Sidekicks was an attempt to recapture the appeal of The Karate Kid for TV audiences in the late 1980s. Director John G. Avildsen’s most iconic movie is Rocky, and he made several films focused on underdog characters. While Avildsen would largely opt out of the Rocky franchise – only returning for the widely disliked Rocky V in 1990 – he later built another underdog series with The Karate Kid. The first movie focused on a bullied kid who is trained in karate by kindly mentor Mr. Miyagi and goes on to defeat his bullies in a tournament.
The Karate Kid became a smash hit, with Avildsen and stars Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita returning for two sequels. Avilden and Macchio would duck out of 1994’s The Next Karate Kid, which found Mr. Miyagi training a new student played by Hilary Swank (Trust). This was the last installment of the original franchise, but Jackie Chan (The Foreigner) and Jaden Smith would later front a Karate Kid remake in 2010. The Karate Kid franchise remains iconic to this day, with the excellent YouTube sequel series Cobra Kai picking up with many of the original film’s characters over 30 years later.
Surprisingly, The Karate Kid didn’t inspire a whole load of similar movies following its success. It did inspire a TV pilot called The Last Electric Knight, however, which was intended as a showcase for young martial artist Ernie Reyes, Jr, (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret Of The Ooze), who was coming off 1985’s Red Sonja. The Last Electric Knight starred Reyes, Jr as Ernie, the last heir of an ancient clan of martial artists. Ernie is adopted by a cop named Rizzo (Gil Gerard), with Ernie’s fighting skills making him a surprise asset when it comes to fighting crime.
The Last Electric Knight would be redubbed Sidekicks for the eventual series – which shouldn’t be confused with the 1992 Chuck Norris (The Expendables 2) movie of the same name. Sidekicks came complete with a cheesy 1980s credit scene and contrived excuses for Ernie Reyes, Jr to show off his martial arts skills, be it at school or helping his adopted father. The character also shared something of a Mr. Miyugi style relationship with his grandfather Sabasan, who is only seen in flashbacks. Sidekicks was a fluffy action show, but despite leaning into its Karate Kid comparisons, it was cancelled after one season.
Ernie Reyes, Jr would go on to appear in movies like Rush Hour 2 and Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull, though Sidekicks has been somewhat forgotten by the march of time. It was a valiant attempt to bring a martial artists series to a 1980s TV audience, but it just didn’t click at the time.
