bigbottom
Footballguy
I've read that the producers and Macchio and Zabka seriously pitched Elisabeth Shue on becoming a permanent cast member but she was simply not interested. She did the one-off as a way to re-connect with her past character (and to appease her children who are huge fans of the show).
That would have been a storyline with a lot of potential and with several different directions that they could have taken. It might have kept the show from falling into a rut.
Even past the prime of her career, Shue is still way too good to be in a show like Cobra Kai.
	
