Kung Fu (US TV series)

### The Series

***Kung Fu*** is an American action-adventure martial arts western drama television series starring David Carradine. The series aired on ABC from October 14, 1972 to April 26, 1975 for a total of 63 episodes. Kung Fu was preceded by a full-length (90 minutes, with commercial breaks) feature television pilot, an ABC Movie of the Week, which was broadcast on February 22, 1972. The series became one of the most popular television programs of the early 1970s, receiving widespread critical acclaim and commercial success upon its release.

Kung Fu was created by Ed Spielman, directed and produced by Jerry Thorpe, and developed by Herman Miller, who was also a writer for, and co-producer of, the series.

The series follows the adventures of Kwai Chang Caine (portrayed by David Carradine as an adult, Keith Carradine as a teenager, and Radames Pera as a young boy), 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. 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.

Keye Luke (as the blind Master Po) and Philip Ahn (as Master Chen Ming Kan) were also members of the regular cast. David Chow, who was also a guest star in the series, acted as the technical and kung fu advisor, a role later undertaken by Kam Yuen.

#### Production

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.

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

#### Bruce Lee

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. 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.

Whether or not Kung Fu was based on a concept by Lee, he was undoubtedly considered for the starring role. Herbie Pilato commented on the casting decision in his 1993 book The Kung Fu Book of Caine: The Complete Guide to TV's First Mystical Eastern Western, quoting studio executive Harvey Frand: "David Carradine was always our first choice to play Caine. But there was some disagreement because the network was interested in a more muscular actor and the studio was interested in getting Bruce Lee."

### Kung Fu: The Movie (1986)

***Kung Fu: The Movie*** is the first in a series of TV sequels which continued the story of the Shaolin monk, Kwai Chang Caine. The role of Caine is resumed by David Carradine. The role of his son, Chung Wang, is portrayed by Brandon Lee, who makes his acting debut with this film. The film aired on Brandon's 21st birthday on February 1, 1986. The role of Master Po is also resumed by Keye Luke and The Manchu is portrayed by Mako (Makoto Iwamatsu).

In his travels, Caine meets up with an old man who has several surprises for him. The first being the destruction of the Shaolin order, the second being that the man is the father of the Emperor's nephew whom he killed in China, and the third is that he seeks his revenge using the son Caine never knew he had sired as the instrument of his death. It will take all of Caine's skill and wisdom to find a solution to this deadly predicament.

### Kung Fu: The Next Generation (1987)

***Kung Fu: The Next Generation*** is a television pilot which was intended to be a follow-up to the 1972-75 television series, Kung Fu.

he Pilot tells the story in present day of the grandson of the Shaolin monk (who is also named Kwai Chang Caine after his grandfather) played by David Darlow and his son Johnny Caine, portrayed by Brandon Lee.

The story explains the fate of the original Caine: he had married and become a town's "medicine man". One night he had a heart attack. His ghost appears to his grandson and great-grandson. Later, the pair destroys a drug operation.

The pilot was not picked up for a series but on June 19, 1987 it aired on CBS Summer Playhouse, a series that aired unsold television pilots. In the 1990s, another follow-up to the series titled Kung Fu: The Legend Continues aired which ignored the continuity of the TV movies.

### Kung Fu: The Legend Continues (1993)

***Kung Fu: The Legend Continues*** is an American-Canadian action/crime drama series and sequel to the original 1972–1975 television series Kung Fu. While the original Kung Fu series was set in the American old west, Kung Fu: The Legend Continues was set in modern times. It starred David Carradine and Chris Potter as a father and son trained in kung fu – Carradine playing a Shaolin monk, Potter a police detective. This series aired in syndication for four seasons, from January 27, 1993 to January 1, 1997, and was broadcast in over 70 countries. Filming took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Like his grandfather and namesake from the original TV series, Kwai Chang Caine is a Shaolin priest who walked out of the past. Caine was the head of a temple in Northern California, where his son Peter (Nathaniel Moreau, later Robert Bednarski) also lived and studied, until the temple was destroyed in a fire caused by a renegade priest who believed the priests would serve better as mercenaries. After the destruction of the temple, each believed the other had perished and went on their separate ways; Caine wandered and traveled, much as his grandfather had, while Peter became a foster child and eventually a police officer. The series begins when Caine comes to fictional Sloanville and ends up in a Chinatown section, where Peter's precinct is, and they are reunited after being separated for 15 years.

Guest stars include Neve Campbell, Robert Carradine, Alex Cord, Colm Feore, Ryan Gosling, James Hong, Martin Kove, George Lazenby, Patrick Macnee, Mako, Doug McClure,Barry Morse, Ian Ogilvy, Mickey Rooney, George Takei, Robert Vaughn, Patrick Wayne, and Geraint Wyn Davies.

The show was cancelled when its producer, Prime Time Entertainment Network (also known as PTEN), ceased operations and no other network opted to continue the series.