Kung Fu (1972–1975)

The adventures of a Shaolin Monk as he wanders the American West armed only with his skill in Kung Fu.

Creator:

Ed Spielman

Stars:

David Carradine, Radames Pera, Keye Luke

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 5 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
David Carradine	...	Kwai Chang Caine (63 episodes, 1972-1975)
Radames Pera	...	Young Caine (46 episodes, 1972-1975)
Keye Luke	...	Master Po (45 episodes, 1972-1975)
Philip Ahn	...	Master Kan (39 episodes, 1972-1975)

Storyline

Kwai Chang Caine is a Shaolin Monk who is on the run after he killed the Chinese Emperor's nephew after that coward killed his teacher in cold blood with a gun. He flees to America both to escape retaliation and to search for his brother in order to settle down in this new land. However, in his travels in the wild west, he can not help but continually run into trouble from desperados and other ruffians as they oppress the innocent, while bounty hunters pursue the price on his head. Against this, he has his skill of Kung-fu martial arts which proves to be devastatingly effective in this gun-dominated land.

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Plot Keywords:

shaolin | kung fu | monk | martial arts | on the run | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Western

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 October 1972 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Warrior

Filming Locations:

Backlot, Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros. Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min 60 min (60 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

4:3

Did You Know?

Trivia

In several episodes, a younger Kwai Chang Caine was played by Keith Carradine, David Carradine's younger brother. Their other brother Robert Carradine and their father John Carradine also appeared in episodes (as Sonny Jim and Serenity Johnson, respectively).

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Goofs

In the title sequence, the close-up shots of Caine's arms moving into position over the cauldron show his right arm covering both the dragon AND the tiger.

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Connections

Referenced in Jeopardy!: Episode #26.136 (2010)

User Reviews

This series taught you how to live.

Kung Fu is chinese for Teacher. I realize that a lot of viewers tuned in for the kicks. But I was more interested in the lessons on how to live your life in balance. Each week Caine would be given a new problem to deal with, and through flash-backs to his shaolin masters he would be reminded of how to deal with each situation with the use of Taoism. When one reads the Tao te Ching it is hard to relate much of it to contemporary life, but Kung Fu was like a sunday school lession for Taoists. I loved it and never missed one. I also have the pilot movie and the entire series on tape. One more thing, I also enjoyed it when he kicked the crap out of the bad guys.