who created and exploited some of the biggest boy bands of the ’90s, including Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, and O-Town – rises and falls.”