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Kung Fu (1972 TV series)

April 28, 2023

Kung Fu is an American action-adventure martial arts Western drama television series starring David Carradine. The series follows the adventures of Kwai Chang Caine, a Shaolin monk who travels through the American Old West, armed only with his spiritual training and his skill in martial arts, as he seeks Danny Caine, his half-brother.[4][5]

Kung Fu
Genre
Created by
Starring
Theme music composerJim Helms
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes62 + Pilot (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producerJerry Thorpe
Camera setupSingle-camera
Running time50 minutes
Production companyWarner Bros. Television
Release
Original networkABC
Audio formatMonaural
Original releaseFebruary 22, 1972 (1972-02-22) (pilot TV movie)
October 14, 1972 (1972-10-14)[2] –
April 26, 1975 (1975-04-26)[3]
Related

Many of the aphorisms used in the series are adapted from or derived directly from the Tao Te Ching, a book of ancient Taoist philosophy attributed to the sage Lao-tzu.[6][7][8]

Plot

 
David Carradine as Kwai Chang Caine
 
Philip Ahn as Master Kan
 
Keye Luke as Master Po

Kwai Chang Caine (David Carradine) is the orphaned son of an American man, Thomas Henry Caine (Bill Fletcher), and a Chinese woman, Kwai Lin, born in mid-19th-century China.[9] After his maternal grandfather's death he is accepted for training at a Shaolin Monastery, where he grows up to become a Shaolin priest and martial arts expert.

In the pilot episode, Caine's beloved mentor and elder, Master Po, is murdered by the Emperor's nephew with a firearm; outraged, Caine retaliates by killing the nephew, with everyone unaware that the man was reloading his weapon to attack again. With a price on his head, Caine flees China to the western United States, where he seeks to find his family roots, and ultimately, his half-brother, Danny Caine. A recent tombstone dated 1874 in a season 3 episode places the stories approximately between 1871 and 1875.[10]

Although it is his intention to avoid notice, Caine's training and sense of social responsibility repeatedly force him out into the open, to fight for justice or protect the underdog. After each such encounter he must move on, both to avoid capture and prevent harm from coming to those he has helped. Searching for his family, he meets a preacher (played by real-life father John Carradine) and his mute sidekick Sunny Jim (played by real-life brother Robert Carradine), then his grandfather (played by Dean Jagger).

Flashbacks are often used to recall specific lessons from Caine's childhood training in the monastery from his teachers, the blind Master Po (Keye Luke) and Master Chen Ming Kan (Philip Ahn). In those flashbacks, Master Po advises his young student "patience, Grasshopper",[11] a nickname given from a playful lesson he taught to Caine as a child about being aware of the world around him, including the grasshopper that happened to be at his feet at that moment.

During four episodes of the third and final season ("Barbary House", "Flight to Orion", "The Brothers Caine", and "Full Circle"), Caine finds his brother Danny (Tim McIntire) and his nephew Zeke (John Blyth Barrymore).

Cast

 
Carradine and guest star Sondra Locke, 1974

Main cast

Guest cast

This list comprises a selection of actors billed in the opening credits, and some actors whose characters were decisive in the episode plot's development or who later became widely recognized for other productions. Among them there are nominees and winners of Academy Awards, Emmy, Golden Globe, Tony, and other film and theater awards. At the minute 6:39 of the Kung Fu DVD documentary The Tao of Caine: Production and Beyond, Herbie J. Pilato says: "One of the great things about Kung Fu is that it had this incredible A-list of guest stars. You know, there were stars then, and they became stars later (...) So, it was a breeding ground for A-1 talent and it was also just surrounded by A-1 talent, I mean, in front of and behind the scenes. They didn't settle for less." Jerry Thorpe added: "People wanted to do the show because it was unique, it's as simple as that. Yes, it was fairly easy to cast people that normally wouldn't do a series television."[12]

This list does not reflect the full extent of Asian American actors' participation, since most of them were billed in the series' closing credits. It can be noticed that a group of Asian actors appeared repeatedly in the series. According to John Furia Jr. in a May 1973 interview, this happened because "one of the problems we're faced with is that Oriental actors did not have much opportunity to act in TV or movies before, and so there is no great pool to draw from. So far, availability of martial artists for the training and fighting scenes has been good."[13] Asian actors who returned often to the series were mostly members of the East West Players, brought to the series by Guy Lee, who would take charge of Bessie Loo's Talent Agency when she retired.[5]: 43–44 

The Carradine Family


The Caine Family


Actors appearing in three or more episodes

  • James Hong (Pilot, s2e5, s2e20, s3e3, s3e4, s3e9, s3e22) as various characters and bit parts in others
  • Richard Loo (Pilot, s2e7, s2e20, s3e8, s3e11) as various characters
  • Victor Sen Yung (Pilot, s1e11, s2e5, s2e15, s3e12) as various characters
  • Benson Fong (Pilot, s1e3, s2e4, s3e13) as various characters
  • Clyde Kusatsu (s2e20, s3e1-2, s3e15) as various characters
  • Leslie Nielsen (s3e18-21) as Vincent Corbino
  • Khigh Dhiegh (s1e10) as Shang Tzu, (s3e10-11) as Sing Lu Chan
  • Robert Ito (Pilot) as Fong, (s2e2) as Blacksmith/Ninja, (s2e15) as Captain Tim Lee
  • Albert Salmi (Pilot) as Raif, (s1e7) as Shawn Mulhare, (s3e7) as Reuben Branch
  • Soon-Tek Oh (s1e8) as Kwan Chen, (s2e19) as Chen Yi, (s3e8) as Yi Lien
  • John Vernon (s3e6) as Forbes, (s3e20-21) as General Cantrell


Actors appearing in two episodes


Actors appearing in one episode

David Chow[27] acted as the technical and kung fu advisor, and guest-starred in the Pilot as the Little Monk, Caine's enemy at the climactic fight scene.[28] His technical role was later undertaken by Kam Yuen, who guest-starred as Lin Wu in the s1e3 episode "Blood Brother" and as Wong Ti in the s3e1-2 episodes "Blood of the Dragon".[29] Part of Chow's job was to add or eliminate fight scenes from the script, "settle differences of opinion" regarding their technical aspects among the martial artists participating in them, and make the scenes believable.[30]

Production

Development

Kung Fu was created by Ed Spielman and Howard Friedlander,[31] directed and produced by Jerry Thorpe, and developed by Herman Miller, who was also a writer for, and co-producer of, the series.[32][33][34] (For the series concept's history, see Bruce Lee's involvement)

Spielman-Friedlander's 160 page movie script was transformed by Jerry Thorpe and writer Herman Miller into a 90-minute TV movie (with commercial breaks, so it actually amounted to about 75 minutes of screen time). "Since the rule of thumb on a script is that one page equals one minute, the script was literally cut in half."[35]

Directed by Jerry Thorpe, it was broadcast on February 22, 1972 (just after the meeting of President Nixon with Chairman Mao), and rerun the following Summer, to great acclaim: "(...) ABC and Warner Brothers were deluged with letters, telephone calls and telegrams, all praising the show."[13] ABC ordered just four more segments and placed them in what was called the "death row," the Saturday night slot opposite All in the Family, on a monthly basis. Herman Miller developed the pilot into a series by writing the first three episodes, by including in the plotline Caine's search for his missing brother, and by giving it a style to which following writers could adhere.[32]: min.19:26  After a very positive reception to the first three segments, in November 1972 the network contracted for 12 more episodes, dropped Alias Smith and Jones and placed Kung Fu in the Thursday night slot at 9 p.m. The resultant good ratings led to the series' renovation for a second season.[36]

The series' story editor was John Furia Jr. At the time a freelance writer for TV and movies who also worked in production, he had declined offers as story editor before until Jerry Thorpe approached him with Kung Fu. He had seen the pilot and was fascinated by it, so he accepted. The series didn't have a stable team of writers, but freelance writers pitched their stories to the production; they were told not to include temple scenes. It was John Furia's job to write them and make them relevant to the episode's plot, based on the research material the production had collected.[5]: 16–17 [32]: min.18:36 

Furia's job also included "to maintain and preserve historical accuracy in each script. To complicate matters, there is no single historical source on kung-fu upon which he can rely. He must make extensive research into various sources before he can render a story to be within the realms of truth. Furthermore, because the story involves an ethnic group, and the tempers of our time do not tolerate ignorance and bigotry, he must not only make sure that the historical information regarding the group is accurate, but that these people are presented with dignity and respect."

Questioned about whether having a half-Caucasian as a student at the Shaolin Temple (which did not accept foreigners) was historically accurate, John Furia Jr. declared: "There is, of course, a certain amount of dramatic license involved in producing a show of this nature. As for David Carradine playing the part of a half-American half-Chinese, I can honestly say that we haven't found anyone, before or since the series began, who can play the part better. One of the reasons for the success of the series is Carradine's portrayal of Caine." As for the hiring of Asian actors for the secondary roles, he said: "It not only adds authenticity, it's only proper that it should be so. Our series, I believe, hires more Orientals than any series on TV."[13]

Broadcast

The series aired on ABC from October 1972 to April 1975 for a total of 63 episodes. The series became one of the most popular television programs of the early 1970s, receiving widespread critical acclaim and commercial success upon its release.[37][13]

On the week ending May 6, 1973, Kung Fu became the No.1 show on US television, drawing a regular audience of 28 million viewers. Around the same time, Bruce Lee's Hollywood debut Enter the Dragon was being completed.[38] It was part of what became known as the "chopsocky" or "kung fu craze" after Hong Kong martial arts films such as Five Fingers of Death (King Boxer) and Bruce Lee's Fists of Fury (The Big Boss) topped the US box office in early 1973.[39]

In its first season, 1972-1973, Kung Fu’s pilot was first aired as an ABC Tuesday Movie of the Week, which placed it in the range of the top 20 programs of the season, as determined by Nielsen Media Research. After the pilot's rerun in the summer, during the fall season, three more episodes were aired once a month on Saturday nights alternating with Alias Smith and Jones, against All in the Family and Bridget Loves Bernie, which were among the top 10 programs of that season. The other 12 episodes ran on Thursday nights, when they ranked among the 30 first-rated shows and tied in ratings with The ABC Monday Night Movie and The F.B.I. during the winter season, losing in ratings to Ironside, which was at the same time slot during the fall and summer seasons.[36]

In its second season, 1973-1974, it ran on Thursday nights, when it remained among the 30 first rated shows, together with CBS Thursday Night Movie, which was at the same time slot, and tied in ratings with The Carol Burnett Show, which ran on Saturday nights.

In its third and final season, 1974-1975, Kung Fu’s time slot changed three times, and it lost its place among the 30 first-rated shows. In the fall, it was moved to Saturdays night at 9 p.m., against CBS' The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Bob Newhart Show, sitcoms rated in the top 20 of the season. Between the fall and winter seasons, it ran on Fridays at 8 p.m., which placed it against NBC's sitcoms Sanford and Son and Chico and the Man, both rated in the top 10 of the season. Then in winter, Kung Fu’s time slot changed to Saturdays at 8 p.m., which placed it against CBS's All in the Family, The Jeffersons (sitcoms rated in the season's top 10), and NBC's Emergency!, a series rated in the top 30 of that season, all of which were at the same time slot.

Contrary to some misconceptions, Kung Fu was not canceled. The series ended due to a combination of factors, among which the documentary The Tao of Caine cites the lead actor's burnout, changes in the writing and shooting that altered some of the most appreciated characteristics of the show, and above all the changes in the time slot, which led to the audience's decline.[12]: min.13:03  However, the most important factor was David Carradine's decision to leave.[33]: 400–401 

It has been said that Carradine left the show after sustaining several injuries that made it impossible for him to continue.[40][41][42] While injuries were a feature of his career,[43] Carradine's decision to quit Kung Fu was influenced by the bad publicity that a drug-related incident attracted on him and which affected the ratings of the series, what Radames Pera described as sabotage.[44] Carradine himself acknowledged that it had been detrimental to audience ratings.[33]: 393 

From a broader point of view, Carradine's decision stemmed from the fact that he, from the beginning, hadn't wanted to commit long-term to a series[32]: min.8:18  or stay in it for an extended period,[12]: min.13:10  due to his foremost interest in pursuing a career in filmmaking,[36]: 19 [45] which he said led him to avoid signing a regular contract that would have bound him for five years.[33]: 363  At any rate, Carradine's warning to the production team that the third season was going to be his last one allowed the writers to plan the final episodes so that all of the remaining story arcs regarding Caine and his brother could be brought to a satisfying end. In his commentary to the episode Full Circle, Carradine regretted his decision to leave, because of how that had affected the series' crew.[34]: min.23:58 

Kung Fu started to broadcast in syndication on September 1, 1979, on 23 local channels.[46]

The series was later broadcast on cable television by the TNT channel, on weeknights at 7 p.m., ET.[47][48]

International broadcast

This series was internationally broadcast in its original run, later distributed in DVD format, has been re-broadcast in cable channels specialized on vintage TV shows like TCM Latin America,[49] and it is also available for streaming.[50]

Sets

The series was filmed at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank (Laramie Street, the Backlot, and several stages), Old Tucson Studios, and on locations like Vasquez Rocks, the 20th Century Fox Ranch (Malibu Creek State Park), and the sand dunes in the Yuma Desert for the opening and closing credits.[53]

The Shaolin Monastery which appeared in flashbacks was originally a set used for the 1967 film Camelot. It was inexpensively and effectively converted for the setting in China, by the Academy Award nominee Eugène Lourié as art director;[51] the set decorator was the Academy Award nominee Ralph S. Hurst.[54]

Even if Camelot won an Academy Award for its art direction and set decoration, the expensive castle (made with wooden beams, wooden frame structures, and building timber covered with faux stone siding)[55] was criticized for its unspecific style placed in a landscape evidently Californian, which resulted in that castle being the last attempt for a studio to construct a large scale set that represented a foreign location. By November 1971, when Jerry Thorpe asked Eugène Lourié to design the art for Kung Fu, the castle was derelict to the point that Lourié believed that it still stood only because the cost of demolishing it would be prohibitive.

Working with the reduced budget of a TV production was a challenge, but Lourié had learned in France how to work with little money for sets. He was both interested and intrigued by the story, as the action moved back and forth between the Wild West's present and the memories of the Shaolin temple. Lourié decided to emphasize that contrast visually. The practical need for making the project monetarily viable meant style compromises.

With that in mind, the castle's nonspecific architectural style was perfect to give it a Chinese look for Western eyes, by adding characteristic roofs, a front wall with a massive wood-carved door, and brick walls with ceramic-grilled windows, while its terraces and stairs were fit for the stagings of the kung fu training sequences. For the temple's interiors, Lourié opted for showing only a portion of the set and let the viewers complete it in their minds. He decided on a church-like appearance, with a Buddhist mural on the back wall, multileveled wooden candleholders and burning candles between columns, a constant haze, and the projection of strong rays of light as if coming through high church windows.

That visual conception made it unnecessary to build long and high stone walls for those sets, especially because the studio offered Kung Fu a large stage on which there was a standing set of the big hall from Camelot. That presented the advantage of ready-made stone walls if the side wings of the temple were to appear in a take. The scenes among the flickering candles would become a signature of the series. For other Chinese sets, he used carved wooden partitions to enhance plain walls, or giant sculptured lions to give simple gardens an aura of grandeur.

For the railroad camp location, a place close to Hollywood was needed, so the well-known Vasquez Rocks were chosen. As for the Western scenes, the old western streets on the Warners lot were easily adaptable to the series' multiple requirements. Lourié's solution of the temple and the other sets both in budgetary and visual terms was key in getting the go-ahead for the movie pilot from the production department, and for the subsequent series.[56][57]

In his memoir, Eugène Lourié praises Jerry Thorpe's vision, courage and inventiveness to undertake the Kung Fu project with a reduced TV budget. At the minute 4:32 of the documentary The Tao of Caine, Jerry Thorpe says about him: "The art director, Eugène Lourié, his talents were unending. He converted a medieval castle that had been built for Camelot on the backlot into an AD 2nd to 3rd century Shaolin monastery, for a buck and a quarter. He cannibalized every scene dock in the industry. It was amazing to watch."[12]

The Camelot Castle, already converted into a Shaolin temple and with some additions, became a main set for the 1973 musical Lost Horizon during its 1972 April to June shooting period.[58]

From late 1972 to early 1975, it became again a Shaolin temple while the Kung Fu episodes were in production, with the Emmy Award winner Antony Mondello[59] and John Lamphear[60] as set decorators.

When visiting the backlot in 1980, Lourié was sorry to find out that a large part of the western streets had been bulldozed. As for the imposing castle/temple/lamasery, it lasted for a few more years until it was torn down and substituted by a parking lot and the Bridge offices building (1994).[61][62][63]

Special effects

The series used slow-motion effects for the action sequences, which Warner Brothers had previously utilized in the 1969 Sam Peckinpah film The Wild Bunch and were also subsequently utilized for the action sequences in the science-fiction series The Six Million Dollar Man.

Soundtrack

 
Dharma Bells (from Emil Richards Collection)

The music for the opening and closing titles, as well as the incidental music, was composed by Jim Helms.[64]

The series associate producer (later producer) Alex Beaton selected him after listening to several composer demos when the pilot was in development. Helms, a guitarist and arranger, scored the pilot with a team of only eleven musicians. The result was mostly atmospheric instead of melodic, with a koto as the predominant instrument. This score did not include "Caine's Theme," which was added when the series began airing in 1972, in the opening and closing titles. That signature theme had two unusual characteristics: through the first season it was revised and re-recorded several times, and the sound palette comprised about 19 musicians per session only. Even if half of them were string players, woodwinds, keyboard, and percussion were always more prominent.

The flute themes were performed by Sheridon Stokes[65] on alto recorder, since the type of bamboo flute featured in the series wasn't chromatic and was deemed impractical for scoring purposes. The constant presence of a harpsichord played by Mike Lang helped to set the series in the 19th century. The percussion instruments included a waterphone, Chinese tom-toms, Chinese opera bells, woodblocks, and antique Chinese "Dharma bells" (Asian nested bells). The percussionist Emil Richards collected over 90 of them and used them often for microtonal glisses.[66] Everything resulted in an Eastern-Western combination that was unique in American television. Variety referred to Helms' work as "especially interesting… sensitive… a decided asset."

Given the success of Kung Fu’s first season, Warner Bros. Records released internationally in December 1973 a "concept album" of dialogue and music from the show, based on the pilot and the first nine episodes; "Caine's Theme" was also released as a single.[67] The record used an expanded 45-piece orchestra for the musical selections and a group of eight musicians for the incidental music underscoring dialogue taken from the Shaolin temple sequences. The LP was re-released in CD format in 2010, accompanied by the Man in the Wilderness movie soundtrack.[68][69][70]

"Caine's Theme" (with different arrangements) was included in the TV and film music compilations by Jack Hawkins his Orchestra and Singers (UK, 1974),[71] Jack Parnell and his Orchestra (UK, 1975),[72] and The Film Studio Orchestra (Japan, 1976).[73]

Question of Bruce Lee's involvement

In her memoirs, Bruce Lee's widow, Linda Lee Cadwell, asserts that Lee created the concept for the series, which was then stolen by Warner Bros.: "Even before this [Longstreet], Warner Brothers had suddenly caught on to the fact that kung fu itself had captured the public's imagination and decided to launch a TV series," she writes. "Bruce himself had been working on the idea of a Shaolin priest, a master of kung fu, who would roam America and find himself involved in various exploits. The studio contacted him and he was soon deeply involved. He gave them numerous ideas, many of which were eventually incorporated in the resulting TV success, Kung Fu, starring actor David Carradine." (Linda Lee, The Man Only I Knew, pp. 130– 31.).[74] There is circumstantial evidence for this in a December 8, 1971, television interview that Bruce Lee gave on The Pierre Berton Show. In the interview, Lee stated that he had developed a concept for a television series called The Warrior, meant to star himself, about a martial artist in the American Old West (the same concept as Kung Fu, which aired the following year), but that he was having trouble pitching it to Warner Brothers and Paramount.

In the interview, Pierre Berton commented, "There's a pretty good chance that you'll get a TV series in the States called 'The Warrior', in it, where you use what, the Martial Arts in Western setting?"

Lee responded, "That was the original idea, ...both of them [Warner and Paramount], I think, they want me to be in a modernized type of a thing, and they think that the Western type of thing is out. Whereas I want to do the Western. Because, you see, how else can you justify all of the punching and kicking and violence, except in the period of the West?"

Later in the interview, Berton asked Lee about "the problems that you face as a Chinese hero in an American series. Have people come up in the industry and said 'well, we don't know how the audience are going to take a non-American'?"

Lee replied, "Well, such question has been raised, in fact, it is being discussed. That is why The Warrior is probably not going to be on." Lee adds, "They think that business-wise it is a risk. I don't blame them. If the situation were reversed, and an American star were to come to Hong Kong, and I was the man with the money, I would have my own concerns as to whether the acceptance would be there."[75]

However, Bruce Lee was undoubtedly considered for the starring role,[5]: 32–33  and David Carradine himself in a 1989 interview and in his book Spirit of Shaolin, said that Bruce Lee was passed over for the role.[76]: 18–19  It is alleged that an unnamed ABC executive said "You can't make a star out of a five-foot-six Chinese actor."[77]

According to biographer Matthew Polly, Bruce Lee did not invent the Kung Fu TV series.[78] Ed Spielman created the character of Kwai Chang Caine, and the movie treatment Spielman wrote with Howard Friedlander in 1969 was the origin of the pilot and subsequent series.

Spielman first wrote a treatment about a samurai who travels to China and learns kung fu. Around 1967, he gave it to his partner Howard Friedlander, who suggested turning it into a Western; Spielman then decided to make the leading character into a half-American, half-Chinese Shaolin monk. In 1969 the William Morris agent Peter Lampack put the treatment into the knowledge of Fred Weintraub, at the time an executive at Warner Brothers and later the producer of Enter the Dragon: "As a New York-based production executive at Warner Bros. Pictures, it was my job to develop projects to appeal to the youth market. From the mountain of potential projects sent to me weekly, I unearthed a treatment for a feature length film by a couple of writers named Ed Spielman and Howard Friedlander called The Way of the Tiger, The Sign of the Dragon. It was an intriguing East-meets-Western tale of a young Shaolin monk from China roaming the American West of the 1800s, righting wrongs with pacifist, Eastern philosophy. And if that failed, kicking serious cowboy butt with nothing but his hands and feet. I liked the idea and gave the boys something like $3,800 to write a screenplay. At about that time, Warner Bros. made the decision to change their base of operations and moved me from New York to Hollywood."[79][80] He received the finished script on April 30, 1970. Later through his friend Sy Weintraub (no relation), Weintraub met Bruce Lee and considering him ideal for the part tried to put the script into development with him as the leading actor, but was rejected. According to Howard Friedlander, the film was to be filmed in Durango, Mexico, for the Western scenes, and Taiwan for the Chinese scenes. Its budget had been calculated as $18 million (over $124 million in 2022 dollars).[5]: 15  Friedlander blamed the arrival of Richard D. Zanuck and David Brown as senior executives at Warners Bros. for the cancellation of the movie project, because "the general consensus was that the public would not be willing to accept a Chinese hero."[81]: 280–281 

While Bruce Lee was in Thailand filming The Big Boss, Weintraub brought the script to Tom Kuhn, head of the Warner Bros. TV division, who liked it. Warner Bros. and ABC announced their TV deal for Kung Fu on July 22, 1971, and started pre-production (including casting). The air date was scheduled for February 22, 1972, with production starting on December 15, 1971. Bruce Lee, having arrived back from Thailand, auditioned for the part of Caine, but the studio was reluctant to hire a Chinese actor, having concerns with his accent, his intense personality, considered not suitable to portray a quiet, serene character, and also because he was "too authentic."[82]

In early October 1971, a month before Warner Brothers officially designated David Carradine for the role of Caine, Warner Brothers executive Ted Ashley, who saw Bruce Lee's potential and didn't want to lose him to Paramount, offered him an exclusive development deal to create his own TV program, which included an advance of "$25,000 (or $152,000 in 2017 dollars) - enough money to pay off most of his mortgage." Bruce Lee presented a treatment describing a show called Ah Sahm, which he later retitled The Warrior. Bruce Lee did not sign Ashley's deal, preferring to see how The Big Boss performed in theaters. When the movie was a smashing success, he abandoned his plans to be a TV star and instead focused on the big screen.[81][74][a] Decades later in 2019, Lee's series concept would be produced as Warrior on Cinemax.

Casting controversy

Kung Fu has been called an example of yellowface and a prominent case of whitewashing.[89]

Most of the controversy lies in the notion that the series' idea was "stolen" from Bruce Lee, but also in the fact that he wasn't cast for the leading role, and that decision had racial connotations. The "steal" conspiracy theory has become widespread, both in academia[90][91] and in the media, even internationally.[92][93]

The casting for the leading role when the project was still a feature film had considered (among others) James Coburn, who was preferred by Ed Spielman. When the script became an ABC Movie of the Week, the casting process considered (among others) Bruce Lee, Mako, and George Takei. After having "sought every Asian in Hollywood, because you didn't have to be super bright to know what was coming," and found none that could carry the series, they turned to the American side of the character and began auditioning white actors, including William Smith[94] and John Saxon.[95] Just two weeks before the pilot's filming started, David Carradine obtained the role at his second audition.[74]

At the time, George Takei and the Association of Asian Pacific American Artists (AAPAA) filed a formal complaint for unfair hiring practices. They wanted an Asian actor in the leading role and a Chinese historical advisor; only the second demand was conceded. The Asian acting community was displeased, but with so few opportunities for Asian actors it was better to have a show that would be a source of work for them in secondary roles than not having it at all. James Hong (who was the AAPAA's president), said: "As the show went on, we realized it was a great source of employment for the Asian acting community."[81]

Representation of women and ethnic groups

The series has been considered a commentary on race relations in the 70s, both for its casting as for the depiction of discrimination against minorities.[96] It is noteworthy that race issues also affected the casting of secondary characters whereas gender inequality showed in their stories.

France Nuyen and Nancy Kwan, both Eurasian, played Chinese characters, the first one accepting being given in marriage as payment for service her husband was hired to perform (s3e3), the other one preferring to be a concubine to the Emperor rather than the wife of the warlord who had raped her, who was played by Stefan Gierasch, wearing prosthetic makeup (s2e22-23). Barbara Hershey appeared as a Eurasian woman who flees forced marriage to a warlord played by Khigh Dhiegh (born Kenneth Dickerson), and is denied admission to the Shaolin temple as a student because "You are female - You are also of mixed blood" (s3e10-11). On the other hand, American women are sometimes portrayed as dependant or even unable to survive without men (s1e14, s2e16, s3e4), but also as independent individuals, like entrepreneurs (s3e23), landowners (s2e14, s3e1-2), ranchers (s2e12, s3e3) or craftswomen (s1e3), according to the feminist currents of the time. Notably, Asian women are portrayed that way on occasion (s1e5, s1e8), and not just in stereotypical or subservient roles.

Given that the series' action happens mostly in the 19th century California, black people appear as important characters in just a few episodes (s1e13, s2e1, s2e16, s3e18, s3e24), as at the time they were a small portion of the state's population, yet all of the episodes have to do with them facing discrimination. Interestingly, when the consequences of the American Civil War are mentioned, they are in the context of defeat and vengeance (s1e4, s2e3, s3e24), not of the abolition of slavery.

Regarding Native Americans, as it was usual at the time, they are mostly portrayed by non-Native actors, usually from the Hispanic community and also by Whites (s2e6), whereas the Hispanics themselves appear mostly when Caine visits towns in New Mexico or Mexico (s2e3, s2e4, s3e14), even if at the time there was an important Hispanic presence in the state. The portrayal of Native Americans varies from the stereotypical faceless villains (s1e1, s1e2), to objects of persecution and discrimination (s2e5, s3e5) to a co-leading character in the s1e15 episode "The Ancient Warrior," the only one with a Native actor billed in the opening credits, which precisely deals with the extermination of a whole tribe. The absence of Native actors and the cultural misrepresentation issue wasn't unique to this series nor to its time; it has led the National Congress of American Indians to pass a resolution on the subject as recently as 2017.[97]

Representation of Asians

East Asian, or rather Chinese portrayal in the series remains a problematic subject. Academic studies tend to mention the show in the context of discrimination against Asians in American society and entertainment.

Professor Jun Xing (Chun Hsing in Library of Congress' cataloging)[98] states that segregating actors by roles seems reasonable when ethnic characters are cast, but there is a double standard in which Asians cannot play roles designated as White, whereas Caucasian actors cross into ones representing every other race, showing that in movies American people are not every color, but Black and White. Also, as there is an East/West dichotomy, Asians are not seen as Americans. With that in mind, to maintain the double standard, "Eurasian characters have become Hollywood's favorite creations. These mixed-race characters obviously allow white actors and actresses, with minimum makeup, to steal major roles from Asians." And puts Kung Fu as the "best example" of that, noting Bruce Lee's involvement.[99]

Professor Hye Seung Chung[100] exemplifies Asian representation in American film and television, and the roles Asian actors were allowed to play, with the case of Philip Ahn, who, being the son of a Korean national hero, spent his career playing minor and secondary characters, usually Japanese and Chinese. On page 31, she compares a letter from an admirer of Ahn's work as Master Kan with playwright Frank Chin's attack on the series in a 1974 The New York Times article, when he states that apes' roles in movies had evolved better than Chinese images in media. Even if Professor Chung states on page 177 that "Kung Fu was a groundbreaking series produced by Warner Bros. that intermixed the martial arts genre with Wild West iconography, expanding the syntax of the television western to accommodate "foreign" elements at the scenographic and narrative levels," her analysis decries the way the Kan character is depicted as "emasculated," stereotyped in various ways, and she mentions that Bruce Lee was not cast in the leading role.[101]

Also, the series itself lacks historical and cultural accuracy in this matter. Through the episodes, the writers made mistakes regarding the order of Chinese names, and about who was the Emperor in China at the series' time period. When Japanese elements appear, they are unlikely to be known or happen at the said time: in s3e12, the boy Caine watches a Noh performance in a mandarin's mansion, when Japan was still an isolationist country. In s2e2, among three Japanese characters, there is a woman who has been married to an Englishman for over 15 years, when British subjects had been allowed to reside in Japan only since 1862–1863; also Caine knows well what a ninja is, just ten years after Japan's opening to international relations. Most importantly, the series' Shaolin priests teach Taoist and Confucian philosophy, whereas the actual Shaolin monks are Buddhist. However, the absence of allusions to Joseon Korea is correct, as immigrants from that kingdom arrived in America after 1884.

Another issue that has come under the scrutiny of academia and the media, which is not exclusive to this series, is the fact that Asian actors of several nationalities and ethnicities appeared in the Kung Fu main or guest cast playing Chinese characters, "interchangeably". Professor Chung on page 16-17 exemplifies this situation that Asian actors in the American entertainment industry face with the careers of two Kung Fu cast members, Philip Ahn (Korean) and Richard Loo (Hawaii-born Chinese American) who so often played Japanese villains in war movies that international magazine articles about them confused their pictures: "This confusion speaks to the interchangeability of Asian actors, regardless of nationality and ethnicity, which was fostered by an industry insensitive to the diversities and differences within the same racial group." In an early article about the series, both actors are referred to and they call their characters "Orientals".[30] Professors Kent. An Ono and Vincent N. Pham call that perceived interchangeability "implicit yellowface".[102] It is a problem that, together with whitewashing has continued into present times and is noticed internationally. [103][104][105] Regarding this "interchangeability" issue, given the historic period in which Kung Fu is set, Koreans couldn't have appeared, and Japanese perhaps shouldn't have, as in the 1870s' America there were just 55 Japanese immigrants registered. Yet in the episode s2e2 it is established through dialogue, costume, and cultural details that the Japanese are not the same as Chinese, and they are played by actors of Japanese ancestry.

Radames Pera, who played young Caine, mentioned in 2021, "They did the best they could at the time...They were taking heat from the Asian community from the onset. So they actually made a deal with some of the representatives from Asian American community to hire everybody in town, whether they were Korean, Japanese, Chinese, or Filipino who had a SAG card. They also gave cards to those who didn't have one by giving them their first job in a union production. Literally every Asian actor in town worked on that show."[106]

Recapitulation

"'That guy is me,' Spielman says. 'That Caine character is me in a way, just like Siegel and Shuster did Superman. He was always Eurasian; he always didn't fit in.'" So, according to its creator, it was not a maneuver that would make it fit for a White actor, even if his first choice for the role had been James Coburn. Regarding the casting process, the production team says they did try to cast an Asian actor but none was adequate for the role, including Bruce Lee. John Furia Jr. asserted that "the concept of the series was a man who was not involved, a man who avoided action at almost any cost, a very quiet, seemingly passive man." Tom Kuhn, besides claiming that Lee's speech was hard to understand, said: "It did occur to me that this part was rather cerebral, a guy who only fights when he's absolutely cornered." Even Fred Weintraub, who had lobbied for Lee since the beginning, noted that they needed an actor "to portray the sense of quiet serenity that Caine possessed, a quality that driven and intense Bruce was not known for." Still, both Kuhn and Weintraub admitted that "the powers that be" were unwilling to hire an Asian actor per se.[74]

Academic studies about Asian representation in American entertainment claim that the casting of the leading role and even the portrayal of the Chinese characters by Asian actors followed generalized discriminatory patterns. Put in a historical context in which White actors were free to play Asian, Eurasian and other ethnicities' roles, whereas Asian, Eurasian and mixed-race actors played the stereotypical Asian roles left but never White roles, anti-miscegenation laws had been repealed just in 1967, the Hays Code finally abandoned in 1968, and whitewashing has continued into the 21st century, their authors simply can't believe that the casting of a White actor for a Eurasian role in 1971 could have had any other cause than inveterate racism, much less when Bruce Lee was involved.[102][107][108]

The media continues to list this show as racist, not for its contents but because future star Bruce Lee wasn't cast in a role that perhaps wasn't suited for him, as an actor, in November–December 1971, and because of the rooted belief that the idea for the series was "stolen" from him.[109][110][111]

In consequence, the new show takes the name of the original one while completely separating itself from it,[11][112][113] instead of continuing its story or attempting to build upon its legacy, claiming with good reason that their aim is improving Asian community's representation and visibility.[114][115][116]

Interestingly, in the s1e3 episode "Blood Brother," Kwai Chang Caine pleads for his compatriots to do that, as a matter of life and death.

(Caine has uncovered a hate crime against an old condisciple. An inquest ensues, which could lead to a possible, but unlikely indictment. Caine urges a Chinese man who has been assaulted by the murderers to present himself at the proceeding.)

"Have you learned nothing?"
"You are new to this country. You must understand. No jury will indict a white man for what has been done to one of our people."
"Yet you must appear... If you stay away, it will be an acceptance of things as they are. If you appear at the inquest your very presence will be a demand for justice. The presence of your son, your wife, and your daughter, will be worth even more."
"You ask me to subject my family to shame? To hurt? For what reason?"
"How can they find safety in a fortress whose walls will burn; whose windows cannot stop a bullet; whose doors will yield to anyone with the strength to force them? How can you hide, when the more you remain unseen, the more they will feel free to seek you out?"

Placed in a turning point of the history of American society and television, being the last show in American television with a leading character in yellowface, obscures what the show did accomplish. In a time when Asian actors were largely ignored, and usually played minor and openly stereotypical roles, Kung Fu was exceptional for consistently presenting them as not stereotypical characters and for being a steady job source for Asian actors, which was acknowledged by members of the cast[30] and the AAPAA's president James Hong. The episodes s3e8, s3e10-11, s3e15 and s3e22, set in China, had a mostly Asian American cast. Also, the show was clear in denouncing anti-Chinese racism, including hate crimes (s1e3), and pointed at historical events ignored in popular culture, like the Page Act of 1875 that basically forbade the immigration of East Asian women (s1e8), or the harsh labor conditions of the Chinese immigrants who built the Transcontinental railroad (Pilot, s3e9). Despite its historical inaccuracies, the series' dialogue was greatly based on Chinese philosophy, which gave viewers an introduction to its spiritual values, and its dramatic appeal made it the recipient of international accolades.

Episodes

Main article: List of Kung Fu episodes
SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
Pilot movieFebruary 22, 1972 (1972-02-22)
115October 14, 1972 (1972-10-14)May 3, 1973 (1973-05-03)
223September 27, 1973 (1973-09-27)April 11, 1974 (1974-04-11)
324September 14, 1974 (1974-09-14)April 26, 1975 (1975-04-26)

Reception

Critical response

In their pages, Rotten Tomatoes calls the series "influential",[117] and Metacritic in describing it says: "A man of peace, though trained to defend himself, Caine always made an attempt to address situations in a way that was morally acceptable to his beliefs, and to resolve them through [the] least violent means possible. His journey is not only one across the frontier of America but one through the light and dark areas of the soul as well."[118]

In a May 1973 Black Belt magazine interview with John Furia Jr., the author Jon Shirota speaks about the critical response in these terms: "Even the TV critics, customarily very reserved and cautious with their appraisals, acclaimed the show [the first segment] as one of the year's best. (...) One critic wrote that the success of Kung-Fu may be attributed to the very thing the producers were afraid of: the public's not knowing what the series was about. 'Actually,' said the critic, 'it adds a certain amount of unpredictability and suspense to the plot. It is unlike most of the western heroes whose faces are like the book you've already read.' Another critic said that a story like Kung-Fu could never have been made into a movie 10 years ago because no one would have cared about a bunch of coolies. 'It is only now,' he quipped, 'that we are giving true credit to history.'"[13]

Accolades

Year Nominated work Category Award Result Notes Ref.
1972 Frank Westmore, for ABC Movie of the Week (Pilot) Outstanding Makeup for a Single-Camera Series (Non-Prosthetic) Primetime Emmy Award Won [119]
1973 Kung Fu: Pilot Television Movie Best Television Film Golden Globe Awards Nominated [120]
1973 Jerry Thorpe, episode "An Eye for an Eye". Best Director - Drama Series Primetime Emmy Award Won [121]
1973 Jack Woolf, episode "An Eye for an Eye". Best Cinematography - One Hour Drama Primetime Emmy Award Won [122]
1973 Herman Miller, episode "King of the Mountain" Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Episodic Drama Writers Guild of America Award Won [123]
1973 David Carradine, Best Television Actor - Drama Series Best Actor – Television Series Drama Golden Globe Awards Nominated [124]
1973 David Carradine, Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Drama Series - Continuing) Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series Primetime Emmy Award Nominated [125]
1973 Jerry Thorpe, Outstanding Drama Series - Continuing Outstanding Drama Series Primetime Emmy Award Nominated For Kung Fu [126]
1973 Jerry Thorpe, Outstanding New Series Outstanding New Series Primetime Emmy Award Nominated [127]
1973 Frank Westmore, Outstanding Achievement in Makeup Outstanding Makeup (Non-Prosthetic) Primetime Emmy Award Nominated [128]
1973 David Carradine, Mejor Actor Extranjero Best Foreign Actor Teleprograma magazine, Spain Won Delivered in 1974 [129]
1973 Kung Fu (David Carradine), Personaje más popular Most Popular Character Teleprograma magazine, Spain Nominated Delivered in 1974 [129]
1973 Kung Fu, Mejor Serie Extranjera Best Foreign Series Teleprograma magazine, Spain Nominated Delivered in 1974 [129]
1974 Joseph Dervin, Best Edited Episode for a Television Series Best Edited Drama Series for Commercial Television American Cinema Editors Nominated For Episode "The Chalice" [130]
1974 Melhor Programa de TV Best Television Program Troféu Imprensa, Brasil Nominated Official website.[131] [132]
1975 Lew Ayres, Outstanding Single Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Comedy or Drama Series Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Primetime Emmy Award Nominated Episode: "The Vanishing Image" [133]
1977 Melhor Série Best Series Troféu Imprensa, Brasil Nominated Official website.[131] [134]

Home media

Warner Home Video released the entire series on DVD in Region 1 between 2004 and 2005.

On November 14, 2017, Warner Home Video re-released all three seasons, as well as the complete series set on DVD in Region 1.

The extras include audio commentary by David Carradine on four episodes of the series (s2e1 The Well, s2e14 A Dream Within a Dream, s3e2 Blood of the Dragon - 2, s3e21 Full Circle), Zen & Now: A Dinner With David Carradine And Friends (Guests: Hal Sparks, Sifu Rob Moses, Vivica A. Fox, Kam Yuen, Cynthia Rothrock, Radames Pera, Michael Madsen), two documentaries on the series' development and production (From Grasshopper to Caine: the Making of Kung Fu, The Tao of Caine: Production and Beyond), and David Carradine's Shaolin Diary, a visit to China's Shaolin Monastery and the Great Wall.[135]

DVD Name Ep # Release Date Notes
The Complete First Season 16 March 16, 2004
November 14, 2017 (re-release) 		Image cropped by 25% to 16:9 ratio
Episodes presented Edited-for-Syndication
The Complete Second Season 23 January 18, 2005
November 14, 2017 (re-release) 		Original fullscreen image
The Complete Third Season 24 August 23, 2005
November 14, 2017 (re-release) 		Original fullscreen image
The Complete Series 63 November 6, 2007
November 14, 2017 (re-release) 		No change (same as individual releases)

The series is also available online on Amazon Prime Video and iTunes (including Pilot), and on Google TV.

Legacy

Kung Fu: The Movie

In Kung Fu: The Movie (1986) Caine (played by Carradine) is forced to fight his hitherto unknown son, Chung Wang (played by Brandon Lee). Herbie Pilato in The Kung Fu Book of Caine (page 157) also comments that Bruce Lee's son, Brandon Lee, was involved in sequels related to the series:

The late Brandon Lee, son of Bruce Lee, played Caine's son, Chung Wang. Toward the end of the film, Chung Wang asks Caine if he is his father. The question seems somewhat ironic since—in real life—Brandon's father was a contender for the role of Caine in the series. After Bruce Lee lost the part to Carradine, he went back to Hong Kong, where he made The Big Boss, the film that began his legendary career in martial arts movies.

Kung Fu: The Next Generation

In Kung Fu: The Next Generation (1987), the story moves to the present day and centers on the story of Kwai Chang "Johnny" Caine (Brandon Lee), who is the great-great-grandson of Kwai Chang Caine, and the difficult relationship he has with his father, also named Kwai Chang (David Darlow). In an attempt to connect with his son, Caine Sr. takes him to Silver Creek, a ghost town, the place where their ancestor spent his last years. They talk about how Caine arrived there, became the "wise man of the town", and how he passed away.

"So I guess he died here, right?"
"That's the strange thing. One evening in his garden his heart failed him. His wife went to fetch the doctor. When she returned, Kwai Chang was gone."
"Where did he go?"
"No one really knows."

As Johnny has involved himself with an operation of burglary and arms trafficking, the perfectionist father and the rebellious son need to put their differences aside to fight the criminals and save Johnny from prison.

Kung Fu: The Legend Continues

Two decades after the first series ended, a second, related series titled Kung Fu: The Legend Continues running in syndication followed the adventures of Kwai Chang Caine's grandson, also named Kwai Chang Caine.[136] It again starred Carradine, this time as the grandson of the original Caine, and introduced Chris Potter as his son.[137] Caine's mentor was played by Kim Chan as Lo Si (The Ancient) / Ping Hai. The second series ran for four years, from 1993 to 1997.

Feature film

In June 2006, Ed Spielman and Howard Friedlander announced that a feature film (which would serve as a prequel to the original Kung Fu series and take place in China) was in development. In 2007, Max Makowski planned to make the film edgier than the original television series. Actor-director Bill Paxton was in talks to direct the adaptation of the TV series.[138] Baz Luhrmann was in talks to direct the film in 2014, and if the deal was made, Luhrmann was to rewrite the film's script.[139] In 2020, 87North Productions announced development of a contemporary feature film version of the series with creator Spielman and Stephen L'Hereaux producing through his Solipsist Film company and David Leitch directing.[140]

2021 reboot

Main article: Kung Fu (2021 TV series)

A re-imagining of the original series, simply titled Kung Fu, aired on The CW in April 2021. The show is produced by Greg Berlanti.[141][142]

The series is written by Christina M. Kim and Martin Gero and sees a quarter-life crisis causing a young Chinese-American woman named Nicky, played by Olivia Liang, to drop out of college and take up residence in an isolated monastery in China. When she returns to find her hometown overrun with crime and corruption, she uses her martial arts skills and Shaolin values to protect her community and bring criminals to justice, all while searching for the assassin who killed her Shaolin mentor and now is targeting her.[143]

The show stars Olivia Liang as Nicky; Tzi Ma and Kheng Hua Tan as Jin Chen and Mei-Li, her restaurateur parents whose secrets threaten to destroy their lives; Jon Prasida as Ryan Chen, a quick-witted medical student and Nicky's younger brother; Shannon Dang as Althea Chen, Nicky's larger-than-life older sister who is newly engaged and on her way to planning her dream Chinese wedding; and Eddie Liu as Henry Chu, a martial arts instructor and Chinese art history buff who has instant chemistry with Nicky.[144][145][146] Gavin Stenhouse was cast as Evan Hartley, a highly successful Assistant District Attorney who still has a soft spot for his first love, Nicky; and Gwendoline Yeo was cast as Zhilan, a cryptic woman with deep criminal ties and a mysterious connection to the Shaolin monastery where Nicky trained in kung fu.[147][148]

Notes

  1. ^ This section follows mostly Richard Bejtlich's Martial Journal magazine article, which offers the clearest and most succinct chronology of the events. All sources coincide in the Spielman-Friedlander authorship of the Kung Fu story idea, and that Fred Weintraub bought their finished movie script for Warner Bros. Regarding exactly who was the first person to get interested in the movie treatment, who was the Warner Bros. executive who carried the movie script to the Television Division and then to ABC, and who was the person ultimately responsible for its development into a TV series, the sources offer varied versions:
    -Mr. Bejtlich based his article chiefly on Matthew Polly's Bruce Lee biography, which in turn relies on Tom Kuhn and Fred Weintraub's testimonies. In his memoir, Fred Weintraub credits himself only, although he says he talked about the script project with Rudi Fehr, at the time Warner Bros. Head of Post-Production.
    -On min. 2:18 of From Grasshopper to Caine, Tom Kuhn (former Vice President of Warner Bros. Television) says a "very large man" threw a script on his desk and said, "the movie guys don't want to do this, I thought maybe you'd like to have it." In the documentary as it is edited, Kuhn doesn't say who the man was.
    -On page 321 of Matthew Polly's Bruce Lee biography, the exact same situation is described by Kuhn, identifying the "huge guy" as Fred Weintraub, who according to Polly presented the script to Kuhn on his own initiative, unhelped. In a note on page 557, Polly credits Bennett Sims (at the time a junior executive for Warner Bros.) for having been the first one to read the treatment and passing it to his boss Fred Weintraub (Not the younger novelist Sims, but Bennett Byron Sims 1933-2002, whose obituary mentions this connection with Kung Fu.[83]) It must be noticed too that in Polly's book it is said that Peter Lampack, the agent who was promoting the treatment, took 50 rejections before having it accepted by Fred Weintraub.
    -In Ed Spielman's IMDb biography,[84] it is said that Fred Weintraub and Warner Bros. studio executive Harvey Frand[85] took the movie script to ABC, where it was accepted to be a Movie of the Week. The source for this biography appears to be a Herbie J. Pilato's article at TVWriter.Com.[86]
    -On page 15 of his book, Herbie J. Pilato credits Harvey Frand ("who served as liaison between the television and motion picture departments at Warner Bros.") for reading the movie script (already in the possession of Warner Bros.), presenting it to the television division, pitching it in-person to ABC, and closing the deal. On page 16 Pilato adds that Jerry Thorpe "came across" the script, and with the help of Herman Miller transformed it into a television script.
    -On page 16 of his book, Robert Anderson gives a briefer exposition of Pilato's version, with the small difference of saying that Jerry Thorpe "soon became attached to the project."
    -Other than quotes from Pilato's book and article, no online source connects Harvey Frand with Kung Fu's creation. The main source in Pilato's work about Frand's involvement seems to be Frand himself. On page 55 of Richard Meyers' book Films of Fury,[87] Frand is mentioned as saying he was the one who had to tell Bruce Lee he hadn't been cast as the series lead, in-person. Despite chronological mistakes (it says Enter the Dragon, released in August 1973 in the USA, was already a success when Kung Fu‘s pilot was in pre-production, what was in late 1971), the history of the series' creation in that book is essentially the same as in the other sources.
    -On min. 4:08 of From Grasshopper to Caine, John Furia says that he, Tom Kuhn, and "Jerry" went to New York to pitch the series to Martin Starger, ABC's president, who approved it. Tom Kuhn adds that he and Jerry Leider (then President of Warner Bros. Television) knew Barry Diller (Vice President of Development at ABC, creator of the ABC Movie of the Week), and trusted the "young hotshot" was going to look at the material and say, "this is something different," and that he would get them the order for a TV movie, despite having a "non-American white guy" leading character. He did, but it took some time. So, in the documentary, there are Jerry Thorpe and Jerry Leider, but neither Fred Weintraub nor Harvey Frand is mentioned.
    -On min. 6:13, director John Badham says that "Jerry" wanted Bruce Lee to play the leading role in the series. The sources referenced in the section say that it was Fred Weintraub who lobbied for Lee, and all the sources including the documentary say that Jerry Thorpe preferred David Carradine above all candidates notwithstanding his problematic behavior, as much as it was Thorpe who set the standards for the series' directing and looks.
    -David Carradine used to say that Fred Weintraub bought the script and it was left on a shelf until Jerry Thorpe found it.[76]: 15 [33]: 369 [88]: min. 1:22:25-1:24:00 
    -In his memoir, Eugène Lourié credited and praised Jerry Thorpe for his vision and courage to take a shelved movie script and make it into a TV film with a reduced budget (From $18 to $1 million, according to Pilato, p.16). He doesn't mention any other Warner Bros. executive.
    -It must be pointed out that the sale of the movie treatment and first script happened in New York, all the exchanges at Warner Bros. happened in Los Angeles, and the final deal with ABC was back in New York, all in the course of several years. On pages 308-309 of Polly's book, Howard Friedlander says he came to know of the ABC television deal for the script while in New York, through an article in Variety.
    Therefore, according to the varied testimonies in this note, it can be said that the process to bring Kung Fu from treatment to movie script to television series was a lengthy and complicated one, Fred Weintraub was fundamental at its conception, there were several executives at Warner Bros. assisting in its birth, and Jerry Thorpe had a decisive agency in what it came to be.

References

  1. ^ . Inside Kung Fu. Archived from the original on July 27, 2013. Retrieved August 4, 2010.
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    Chow not only works with the actors, but also helps introduce new scenes to, as well as eliminate some from, the scripts. "We have to make sure the fight scenes are believable," he said. "We do not want the public to think that kung fu is some kind of a Chinese magic or that the masters are super-human beings. We want the public to learn a little about the ancient art of kung-fu, its history, its philosophy and its applications."
    (...) Veteran actors Philip Ahn and Richard Loo, who probably have acted in more Hollywood films than any other Oriental actors, are used to portraying bald men. In Kung-Fu, they portray Shaolin priests.
    "I was very pleased when I read the pilot script," said Ahn. "It was written very honestly. For once, a film showed how badly the Orientals in this country were treated during the early days. It also gives Westerners a better insight of the great Oriental culture."
    "It also gives the Westerners a better image of the Orientals," added Loo. "They (the Orientals) are not shown as the stereotyped houseboy, laundry man or cook. They get their just dues. They are portrayed as highly intelligent men with worldly knowledge."
  31. ^ "Howard Friedlander". IMDb. 2022. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
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  38. ^ Thomas, Bruce (2012). Bruce Lee: Fighting Spirit. Pan Macmillan. p. 223. ISBN 978-0-283-07081-5. from the original on November 15, 2020. Retrieved June 7, 2020. In the week ending 6 May 1973, around the time Enter the Dragon was being wrapped up, the Kung Fu TV series starring David Carradine was the No. 1 show on US television, attracting a regular audience of 28 million viewers.
  39. ^ Desser, David (2002). "The Kung Fu Craze: Hong Kong Cinema's First American Reception". In Fu, Poshek; Desser, David (eds.). The Cinema of Hong Kong: History, Arts, Identity. Cambridge University Press. pp. 19–43. ISBN 978-0-521-77602-8.
  40. ^ "10 hard-hitting facts about 'Kung Fu'". MeTV. March 17, 2017. Retrieved September 18, 2021.
  41. ^ "THE REAL REASON 'KUNG FU' WAS CANCELLED". Wing Chun News. September 16, 2020. Retrieved September 18, 2021.
  42. ^ "According to an Urban Legend, 'Kung Fu' Ended Because of David Carradine's Injuries". Distractify. April 21, 2021. Retrieved September 18, 2021.
  43. ^ Dave Davies, Host (June 4, 2009). "Remembering David Carradine (1991 Interview)". NPR. Retrieved April 14, 2021. You take a lot of chances in movies. Look in these Kung Fu movies, I have broken or dislocated virtually every finger and every toe that I have. I've crushed my ribs. I've smashed my shoulder. I've destroyed a ligament in the knee. I could go on.
    Acting is a dangerous profession. And when you consider I've made 68 features plus all the television and everything, you just got to expect that I'm going to hurt myself now and then. It's sort of like being a football player or something.
  44. ^ Stephanie Nolasco (June 10, 2020). "'Kung Fu' star Radames Pera explains why the series ended, what 'Little House on the Prairie' was like". Fox News (published June 11, 2020). Retrieved September 20, 2021. Fox News: What caused "Kung Fu" to end?
    Pera: We had Nielsen boxes on the backs of television sets throughout the Midwest, and they would determine who was watching what at any given time. This was before the internet. And back then, Nielsen ratings meant everything. David Carradine, who admitted this himself, said he always had a love/hate relationship with fame and success in general. He was a countercultural type of person but was also under contract with major corporations. That became a problem for him and he just got tired. He didn't want to do it anymore. So he sabotaged it.
  45. ^ Mike Malloy (2021). "David Carradine's Final Fight For 'Americana.' Book excerpt from The Lost Auteur". NeoText. Retrieved September 20, 2021. What happens when a TV superstar makes an understated, personal film with friends in rural Kansas in the early 1970s but doesn't get it finished until the blockbuster-prone '80s? David Carradine was about to find out. He had directed and starred in the drama Americana during the 1973 hiatus of his hit show, Kung Fu, because he wanted an escape plan from ever having to act in another TV series—or in film roles he didn't care about. Americana was a small-town story about a Vietnam vet, and it was one of a few personal films he began in the '70s (along with Mata Hari and You and Me). These films were part of David's master plan to make himself an actor-director auteur successful enough to pick his own projects. Ironically, the opposite happened, and David accepted tons of "mercenary" acting work, so he could keep tinkering with his hard-luck personal films. The projects were so important to him that he even sold his Kung Fu royalties back to Warner Bros at one point, in order to keep the dream alive. And even though directing had already proven to be a tough road for David to hoe, he couldn't have been prepared for the emotional rollercoaster that he (along with Skip Sherwood, his on-again, off-again producer) would experience in trying to get Americana seen by audiences circa 1981-1985.
  46. ^ "Syndie Briefs. 'Kung Fu' Strikes. p.50". Variety. Los Angeles. June 13, 1979. Retrieved October 12, 2021. Warner Bros. TV Distribution has sold "Kung Fu" to nine more stations, boosting the market total to 23 for the hourlong, 62-episode off-network property, which is skedded for a Sept. 1 start in syndication.
    The new buyers include WTAF-TV Philadelphia, KHTV Houston, and WMAR-TV Baltimore.
  47. ^ Kung Fu TNT Promo (1994) (Cable TV). TNT. 1994. Archived from the original on November 19, 2018. Retrieved August 19, 2021.
  48. ^ "The Lowell Ledger's TV Listing Magazine" (PDF). The Lowell Ledger. pp.9-16. July 6, 1994. Retrieved August 19, 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  49. ^ "El martes vuelve la serie Kung Fu, por TCM". Dangdai. Primera Revista de Intercambio Cultural Argentina-China. May 21, 2012. Retrieved May 7, 2021.
  50. ^ "Release Info". IMDb. 2021. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
  51. ^ a b "Kung fu-Season 1 (1972)". MichaelDVD. 2004. Retrieved June 24, 2021. Kung Fu ran for three seasons starting in 1972. It came to Australian TV not long after - in fact, I can dimly remember watching the first episode when it premiered (in black and white). I thought that after 30 years this series would look shoddy and dated, but most of the time it does not. It was made on a low budget, but the use of outdoor locations and being entirely shot on film gives it a more timeless look and hides the budgetary constraints. The art direction of Eugène Lourié, who worked on some of Jean Renoir's best films in the 1930s, makes the locations look authentic and realistic. You would believe that the Shaolin temple was created especially for this show, but in fact the sets were built for the film Camelot and have been cleverly altered to look like a Chinese temple.
  52. ^ Steve Braunias (April 26, 2016). "Stevie TV: David Carradine predicts his own grisly death in hallucinatory 'Eastern Western' Kung Fu". The Spinoff. Retrieved May 7, 2021. Every second Wednesday my daughter and three of her pals come over to the house after school before their dance lesson, and they always ask for macaroni and Kung Fu. I tape it from the Jones Channel and one day I played them the famous opening sequence – "When you can take the pebble from my hand, it is time for you to leave." They loved it, and asked to watch the entire episode. They found the whole thing strange and captivating, a barefoot Shaolin priest very calmly kicking people unconscious.
  53. ^ "Kung Fu. Filming & Production". IMDb. 2021. Retrieved June 27, 2021.
  54. ^ "Ralph S. Hurst (1907–1972)". IMDb. 2021. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
  55. ^ "Camelot [Photos of its construction and as a lamasery]". www.moon-city-garbage.agency. 2021. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
  56. ^ Eugène Lourié (1985). My Work in Films. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. pp. 337–341. ISBN 978-0156623421. I prefer pictures that offer more personal creative involvement. (...) I firmly believe that in designing a set, it is important to convey the strongest impression and suppress useless details. (...) In each scene I tried to find an interesting visual approach. In this I was helped greatly by Jerry's understanding and the inventiveness of his direction. (...) I tried to achieve ambitious sets, but my guiding principle was to remain strictly within the budget. (...) For me, these Chinese sets always had a dreamy, poetic quality.
  57. ^ Steven Bingen (2014). Warner Bros.: Hollywood's Ultimate Backlot. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 190–192. ISBN 978-1-58979-962-2.
  58. ^ "Lost Horizon (1973) Filming & Production. Filming Dates". IMDb. 2021. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
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  64. ^ "Jim Helms. Biography". IMDb. 2021. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
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  66. ^ La Percussion Rentals (2021). "Dharma Bells". LAPR. Retrieved June 5, 2021. According to Emil, they came in sets of 3, 5, and occasionally 7 or 9. He took the dharma bells and laid them out in rows so they could be played more easily; then once he had enough, he mounted them vertically.
  67. ^ "Jim Helms". Discogs. 2021. Retrieved June 5, 2021.
  68. ^ Jon Burlingame (2010). Music and Dialogue from the Warner Bros. TV Series, by Jim Helms (CD booklet). Film Score Monthly Silver Age Classics. pp. 3–6, 8. A composer gets only one chance. They shoot the film for seven days. It's brought in, chopped up, and fooled around with. They have two or three weeks to make something of it. You see the show once, or sometimes twice if you're lucky. You record three or four days later and it's supposed to be right. That's the only chance you have, because a week later it's going to be on the air. [Jim Helms, from a contemporary interview.]
  69. ^ "Jon Burlingame. Kung Fu. Liner Notes". Jon Burlingame. 2021. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
  70. ^ "Kung Fu/Man in the Wilderness (1973/1971) [Includes music excerpts]". Film Score Monthly. 2021. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
  71. ^ "Your Favourite TV Themes". Discogs. 2021. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
  72. ^ "More TV Times Top TV Themes". Discogs. 2021. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
  73. ^ "Suspense and Action Screen Themes". Discogs. 2021. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
  74. ^ a b c d . Martial Journal. Archived from the original on January 30, 2021. Retrieved February 20, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  75. ^ The Pierre Berton Show (Television episode). December 9, 1971. Event occurs at 16:20–17:00, 20:21–21:29.
  76. ^ a b David Carradine (1991). Spirit of Shaolin. A Kung Fu Philosophy. Charles E. Tuttle Company. pp. xvii, 198. ISBN 0-8048-1751-0.
  77. ^ Goldman, Albert (January 1, 1983). "The Deadliest Man on the Planet: The Life and Death of Bruce Lee". Penthouse Magazine. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  78. ^ Richard Bejtlich (May 20, 2019). "The Truth about the Creation of the Kung Fu TV Series". Martial Journal. Retrieved April 9, 2021. In the following edited and augmented excerpt from Bruce Lee: A Life, authoritative Bruce Lee biographer Matthew Polly shares the true story of the creation of the Kung Fu program. The truth is more interesting than the myth, and readers who wish to learn even more about Bruce Lee are encouraged to read Polly's book, arriving in paperback format in June 2019.
  79. ^ Fred Weintraub (2012). Bruce Lee, Woodstock And Me: From The Man Behind A Half-Century of Music, Movies and Martial Arts. scribd.com. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
  80. ^ Fred Weintraub (2012). Bruce Lee, Woodstock And Me: From The Man Behind A Half-Century of Music, Movies and Martial Arts. Brooktree Canyon Press. pp. chapter 1. ISBN 9780984715206.
  81. ^ a b c Polly, Matthew (2018). Bruce Lee: A Life. Simon & Schuster. pp. 277–280, 321–327, 573–574. ISBN 978-1501187629.
  82. ^ Fred Weintraub (2012). Bruce Lee, Woodstock And Me: From The Man Behind A Half-Century of Music, Movies and Martial Arts. scribd.com. Retrieved March 31, 2021. I was as enthusiastic as ever to put Bruce into the role of Kwai Chang Caine, but was still meeting with resistance from the powers that be. So I sent Bruce to Tom Kuhn's office to introduce himself. It was a meet and greet Tom is not likely to ever forget. Most actors show up to auditions with a résumé and an 8 x 10 glossy headshot. Bruce showed up with one extra item: his nunchucks. For the uninitiated, nunchucks are two wooden sticks, not unlike police billy clubs that are attached end to end by a short length of chain or rope. In the cramped confines of Tom's office, Bruce, a master of the weapon, gave Tom an in-your-face demonstration, flailing the lethal sticks with mind-boggling speed, grace, and dexterity. Bruce didn't need to punch Tom in the gut to take his breath away.
    "What the fuck was that!" Tom asked me after the interview. "That was Bruce Lee," I said, "What do you think about him for Kung Fu?"
    "He's amazing," Tom gushed. "I've never seen anything like that. But getting him the lead is still going to be a long shot. He might be too authentic."
    To my continued frustration, Tom was right. The powers that be had a hundred different reasons why Bruce was wrong for the part: he was an unknown, he was short, his English wasn't good enough, he lacked the necessary serenity to play the role… But at the end of the day, there was really only one reason. In the history of Hollywood there had never been an Asian hero—unless you count Charlie Chan. But even that iconic Chinese-American character was never popular in films until he was played by Warner Oland, who was not only Caucasian, he was Swedish, for chrissake. From Oland on, only white guys played Charlie. And that dubious tradition was carried on into Kung Fu when David Carradine landed the role of Kwai Chang Caine. Bruce was crushed. Even his lightning reflexes were powerless to keep the opportunity of a lifetime from slipping through his fingers.
  83. ^ "Bennett Byron Sims". Variety (published April 11, 2002). April 12, 2002. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
  84. ^ "Ed Spielman. Biography". IMDb. 2022. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
  85. ^ "Harvey Frand (1940-2009)". IMDb. 2022. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
  86. ^ . TVWriter.Com (published 2015). May 6, 2015. Archived from the original on June 6, 2019. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
  87. ^ Richard Meyers (2011). Films of Fury: The Kung Fu Movie Book. Eirini Press. p. 360. ISBN 9780979998942.
  88. ^ David Carradine Interview (Sound recording). Hikari Takano. 2003. Retrieved February 14, 2022.
  89. ^ Robert B. Ito (May 2, 2014). ""A Certain Slant": A Brief History of Hollywood Yellowface". Bright Lights Film Journal. Retrieved April 7, 2021. "Giving the audience what they want" was a common justification for this one-sided deal, which was a nice way of saying that audience members didn't want to have to look at Oriental actors for any extended period of time (this was the primary reason given for the now infamous casting of David Carradine in the 1970s television show Kung Fu, over original choice Bruce Lee).
  90. ^ Clint C. Wilson; Felix Gutierrez; Lena M. Chao (2012). Racism, Sexism, and the Media: Multicultural Issues Into the New Communications Age. SAGE Publications. p. 105. ISBN 978-1452217512. Bruce Lee influenced another ABC series, Kung Fu, (which ran from 1972 to 1975), which was a Western starring David Carradine and with supporting Asian actors including Keye Luke and Philip Ahn. Lee was a consultant to those who developed the Kung Fu show and labored under the impression that he was to be their choice for the lead role. When Carradine was selected for the part, Lee confided to friends that he had been the victim of racism. Kung Fu's producers told Lee that they didn't believe a Chinese actor could be seen as a hero in the eyes of the American television audience. The show revived the "mysterious" Asian stereotype. With racism standing as a barrier to Bruce Lee's achieving stardom in the United States, he went to Hong Kong and achieved superstardom throughout Asia as a film star.
  91. ^ Hannelore Hanja Dirnbacher (2009). SCHWERT & FAUST Kultureller Austausch OST-WEST / WEST-OST Am Beispiel physischer Techniken asiatischer Kampf-Kunst-Filme. Universität Wien. p. 70. This "Eastern" - "Western" genre mix offers parallels to the "Spaghetti Western". It shows a half-Chinese Buddhist monk walking through the "Wild West" grazes [streift/streit?/quarrel?]. "Kung Fu" was produced by Warner Brothers and Bruce Lee, who contributed ideas, was not cast for the lead role, which prompted them [him?] to turn to film productions in Hong Kong - the rest is film history. (Google translated from German) / Dieser „Eastern" – „Western" – Genre-Mix bietet Parallelen zum „Italo-Western". Er zeigt einen halbchinesischen buddhistischen Mönch der durch den „Wilden Westen" streift. „Kung Fu" war von Warner-Brothers produziert worden und Bruce Lee der Ideen dazu beigesteuert hatte wurde nicht für die Hauptrolle besetzt, was diesen veranlasste, sich an Filmproduktionen in Hong Kong zu wenden – der Rest ist Filmgeschichte
  92. ^ Guillermo Courau. "Kung Fu: una traición, un protagonista agotado y una serie que dejó su marca en la cultura popular". La Nación. La Nación (Argentina). Retrieved April 7, 2021. As already stated, the genesis of Kung Fu has a B-side, much less glamorous than the official one, and at the center of that scene is Bruce Lee. The version that the martial artist repeated until the day of his death was that Warner Bros., with the complicity of Ed Spielman, had stolen the idea of the show from him. That in fact, in the meeting he had held with the studios, he had told them many details that they later appropriated. Not trusting the American public to accept a Chinese-born hero, they decided to put him aside and kept it all. (Translated from Spanish)
  93. ^ Alexandre Coste (August 8, 2014). "Kung-Fu, l'ambassadeur du bouddhisme chez les occidentaux". Marianne TV (France). Retrieved April 9, 2021. Kung-Fu is first and foremost an idea of Bruce Lee, that lesser-known Bruce Lee. (...) Even though Bruce Lee wrote the series synopsis and offered the concept to ABC, the producers preferred a white actor over him, arguing that a Chinese headlining an American show was not a good sell. (Translated from French)
  94. ^ Louis Paul (2008). Tales from the Cult Film Trenches. Interviews with 36 Actors from Horror, Science Fiction and Exploitation Cinema. McFarland. p. 223. ISBN 978-0-7864-2994-3. ... he even screen-tested for the television pilot of Kung Fu in the role of Kwai Chang Caine, wearing prosthetic eyepieces to make him appear Chinese. It is rumored that the ABC television network was interested in the actor for the leading role, but ultimately he was deemed too muscular and possibly menacing for the part; the role went to David Carradine instead.
  95. ^ Zennie Abraham (July 26, 2020). "Enter The Dragon's John Saxon, Jim Kelly Talk ABC TV Racism Against Bruce Lee In "Kung Fu"". Oakland News Now. Retrieved June 19, 2021. min.0:25. 'What I knew, what had happened was, he [Bruce Lee] was supposed to do this series, the television series Kung Fu…'
    'Uh-uh, right here-'
    'aft, and it was written for him, but what happened was that ABC in their grand wisdom, said "what do we know, what are we doing? I mean, the American public doesn't want to watch a Chinese actor every week…" so they changed… Now, here, here's strange stuff. So you know who they came to second? Me.'
    'Are you kidding me!'
    'No, I'm not.'
    'Wow!'
    'I'm not. This is not spread around too often.'
    'No, I'm honored to know this!' [laughter]
    'The reason, the reason… '
    Cause I've read about it!'
    'I couldn't do it, because I was under contract at Universal to do a medical series called The Bold Ones.'
    'Right, I remember that.'
    'So, my agent said, "Can you get him out of this? Because they want, uh, him to go to this show in, you know, about the, this and that [gestures martial arts] and all that kind of stuff," so they said, "No way! you know, he's with us," and so on so far…' [Interview transcription]
  96. ^ Jane Iwamura (2011). Virtual Orientalism: Asian Religions and American Popular Culture. Oxford Scholarship. pp. Chapter The Monk Goes Hollywood. ISBN 9780199738601. This chapter looks at the figure of Kwai Chang Caine and his Shaolin monk teachers in the popular 1970s TV series, Kung Fu. At this moment, a fictional Monk takes his place alongside representations of historical figures, making the hyperreal effect discussed in previous chapters complete. Kung Fu also marks the rise of a new generation into cultural power, whose attempts to selectively wed their parents' ideals with their own counter-cultural values are clearly seen in America's first "Eastern Western." The racial politics of the show are specifically discussed, from the casting of David Carradine as the "half-Chinese, half-American" fugitive priest to the storylines that often feature minority characters. The way in which racial minorities are scripted into each episode reveals a potent commentary on contemporary race relations in the early 1970s. Ultimately, the show individualizes the politics of race and ideally configures a spiritual approach to social oppression. (Abstract)
  97. ^ National Congress of American Indians (2017). "Misappropriation of Native Identity in Film & Television". NCAI. Retrieved April 23, 2021. NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) calls on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to lead Hollywood's diversity efforts to promote Native Actors, Native stunt men and women, Native people in front and behind the camera and Native stories in film. NCAI calls on the Casting Society of America to cast Native Actors to represent Native people in film and television. NCAI calls on the Writers Guild of America to represent and promote Native Americans in screenwriting. NCAI urges producers, studios and directors to highlight stories that accurately and positively portray Native people and Tribal communities as they are the stories of America.
  98. ^ "Asian and Asian American Studies Department". Cal State LA (California State University, Los Angeles) (published 2021). October 22, 2013. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
  99. ^ Jun Xing (1998). Asian America Through the Lens: History, Representations, and Identity. Rowman Altamira. pp. 74–75. ISBN 0-7619-9176-X. Bruce Lee was rejected by Warner Bros. for the leading role despite his awesome martial arts expertise and Chinese ethnicity. Hollywood deemed it legitimate for the Eurasian role to go to white actor David Carradine. "This racial rejection by Hollywood," as Tiana (Thi Thanh Nga) recalls in a recent article, "Bruce told me, made him furious. It impelled him to leave the United States and return to Hong Kong, where, in two dizzying years, he became an international legend." The week before he died, Tiana remembers, Lee vowed to "outgross Steve McQueen and James Coburn," and so he did. Both McQueen and Coburn were Lee's students, and yet "each one had told him that he [Lee] could never reach their star status because he was Chinese."
  100. ^ "Hye Seung Chung Associate Professor". Colorado State University College of Liberal Arts. 2021. Retrieved April 29, 2021.
  101. ^ Hye Seung Chung (2006). Hollywood Asian. Philip Ahn and the Politics of Cross-Ethnic Performance. Temple University Press. pp. 176–183. ISBN 1-59213-515-3. One can also identify Kung Fu as a nostalgic and parodic recasting of Hollywood's sinophilic period, which roughly coincides with the duration of the popular B movie series, Charlie Chan (1931–1949). It is significant that the Charlie Chan cycle ended the same year in which Mao Zedong's Chinese Communist Party came into power and that Kung Fu was first broadcast the year Richard Nixon visited China, thawing decades of Cold War antagonism between the two world powers. This obvious historical bridge is buttressed additionally by the reunion of five veteran alumni of the Charlie Chan series—Philip Ahn, James Hong, Benson Fong, Keye Luke, and Victor Sen Yung—in Kung Fu. Pioneering Asian American actors who began their career playing supporting roles of sons and suspects to Warner Oland's and Sidney Toler's yellowfaced Charlie Chans, these aging alumni gathered again to mentor the hybridized western hero, Kwai Chang Caine. This coveted Chinese starring role was snatched by white actor David Carradine from legendary kung fu artist-turned-star Bruce Lee, attesting to the ironic circle of racist casting politics that encompassed 1930s film and 1970s television.
  102. ^ a b Kent A. Ono; Vincent N. Pham (2009). Asian Americans and the Media. Polity Press. pp. 51, 53. ISBN 978-1-5095-4361-8. Even though Bruce Lee was responsible for the concept of the show, he did not land the lead. Instead, David Carradine played the part in yellowface. As Greco Larson explains it: 'Actors of Asian descent are excluded from lead roles on television, too. Despite working with creators of Kung Fu (1972-1975), Bruce Lee did not get the role of Kwai Chang Caine in the television show because he looked "too Asian". Instead, the role went to white actor David Carradine, and the character was said to be half American and half Chinese. This casting decision influenced the story lines, making it easier for the writers to portray him as heroic. (2006, 68)
    (...) Implicit yellowface works in three primary ways (...) Second, it assumes the similarity of Asians and Asian Americans across the board. Thus, Asians and Asian Americans are understood in the US media to be interchangeable, having no unique qualities worth mentioning, and so they often find themselves having no choice but to play roles of Asian ethnic groups other than ones most aligned with their own ethnic and cultural experiences. According to the same logic, mixed-race Asians and Asian Americans play monoracial Asian and Asian American roles.
  103. '^ "The Case against Diane Nguyen". Broad Recognition. A feminist publication at Yale College. September 14, 2018. Retrieved May 6, 2021. Hawaii 5-0s replacement of Kim and Park's characters with Japanese American actor Ian Anthony Dale is oddly reminiscent of breakout Netflix rom-com To All The Boys I Loved Before, which, while praised for its Asian representation, stars a Vietnamese actress playing Korean teenager Lara-Jean. This pan-Asian model of Hollywood casting, fueled by the age-old assertion that all Asians look the same, begs the question: if Asian American representation in media isn't accurately portraying the people it purports to be, what purpose is it actually serving? What does this interchangeability of Asian actors say about the kind of visibility Hollywood grants us with the expectation that we will mindlessly accept it for the sake of visibility at all?
  104. ^ "Isn't it crazy all Asians weren't represented in 'Crazy Rich Asians'?". The Toronto Observer. November 20, 2018. Retrieved May 6, 2021. As a Filipino-Canadian, I noticed there was no one who represented my ethnicity. That fact alone has deterred me from seeing the movie.
    There are Filipino actors, but they don't portray Filipino characters. Nico Santos, a Filipino-American, plays Oliver T'sien, alongside Filipino actress Kris Aquino as the Malay princess, Intan. The film not only lacked a Filipino presence, but also an Indian, Tamil, Thai or Indonesian one – despite being set in Singapore.
    What does this mean for Asian actors? Stylecaster.com writer Annie Lim points out the interchangeability of Asian actors. [Links to another article about the subject]
  105. ^ "Shannon Lee Discusses Her Father Bruce Lee's Legacy And Impact On Asian Representation In Hollywood". Hong Kong Tatler. August 5, 2020. Retrieved May 6, 2020. Even in the recent example of 2019's Oscar-winning Once Upon A Time in Hollywood, Lee was disappointed by Quentin Tarantino's stereotyped portrayal of her father as an arrogant blowhard – compounded by the fact he was portrayed by Korean-American actor Mike Moh instead of a Chinese star. It was yet another reminder of a lingering cultural blindspot, in which Asians are interchangeable and Bruce Lee's martial arts school of thought is presented as superfluous, smug and, in this case, no match against Brad Pitt's all-American brawn.
  106. ^ April 21, Lynette Rice; EDT, 2021 at 03:41 PM. "Last surviving member of original 'Kung Fu' has one complaint about the CW reboot". EW.com. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
  107. ^ Bryant Murakami (2018). "The Martial Arts and American Popular Media. A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Division of the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor in Philosophy in American Studies" (PDF). University of Hawai'i at Mānoa. p. 110. Retrieved April 30, 2021. It is widely believed that Bruce Lee was the progenitor of the initial concept for Kung Fu, but was ultimately cast aside for Carradine, demonstrating Hollywood's ingrained racism. According to his wife, Lee was rejected for the main role because he was "too small, too Chinese, that he wasn't a big enough name to sustain a weekly series, and that he was too inexperienced."
  108. ^ David J. Leonard, Stephanie Troutman Robbins, Editors (2021). Race in American Television: Voices and Visions that Shaped a Nation [2 volumes]. Greenwood, ABC-CLIO. p. 45. ISBN 978-1-4408-4305-1. Yellow Face continued to occur in television after The Adventures of Dr. Fu Manchu. Shim writes, 'The TV program Kung Fu (1972-75) could have produced the first Asian heroic character played by an Asian actor. Action star Bruce Lee originally was to have starred in Kung Fu but was later denied the role because it was assumed that audiences were not ready to watch an Asian physically humiliating whites' (1998, 401). Scholars have written that television has historically been where anti-Asian American sentiments have been filtered through an imagination of whiteness. As scholars note, Yellow Face and television have long denied Asian Americans' full humanity {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  109. ^ Complex (June 3, 2013). "The 50 Most Racist TV Shows of All Time". Complex. Retrieved April 30, 2021. There's nothing really racist about the story of a half-Chinese, half-American Shaolin monk roaming the countryside in search of his half-brother. OK, there's the fact that the very Caucasian-looking David Carradine is presented as a paragon of martial arts. There's that, plus his character's penchant for spouting weird fortune-cookie-style aphorisms like "Become who you are." All that, and, lest we forget: The whole idea for the show was straight jacked from Bruce Lee. So, what were we saying? Yeah. RACIST.
  110. ^ Kat Chow (February 5, 2015). "A Brief, Weird History Of Squashed Asian-American TV Shows". NPR. NPR. Retrieved April 30, 2021. (And we can't talk about Kung Fu without addressing its controversy. After Bruce Lee's death in 1973, his wife, Linda, said that he had come up with the concept of the show and that Warner Bros. had stolen it from him. The network denied this. In an earlier interview with Pierre Berton — possibly Lee's only one — the star mentioned a Western-style show called The Warrior that incorporated kung fu. He said he was struggling to develop the show with Paramount and Warner Bros.)
  111. ^ Benny Luo (June 14, 2019). "Bruce Lee Once Had a Dream That Hollywood Destroyed, Now His Daughter is Bringing it Back to Life". NextShark. Retrieved April 30, 2021. By 1971, Lee, then 30, had become an international superstar following his success with The Big Boss, Fist of Fury, and Way of the Dragon. Although these were all Hong Kong movies, it pushed boundaries for Asian Americans in cinema and challenged stereotypes of how Asian men are typically portrayed in the mainstream.
    Around this time, Lee wrote a few treatments for films he wanted to produce. Among them was a pitch for a TV series call The Warrior, which follows a martial artist in the Old West starring himself as the lead. Surely, after all his success in Hong Kong and the subsequent legion of global fans to follow, Hollywood was ready for its first Asian TV lead.
    Unfortunately, it was rejected. Even with Bruce Lee's star power, the executives believed viewers were still not ready for an Asian lead on the big screen. Lee was forced to table the project.
    In the year that followed, Hollywood released Kung Fu starring white actor David Carradine, who plays a half-Chinese monk fighting bad guys in the Old West. The show is identical to the show Lee pitched just a year before, so some couldn't help but speculate that Lee's idea was stolen and his character whitewashed.
    [Note: The films were released in the USA in April 1973, June 1973, and August 1974, respectively.]
  112. ^ Michael T. Stack (April 14, 2021). "Kung Fu Season 1 Episode 2 Review: Silence". TVFanatic. Retrieved May 1, 2021. A superb follow-up to a strong premiere, Kung Fu gets Nicky to evolve in more ways than one.
    She got her physical and mental state tested multiple times throughout the hour, and the results were lovely.
    Nicky did a lot of training this time around, both mental and physical. I think this shows how she is trying to improve herself, especially her mental state.
    Meditation was a big theme. Nicky meditated to deal with her grief, her new issues with her mom, and the fight she had with Althea.
  113. ^ Max Gao (April 22, 2021). "Kung Fu Recap: Patience Is a Virtue". Vulture (published April 21, 2021). Retrieved May 1, 2021. In another jam-packed hour of action and adventure, the members of the Shen family are all given their own moment in the spotlight, the mysterious identity of Zhilan is unearthed by an unwitting professor turned prisoner, and the recovery of a second magical weapon kicks a high-stakes game of cat-and-mouse between the show's two nemeses into high gear.
  114. ^ Danielle Turchiano (March 17, 2021). "'Kung Fu' Team on Using Media Representation to Combat Anti-Asian Racism". Variety. Retrieved May 1, 2021. "So much about representation and inclusion is not so much that we as Asians need to see ourselves represented on the screens, but we need to be invited into people's homes who don't see us in everyday lives, just to humanize us, normalize seeing us, remind them that we are just like they are and have a place in this world. And hopefully having our show in their homes will expand that worldview for them," said actor Olivia Liang during a virtual panel for the drama on Wednesday.
  115. ^ Max Gao (April 13, 2021). "The SF-set reboot of 'Kung Fu' on The CW flips the classic martial arts show's gender roles". SFGate. Retrieved May 1, 2021. (...) For Christina M. Kim, a television writer and producer whose credits include "Lost" and "NCIS: Los Angeles," the opportunity to reboot the iconic series was a responsibility that she did not take lightly. After selling her pitch to The CW in the fall of 2019, Kim began working on the pilot and immediately wanted the new iteration to stand on its own.
    (...) The biggest difference between the two Kung Fu shows, Kim explained, is the emphasis on the Asian American experience. "I want this to be a multigenerational show. It's on The CW, but it's not just a show about the kids. We really get to know the parents. We have a gay character and deal with how the parents deal with him coming out. All these different issues through the lens of this family."
    (...) "After we had shut down, I spent hours and hours watching the same footage over and over, finally getting this little three- or four-minute sizzle reel just the way I wanted it. My eight-year-old son turned to me once and he said, 'Mama, they're Korean.' I was like, 'They're not Korean, but I know what you're saying,'" she recalled. "The fact that he noticed that it's very rare to see a fully Asian show anywhere – that was such a special moment for me because I realized this could really make a difference. Kids will see this. Hopefully, this opens the door for many more shows like this. I hope there are 20 shows like this with an all-Asian cast."
  116. ^ Brandon Yu (April 22, 2021). "'Kung Fu' reboot arrives at right time to correct wrongs of '70s series". Datebook San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved May 1, 2021. The political realities have made the cast and crew reflect on the show with new gravity. But they also acknowledge that a breakthrough in representation on television could not begin to address or solve the complicated nexus of conditions that has put the most vulnerable Asian Americans, such as the spa workers that were killed in a mass shooting in Atlanta last month, in danger.
    "Certainly I'm not going to say our show is the solution to anti-Asian racism," Kim says. "But I do think that we can be part of the solution just by the nature of having a predominantly Asian American cast on network television every week, going into people's homes. We are visible, and being visible is a huge part of the solution."
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  145. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (February 18, 2020). "'Kung Fu': Jon Prasida, Shannon Dang & Eddie Liu To Co-Star In the CW Reboot Pilot". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. from the original on April 21, 2020. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
  146. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (February 26, 2020). "'Kung Fu': Olivia Liang Cast As The Lead Of the CW Reboot Pilot". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. from the original on May 7, 2020. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  147. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (March 9, 2020). "'Kung Fu': Gavin Stenhouse & Gwendoline Yeo Join the CW Reboot Pilot". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. from the original on March 10, 2020. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
  148. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (May 12, 2020). "'Kung Fu' Reboot & 'The Republic Of Sarah' Get CW Series Orders For 2020-21 Season". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. from the original on May 16, 2020. Retrieved May 12, 2020.

Further reading

  • Anderson, Robert. The Kung Fu Book: The Exclusive, Unauthorized, Uncensored Story of America's Favorite Martial Arts Show. Pioneer Books, Inc., 1994. ISBN 1-55698-328-X.
  • Carradine, David. Spirit of Shaolin: A Kung Fu Philosophy. Boston: Charles E. Tuttle, 1991. ISBN 0-8048-1751-0.
  • Pilato, Herbie J. The Kung Fu Book of Caine: The Complete Guide to TV's First Mystical Eastern Western. Foreword by David Carradine. Boston: Charles E. Tuttle, 1993. ISBN 0-8048-1826-6.
  • Pilato, Herbie J. The Kung Fu Book of Wisdom: Sage Advice from the Original TV Series. Foreword by Ed Spielman. Rutland: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1995. ISBN 0-8048-3044-4.

External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kung Fu (TV series).
 
Wikiquote has quotations related to Kung Fu (TV series).

April 28, 2023
kung, 1972, series, kung, american, action, adventure, martial, arts, western, drama, television, series, starring, david, carradine, series, follows, adventures, kwai, chang, caine, shaolin, monk, travels, through, american, west, armed, only, with, spiritual. Kung Fu is an American action adventure martial arts Western drama television series starring David Carradine The series follows the adventures of Kwai Chang Caine a Shaolin monk who travels through the American Old West armed only with his spiritual training and his skill in martial arts as he seeks Danny Caine his half brother 4 5 Kung FuGenreAction Adventure Western DramaCreated byEd Spielman Jerry Thorpe Herman MillerStarringDavid Carradine 1 Keye Luke Philip Ahn Radames PeraTheme music composerJim HelmsCountry of originUnited StatesOriginal languageEnglishNo of seasons3No of episodes62 Pilot list of episodes ProductionExecutive producerJerry ThorpeCamera setupSingle cameraRunning time50 minutesProduction companyWarner Bros TelevisionReleaseOriginal networkABCAudio formatMonauralOriginal releaseFebruary 22 1972 1972 02 22 pilot TV movie October 14 1972 1972 10 14 2 April 26 1975 1975 04 26 3 RelatedKung Fu The Movie Kung Fu The Next Generation Kung Fu The Legend Continues Kung Fu 2021 TV series Many of the aphorisms used in the series are adapted from or derived directly from the Tao Te Ching a book of ancient Taoist philosophy attributed to the sage Lao tzu 6 7 8 Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 2 1 Main cast 2 2 Guest cast 3 Production 3 1 Development 3 2 Broadcast 3 3 International broadcast 3 4 Sets 3 5 Special effects 3 6 Soundtrack 4 Question of Bruce Lee s involvement 5 Casting controversy 5 1 Representation of women and ethnic groups 5 2 Representation of Asians 5 3 Recapitulation 6 Episodes 7 Reception 7 1 Critical response 7 2 Accolades 8 Home media 9 Legacy 9 1 Kung Fu The Movie 9 2 Kung Fu The Next Generation 9 3 Kung Fu The Legend Continues 9 4 Feature film 9 5 2021 reboot 10 Notes 11 References 12 Further reading 13 External linksPlot Edit David Carradine as Kwai Chang Caine Philip Ahn as Master Kan Keye Luke as Master Po Kwai Chang Caine David Carradine is the orphaned son of an American man Thomas Henry Caine Bill Fletcher and a Chinese woman Kwai Lin born in mid 19th century China 9 After his maternal grandfather s death he is accepted for training at a Shaolin Monastery where he grows up to become a Shaolin priest and martial arts expert In the pilot episode Caine s beloved mentor and elder Master Po is murdered by the Emperor s nephew with a firearm outraged Caine retaliates by killing the nephew with everyone unaware that the man was reloading his weapon to attack again With a price on his head Caine flees China to the western United States where he seeks to find his family roots and ultimately his half brother Danny Caine A recent tombstone dated 1874 in a season 3 episode places the stories approximately between 1871 and 1875 10 Although it is his intention to avoid notice Caine s training and sense of social responsibility repeatedly force him out into the open to fight for justice or protect the underdog After each such encounter he must move on both to avoid capture and prevent harm from coming to those he has helped Searching for his family he meets a preacher played by real life father John Carradine and his mute sidekick Sunny Jim played by real life brother Robert Carradine then his grandfather played by Dean Jagger Flashbacks are often used to recall specific lessons from Caine s childhood training in the monastery from his teachers the blind Master Po Keye Luke and Master Chen Ming Kan Philip Ahn In those flashbacks Master Po advises his young student patience Grasshopper 11 a nickname given from a playful lesson he taught to Caine as a child about being aware of the world around him including the grasshopper that happened to be at his feet at that moment During four episodes of the third and final season Barbary House Flight to Orion The Brothers Caine and Full Circle Caine finds his brother Danny Tim McIntire and his nephew Zeke John Blyth Barrymore Cast Edit Carradine and guest star Sondra Locke 1974 Main cast Edit David Carradine as Kwai Chang Caine 63 episodes Radames Pera as Young Caine 48 episodes Keye Luke as Master Po 48 episodes Philip Ahn as Master Kan 40 episodes Guest cast Edit This list comprises a selection of actors billed in the opening credits and some actors whose characters were decisive in the episode plot s development or who later became widely recognized for other productions Among them there are nominees and winners of Academy Awards Emmy Golden Globe Tony and other film and theater awards At the minute 6 39 of the Kung Fu DVD documentary The Tao of Caine Production and Beyond Herbie J Pilato says One of the great things about Kung Fu is that it had this incredible A list of guest stars You know there were stars then and they became stars later So it was a breeding ground for A 1 talent and it was also just surrounded by A 1 talent I mean in front of and behind the scenes They didn t settle for less Jerry Thorpe added People wanted to do the show because it was unique it s as simple as that Yes it was fairly easy to cast people that normally wouldn t do a series television 12 This list does not reflect the full extent of Asian American actors participation since most of them were billed in the series closing credits It can be noticed that a group of Asian actors appeared repeatedly in the series According to John Furia Jr in a May 1973 interview this happened because one of the problems we re faced with is that Oriental actors did not have much opportunity to act in TV or movies before and so there is no great pool to draw from So far availability of martial artists for the training and fighting scenes has been good 13 Asian actors who returned often to the series were mostly members of the East West Players brought to the series by Guy Lee who would take charge of Bessie Loo s Talent Agency when she retired 5 43 44 The Carradine Family John Carradine s1e2 s2e21 s3e23 as Rev Serenity Johnson Keith Carradine Pilot s1e9 as Teenager Caine uncredited Bruce Carradine s2e13 as Sheriff s3e26 as Capt Roy Starbuck Robert Carradine s1e2 as Sunny JimThe Caine Family Dean Jagger s1e2 as Henry Raphael Caine Bill Fletcher 14 s1e11 as Fox s3e14 as Thomas Henry Caine Tim McIntire s1e4 as Samuel Buchanan s2e1 as Deputy Mitchell s3e18 21 as Daniel Caine John Blyth Barrymore s3e18 21 as Zeke Caine Stephen Manley s3e14 s3e16 as Boy CaineActors appearing in three or more episodes James Hong Pilot s2e5 s2e20 s3e3 s3e4 s3e9 s3e22 as various characters and bit parts in others Richard Loo Pilot s2e7 s2e20 s3e8 s3e11 as various characters Victor Sen Yung Pilot s1e11 s2e5 s2e15 s3e12 as various characters Benson Fong Pilot s1e3 s2e4 s3e13 as various characters Clyde Kusatsu s2e20 s3e1 2 s3e15 as various characters Leslie Nielsen s3e18 21 as Vincent Corbino Khigh Dhiegh s1e10 as Shang Tzu s3e10 11 as Sing Lu Chan Robert Ito Pilot as Fong s2e2 as Blacksmith Ninja s2e15 as Captain Tim Lee Albert Salmi Pilot as Raif s1e7 as Shawn Mulhare s3e7 as Reuben Branch Soon Tek Oh s1e8 as Kwan Chen s2e19 as Chen Yi s3e8 as Yi Lien John Vernon s3e6 as Forbes s3e20 21 as General CantrellActors appearing in two episodes Eddie Albert s3e1 2 as Dr George Baxter Edward Albert s3e1 2 as Johnny Kingsley McLean John Anderson s1e3 as Benjamin Dundee s2e18 as Jack Youngblood Jim Davis s1e6 as Joe Walker s2e1 as Sheriff Grogan Howard Duff s2e14 as Noah Fleck s3e4 as Mr Jenkins Dana Elcar s1e7 as Judge Todd A Pritikin s2e2 as Noah Jones Stefan Gierasch s2e22 23 as Logan McBurney Kai Tong Michael Greene s1e9 as Huntoon s3e12 as Aztec Priest Barbara Hershey s3e10 11 as Nan Chi Season Hubley s3e1 2 as Margit Kingsley McLean David Huddleston s2e9 as Nathaniel s3e16 as Shelby Cross Scott Hylands s1e3 as Randy Bucknell s2e6 as Saunders Roy Jenson Pilot as Fuller s1e12 as Rupp L Q Jones s1e4 as Sgt Straight s3e24 as Maj Clearke Bealson Don Keefer s3e7 as Stripper s3e19 as Station Keeper Nancy Kwan s2e22 23 as Mei Li Ho A Martinez s3a6 as Slade s3e21 as Tigre Cantrell Mae Mercer s2e1 s3e24 as Elizabeth Brown Patricia Neal s3e1 2 as Sara Kingsley Lois Nettleton s3e18 19 as Delonia Cantrell Shelly Novack s1e6 as Breck Rankin s2e21 as Bascomb Michael Pataki s2e22 23 as Buskirk Denver Pyle s1e15 as Mayor Howard Simms s2e18 as Dr Joseph Colton James Shigeta s3e9 as Master Kwan Li s3e15 as Col Lin Pei Barry Sullivan Pilot as Dillon s2e18 as Edwards Clare Torao as Clare Nono 15 s2e17 as Cinnamon s3e22 as Princess Mei Ming Warren Vanders s1e9 as Sergeant E T Bedford s2e16 as Clifford Tait Hal Williams s2e1 s3e24 as Caleb Brown Anthony Zerbe s2e10 as Paul Klempt s3e5 as Rafe Morgan Woodward s1e8 as Col Binns s2e21 as The Hanged ManActors appearing in one episode Cannonball Adderley s3e17 as Trim Delaville Charles Aidman s3e24 as Dr Cooper Barry Atwater s2e17 as Kyle Thurmond Lew Ayres s3e13 as Beaumont John Drew Barrymore s2e14 as Alex McGregor Fred Beir 16 s1e14 as Jim Gallagher Cal Bellini 17 s3e5 as Hoskay Ramon Bieri s2e9 as John Bates Lane Bradbury s1e4 as Annie Buchanan Wilford Brimley s3e16 as Blacksmith Geraldine Brooks s1e7 as Widdaw Tackaberry Wendell Burton s1e11 as Martin Crossman Gary Busey s1e15 as Josh David Canary s2e11 as Frank Grogan Timothy Carey s3e23 as Bix Courtney Leslie Charleson s3e16 as Amy Starbuck Tina Chen s1e5 as Su Yen Lu Matt Clark s2e11 as Niebo Barbara Colby s2e21 as Josie Brandon Cruz s1e1 as Peter Gideon Ji Tu Cumbuka s3e18 as Omar Henry Darrow s2e4 as Don Emilio Fierro Rosanna DeSoto s2e5 as Kiona George DiCenzo s3e5 as Jess John Doucette s1e6 as Ed Rankin Diana Douglas s2e7 as Sister Richardson Don Dubbins 18 s1e12 as Meador Andrew Duggan s1e5 As Sheriff Boggs Aimee Eccles 19 s1e8 as Po Ten Jack Elam s2e5 as Marcus Taylor Jose Feliciano s3e17 as Jonno Marcado Emilio Fernandez s2e4 as Don Carlos de San Martin Ed Flanders s2e9 as Alonzo Davis Rhonda Fleming s3e23 as Jennie Malone Harrison Ford s2e18 as Harrison Rosemary Forsyth s3e3 as Ellie Crowell Jodie Foster s1e10 as Alethea Patricia Ingram Robert Foxworth s2e13 as Captain Clyde McNelly Anne Francis s2e17 as Ida Quinlan Victor French s1e15 as Sheriff Aldon Pool Beverly Garland s3e17 as Theresa Hobart Will Geer s1e15 as Judge Emmitt Marcus Chief Dan George s1e15 as Ancient Warrior Lynda Day George s2e16 as Dora Burnham Clu Gulager s1e3 as Sheriff Rutledge Moses Gunn s1e13 as Isaac Montoya Charles Haid s3e24 as Sheriff Richard Hatch s1e8 as David Binns Myron Healey s2e8 as Capt Malachy Marianna Hill s2e19 as Louise Coblenz Pat Hingle s1e6 as General Thoms Don Johnson s2e6 as Nashebo Nathan Jung s2e20 as Dark Rider James Keach s2e2 as Abe Jones Richard Kelton s3e6 as Curly Bill Graham Evan C Kim s3e15 as Lieutenant Lloyd Kino s3e16 as Doctor Beverly Kushida 20 s2e2 as Akiko Swan Carol Lawrence s3e6 as Ada Bethel Leslie s2e19 as Rita Coblenz Joycelyne Lew 21 s2e20 as Kem Geoffrey Lewis s1e9 as Johnson Sondra Locke s3e4 as Gwyneth Jenkins William Lucking s1e13 as Quade Barbara Luna s3e14 as Isela Mako s1e5 as Wong Ti Lu Kiel Martin s1e13 as Marshal Tim Matheson s2e8 as Lt Bill Wyland George Matsui as Harushi 22 s3e22 as Sing Tao Wayne Maunder Pilot as Engineer McKay Gary Merrill s2e15 as Dan Hoyle Joanna Moore s3e20 as Lula Morgan Pat Morita s3e23 as Arthur Chen Diana Muldaur s2e11 as Theodora Tom Nardini s3e13 as Matoska Ed Nelson s1e14 as Sheriff Walter Raha Sheree North s1e14 as Noreen Gallagher France Nuyen s3e3 as Lady Chi Ching Merlin Olsen s1e7 as Perlee Skowrin James Olson s3e9 as Damion Judy Pace s2e16 as Jenny Lara Parker s1e1 as Amy Allender Vic Perrin s1e14 as Eldon Riddle Slim Pickens s2e13 as Bart Fisher Stefanie Powers s3e7 as Edna Laurie Prange 23 s2e10 as Gretchen Klempt Andrew Prine s2e12 as White Victoria Racimo 24 s3e8 as Lady Mei Wu Ford Rainey s1e12 as Jacob Sterne Logan Ramsey s2e5 as Mayor Abel Donaldson James Lee Reeves 25 s2e9 as Andy Dortminder Alejandro Rey s3e14 as Matteo Andrew Robinson s2e18 as Johnny Walker Gilbert Roland s2e3 as Padre Braganza Ruth Roman s2e14 as Rhoda Norman Fred Sadoff 26 s1e12 as Ward Bannack Joe Santos s3e14 as Sanjero John Saxon s1e1 as Raven William Schallert s1e11 as Willis Roper William Shatner s3e3 as Capt Brandywine Gage Gregory Sierra s1e13 as Zolly Howard Da Silva s2e10 as Otto Schultz William Smith s2e3 as Capt Luther Staggers Don Stroud s3e7 as Neulin Bo Svenson s2e6 as Pike Kenneth Tobey s1e10 as Sheriff Ingram Brian Tochi s3e12 as Shen Ung Harry Townes s1e4 as Amos Buchanan Robert Urich s1e3 as Greg Dundee James Wainwright s3e6 as Daniel Caine Luke Askell Carl Weathers s3e20 as Bad Sam Fritz Weaver s2e15 as Hillquist Katherine Woodville s2e12 as Nedra Chamberlain Adele Yoshioka s3e15 as Po Li David Chow 27 acted as the technical and kung fu advisor and guest starred in the Pilot as the Little Monk Caine s enemy at the climactic fight scene 28 His technical role was later undertaken by Kam Yuen who guest starred as Lin Wu in the s1e3 episode Blood Brother and as Wong Ti in the s3e1 2 episodes Blood of the Dragon 29 Part of Chow s job was to add or eliminate fight scenes from the script settle differences of opinion regarding their technical aspects among the martial artists participating in them and make the scenes believable 30 Production EditDevelopment Edit Kung Fu was created by Ed Spielman and Howard Friedlander 31 directed and produced by Jerry Thorpe and developed by Herman Miller who was also a writer for and co producer of the series 32 33 34 For the series concept s history see Bruce Lee s involvement Spielman Friedlander s 160 page movie script was transformed by Jerry Thorpe and writer Herman Miller into a 90 minute TV movie with commercial breaks so it actually amounted to about 75 minutes of screen time Since the rule of thumb on a script is that one page equals one minute the script was literally cut in half 35 Directed by Jerry Thorpe it was broadcast on February 22 1972 just after the meeting of President Nixon with Chairman Mao and rerun the following Summer to great acclaim ABC and Warner Brothers were deluged with letters telephone calls and telegrams all praising the show 13 ABC ordered just four more segments and placed them in what was called the death row the Saturday night slot opposite All in the Family on a monthly basis Herman Miller developed the pilot into a series by writing the first three episodes by including in the plotline Caine s search for his missing brother and by giving it a style to which following writers could adhere 32 min 19 26 After a very positive reception to the first three segments in November 1972 the network contracted for 12 more episodes dropped Alias Smith and Jones and placed Kung Fu in the Thursday night slot at 9 p m The resultant good ratings led to the series renovation for a second season 36 The series story editor was John Furia Jr At the time a freelance writer for TV and movies who also worked in production he had declined offers as story editor before until Jerry Thorpe approached him with Kung Fu He had seen the pilot and was fascinated by it so he accepted The series didn t have a stable team of writers but freelance writers pitched their stories to the production they were told not to include temple scenes It was John Furia s job to write them and make them relevant to the episode s plot based on the research material the production had collected 5 16 17 32 min 18 36 Furia s job also included to maintain and preserve historical accuracy in each script To complicate matters there is no single historical source on kung fu upon which he can rely He must make extensive research into various sources before he can render a story to be within the realms of truth Furthermore because the story involves an ethnic group and the tempers of our time do not tolerate ignorance and bigotry he must not only make sure that the historical information regarding the group is accurate but that these people are presented with dignity and respect Questioned about whether having a half Caucasian as a student at the Shaolin Temple which did not accept foreigners was historically accurate John Furia Jr declared There is of course a certain amount of dramatic license involved in producing a show of this nature As for David Carradine playing the part of a half American half Chinese I can honestly say that we haven t found anyone before or since the series began who can play the part better One of the reasons for the success of the series is Carradine s portrayal of Caine As for the hiring of Asian actors for the secondary roles he said It not only adds authenticity it s only proper that it should be so Our series I believe hires more Orientals than any series on TV 13 Broadcast Edit The series aired on ABC from October 1972 to April 1975 for a total of 63 episodes The series became one of the most popular television programs of the early 1970s receiving widespread critical acclaim and commercial success upon its release 37 13 On the week ending May 6 1973 Kung Fu became the No 1 show on US television drawing a regular audience of 28 million viewers Around the same time Bruce Lee s Hollywood debut Enter the Dragon was being completed 38 It was part of what became known as the chopsocky or kung fu craze after Hong Kong martial arts films such as Five Fingers of Death King Boxer and Bruce Lee s Fists of Fury The Big Boss topped the US box office in early 1973 39 In its first season 1972 1973 Kung Fu s pilot was first aired as an ABC Tuesday Movie of the Week which placed it in the range of the top 20 programs of the season as determined by Nielsen Media Research After the pilot s rerun in the summer during the fall season three more episodes were aired once a month on Saturday nights alternating with Alias Smith and Jones against All in the Family and Bridget Loves Bernie which were among the top 10 programs of that season The other 12 episodes ran on Thursday nights when they ranked among the 30 first rated shows and tied in ratings with The ABC Monday Night Movie and The F B I during the winter season losing in ratings to Ironside which was at the same time slot during the fall and summer seasons 36 In its second season 1973 1974 it ran on Thursday nights when it remained among the 30 first rated shows together with CBS Thursday Night Movie which was at the same time slot and tied in ratings with The Carol Burnett Show which ran on Saturday nights In its third and final season 1974 1975 Kung Fu s time slot changed three times and it lost its place among the 30 first rated shows In the fall it was moved to Saturdays night at 9 p m against CBS The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Bob Newhart Show sitcoms rated in the top 20 of the season Between the fall and winter seasons it ran on Fridays at 8 p m which placed it against NBC s sitcoms Sanford and Son and Chico and the Man both rated in the top 10 of the season Then in winter Kung Fu s time slot changed to Saturdays at 8 p m which placed it against CBS s All in the Family The Jeffersons sitcoms rated in the season s top 10 and NBC s Emergency a series rated in the top 30 of that season all of which were at the same time slot Contrary to some misconceptions Kung Fu was not canceled The series ended due to a combination of factors among which the documentary The Tao of Caine cites the lead actor s burnout changes in the writing and shooting that altered some of the most appreciated characteristics of the show and above all the changes in the time slot which led to the audience s decline 12 min 13 03 However the most important factor was David Carradine s decision to leave 33 400 401 It has been said that Carradine left the show after sustaining several injuries that made it impossible for him to continue 40 41 42 While injuries were a feature of his career 43 Carradine s decision to quit Kung Fu was influenced by the bad publicity that a drug related incident attracted on him and which affected the ratings of the series what Radames Pera described as sabotage 44 Carradine himself acknowledged that it had been detrimental to audience ratings 33 393 From a broader point of view Carradine s decision stemmed from the fact that he from the beginning hadn t wanted to commit long term to a series 32 min 8 18 or stay in it for an extended period 12 min 13 10 due to his foremost interest in pursuing a career in filmmaking 36 19 45 which he said led him to avoid signing a regular contract that would have bound him for five years 33 363 At any rate Carradine s warning to the production team that the third season was going to be his last one allowed the writers to plan the final episodes so that all of the remaining story arcs regarding Caine and his brother could be brought to a satisfying end In his commentary to the episode Full Circle Carradine regretted his decision to leave because of how that had affected the series crew 34 min 23 58 Kung Fu started to broadcast in syndication on September 1 1979 on 23 local channels 46 The series was later broadcast on cable television by the TNT channel on weeknights at 7 p m ET 47 48 International broadcast Edit This series was internationally broadcast in its original run later distributed in DVD format has been re broadcast in cable channels specialized on vintage TV shows like TCM Latin America 49 and it is also available for streaming 50 Argentina Australia 51 Austria Belgium 1974 Brazil DVD premiere 2005 Canada DVD premiere 2007 Chile Television Nacional de Chile dubbed version Costa Rica Telecentro dubbed version Ecuador Ecuavisa dubbed version France 1974 Greece Italy Canale 5 1983 Japan Mexico Netherlands 1974 New Zealand Jones 52 Peru Panamericana Television dubbed version Soviet Union Spain Dubbed version Sri Lanka with subtitles United Kingdom Uruguay Dubbed version West Germany 1975Sets Edit The series was filmed at the Warner Bros Studios Burbank Laramie Street the Backlot and several stages Old Tucson Studios and on locations like Vasquez Rocks the 20th Century Fox Ranch Malibu Creek State Park and the sand dunes in the Yuma Desert for the opening and closing credits 53 The Shaolin Monastery which appeared in flashbacks was originally a set used for the 1967 film Camelot It was inexpensively and effectively converted for the setting in China by the Academy Award nominee Eugene Lourie as art director 51 the set decorator was the Academy Award nominee Ralph S Hurst 54 Even if Camelot won an Academy Award for its art direction and set decoration the expensive castle made with wooden beams wooden frame structures and building timber covered with faux stone siding 55 was criticized for its unspecific style placed in a landscape evidently Californian which resulted in that castle being the last attempt for a studio to construct a large scale set that represented a foreign location By November 1971 when Jerry Thorpe asked Eugene Lourie to design the art for Kung Fu the castle was derelict to the point that Lourie believed that it still stood only because the cost of demolishing it would be prohibitive Working with the reduced budget of a TV production was a challenge but Lourie had learned in France how to work with little money for sets He was both interested and intrigued by the story as the action moved back and forth between the Wild West s present and the memories of the Shaolin temple Lourie decided to emphasize that contrast visually The practical need for making the project monetarily viable meant style compromises With that in mind the castle s nonspecific architectural style was perfect to give it a Chinese look for Western eyes by adding characteristic roofs a front wall with a massive wood carved door and brick walls with ceramic grilled windows while its terraces and stairs were fit for the stagings of the kung fu training sequences For the temple s interiors Lourie opted for showing only a portion of the set and let the viewers complete it in their minds He decided on a church like appearance with a Buddhist mural on the back wall multileveled wooden candleholders and burning candles between columns a constant haze and the projection of strong rays of light as if coming through high church windows That visual conception made it unnecessary to build long and high stone walls for those sets especially because the studio offered Kung Fu a large stage on which there was a standing set of the big hall from Camelot That presented the advantage of ready made stone walls if the side wings of the temple were to appear in a take The scenes among the flickering candles would become a signature of the series For other Chinese sets he used carved wooden partitions to enhance plain walls or giant sculptured lions to give simple gardens an aura of grandeur For the railroad camp location a place close to Hollywood was needed so the well known Vasquez Rocks were chosen As for the Western scenes the old western streets on the Warners lot were easily adaptable to the series multiple requirements Lourie s solution of the temple and the other sets both in budgetary and visual terms was key in getting the go ahead for the movie pilot from the production department and for the subsequent series 56 57 In his memoir Eugene Lourie praises Jerry Thorpe s vision courage and inventiveness to undertake the Kung Fu project with a reduced TV budget At the minute 4 32 of the documentary The Tao of Caine Jerry Thorpe says about him The art director Eugene Lourie his talents were unending He converted a medieval castle that had been built for Camelot on the backlot into an AD 2nd to 3rd century Shaolin monastery for a buck and a quarter He cannibalized every scene dock in the industry It was amazing to watch 12 The Camelot Castle already converted into a Shaolin temple and with some additions became a main set for the 1973 musical Lost Horizon during its 1972 April to June shooting period 58 From late 1972 to early 1975 it became again a Shaolin temple while the Kung Fu episodes were in production with the Emmy Award winner Antony Mondello 59 and John Lamphear 60 as set decorators When visiting the backlot in 1980 Lourie was sorry to find out that a large part of the western streets had been bulldozed As for the imposing castle temple lamasery it lasted for a few more years until it was torn down and substituted by a parking lot and the Bridge offices building 1994 61 62 63 Special effects Edit The series used slow motion effects for the action sequences which Warner Brothers had previously utilized in the 1969 Sam Peckinpah film The Wild Bunch and were also subsequently utilized for the action sequences in the science fiction series The Six Million Dollar Man Soundtrack Edit Dharma Bells from Emil Richards Collection The music for the opening and closing titles as well as the incidental music was composed by Jim Helms 64 The series associate producer later producer Alex Beaton selected him after listening to several composer demos when the pilot was in development Helms a guitarist and arranger scored the pilot with a team of only eleven musicians The result was mostly atmospheric instead of melodic with a koto as the predominant instrument This score did not include Caine s Theme which was added when the series began airing in 1972 in the opening and closing titles That signature theme had two unusual characteristics through the first season it was revised and re recorded several times and the sound palette comprised about 19 musicians per session only Even if half of them were string players woodwinds keyboard and percussion were always more prominent The flute themes were performed by Sheridon Stokes 65 on alto recorder since the type of bamboo flute featured in the series wasn t chromatic and was deemed impractical for scoring purposes The constant presence of a harpsichord played by Mike Lang helped to set the series in the 19th century The percussion instruments included a waterphone Chinese tom toms Chinese opera bells woodblocks and antique Chinese Dharma bells Asian nested bells The percussionist Emil Richards collected over 90 of them and used them often for microtonal glisses 66 Everything resulted in an Eastern Western combination that was unique in American television Variety referred to Helms work as especially interesting sensitive a decided asset Given the success of Kung Fu s first season Warner Bros Records released internationally in December 1973 a concept album of dialogue and music from the show based on the pilot and the first nine episodes Caine s Theme was also released as a single 67 The record used an expanded 45 piece orchestra for the musical selections and a group of eight musicians for the incidental music underscoring dialogue taken from the Shaolin temple sequences The LP was re released in CD format in 2010 accompanied by the Man in the Wilderness movie soundtrack 68 69 70 Caine s Theme with different arrangements was included in the TV and film music compilations by Jack Hawkins his Orchestra and Singers UK 1974 71 Jack Parnell and his Orchestra UK 1975 72 and The Film Studio Orchestra Japan 1976 73 Question of Bruce Lee s involvement EditIn her memoirs Bruce Lee s widow Linda Lee Cadwell asserts that Lee created the concept for the series which was then stolen by Warner Bros Even before this Longstreet Warner Brothers had suddenly caught on to the fact that kung fu itself had captured the public s imagination and decided to launch a TV series she writes Bruce himself had been working on the idea of a Shaolin priest a master of kung fu who would roam America and find himself involved in various exploits The studio contacted him and he was soon deeply involved He gave them numerous ideas many of which were eventually incorporated in the resulting TV success Kung Fu starring actor David Carradine Linda Lee The Man Only I Knew pp 130 31 74 There is circumstantial evidence for this in a December 8 1971 television interview that Bruce Lee gave on The Pierre Berton Show In the interview Lee stated that he had developed a concept for a television series called The Warrior meant to star himself about a martial artist in the American Old West the same concept as Kung Fu which aired the following year but that he was having trouble pitching it to Warner Brothers and Paramount In the interview Pierre Berton commented There s a pretty good chance that you ll get a TV series in the States called The Warrior in it where you use what the Martial Arts in Western setting Lee responded That was the original idea both of them Warner and Paramount I think they want me to be in a modernized type of a thing and they think that the Western type of thing is out Whereas I want to do the Western Because you see how else can you justify all of the punching and kicking and violence except in the period of the West Later in the interview Berton asked Lee about the problems that you face as a Chinese hero in an American series Have people come up in the industry and said well we don t know how the audience are going to take a non American Lee replied Well such question has been raised in fact it is being discussed That is why The Warrior is probably not going to be on Lee adds They think that business wise it is a risk I don t blame them If the situation were reversed and an American star were to come to Hong Kong and I was the man with the money I would have my own concerns as to whether the acceptance would be there 75 However Bruce Lee was undoubtedly considered for the starring role 5 32 33 and David Carradine himself in a 1989 interview and in his book Spirit of Shaolin said that Bruce Lee was passed over for the role 76 18 19 It is alleged that an unnamed ABC executive said You can t make a star out of a five foot six Chinese actor 77 According to biographer Matthew Polly Bruce Lee did not invent the Kung Fu TV series 78 Ed Spielman created the character of Kwai Chang Caine and the movie treatment Spielman wrote with Howard Friedlander in 1969 was the origin of the pilot and subsequent series Spielman first wrote a treatment about a samurai who travels to China and learns kung fu Around 1967 he gave it to his partner Howard Friedlander who suggested turning it into a Western Spielman then decided to make the leading character into a half American half Chinese Shaolin monk In 1969 the William Morris agent Peter Lampack put the treatment into the knowledge of Fred Weintraub at the time an executive at Warner Brothers and later the producer of Enter the Dragon As a New York based production executive at Warner Bros Pictures it was my job to develop projects to appeal to the youth market From the mountain of potential projects sent to me weekly I unearthed a treatment for a feature length film by a couple of writers named Ed Spielman and Howard Friedlander called The Way of the Tiger The Sign of the Dragon It was an intriguing East meets Western tale of a young Shaolin monk from China roaming the American West of the 1800s righting wrongs with pacifist Eastern philosophy And if that failed kicking serious cowboy butt with nothing but his hands and feet I liked the idea and gave the boys something like 3 800 to write a screenplay At about that time Warner Bros made the decision to change their base of operations and moved me from New York to Hollywood 79 80 He received the finished script on April 30 1970 Later through his friend Sy Weintraub no relation Weintraub met Bruce Lee and considering him ideal for the part tried to put the script into development with him as the leading actor but was rejected According to Howard Friedlander the film was to be filmed in Durango Mexico for the Western scenes and Taiwan for the Chinese scenes Its budget had been calculated as 18 million over 124 million in 2022 dollars 5 15 Friedlander blamed the arrival of Richard D Zanuck and David Brown as senior executives at Warners Bros for the cancellation of the movie project because the general consensus was that the public would not be willing to accept a Chinese hero 81 280 281 While Bruce Lee was in Thailand filming The Big Boss Weintraub brought the script to Tom Kuhn head of the Warner Bros TV division who liked it Warner Bros and ABC announced their TV deal for Kung Fu on July 22 1971 and started pre production including casting The air date was scheduled for February 22 1972 with production starting on December 15 1971 Bruce Lee having arrived back from Thailand auditioned for the part of Caine but the studio was reluctant to hire a Chinese actor having concerns with his accent his intense personality considered not suitable to portray a quiet serene character and also because he was too authentic 82 In early October 1971 a month before Warner Brothers officially designated David Carradine for the role of Caine Warner Brothers executive Ted Ashley who saw Bruce Lee s potential and didn t want to lose him to Paramount offered him an exclusive development deal to create his own TV program which included an advance of 25 000 or 152 000 in 2017 dollars enough money to pay off most of his mortgage Bruce Lee presented a treatment describing a show called Ah Sahm which he later retitled The Warrior Bruce Lee did not sign Ashley s deal preferring to see how The Big Boss performed in theaters When the movie was a smashing success he abandoned his plans to be a TV star and instead focused on the big screen 81 74 a Decades later in 2019 Lee s series concept would be produced as Warrior on Cinemax Casting controversy EditKung Fu has been called an example of yellowface and a prominent case of whitewashing 89 Most of the controversy lies in the notion that the series idea was stolen from Bruce Lee but also in the fact that he wasn t cast for the leading role and that decision had racial connotations The steal conspiracy theory has become widespread both in academia 90 91 and in the media even internationally 92 93 The casting for the leading role when the project was still a feature film had considered among others James Coburn who was preferred by Ed Spielman When the script became an ABC Movie of the Week the casting process considered among others Bruce Lee Mako and George Takei After having sought every Asian in Hollywood because you didn t have to be super bright to know what was coming and found none that could carry the series they turned to the American side of the character and began auditioning white actors including William Smith 94 and John Saxon 95 Just two weeks before the pilot s filming started David Carradine obtained the role at his second audition 74 At the time George Takei and the Association of Asian Pacific American Artists AAPAA filed a formal complaint for unfair hiring practices They wanted an Asian actor in the leading role and a Chinese historical advisor only the second demand was conceded The Asian acting community was displeased but with so few opportunities for Asian actors it was better to have a show that would be a source of work for them in secondary roles than not having it at all James Hong who was the AAPAA s president said As the show went on we realized it was a great source of employment for the Asian acting community 81 Representation of women and ethnic groups Edit The series has been considered a commentary on race relations in the 70s both for its casting as for the depiction of discrimination against minorities 96 It is noteworthy that race issues also affected the casting of secondary characters whereas gender inequality showed in their stories France Nuyen and Nancy Kwan both Eurasian played Chinese characters the first one accepting being given in marriage as payment for service her husband was hired to perform s3e3 the other one preferring to be a concubine to the Emperor rather than the wife of the warlord who had raped her who was played by Stefan Gierasch wearing prosthetic makeup s2e22 23 Barbara Hershey appeared as a Eurasian woman who flees forced marriage to a warlord played by Khigh Dhiegh born Kenneth Dickerson and is denied admission to the Shaolin temple as a student because You are female You are also of mixed blood s3e10 11 On the other hand American women are sometimes portrayed as dependant or even unable to survive without men s1e14 s2e16 s3e4 but also as independent individuals like entrepreneurs s3e23 landowners s2e14 s3e1 2 ranchers s2e12 s3e3 or craftswomen s1e3 according to the feminist currents of the time Notably Asian women are portrayed that way on occasion s1e5 s1e8 and not just in stereotypical or subservient roles Given that the series action happens mostly in the 19th century California black people appear as important characters in just a few episodes s1e13 s2e1 s2e16 s3e18 s3e24 as at the time they were a small portion of the state s population yet all of the episodes have to do with them facing discrimination Interestingly when the consequences of the American Civil War are mentioned they are in the context of defeat and vengeance s1e4 s2e3 s3e24 not of the abolition of slavery Regarding Native Americans as it was usual at the time they are mostly portrayed by non Native actors usually from the Hispanic community and also by Whites s2e6 whereas the Hispanics themselves appear mostly when Caine visits towns in New Mexico or Mexico s2e3 s2e4 s3e14 even if at the time there was an important Hispanic presence in the state The portrayal of Native Americans varies from the stereotypical faceless villains s1e1 s1e2 to objects of persecution and discrimination s2e5 s3e5 to a co leading character in the s1e15 episode The Ancient Warrior the only one with a Native actor billed in the opening credits which precisely deals with the extermination of a whole tribe The absence of Native actors and the cultural misrepresentation issue wasn t unique to this series nor to its time it has led the National Congress of American Indians to pass a resolution on the subject as recently as 2017 97 Representation of Asians Edit East Asian or rather Chinese portrayal in the series remains a problematic subject Academic studies tend to mention the show in the context of discrimination against Asians in American society and entertainment Professor Jun Xing Chun Hsing in Library of Congress cataloging 98 states that segregating actors by roles seems reasonable when ethnic characters are cast but there is a double standard in which Asians cannot play roles designated as White whereas Caucasian actors cross into ones representing every other race showing that in movies American people are not every color but Black and White Also as there is an East West dichotomy Asians are not seen as Americans With that in mind to maintain the double standard Eurasian characters have become Hollywood s favorite creations These mixed race characters obviously allow white actors and actresses with minimum makeup to steal major roles from Asians And puts Kung Fu as the best example of that noting Bruce Lee s involvement 99 Professor Hye Seung Chung 100 exemplifies Asian representation in American film and television and the roles Asian actors were allowed to play with the case of Philip Ahn who being the son of a Korean national hero spent his career playing minor and secondary characters usually Japanese and Chinese On page 31 she compares a letter from an admirer of Ahn s work as Master Kan with playwright Frank Chin s attack on the series in a 1974 The New York Times article when he states that apes roles in movies had evolved better than Chinese images in media Even if Professor Chung states on page 177 that Kung Fu was a groundbreaking series produced by Warner Bros that intermixed the martial arts genre with Wild West iconography expanding the syntax of the television western to accommodate foreign elements at the scenographic and narrative levels her analysis decries the way the Kan character is depicted as emasculated stereotyped in various ways and she mentions that Bruce Lee was not cast in the leading role 101 Also the series itself lacks historical and cultural accuracy in this matter Through the episodes the writers made mistakes regarding the order of Chinese names and about who was the Emperor in China at the series time period When Japanese elements appear they are unlikely to be known or happen at the said time in s3e12 the boy Caine watches a Noh performance in a mandarin s mansion when Japan was still an isolationist country In s2e2 among three Japanese characters there is a woman who has been married to an Englishman for over 15 years when British subjects had been allowed to reside in Japan only since 1862 1863 also Caine knows well what a ninja is just ten years after Japan s opening to international relations Most importantly the series Shaolin priests teach Taoist and Confucian philosophy whereas the actual Shaolin monks are Buddhist However the absence of allusions to Joseon Korea is correct as immigrants from that kingdom arrived in America after 1884 Another issue that has come under the scrutiny of academia and the media which is not exclusive to this series is the fact that Asian actors of several nationalities and ethnicities appeared in the Kung Fu main or guest cast playing Chinese characters interchangeably Professor Chung on page 16 17 exemplifies this situation that Asian actors in the American entertainment industry face with the careers of two Kung Fu cast members Philip Ahn Korean and Richard Loo Hawaii born Chinese American who so often played Japanese villains in war movies that international magazine articles about them confused their pictures This confusion speaks to the interchangeability of Asian actors regardless of nationality and ethnicity which was fostered by an industry insensitive to the diversities and differences within the same racial group In an early article about the series both actors are referred to and they call their characters Orientals 30 Professors Kent An Ono and Vincent N Pham call that perceived interchangeability implicit yellowface 102 It is a problem that together with whitewashing has continued into present times and is noticed internationally 103 104 105 Regarding this interchangeability issue given the historic period in which Kung Fu is set Koreans couldn t have appeared and Japanese perhaps shouldn t have as in the 1870s America there were just 55 Japanese immigrants registered Yet in the episode s2e2 it is established through dialogue costume and cultural details that the Japanese are not the same as Chinese and they are played by actors of Japanese ancestry Radames Pera who played young Caine mentioned in 2021 They did the best they could at the time They were taking heat from the Asian community from the onset So they actually made a deal with some of the representatives from Asian American community to hire everybody in town whether they were Korean Japanese Chinese or Filipino who had a SAG card They also gave cards to those who didn t have one by giving them their first job in a union production Literally every Asian actor in town worked on that show 106 Recapitulation Edit That guy is me Spielman says That Caine character is me in a way just like Siegel and Shuster did Superman He was always Eurasian he always didn t fit in So according to its creator it was not a maneuver that would make it fit for a White actor even if his first choice for the role had been James Coburn Regarding the casting process the production team says they did try to cast an Asian actor but none was adequate for the role including Bruce Lee John Furia Jr asserted that the concept of the series was a man who was not involved a man who avoided action at almost any cost a very quiet seemingly passive man Tom Kuhn besides claiming that Lee s speech was hard to understand said It did occur to me that this part was rather cerebral a guy who only fights when he s absolutely cornered Even Fred Weintraub who had lobbied for Lee since the beginning noted that they needed an actor to portray the sense of quiet serenity that Caine possessed a quality that driven and intense Bruce was not known for Still both Kuhn and Weintraub admitted that the powers that be were unwilling to hire an Asian actor per se 74 Academic studies about Asian representation in American entertainment claim that the casting of the leading role and even the portrayal of the Chinese characters by Asian actors followed generalized discriminatory patterns Put in a historical context in which White actors were free to play Asian Eurasian and other ethnicities roles whereas Asian Eurasian and mixed race actors played the stereotypical Asian roles left but never White roles anti miscegenation laws had been repealed just in 1967 the Hays Code finally abandoned in 1968 and whitewashing has continued into the 21st century their authors simply can t believe that the casting of a White actor for a Eurasian role in 1971 could have had any other cause than inveterate racism much less when Bruce Lee was involved 102 107 108 The media continues to list this show as racist not for its contents but because future star Bruce Lee wasn t cast in a role that perhaps wasn t suited for him as an actor in November December 1971 and because of the rooted belief that the idea for the series was stolen from him 109 110 111 In consequence the new show takes the name of the original one while completely separating itself from it 11 112 113 instead of continuing its story or attempting to build upon its legacy claiming with good reason that their aim is improving Asian community s representation and visibility 114 115 116 Interestingly in the s1e3 episode Blood Brother Kwai Chang Caine pleads for his compatriots to do that as a matter of life and death Caine has uncovered a hate crime against an old condisciple An inquest ensues which could lead to a possible but unlikely indictment Caine urges a Chinese man who has been assaulted by the murderers to present himself at the proceeding Have you learned nothing You are new to this country You must understand No jury will indict a white man for what has been done to one of our people Yet you must appear If you stay away it will be an acceptance of things as they are If you appear at the inquest your very presence will be a demand for justice The presence of your son your wife and your daughter will be worth even more You ask me to subject my family to shame To hurt For what reason How can they find safety in a fortress whose walls will burn whose windows cannot stop a bullet whose doors will yield to anyone with the strength to force them How can you hide when the more you remain unseen the more they will feel free to seek you out Placed in a turning point of the history of American society and television being the last show in American television with a leading character in yellowface obscures what the show did accomplish In a time when Asian actors were largely ignored and usually played minor and openly stereotypical roles Kung Fu was exceptional for consistently presenting them as not stereotypical characters and for being a steady job source for Asian actors which was acknowledged by members of the cast 30 and the AAPAA s president James Hong The episodes s3e8 s3e10 11 s3e15 and s3e22 set in China had a mostly Asian American cast Also the show was clear in denouncing anti Chinese racism including hate crimes s1e3 and pointed at historical events ignored in popular culture like the Page Act of 1875 that basically forbade the immigration of East Asian women s1e8 or the harsh labor conditions of the Chinese immigrants who built the Transcontinental railroad Pilot s3e9 Despite its historical inaccuracies the series dialogue was greatly based on Chinese philosophy which gave viewers an introduction to its spiritual values and its dramatic appeal made it the recipient of international accolades Episodes EditMain article List of Kung Fu episodes SeasonEpisodesOriginally airedFirst airedLast airedPilot movieFebruary 22 1972 1972 02 22 115October 14 1972 1972 10 14 May 3 1973 1973 05 03 223September 27 1973 1973 09 27 April 11 1974 1974 04 11 324September 14 1974 1974 09 14 April 26 1975 1975 04 26 Reception EditCritical response Edit In their pages Rotten Tomatoes calls the series influential 117 and Metacritic in describing it says A man of peace though trained to defend himself Caine always made an attempt to address situations in a way that was morally acceptable to his beliefs and to resolve them through the least violent means possible His journey is not only one across the frontier of America but one through the light and dark areas of the soul as well 118 In a May 1973 Black Belt magazine interview with John Furia Jr the author Jon Shirota speaks about the critical response in these terms Even the TV critics customarily very reserved and cautious with their appraisals acclaimed the show the first segment as one of the year s best One critic wrote that the success of Kung Fu may be attributed to the very thing the producers were afraid of the public s not knowing what the series was about Actually said the critic it adds a certain amount of unpredictability and suspense to the plot It is unlike most of the western heroes whose faces are like the book you ve already read Another critic said that a story like Kung Fu could never have been made into a movie 10 years ago because no one would have cared about a bunch of coolies It is only now he quipped that we are giving true credit to history 13 Accolades Edit Year Nominated work Category Award Result Notes Ref 1972 Frank Westmore for ABC Movie of the Week Pilot Outstanding Makeup for a Single Camera Series Non Prosthetic Primetime Emmy Award Won 119 1973 Kung Fu Pilot Television Movie Best Television Film Golden Globe Awards Nominated 120 1973 Jerry Thorpe episode An Eye for an Eye Best Director Drama Series Primetime Emmy Award Won 121 1973 Jack Woolf episode An Eye for an Eye Best Cinematography One Hour Drama Primetime Emmy Award Won 122 1973 Herman Miller episode King of the Mountain Writers Guild of America Award for Television Episodic Drama Writers Guild of America Award Won 123 1973 David Carradine Best Television Actor Drama Series Best Actor Television Series Drama Golden Globe Awards Nominated 124 1973 David Carradine Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role Drama Series Continuing Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series Primetime Emmy Award Nominated 125 1973 Jerry Thorpe Outstanding Drama Series Continuing Outstanding Drama Series Primetime Emmy Award Nominated For Kung Fu 126 1973 Jerry Thorpe Outstanding New Series Outstanding New Series Primetime Emmy Award Nominated 127 1973 Frank Westmore Outstanding Achievement in Makeup Outstanding Makeup Non Prosthetic Primetime Emmy Award Nominated 128 1973 David Carradine Mejor Actor Extranjero Best Foreign Actor Teleprograma magazine Spain Won Delivered in 1974 129 1973 Kung Fu David Carradine Personaje mas popular Most Popular Character Teleprograma magazine Spain Nominated Delivered in 1974 129 1973 Kung Fu Mejor Serie Extranjera Best Foreign Series Teleprograma magazine Spain Nominated Delivered in 1974 129 1974 Joseph Dervin Best Edited Episode for a Television Series Best Edited Drama Series for Commercial Television American Cinema Editors Nominated For Episode The Chalice 130 1974 Melhor Programa de TV Best Television Program Trofeu Imprensa Brasil Nominated Official website 131 132 1975 Lew Ayres Outstanding Single Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Comedy or Drama Series Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Primetime Emmy Award Nominated Episode The Vanishing Image 133 1977 Melhor Serie Best Series Trofeu Imprensa Brasil Nominated Official website 131 134 Home media EditWarner Home Video released the entire series on DVD in Region 1 between 2004 and 2005 On November 14 2017 Warner Home Video re released all three seasons as well as the complete series set on DVD in Region 1 The extras include audio commentary by David Carradine on four episodes of the series s2e1 The Well s2e14 A Dream Within a Dream s3e2 Blood of the Dragon 2 s3e21 Full Circle Zen amp Now A Dinner With David Carradine And Friends Guests Hal Sparks Sifu Rob Moses Vivica A Fox Kam Yuen Cynthia Rothrock Radames Pera Michael Madsen two documentaries on the series development and production From Grasshopper to Caine the Making of Kung Fu The Tao of Caine Production and Beyond and David Carradine s Shaolin Diary a visit to China s Shaolin Monastery and the Great Wall 135 DVD Name Ep Release Date NotesThe Complete First Season 16 March 16 2004November 14 2017 re release Image cropped by 25 to 16 9 ratioEpisodes presented Edited for SyndicationThe Complete Second Season 23 January 18 2005November 14 2017 re release Original fullscreen imageThe Complete Third Season 24 August 23 2005November 14 2017 re release Original fullscreen imageThe Complete Series 63 November 6 2007November 14 2017 re release No change same as individual releases The series is also available online on Amazon Prime Video and iTunes including Pilot and on Google TV Legacy EditKung Fu The Movie Edit In Kung Fu The Movie 1986 Caine played by Carradine is forced to fight his hitherto unknown son Chung Wang played by Brandon Lee Herbie Pilato in The Kung Fu Book of Caine page 157 also comments that Bruce Lee s son Brandon Lee was involved in sequels related to the series The late Brandon Lee son of Bruce Lee played Caine s son Chung Wang Toward the end of the film Chung Wang asks Caine if he is his father The question seems somewhat ironic since in real life Brandon s father was a contender for the role of Caine in the series After Bruce Lee lost the part to Carradine he went back to Hong Kong where he made The Big Boss the film that began his legendary career in martial arts movies Kung Fu The Next Generation Edit In Kung Fu The Next Generation 1987 the story moves to the present day and centers on the story of Kwai Chang Johnny Caine Brandon Lee who is the great great grandson of Kwai Chang Caine and the difficult relationship he has with his father also named Kwai Chang David Darlow In an attempt to connect with his son Caine Sr takes him to Silver Creek a ghost town the place where their ancestor spent his last years They talk about how Caine arrived there became the wise man of the town and how he passed away So I guess he died here right That s the strange thing One evening in his garden his heart failed him His wife went to fetch the doctor When she returned Kwai Chang was gone Where did he go No one really knows As Johnny has involved himself with an operation of burglary and arms trafficking the perfectionist father and the rebellious son need to put their differences aside to fight the criminals and save Johnny from prison Kung Fu The Legend Continues Edit Two decades after the first series ended a second related series titled Kung Fu The Legend Continues running in syndication followed the adventures of Kwai Chang Caine s grandson also named Kwai Chang Caine 136 It again starred Carradine this time as the grandson of the original Caine and introduced Chris Potter as his son 137 Caine s mentor was played by Kim Chan as Lo Si The Ancient Ping Hai The second series ran for four years from 1993 to 1997 Feature film Edit In June 2006 Ed Spielman and Howard Friedlander announced that a feature film which would serve as a prequel to the original Kung Fu series and take place in China was in development In 2007 Max Makowski planned to make the film edgier than the original television series Actor director Bill Paxton was in talks to direct the adaptation of the TV series 138 Baz Luhrmann was in talks to direct the film in 2014 and if the deal was made Luhrmann was to rewrite the film s script 139 In 2020 87North Productions announced development of a contemporary feature film version of the series with creator Spielman and Stephen L Hereaux producing through his Solipsist Film company and David Leitch directing 140 2021 reboot Edit Main article Kung Fu 2021 TV series A re imagining of the original series simply titled Kung Fu aired on The CW in April 2021 The show is produced by Greg Berlanti 141 142 The series is written by Christina M Kim and Martin Gero and sees a quarter life crisis causing a young Chinese American woman named Nicky played by Olivia Liang to drop out of college and take up residence in an isolated monastery in China When she returns to find her hometown overrun with crime and corruption she uses her martial arts skills and Shaolin values to protect her community and bring criminals to justice all while searching for the assassin who killed her Shaolin mentor and now is targeting her 143 The show stars Olivia Liang as Nicky Tzi Ma and Kheng Hua Tan as Jin Chen and Mei Li her restaurateur parents whose secrets threaten to destroy their lives Jon Prasida as Ryan Chen a quick witted medical student and Nicky s younger brother Shannon Dang as Althea Chen Nicky s larger than life older sister who is newly engaged and on her way to planning her dream Chinese wedding and Eddie Liu as Henry Chu a martial arts instructor and Chinese art history buff who has instant chemistry with Nicky 144 145 146 Gavin Stenhouse was cast as Evan Hartley a highly successful Assistant District Attorney who still has a soft spot for his first love Nicky and Gwendoline Yeo was cast as Zhilan a cryptic woman with deep criminal ties and a mysterious connection to the Shaolin monastery where Nicky trained in kung fu 147 148 Notes Edit This section follows mostly Richard Bejtlich s Martial Journal magazine article which offers the clearest and most succinct chronology of the events All sources coincide in the Spielman Friedlander authorship of the Kung Fu story idea and that Fred Weintraub bought their finished movie script for Warner Bros Regarding exactly who was the first person to get interested in the movie treatment who was the Warner Bros executive who carried the movie script to the Television Division and then to ABC and who was the person ultimately responsible for its development into a TV series the sources offer varied versions Mr Bejtlich based his article chiefly on Matthew Polly s Bruce Lee biography which in turn relies on Tom Kuhn and Fred Weintraub s testimonies In his memoir Fred Weintraub credits himself only although he says he talked about the script project with Rudi Fehr at the time Warner Bros Head of Post Production On min 2 18 of From Grasshopper to Caine Tom Kuhn former Vice President of Warner Bros Television says a very large man threw a script on his desk and said the movie guys don t want to do this I thought maybe you d like to have it In the documentary as it is edited Kuhn doesn t say who the man was On page 321 of Matthew Polly s Bruce Lee biography the exact same situation is described by Kuhn identifying the huge guy as Fred Weintraub who according to Polly presented the script to Kuhn on his own initiative unhelped In a note on page 557 Polly credits Bennett Sims at the time a junior executive for Warner Bros for having been the first one to read the treatment and passing it to his boss Fred Weintraub Not the younger novelist Sims but Bennett Byron Sims 1933 2002 whose obituary mentions this connection with Kung Fu 83 It must be noticed too that in Polly s book it is said that Peter Lampack the agent who was promoting the treatment took 50 rejections before having it accepted by Fred Weintraub In Ed Spielman s IMDb biography 84 it is said that Fred Weintraub and Warner Bros studio executive Harvey Frand 85 took the movie script to ABC where it was accepted to be a Movie of the Week The source for this biography appears to be a Herbie J Pilato s article at TVWriter Com 86 On page 15 of his book Herbie J Pilato credits Harvey Frand who served as liaison between the television and motion picture departments at Warner Bros for reading the movie script already in the possession of Warner Bros presenting it to the television division pitching it in person to ABC and closing the deal On page 16 Pilato adds that Jerry Thorpe came across the script and with the help of Herman Miller transformed it into a television script On page 16 of his book Robert Anderson gives a briefer exposition of Pilato s version with the small difference of saying that Jerry Thorpe soon became attached to the project Other than quotes from Pilato s book and article no online source connects Harvey Frand with Kung Fu s creation The main source in Pilato s work about Frand s involvement seems to be Frand himself On page 55 of Richard Meyers book Films of Fury 87 Frand is mentioned as saying he was the one who had to tell Bruce Lee he hadn t been cast as the series lead in person Despite chronological mistakes it says Enter the Dragon released in August 1973 in the USA was already a success when Kung Fu s pilot was in pre production what was in late 1971 the history of the series creation in that book is essentially the same as in the other sources On min 4 08 of From Grasshopper to Caine John Furia says that he Tom Kuhn and Jerry went to New York to pitch the series to Martin Starger ABC s president who approved it Tom Kuhn adds that he and Jerry Leider then President of Warner Bros Television knew Barry Diller Vice President of Development at ABC creator of the ABC Movie of the Week and trusted the young hotshot was going to look at the material and say this is something different and that he would get them the order for a TV movie despite having a non American white guy leading character He did but it took some time So in the documentary there are Jerry Thorpe and Jerry Leider but neither Fred Weintraub nor Harvey Frand is mentioned On min 6 13 director John Badham says that Jerry wanted Bruce Lee to play the leading role in the series The sources referenced in the section say that it was Fred Weintraub who lobbied for Lee and all the sources including the documentary say that Jerry Thorpe preferred David Carradine above all candidates notwithstanding his problematic behavior as much as it was Thorpe who set the standards for the series directing and looks David Carradine used to say that Fred Weintraub bought the script and it was left on a shelf until Jerry Thorpe found it 76 15 33 369 88 min 1 22 25 1 24 00 In his memoir Eugene Lourie credited and praised Jerry Thorpe for his vision and courage to take a shelved movie script and make it into a TV film with a reduced budget From 18 to 1 million according to Pilato p 16 He doesn t mention any other Warner Bros executive It must be pointed out that the sale of the movie treatment and first script happened in New York all the exchanges at Warner Bros happened in Los Angeles and the final deal with ABC was back in New York all in the course of several years On pages 308 309 of Polly s book Howard Friedlander says he came to know of the ABC television deal for the script while in New York through an article in Variety Therefore according to the varied testimonies in this note it can be said that the process to bring Kung Fu from treatment to movie script to television series was a lengthy and complicated one Fred Weintraub was fundamental at its conception there were several executives at Warner Bros assisting in its birth and Jerry Thorpe had a decisive agency in what it came to be References Edit Martial Arts Myths Inside Kung Fu Archived from the original on July 27 2013 Retrieved August 4 2010 Season 1 air dates Pilot aired February 22 1972 IMDb Archived from the original on November 15 2020 Retrieved December 3 2018 Season 3 air dates IMDb Archived from the original on November 15 2020 Retrieved December 3 2018 Weber Bruce June 5 2009 David Carradine Actor Is Dead at 72 The New York Times Archived from the original on November 15 2020 Retrieved August 17 2010 a b c d e Pilato Herbie J 1993 The Kung Fu Book of Caine The Complete Guide to TV s First Mystical Eastern Western Charles E Tuttle Company pp 14 200 ISBN 0 8048 1826 6 Jonathan Herman 2013 Taoism For Dummies John Wiley amp Sons p 182 ISBN 9781118423981 The Tao of Kung Fu a philosophy of life that is not about fighting Kung Fu Fitness and Defense Archived from the original on December 5 2014 Retrieved December 1 2014 We only know good because of evil Tao of Kung Fu Archived from the original on November 15 2020 Retrieved December 1 2014 Pilot episode shows a telegram 59 min in dated November 1873 placing the character s birth squarely in the mid 19th century 1840 1850 Kung Fu Episode 45 Kung Fu Guide 2021 Retrieved April 29 2021 a b Joel Keller April 7 2021 Stream It Or Skip It Kung Fu On The CW Where A Female Shaolin Comes Back To San Francisco To Fight Evil Decider Retrieved May 1 2021 Do you remember the original Kung Fu We do Starring David Carradine it aired on ABC from 1972 75 and for many years after that in syndication It was a very calm zen show despite the fact that Carradine s character Kwai Chang Caine kicked major butt he was also known for the phrase Patience grasshopper This new version of Kung Fu isn t anything like that But does that matter a b c d Assner Matthew producer director Gold Danny producer director 2003 The Tao of Caine Production and Beyond 20 28 min DVD mod3productions a b c d e Jon Shirota May 1973 Love and Peace once a Week Black Belt May 1973 Retrieved May 23 2021 Bill Fletcher IMDb Retrieved April 13 2021 Clare Torao IMDb Retrieved July 13 2021 Fred Beir IMDb Retrieved April 13 2021 Cal Bellini IMDb Retrieved July 14 2021 Don Dubbins IMDb Retrieved April 13 2021 Aimee Eccles IMDb Retrieved April 13 2021 Beverly Kushida IMDb Retrieved April 13 2021 Joycelyne Lew IMDb Retrieved June 8 2021 George Matsui IMDb Retrieved July 30 2021 Laurie Prange IMDb Retrieved May 4 2021 Victoria Racimo IMDb Retrieved July 14 2021 James Lee Reeves as Milo Tremley James Lee Reeves 2015 Retrieved May 2 2021 Fred Sadoff IMDb Retrieved April 13 2021 The David Chow Humanitarian Award Foundation February 20 2013 Retrieved April 13 2021 David Chow Credits IMDb Retrieved April 14 2021 Kam Yuen Credits IMDb Retrieved April 14 2021 a b c Men Behind the Kung Fu TV Series Reprinted from John Shirota The Men Behind TV s Kung Fu Black Belt magazine January 1973 Martial Arts amp Action Entertainment October 14 2012 Retrieved April 14 2021 As technical adviser to Kung Fu Chow has to travel all over California to look for kung fu practitioners whom he feels can adapt their styles to particular parts Once the shooting starts it is up to him to settle differences of opinion regarding the fight scenes The basic problem is that most of the kung fu practitioners have never been in films before and are not familiar with the technical aspects Some insist on more realism in fight scenes disregarding difficult camera angles others demand more authentic sets disregarding budget limitations However says Chow once they realize that making a film involves a collective effort by all concerned their attitudes change and they become very cooperative Chow not only works with the actors but also helps introduce new scenes to as well as eliminate some from the scripts We have to make sure the fight scenes are believable he said We do not want the public to think that kung fu is some kind of a Chinese magic or that the masters are super human beings We want the public to learn a little about the ancient art of kung fu its history its philosophy and its applications Veteran actors Philip Ahn and Richard Loo who probably have acted in more Hollywood films than any other Oriental actors are used to portraying bald men In Kung Fu they portray Shaolin priests I was very pleased when I read the pilot script said Ahn It was written very honestly For once a film showed how badly the Orientals in this country were treated during the early days It also gives Westerners a better insight of the great Oriental culture It also gives the Westerners a better image of the Orientals added Loo They the Orientals are not shown as the stereotyped houseboy laundry man or cook They get their just dues They are portrayed as highly intelligent men with worldly knowledge Howard Friedlander IMDb 2022 Retrieved February 22 2022 a b c d Assner Matthew producer director Gold Danny producer director 2003 From Grasshopper to Caine Creating Kung Fu 22 49 min DVD mod3productions a b c d e David Carradine 1995 Endless Highway Journey Editions p 647 ISBN 1 885203 20 9 a b Kung Fu The Complete Series Collection DVD Warner Home Media 2004 Robert Anderson 1994 The Kung Fu Book Pioneer Books p 229 ISBN 1 55698 328 X a b c Burke Tom April 29 1973 David Carradine King of Kung Fu The New York Times New York Retrieved June 11 2021 Independent Lens SHAOLIN ULYSSES Kungfu Monks in America Kungfu Goes West PBS www pbs org Archived from the original on November 15 2020 Retrieved May 26 2018 Thomas Bruce 2012 Bruce Lee Fighting Spirit Pan Macmillan p 223 ISBN 978 0 283 07081 5 Archived from the original on November 15 2020 Retrieved June 7 2020 In the week ending 6 May 1973 around the time Enter the Dragon was being wrapped up the Kung Fu TV series starring David Carradine was the No 1 show on US television attracting a regular audience of 28 million viewers Desser David 2002 The Kung Fu Craze Hong Kong Cinema s First American Reception In Fu Poshek Desser David eds The Cinema of Hong Kong History Arts Identity Cambridge University Press pp 19 43 ISBN 978 0 521 77602 8 10 hard hitting facts about Kung Fu MeTV March 17 2017 Retrieved September 18 2021 THE REAL REASON KUNG FU WAS CANCELLED Wing Chun News September 16 2020 Retrieved September 18 2021 According to an Urban Legend Kung Fu Ended Because of David Carradine s Injuries Distractify April 21 2021 Retrieved September 18 2021 Dave Davies Host June 4 2009 Remembering David Carradine 1991 Interview NPR Retrieved April 14 2021 You take a lot of chances in movies Look in these Kung Fu movies I have broken or dislocated virtually every finger and every toe that I have I ve crushed my ribs I ve smashed my shoulder I ve destroyed a ligament in the knee I could go on Acting is a dangerous profession And when you consider I ve made 68 features plus all the television and everything you just got to expect that I m going to hurt myself now and then It s sort of like being a football player or something Stephanie Nolasco June 10 2020 Kung Fu star Radames Pera explains why the series ended what Little House on the Prairie was like Fox News published June 11 2020 Retrieved September 20 2021 Fox News What caused Kung Fu to end Pera We had Nielsen boxes on the backs of television sets throughout the Midwest and they would determine who was watching what at any given time This was before the internet And back then Nielsen ratings meant everything David Carradine who admitted this himself said he always had a love hate relationship with fame and success in general He was a countercultural type of person but was also under contract with major corporations That became a problem for him and he just got tired He didn t want to do it anymore So he sabotaged it Mike Malloy 2021 David Carradine s Final Fight For Americana Book excerpt from The Lost Auteur NeoText Retrieved September 20 2021 What happens when a TV superstar makes an understated personal film with friends in rural Kansas in the early 1970s but doesn t get it finished until the blockbuster prone 80s David Carradine was about to find out He had directed and starred in the drama Americana during the 1973 hiatus of his hit show Kung Fu because he wanted an escape plan from ever having to act in another TV series or in film roles he didn t care about Americana was a small town story about a Vietnam vet and it was one of a few personal films he began in the 70s along with Mata Hari and You and Me These films were part of David s master plan to make himself an actor director auteur successful enough to pick his own projects Ironically the opposite happened and David accepted tons of mercenary acting work so he could keep tinkering with his hard luck personal films The projects were so important to him that he even sold his Kung Fu royalties back to Warner Bros at one point in order to keep the dream alive And even though directing had already proven to be a tough road for David to hoe he couldn t have been prepared for the emotional rollercoaster that he along with Skip Sherwood his on again off again producer would experience in trying to get Americana seen by audiences circa 1981 1985 Syndie Briefs Kung Fu Strikes p 50 Variety Los Angeles June 13 1979 Retrieved October 12 2021 Warner Bros TV Distribution has sold Kung Fu to nine more stations boosting the market total to 23 for the hourlong 62 episode off network property which is skedded for a Sept 1 start in syndication The new buyers include WTAF TV Philadelphia KHTV Houston and WMAR TV Baltimore Kung Fu TNT Promo 1994 Cable TV TNT 1994 Archived from the original on November 19 2018 Retrieved August 19 2021 The Lowell Ledger s TV Listing Magazine PDF The Lowell Ledger pp 9 16 July 6 1994 Retrieved August 19 2021 a href Template Cite news html title Template Cite news cite news a CS1 maint location link El martes vuelve la serie Kung Fu por TCM Dangdai Primera Revista de Intercambio Cultural Argentina China May 21 2012 Retrieved May 7 2021 Release Info IMDb 2021 Retrieved April 28 2021 a b Kung fu Season 1 1972 MichaelDVD 2004 Retrieved June 24 2021 Kung Fu ran for three seasons starting in 1972 It came to Australian TV not long after in fact I can dimly remember watching the first episode when it premiered in black and white I thought that after 30 years this series would look shoddy and dated but most of the time it does not It was made on a low budget but the use of outdoor locations and being entirely shot on film gives it a more timeless look and hides the budgetary constraints The art direction of Eugene Lourie who worked on some of Jean Renoir s best films in the 1930s makes the locations look authentic and realistic You would believe that the Shaolin temple was created especially for this show but in fact the sets were built for the film Camelot and have been cleverly altered to look like a Chinese temple Steve Braunias April 26 2016 Stevie TV David Carradine predicts his own grisly death in hallucinatory Eastern Western Kung Fu The Spinoff Retrieved May 7 2021 Every second Wednesday my daughter and three of her pals come over to the house after school before their dance lesson and they always ask for macaroni and Kung Fu I tape it from the Jones Channel and one day I played them the famous opening sequence When you can take the pebble from my hand it is time for you to leave They loved it and asked to watch the entire episode They found the whole thing strange and captivating a barefoot Shaolin priest very calmly kicking people unconscious Kung Fu Filming amp Production IMDb 2021 Retrieved June 27 2021 Ralph S Hurst 1907 1972 IMDb 2021 Retrieved July 6 2021 Camelot Photos of its construction and as a lamasery www moon city garbage agency 2021 Retrieved July 6 2021 Eugene Lourie 1985 My Work in Films Harcourt Brace Jovanovich pp 337 341 ISBN 978 0156623421 I prefer pictures that offer more personal creative involvement I firmly believe that in designing a set it is important to convey the strongest impression and suppress useless details In each scene I tried to find an interesting visual approach In this I was helped greatly by Jerry s understanding and the inventiveness of his direction I tried to achieve ambitious sets but my guiding principle was to remain strictly within the budget For me these Chinese sets always had a dreamy poetic quality Steven Bingen 2014 Warner Bros Hollywood s Ultimate Backlot Rowman amp Littlefield pp 190 192 ISBN 978 1 58979 962 2 Lost Horizon 1973 Filming amp Production Filming Dates IMDb 2021 Retrieved July 6 2021 Antony Mondello IMDb 2021 Retrieved July 6 2021 John Lamphear 1918 1980 IMDb 2021 Retrieved July 6 2021 Warner Bros Bridge Building Johnson Fain 2021 Retrieved July 6 2021 Warner Bros Bridge Building CommercialCafe 2021 Retrieved July 6 2021 All About The Locations Includes maps and photos of the Backlot the Castle and the Lamasery All About The Waltons 2013 Retrieved July 6 2021 Jim Helms Biography IMDb 2021 Retrieved June 4 2021 Sheridon Stokes Sheridon Stokes 2020 Retrieved June 4 2021 La Percussion Rentals 2021 Dharma Bells LAPR Retrieved June 5 2021 According to Emil they came in sets of 3 5 and occasionally 7 or 9 He took the dharma bells and laid them out in rows so they could be played more easily then once he had enough he mounted them vertically Jim Helms Discogs 2021 Retrieved June 5 2021 Jon Burlingame 2010 Music and Dialogue from the Warner Bros TV Series by Jim Helms CD booklet Film Score Monthly Silver Age Classics pp 3 6 8 A composer gets only one chance They shoot the film for seven days It s brought in chopped up and fooled around with They have two or three weeks to make something of it You see the show once or sometimes twice if you re lucky You record three or four days later and it s supposed to be right That s the only chance you have because a week later it s going to be on the air Jim Helms from a contemporary interview Jon Burlingame Kung Fu Liner Notes Jon Burlingame 2021 Retrieved June 4 2021 Kung Fu Man in the Wilderness 1973 1971 Includes music excerpts Film Score Monthly 2021 Retrieved June 4 2021 Your Favourite TV Themes Discogs 2021 Retrieved July 17 2021 More TV Times Top TV Themes Discogs 2021 Retrieved July 17 2021 Suspense and Action Screen Themes Discogs 2021 Retrieved July 17 2021 a b c d The Truth about the Creation of the Kung Fu TV Series Martial Journal Archived from the original on January 30 2021 Retrieved February 20 2021 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint unfit URL link The Pierre Berton Show Television episode December 9 1971 Event occurs at 16 20 17 00 20 21 21 29 a b David Carradine 1991 Spirit of Shaolin A Kung Fu Philosophy Charles E Tuttle Company pp xvii 198 ISBN 0 8048 1751 0 Goldman Albert January 1 1983 The Deadliest Man on the Planet The Life and Death of Bruce Lee Penthouse Magazine Retrieved May 5 2020 Richard Bejtlich May 20 2019 The Truth about the Creation of the Kung Fu TV Series Martial Journal Retrieved April 9 2021 In the following edited and augmented excerpt from Bruce Lee A Life authoritative Bruce Lee biographer Matthew Polly shares the true story of the creation of the Kung Fu program The truth is more interesting than the myth and readers who wish to learn even more about Bruce Lee are encouraged to read Polly s book arriving in paperback format in June 2019 Fred Weintraub 2012 Bruce Lee Woodstock And Me From The Man Behind A Half Century of Music Movies and Martial Arts scribd com Retrieved March 7 2021 Fred Weintraub 2012 Bruce Lee Woodstock And Me From The Man Behind A Half Century of Music Movies and Martial Arts Brooktree Canyon Press pp chapter 1 ISBN 9780984715206 a b c Polly Matthew 2018 Bruce Lee A Life Simon amp Schuster pp 277 280 321 327 573 574 ISBN 978 1501187629 Fred Weintraub 2012 Bruce Lee Woodstock And Me From The Man Behind A Half Century of Music Movies and Martial Arts scribd com Retrieved March 31 2021 I was as enthusiastic as ever to put Bruce into the role of Kwai Chang Caine but was still meeting with resistance from the powers that be So I sent Bruce to Tom Kuhn s office to introduce himself It was a meet and greet Tom is not likely to ever forget Most actors show up to auditions with a resume and an 8 x 10 glossy headshot Bruce showed up with one extra item his nunchucks For the uninitiated nunchucks are two wooden sticks not unlike police billy clubs that are attached end to end by a short length of chain or rope In the cramped confines of Tom s office Bruce a master of the weapon gave Tom an in your face demonstration flailing the lethal sticks with mind boggling speed grace and dexterity Bruce didn t need to punch Tom in the gut to take his breath away What the fuck was that Tom asked me after the interview That was Bruce Lee I said What do you think about him for Kung Fu He s amazing Tom gushed I ve never seen anything like that But getting him the lead is still going to be a long shot He might be too authentic To my continued frustration Tom was right The powers that be had a hundred different reasons why Bruce was wrong for the part he was an unknown he was short his English wasn t good enough he lacked the necessary serenity to play the role But at the end of the day there was really only one reason In the history of Hollywood there had never been an Asian hero unless you count Charlie Chan But even that iconic Chinese American character was never popular in films until he was played by Warner Oland who was not only Caucasian he was Swedish for chrissake From Oland on only white guys played Charlie And that dubious tradition was carried on into Kung Fu when David Carradine landed the role of Kwai Chang Caine Bruce was crushed Even his lightning reflexes were powerless to keep the opportunity of a lifetime from slipping through his fingers Bennett Byron Sims Variety published April 11 2002 April 12 2002 Retrieved February 3 2022 Ed Spielman Biography IMDb 2022 Retrieved February 3 2022 Harvey Frand 1940 2009 IMDb 2022 Retrieved February 3 2022 Herbie J Pilato tells All About the Origin of the Classic Series KUNG FU TVWriter Com published 2015 May 6 2015 Archived from the original on June 6 2019 Retrieved February 4 2022 Richard Meyers 2011 Films of Fury The Kung Fu Movie Book Eirini Press p 360 ISBN 9780979998942 David Carradine Interview Sound recording Hikari Takano 2003 Retrieved February 14 2022 Robert B Ito May 2 2014 A Certain Slant A Brief History of Hollywood Yellowface Bright Lights Film Journal Retrieved April 7 2021 Giving the audience what they want was a common justification for this one sided deal which was a nice way of saying that audience members didn t want to have to look at Oriental actors for any extended period of time this was the primary reason given for the now infamous casting of David Carradine in the 1970s television show Kung Fu over original choice Bruce Lee Clint C Wilson Felix Gutierrez Lena M Chao 2012 Racism Sexism and the Media Multicultural Issues Into the New Communications Age SAGE Publications p 105 ISBN 978 1452217512 Bruce Lee influenced another ABC series Kung Fu which ran from 1972 to 1975 which was a Western starring David Carradine and with supporting Asian actors including Keye Luke and Philip Ahn Lee was a consultant to those who developed the Kung Fu show and labored under the impression that he was to be their choice for the lead role When Carradine was selected for the part Lee confided to friends that he had been the victim of racism Kung Fu s producers told Lee that they didn t believe a Chinese actor could be seen as a hero in the eyes of the American television audience The show revived the mysterious Asian stereotype With racism standing as a barrier to Bruce Lee s achieving stardom in the United States he went to Hong Kong and achieved superstardom throughout Asia as a film star Hannelore Hanja Dirnbacher 2009 SCHWERT amp FAUST Kultureller Austausch OST WEST WEST OST Am Beispiel physischer Techniken asiatischer Kampf Kunst Filme Universitat Wien p 70 This Eastern Western genre mix offers parallels to the Spaghetti Western It shows a half Chinese Buddhist monk walking through the Wild West grazes streift streit quarrel Kung Fu was produced by Warner Brothers and Bruce Lee who contributed ideas was not cast for the lead role which prompted them him to turn to film productions in Hong Kong the rest is film history Google translated from German Dieser Eastern Western Genre Mix bietet Parallelen zum Italo Western Er zeigt einen halbchinesischen buddhistischen Monch der durch den Wilden Westen streift Kung Fu war von Warner Brothers produziert worden und Bruce Lee der Ideen dazu beigesteuert hatte wurde nicht fur die Hauptrolle besetzt was diesen veranlasste sich an Filmproduktionen in Hong Kong zu wenden der Rest ist Filmgeschichte Guillermo Courau Kung Fu una traicion un protagonista agotado y una serie que dejo su marca en la cultura popular La Nacion La Nacion Argentina Retrieved April 7 2021 As already stated the genesis of Kung Fu has a B side much less glamorous than the official one and at the center of that scene is Bruce Lee The version that the martial artist repeated until the day of his death was that Warner Bros with the complicity of Ed Spielman had stolen the idea of the show from him That in fact in the meeting he had held with the studios he had told them many details that they later appropriated Not trusting the American public to accept a Chinese born hero they decided to put him aside and kept it all Translated from Spanish Alexandre Coste August 8 2014 Kung Fu l ambassadeur du bouddhisme chez les occidentaux Marianne TV France Retrieved April 9 2021 Kung Fu is first and foremost an idea of Bruce Lee that lesser known Bruce Lee Even though Bruce Lee wrote the series synopsis and offered the concept to ABC the producers preferred a white actor over him arguing that a Chinese headlining an American show was not a good sell Translated from French Louis Paul 2008 Tales from the Cult Film Trenches Interviews with 36 Actors from Horror Science Fiction and Exploitation Cinema McFarland p 223 ISBN 978 0 7864 2994 3 he even screen tested for the television pilot of Kung Fu in the role of Kwai Chang Caine wearing prosthetic eyepieces to make him appear Chinese It is rumored that the ABC television network was interested in the actor for the leading role but ultimately he was deemed too muscular and possibly menacing for the part the role went to David Carradine instead Zennie Abraham July 26 2020 Enter The Dragon s John Saxon Jim Kelly Talk ABC TV Racism Against Bruce Lee In Kung Fu Oakland News Now Retrieved June 19 2021 min 0 25 What I knew what had happened was he Bruce Lee was supposed to do this series the television series Kung Fu Uh uh right here aft and it was written for him but what happened was that ABC in their grand wisdom said what do we know what are we doing I mean the American public doesn t want to watch a Chinese actor every week so they changed Now here here s strange stuff So you know who they came to second Me Are you kidding me No I m not Wow I m not This is not spread around too often No I m honored to know this laughter The reason the reason Cause I ve read about it I couldn t do it because I was under contract at Universal to do a medical series called The Bold Ones Right I remember that So my agent said Can you get him out of this Because they want uh him to go to this show in you know about the this and that gestures martial arts and all that kind of stuff so they said No way you know he s with us and so on so far Interview transcription Jane Iwamura 2011 Virtual Orientalism Asian Religions and American Popular Culture Oxford Scholarship pp Chapter The Monk Goes Hollywood ISBN 9780199738601 This chapter looks at the figure of Kwai Chang Caine and his Shaolin monk teachers in the popular 1970s TV series Kung Fu At this moment a fictional Monk takes his place alongside representations of historical figures making the hyperreal effect discussed in previous chapters complete Kung Fu also marks the rise of a new generation into cultural power whose attempts to selectively wed their parents ideals with their own counter cultural values are clearly seen in America s first Eastern Western The racial politics of the show are specifically discussed from the casting of David Carradine as the half Chinese half American fugitive priest to the storylines that often feature minority characters The way in which racial minorities are scripted into each episode reveals a potent commentary on contemporary race relations in the early 1970s Ultimately the show individualizes the politics of race and ideally configures a spiritual approach to social oppression Abstract National Congress of American Indians 2017 Misappropriation of Native Identity in Film amp Television NCAI Retrieved April 23 2021 NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the National Congress of American Indians NCAI calls on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to lead Hollywood s diversity efforts to promote Native Actors Native stunt men and women Native people in front and behind the camera and Native stories in film NCAI calls on the Casting Society of America to cast Native Actors to represent Native people in film and television NCAI calls on the Writers Guild of America to represent and promote Native Americans in screenwriting NCAI urges producers studios and directors to highlight stories that accurately and positively portray Native people and Tribal communities as they are the stories of America Asian and Asian American Studies Department Cal State LA California State University Los Angeles published 2021 October 22 2013 Retrieved April 28 2021 Jun Xing 1998 Asian America Through the Lens History Representations and Identity Rowman Altamira pp 74 75 ISBN 0 7619 9176 X Bruce Lee was rejected by Warner Bros for the leading role despite his awesome martial arts expertise and Chinese ethnicity Hollywood deemed it legitimate for the Eurasian role to go to white actor David Carradine This racial rejection by Hollywood as Tiana Thi Thanh Nga recalls in a recent article Bruce told me made him furious It impelled him to leave the United States and return to Hong Kong where in two dizzying years he became an international legend The week before he died Tiana remembers Lee vowed to outgross Steve McQueen and James Coburn and so he did Both McQueen and Coburn were Lee s students and yet each one had told him that he Lee could never reach their star status because he was Chinese Hye Seung Chung Associate Professor Colorado State University College of Liberal Arts 2021 Retrieved April 29 2021 Hye Seung Chung 2006 Hollywood Asian Philip Ahn and the Politics of Cross Ethnic Performance Temple University Press pp 176 183 ISBN 1 59213 515 3 One can also identify Kung Fu as a nostalgic and parodic recasting of Hollywood s sinophilic period which roughly coincides with the duration of the popular B movie series Charlie Chan 1931 1949 It is significant that the Charlie Chan cycle ended the same year in which Mao Zedong s Chinese Communist Party came into power and that Kung Fu was first broadcast the year Richard Nixon visited China thawing decades of Cold War antagonism between the two world powers This obvious historical bridge is buttressed additionally by the reunion of five veteran alumni of the Charlie Chan series Philip Ahn James Hong Benson Fong Keye Luke and Victor Sen Yung in Kung Fu Pioneering Asian American actors who began their career playing supporting roles of sons and suspects to Warner Oland s and Sidney Toler s yellowfaced Charlie Chans these aging alumni gathered again to mentor the hybridized western hero Kwai Chang Caine This coveted Chinese starring role was snatched by white actor David Carradine from legendary kung fu artist turned star Bruce Lee attesting to the ironic circle of racist casting politics that encompassed 1930s film and 1970s television a b Kent A Ono Vincent N Pham 2009 Asian Americans and the Media Polity Press pp 51 53 ISBN 978 1 5095 4361 8 Even though Bruce Lee was responsible for the concept of the show he did not land the lead Instead David Carradine played the part in yellowface As Greco Larson explains it Actors of Asian descent are excluded from lead roles on television too Despite working with creators of Kung Fu 1972 1975 Bruce Lee did not get the role of Kwai Chang Caine in the television show because he looked too Asian Instead the role went to white actor David Carradine and the character was said to be half American and half Chinese This casting decision influenced the story lines making it easier for the writers to portray him as heroic 2006 68 Implicit yellowface works in three primary ways Second it assumes the similarity of Asians and Asian Americans across the board Thus Asians and Asian Americans are understood in the US media to be interchangeable having no unique qualities worth mentioning and so they often find themselves having no choice but to play roles of Asian ethnic groups other than ones most aligned with their own ethnic and cultural experiences According to the same logic mixed race Asians and Asian Americans play monoracial Asian and Asian American roles The Case against Diane Nguyen Broad Recognition A feminist publication at Yale College September 14 2018 Retrieved May 6 2021 Hawaii 5 0s replacement of Kim and Park s characters with Japanese American actor Ian Anthony Dale is oddly reminiscent of breakout Netflix rom com To All The Boys I Loved Before which while praised for its Asian representation stars a Vietnamese actress playing Korean teenager Lara Jean This pan Asian model of Hollywood casting fueled by the age old assertion that all Asians look the same begs the question if Asian American representation in media isn t accurately portraying the people it purports to be what purpose is it actually serving What does this interchangeability of Asian actors say about the kind of visibility Hollywood grants us with the expectation that we will mindlessly accept it for the sake of visibility at all Isn t it crazy all Asians weren t represented in Crazy Rich Asians The Toronto Observer November 20 2018 Retrieved May 6 2021 As a Filipino Canadian I noticed there was no one who represented my ethnicity That fact alone has deterred me from seeing the movie There are Filipino actors but they don t portray Filipino characters Nico Santos a Filipino American plays Oliver T sien alongside Filipino actress Kris Aquino as the Malay princess Intan The film not only lacked a Filipino presence but also an Indian Tamil Thai or Indonesian one despite being set in Singapore What does this mean for Asian actors Stylecaster com writer Annie Lim points out the interchangeability of Asian actors Links to another article about the subject Shannon Lee Discusses Her Father Bruce Lee s Legacy And Impact On Asian Representation In Hollywood Hong Kong Tatler August 5 2020 Retrieved May 6 2020 Even in the recent example of 2019 s Oscar winning Once Upon A Time in Hollywood Lee was disappointed by Quentin Tarantino s stereotyped portrayal of her father as an arrogant blowhard compounded by the fact he was portrayed by Korean American actor Mike Moh instead of a Chinese star It was yet another reminder of a lingering cultural blindspot in which Asians are interchangeable and Bruce Lee s martial arts school of thought is presented as superfluous smug and in this case no match against Brad Pitt s all American brawn April 21 Lynette Rice EDT 2021 at 03 41 PM Last surviving member of original Kung Fu has one complaint about the CW reboot EW com Retrieved March 9 2023 Bryant Murakami 2018 The Martial Arts and American Popular Media A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Division of the University of Hawai i at Manoa in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor in Philosophy in American Studies PDF University of Hawai i at Manoa p 110 Retrieved April 30 2021 It is widely believed that Bruce Lee was the progenitor of the initial concept for Kung Fu but was ultimately cast aside for Carradine demonstrating Hollywood s ingrained racism According to his wife Lee was rejected for the main role because he was too small too Chinese that he wasn t a big enough name to sustain a weekly series and that he was too inexperienced David J Leonard Stephanie Troutman Robbins Editors 2021 Race in American Television Voices and Visions that Shaped a Nation 2 volumes Greenwood ABC CLIO p 45 ISBN 978 1 4408 4305 1 Yellow Face continued to occur in television after The Adventures of Dr Fu Manchu Shim writes The TV program Kung Fu 1972 75 could have produced the first Asian heroic character played by an Asian actor Action star Bruce Lee originally was to have starred in Kung Fu but was later denied the role because it was assumed that audiences were not ready to watch an Asian physically humiliating whites 1998 401 Scholars have written that television has historically been where anti Asian American sentiments have been filtered through an imagination of whiteness As scholars note Yellow Face and television have long denied Asian Americans full humanity a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a author has generic name help CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Complex June 3 2013 The 50 Most Racist TV Shows of All Time Complex Retrieved April 30 2021 There s nothing really racist about the story of a half Chinese half American Shaolin monk roaming the countryside in search of his half brother OK there s the fact that the very Caucasian looking David Carradine is presented as a paragon of martial arts There s that plus his character s penchant for spouting weird fortune cookie style aphorisms like Become who you are All that and lest we forget The whole idea for the show was straight jacked from Bruce Lee So what were we saying Yeah RACIST Kat Chow February 5 2015 A Brief Weird History Of Squashed Asian American TV Shows NPR NPR Retrieved April 30 2021 And we can t talk about Kung Fu without addressing its controversy After Bruce Lee s death in 1973 his wife Linda said that he had come up with the concept of the show and that Warner Bros had stolen it from him The network denied this In an earlier interview with Pierre Berton possibly Lee s only one the star mentioned a Western style show called The Warrior that incorporated kung fu He said he was struggling to develop the show with Paramount and Warner Bros Benny Luo June 14 2019 Bruce Lee Once Had a Dream That Hollywood Destroyed Now His Daughter is Bringing it Back to Life NextShark Retrieved April 30 2021 By 1971 Lee then 30 had become an international superstar following his success with The Big Boss Fist of Fury and Way of the Dragon Although these were all Hong Kong movies it pushed boundaries for Asian Americans in cinema and challenged stereotypes of how Asian men are typically portrayed in the mainstream Around this time Lee wrote a few treatments for films he wanted to produce Among them was a pitch for a TV series call The Warrior which follows a martial artist in the Old West starring himself as the lead Surely after all his success in Hong Kong and the subsequent legion of global fans to follow Hollywood was ready for its first Asian TV lead Unfortunately it was rejected Even with Bruce Lee s star power the executives believed viewers were still not ready for an Asian lead on the big screen Lee was forced to table the project In the year that followed Hollywood released Kung Fu starring white actor David Carradine who plays a half Chinese monk fighting bad guys in the Old West The show is identical to the show Lee pitched just a year before so some couldn t help but speculate that Lee s idea was stolen and his character whitewashed Note The films were released in the USA in April 1973 June 1973 and August 1974 respectively Michael T Stack April 14 2021 Kung Fu Season 1 Episode 2 Review Silence TVFanatic Retrieved May 1 2021 A superb follow up to a strong premiere Kung Fu gets Nicky to evolve in more ways than one She got her physical and mental state tested multiple times throughout the hour and the results were lovely Nicky did a lot of training this time around both mental and physical I think this shows how she is trying to improve herself especially her mental state Meditation was a big theme Nicky meditated to deal with her grief her new issues with her mom and the fight she had with Althea Max Gao April 22 2021 Kung Fu Recap Patience Is a Virtue Vulture published April 21 2021 Retrieved May 1 2021 In another jam packed hour of action and adventure the members of the Shen family are all given their own moment in the spotlight the mysterious identity of Zhilan is unearthed by an unwitting professor turned prisoner and the recovery of a second magical weapon kicks a high stakes game of cat and mouse between the show s two nemeses into high gear Danielle Turchiano March 17 2021 Kung Fu Team on Using Media Representation to Combat Anti Asian Racism Variety Retrieved May 1 2021 So much about representation and inclusion is not so much that we as Asians need to see ourselves represented on the screens but we need to be invited into people s homes who don t see us in everyday lives just to humanize us normalize seeing us remind them that we are just like they are and have a place in this world And hopefully having our show in their homes will expand that worldview for them said actor Olivia Liang during a virtual panel for the drama on Wednesday Max Gao April 13 2021 The SF set reboot of Kung Fu on The CW flips the classic martial arts show s gender roles SFGate Retrieved May 1 2021 For Christina M Kim a television writer and producer whose credits include Lost and NCIS Los Angeles the opportunity to reboot the iconic series was a responsibility that she did not take lightly After selling her pitch to The CW in the fall of 2019 Kim began working on the pilot and immediately wanted the new iteration to stand on its own The biggest difference between the two Kung Fu shows Kim explained is the emphasis on the Asian American experience I want this to be a multigenerational show It s on The CW but it s not just a show about the kids We really get to know the parents We have a gay character and deal with how the parents deal with him coming out All these different issues through the lens of this family After we had shut down I spent hours and hours watching the same footage over and over finally getting this little three or four minute sizzle reel just the way I wanted it My eight year old son turned to me once and he said Mama they re Korean I was like They re not Korean but I know what you re saying she recalled The fact that he noticed that it s very rare to see a fully Asian show anywhere that was such a special moment for me because I realized this could really make a difference Kids will see this Hopefully this opens the door for many more shows like this I hope there are 20 shows like this with an all Asian cast Brandon Yu April 22 2021 Kung Fu reboot arrives at right time to correct wrongs of 70s series Datebook San Francisco Chronicle Retrieved May 1 2021 The political realities have made the cast and crew reflect on the show with new gravity But they also acknowledge that a breakthrough in representation on television could not begin to address or solve the complicated nexus of conditions that has put the most vulnerable Asian Americans such as the spa workers that were killed in a mass shooting in Atlanta last month in danger Certainly I m not going to say our show is the solution to anti Asian racism Kim says But I do think that we can be part of the solution just by the nature of having a predominantly Asian American cast on network television every week going into people s homes We are visible and being visible is a huge part of the solution Kung Fu Rotten Tomatoes 2021 Retrieved May 23 2021 Kung Fu Metacritic 2021 Retrieved May 23 2021 Frank C Westmore Kung Fu Jerry Thorpe Jack Woolf Pesselnick Jill May 11 1999 Herman Miller Variety Retrieved August 4 2010 David Carradine David Carradine Kung Fu Outstanding New Series Nominees Winners 1973 Outstanding Makeup for a Series Nominees Winners 1973 a b c TP de Oro Spain 1974 IMDb American Cinema Editors USA 1974 IMDb a b Trofeu Imprensa Retrieved April 12 2021 Trofeu Imprensa Brazil 1974 IMDb Lew Ayres Trofeu Imprensa Brazil 1977 IMDb Kung Fu Guide FAQ amp Search Retrieved April 12 2021 John Stanley January 24 1993 New Fu David Carradine revives successful 70s series in Kung Fu The Legend Continues San Francisco Chronicle Jonathan Storm January 27 1993 Still Alive and Kickin David Carradine Is Back in Kung Fu 150 Years Older and a Little Wiser The Philadelphia Inquirer Fleming Mike Jr October 31 2011 Bill Paxton In Talks To Direct Kung Fu Deadline Hollywood Penske Media Corporation Archived from the original on November 15 2020 Retrieved October 31 2011 Baz Luhrmann in Talks to Direct Kung Fu for Legendary Exclusive The Hollywood Reporter Guggenheim Digital Media April 11 2014 Archived from the original on November 15 2020 Retrieved April 11 2014 Fleming Mike Jr January 21 2020 Kung Fu Movie Remake Set At Universal For Hobbs amp Shaw Director David Leitch Deadline Hollywood Retrieved January 29 2020 Andreeva Nellie September 28 2017 Kung Fu Female Led Series Reboot From Greg Berlanti amp Wendy Mericle Set At Fox As Put Pilot Deadline Hollywood Penske Media Corporation Archived from the original on March 1 2020 Retrieved September 28 2017 Andreeva Nellie January 30 2020 Kung Fu amp The Republic Of Sarah Get Pilot Orders At the CW Deadline Hollywood Penske Media Corporation Archived from the original on April 23 2020 Retrieved February 24 2020 Female Led Kung Fu Reboot in Works at the CW TV Shows Archived from the original on November 15 2020 Retrieved November 6 2019 Andreeva Nellie January 30 2020 Kung Fu Tzi Ma amp Kheng Hua Tan To Co Star In the CW Reboot Pilot Deadline Hollywood Penske Media Corporation Archived from the original on March 4 2020 Retrieved February 24 2020 Andreeva Nellie February 18 2020 Kung Fu Jon Prasida Shannon Dang amp Eddie Liu To Co Star In the CW Reboot Pilot Deadline Hollywood Penske Media Corporation Archived from the original on April 21 2020 Retrieved February 24 2020 Andreeva Nellie February 26 2020 Kung Fu Olivia Liang Cast As The Lead Of the CW Reboot Pilot Deadline Hollywood Penske Media Corporation Archived from the original on May 7 2020 Retrieved February 29 2020 Andreeva Nellie March 9 2020 Kung Fu Gavin Stenhouse amp Gwendoline Yeo Join the CW Reboot Pilot Deadline Hollywood Penske Media Corporation Archived from the original on March 10 2020 Retrieved March 10 2020 Andreeva Nellie May 12 2020 Kung Fu Reboot amp The Republic Of Sarah Get CW Series Orders For 2020 21 Season Deadline Hollywood Penske Media Corporation Archived from the original on May 16 2020 Retrieved May 12 2020 Further reading EditAnderson Robert The Kung Fu Book The Exclusive Unauthorized Uncensored Story of America s Favorite Martial Arts Show Pioneer Books Inc 1994 ISBN 1 55698 328 X Carradine David Spirit of Shaolin A Kung Fu Philosophy Boston Charles E Tuttle 1991 ISBN 0 8048 1751 0 Pilato Herbie J The Kung Fu Book of Caine The Complete Guide to TV s First Mystical Eastern Western Foreword by David Carradine Boston Charles E Tuttle 1993 ISBN 0 8048 1826 6 Pilato Herbie J The Kung Fu Book of Wisdom Sage Advice from the Original TV Series Foreword by Ed Spielman Rutland Charles E Tuttle Company 1995 ISBN 0 8048 3044 4 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kung Fu TV series Wikiquote has quotations related to Kung Fu TV series Kung Fu at IMDb Kung Fu at TV Guide Unofficial Kung Fu site Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Kung Fu 1972 TV series amp oldid 1146738564, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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