Kung Fu centred on Shaolin priest Kwai Chang Caine (David Carradine), who was forced to flee China after killing his teacher's murderer (who just happened to be the Emperor's nephew). He then wandered the Old West, searching for his American half brother Danny Caine. All the while, Caine was pursued by bounty hunters and often faced injustice in his travels, forcing him to use his martial arts skills.
Kung Fu grew out of a movie treatment written by comedy writer Ed Spielman. Ever since had seen the movie Seven Samurai (1954), Mr. Spielman had been fascinated by East Asian culture. He wrote a movie treatment about legendary samurai Miyamoto Musashi. In the original draft of the movie treatment, Miyamoto Musashi travelled to China where he was taught kung fu by a Shaolin monk. It was around 1967 that he showed the treatment to his writing partner, Howard Friedlander, who was fascinated by the character of the Shaolin monk. It was Howard Friedlander who suggested that instead of a movie about Miyamoto Musashi, Ed Spielman instead focus on a Shaolin monk wandering the Old West. The two then set to work on the treatment, eventually titled The Way of the Tiger, The Sign of the Dragon.
It was in 1969 that Ed Spielman and Howard Friedlander submitted their jokes, along with the movie treatment, to Peter Lampack, an agent at the Howard Morris agency. While Peter Lampack was not impressed by Messrs. Ed Spielman and Howard Friedlander's jokes, he was interested in the treatment about a Shaolin monk wandering the Old West. Fred Weintraub, an Executive Vice President at Warner Bros., also took an interest in the The Way of the Tiger, The Sign of the Dragon. He had Ed Spielman and Howard Friedlander write a screenplay based on the treatment in 1970. Unfortunately, Fred Weintraub was not able to stir up much interest at Warner Bros. in the project.
Fortunately, it occurred to Fred Weintraub that The Way of the Tiger, The Sign of the Dragon could be turned into television movie. It would be Jerry Thorpe and writer Herman Miller who would take Ed Spielman and Howard Friedlander's screenplay and turn it into a ninety-minute teleplay for a television movie. Now simply titled Kung Fu, the TV movie aired on ABC on February 22 1972 as a Movie of the Week. The TV movie Kung Fu proved successful enough that ABC greenlit a TV series.
Ever since the publication of Linda Lee's memoir about her husband, Bruce Lee: The Man Only I Knew, some have assumed that it was actually Bruce Lee who created the TV series Kung Fu. In many ways, it is understandable why some would assume this. It was in 1971 that Tom Kuhn, the head of the television division at Warner Bros., offered Bruce Lee a deal to develop his own television series. Among other ideas, Mr. Lee came up with the idea of a Shaolin monk named Ah Sahm who travelled the Old West helping the oppressed. Originally titled Ah Sahm, Bruce Lee retitled it The Warrior and submitted the proposal to Warner Bros. Ultimately Bruce Lee did not sign the contract for his development deal with the studio because of the success of the first film to star Bruce Lee in a lead role, The Big Boss (1971). With a movie career in the offing, there was no reason for his to star in his own television show.
Given Ed Spielman and Howard Friedlander's original movie treatment dated to 1969, it seems more likely that any similarities between Ed Spielman and Howard Friedlander's concept and Bruce Lee's concept were purely coincidental. Indeed, there were some differences between the two. Caine is only half Chinese and is searching for his half-brother. Ah Sahm was fully Chinese and was simply wandering the West helping the oppressed. Here it must be pointed out that the idea of "Far East Meets Old West" was not unknown in the Sixties and early Seventies. The 1971 movie Red Sun starred Toshiro Mifune as a samurai seeking to retrieve a sword owned by the Japanese ambassador in the Old West. Still yet earlier, the 1960 Wanted: Dead or Alive episode "Black Belt" involved bounty hunter Josh Randall (Steve McQueen) tracking a karate expert accused of killing his employer. The 1963 episode The Rifleman "The Sixteenth Cousin" featured a cousin of the Japanese Emperor and his bodyguard, a skilled samurai. That Ed Spielman and Howard Friedlander as well as Bruce Lee came up on the idea of a Shaolin monk wandering the Old West separately is then not at all far-fetched.
Regardless, Bruce Lee was considered for the role of Caine on Kung Fu. He had played Kato on the single season show The Green Hornet and later appeared on the TV series Longstreet. It was Longstreet that sparked Warner Bros.' interest in him for the show. Ultimately, Bruce Lee was not cast as Caine because Tom Kuhn felt his accent was too thick for a series lead. Other actors of Asian descent were considered. Mako was considered for role, but ultimately it was thought his accent was too thick as well. He later made a guest appearance on the show. George Takei, then as now best known as Sulu on Star Trek, was also considered, but it was ultimately decided he was the wrong physical type.
After having considered various actors of Asian descent for the role of Caine, the producers then looked elsewhere for an actor to play Caine. James Coburn, William Smith, and John Saxon were all considered for the role. Ultimately, David Carradine, who was decidedly not Asian in descent, was cast as the half-Chinese Kwai Chang Caine. The casting of David Carradine would result in controversy even before the Movie of the Week aired. The Association of Asian Pacific American Artists filed a formal complaint against the casting of Mr. Carradine on the grounds of unfair hiring practices. They demanded that David Carradine be replaced by an actor of Asian descent and that a Chinese history advisor be hired. While the producers would hire an advisor on Chinese history, David Carradine remained in the role of Caine on Kung Fu.
While a white actor played a half-Chinese actor on Kung Fu, the show would provide Asian and Asian American actors with more roles than they ever had been on American television. Kung Fu would often involve flashbacks to Caine's life at the Shaolin monastery, which often involved his teachers there, including his mentor Master Po (Keye Luke) and Master Chen (Philip Ahn). Other Asian actors would have recurring roles on the show, including James Hong, Victor Sen Yung, Richard Loo, and Yiki Shimoda. The show featured guest appearances ranging from actors Benson Fong to Nancy Kwan.
As mentioned earlier, Kung Fu proved to be successful in its very first season. There was some merchandising associated with the show. As might be expected, King-Seely put out a Kung Fu lunchbox. Topps issued a set of 60 bubblegum cards associated with the show. There were even at least three novels based on the show, credited to Lee Howard (a house pen name, the actual author was Barry N. Malzberg).
For its third season ABC moved Kung Fu from the Thursday night time slot to a new Saturday night time slot where it was opposite The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Bob Newhart Show on CBS. Its ratings then faltered and for the first time it did not rank in the top thirty shows for the year. It would not be ratings that would end Kung Fu, but instead its star. After three seasons on the show, David Carradine decided it was time to leave for multiple reasons. Indeed, he had warned the producers that the third season would be his last.
Kung Fu remained popular after ending its network run and enjoyed some success in syndication. In 1986, the television film Kung Fu: The Movie aired. The film introduced a son Caine did not know he had, Chung Wang (Brandon Lee). The following year the TV movie Kung Fu: The Next Generation aired. This movie was set in the present and centred on a descendant of Caine, Kwai Chang "Johnny" Caine (Brandon Lee). It was in 1993 that the TV series Kung Fu: The Legend Continues debuted in first run syndication. The series starred David Carradine as a Shaolin monk and a descendent of Caine who fights crime alongside his son Peter Caine (Chris Potter).
In 2021 a new series, Kung Fu, debuted on The CW. Although called a reboot, Kung Fu (2021) actually has very little in common with the original series. The series is set in present day San Francisco, and the show's lead character, Nicky Shen (Olivia Lang) is in no way connected to the Kwai Chang Caine of the original series. Furthermore, Nicky does not wander the United States, but instead fights evil in San Francisco. Regardless, the show has been well received by critics and has done well in the ratings for a show running on The CW.
While it only lasted three years, Kung Fu would have a lasting impact. It seems likely that the show helped spark the kung fu craze of the Seventies. Kung Fu debuted in the fall of 1972. It was in March 1973 that the Hong Kong movie King Boxer (AKA 5 Fingers of Death) reached the top ten movies at the box office in the United States. It would soon be followed by yet other kung fu movies produced in Hong Kong that dominated the American box office. In turn, there would be comic books and magazines dedicated to East Asian martial arts. The "kung fu craze" would last well into 1974. The "kung fu" craze would forever alter American action movies, comic books, and television shows, with characters from Batman to Buffy the Vampire Slayer being skilled in East Asian martial arts. While it is possible the "kung fu craze" would have taken place had Kung Fu never aired, it seems likely that the show kick-started it.
Kung Fu was not a perfect show by any means. Casting David Carradine as Kwai Chang Caine amounted to nothing more or less than yellow face. The show often had inaccuracies with regards to Chinese history and culture. The show would even err with regards to the Shaolin temple, with its priests quoting Taoism and Confucianism when in truth they are Buddhists. Regardless, Kung Fu did give many Asian actors the opportunity to appear in television in major roles. What is more, those roles were rarely, if ever stereotypes. While Kung Fu was certainly a flawed show, it remains popular to this day and would have a lasting impact on American popular culture.
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