Kung Fu 

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

Creators:

Ed Spielman, Herman Miller

Stars:

David Carradine, Radames Pera, Keye Luke

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 5 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
David Carradine	...	Kwai Chang Caine / ... 63 episodes, 1972-1975
Radames Pera	...	Young Caine 48 episodes, 1972-1975
Keye Luke	...	Master Po 48 episodes, 1972-1975
Philip Ahn	...	Master Kan 40 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 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:

man with no name | kung fu | shaolin | monk | temple | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Western

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 February 1972 (USA)

Also Known As:

Кунг-фу

Filming Locations:

Stage 7, Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros. Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min (60 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

4:3

Did You Know?

Trivia

The set for the Shaolin Temple was originally a set used for Camelot (1967) that was inexpensively and effectively converted for the Chinese setting.

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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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Alternate Versions

For the DVD release of some seasons the aspect ratio was changed from 1.33:1 (4:3) to 1.78:1 (16:9).

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Connections

Referenced in D3: The Mighty Ducks (1996)

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.