Kung Fu (1972 TV series)

*For the 2021 reboot, see Kung Fu. For other titles, see Kung Fu franchise.*
***Kung Fu*** is an American action-adventure martial arts Western drama television series starring David Carradine, Keye Luke, Philip Ahn and Radames Pera.. 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. It aired on ABC from October 1972 to April 1975, spanning a total of three seasons.

This is the first produced *Kung Fu* series, and was followed by *Kung Fu: The Movie* (1986), the television pilot *Kung Fu: The Next Generation* (1987), and sequel television series, *Kung Fu: The Legend Continues* (1993). A 2021 reboot of the same name premiered on April 7, 2021.

## Premise

The series follows the adventures of Kwai Chang Caine (David Carradine), a highly trained Shaolin monk who must flee China and ends up traveling through the 19th century American West armed only with his spiritual training and his skill in martial arts, as he seeks Danny Caine, his half-brother.

## Plot

Kwai Chang Caine (portrayed by David Carradine and Radames Pera) is the orphaned son of an American man, Thomas Henry Caine (Bill Fletcher), and a Chinese woman, Kwai Lin, in mid-19th-century China. 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; outraged, Caine retaliates by killing the nephew. Now with a price on his head, Caine flees China to the western U.S. where he seeks to find his family roots and, ultimately, his half-brother, Danny Caine.

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 used in each episode as Caine recalls specific lessons from his childhood training. Young Caine or "Grasshopper" (portrayed by Radames Pera) learns at the monastery from his teachers, the blind Master Po (Keye Luke) and Master Chen Ming Kan (Philip Ahn) with the iconic nic-name given to him from a playful lesson given by Master Po about being aware of the larger world around the boy, 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).

## Main Cast

* David Carradine as Kwai Chang Caine - 63/63
* Radames Pera as Young Caine - 48/63
* Keye Luke as Master Po - 48/63
* Philip Ahn as Master Chen Ming Kan - 40/63

## Guest Cast

* John Carradine as Rev. Serenity Johnson - 3/63 (Appears in S1E2, S2E21 and S3E23)
* Keith Carradine as Teenage Caine - 2/63 (Uncredited; Appears in S1E1 & S1E9 )
* Bruce Carradine as Sheriff and as Capt. Roy Starbuck - 2/63 (Appears in S2E13 and S3E26)
* Robert Carradine as Sunny Jim - 1/63 (Appears in S1E2 )
* Dean Jagger as Henry Raphael Caine - 1/63 (Appears in S1E2 )
* Bill Fletcher as Fox and Thomas Henry Caine - 2/63 (Appears in S1E11 and S3E14 )
* Tim McIntire as Samuel Buchanan, Deputy Mitchell and as Daniel Caine - 6/63 (Appears in S1E4, S2E1 and S3 E18-21)
* John Blyth Barrymore as Zeke Caine - 4/63 (Appears in S3 E18-21)

## Notable Guest Stars

* William Shatner as Capt. Brandywine Gage
* Harrison Ford as Harrison
* Jodie Foster as Alethea Patricia Ingram

## Production

### Development

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.

### Broadcast

The series aired on ABC from October 1972 to April 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.

On the week ending May 6, 1973, Kung Fu became the number one 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. 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.

Contrary to some misconceptions, *Kung Fu* was not canceled and could have continued with strong ratings. The series ended when Carradine wished to leave the show after several sustained injuries. This allowed the producers time to write the final season so that all of the remaining story arcs regarding Caine and his brother could be drawn to a satisfying ending.

## Casting Controversy

Since its inception, *Kung Fu* has been called an example of yellowface and a prominent case of whitewashing.

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” notion has become widespread, both in academia as in the media, even internationally.

This situation has led to the reboot of the series to be seen as a “righting of the wrong”, especially in light of the events of anti-Asian violence in the United States after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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 and John Saxon. Just two weeks before the pilot’s filming started, David Carradine obtained the role at his second audition.

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.”

The series has been considered a commentary on race relations in the 1970's, both for its casting as for the depiction of discrimination against minorities[37]: Asians (“Pilot,” “Blood Brother,” “Sun and Cloud Shadow,” “The Garments of Rage”), Native Americans (“The Ancient Warrior,” “The Squawman,” “The Spirit Helper,” “The Predators”), Blacks (“The Stone,” “The Well,” “The Last Raid,” “Barbary House”).

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 to being given in marriage as payment for service her husband was hired to perform, the other one preferring to be a concubine to the Emperor instead of the wife to the warlord who had raped her, this one played by Stefan Gierasch (wearing prosthetic makeup). Barbara Hershey appeared as a Eurasian woman who flees forced marriage with a warlord played by Khigh Dhiegh (born Kenneth Dickerson), and is refused entrance to the Shaolin temple as a student because “You are female - You are also of mixed blood.”

## In Popular Culture

In the film *Office Space*, characters Peter Gibbons and Joanna start a relationship when they both admit to being big fans of *Kung Fu* and suggest watching it together.

In the film *Pulp Fiction* by Quentin Tarantino, Jules tells Vincent that he intends to "walk the Earth like Caine in Kung Fu." Tarantino later cast Carradine as the title character in his films *Kill Bill: Volume 1* and *Kill Bill: Volume 2*.

In the January 1974 edition of *Mad Magazine*, the series is parodied as "Kung Fool".

The British comedy series The Goodies had an episode called "Kung Fu Kapers" which was mostly a parody of Kung Fu.

A second-series episode of Fast Forward featured a parody of Kung Fu with Peter Moon playing Master Po and Steve Vizard playing Caine.

## Home Media

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

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 three episodes of the series, Zen & Now: A Dinner With David Carradine And Friends, documentaries on the series' production, and David Carradine's Shaolin Diary, a visit to China's Shaolin Monastery and the Great Wall.

## Notes

* 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 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*.
* 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.

## References

1. ↑ David Carradine, Actor, Is Dead at 72 - NY Times
2. ↑ ‘Kung Fu’ Debuts Strong, Hits The CW’s Highest Wednesday Viewership In 7 Years
3. ↑ Shaolin Ulysses: Kungfu Monks in America - PBS
4. ↑ Q&A; WITH DAVID CARRADINE : A Kung Fu Master Reincarnate - LA Times
5. ↑ “A Certain Slant”: A Brief History of Hollywood Yellowface - Brightlights Films
6. ↑ Kung Fu: a betrayal, an exhausted protagonist, and a series that left its mark on popular culture - La Nacion
7. ↑ The Truth about the Creation of the Kung Fu TV Series - Martial Journal
8. ↑ Mad #164 January 1974 - Madcover Site
9. ↑ [http://www.kungfu-guide.com/faq.html#videos/ Third Season
available for Region 1 - Kung Fu Guide]
10. ↑ A Boy’s Journey to a Strange Land - David Chow Foundation