Maybe you had to be there. And maybe the series speaks for itself. Hard to say. At a time when N.A. was just beginning to show interest in eastern martial arts -- mainly as a result of the spy films which invariably featured some sloppy form of judo or karate -- a story circulated in Hollywood about a husband and wife writing team. He was a black belt in Karate. She had been taught Kung Fu by her father. He was terrified of her. Ergo, let's do a series. They auditioned Bruce Lee for the pilot but found him too Asian. So they went with a westerner, Carradine. Bios of Lee make it clear that this event, more than any other, traumatized him and made him bitter. That was Hollywood. Some (not all) of the series' scripts were amazing. Some were junk. The movie/pilot remains one of the tightest pieces of writing of the era. And there is so much Bhuddist philosophy in the flashbacks that you wonder if they actually had monks on hand as consultants? Trivia fact: understanding that to the western eye, most Asians looked alike, they "recycled" the very same Asian character actors through all the Asian parts in the series and, sure enough, nobody noticed. The series ended not so much because of a lack of interest but because Carradine's image was badly tarnished by a series of public binges. Still, one of the most unique works to ever leave Tinseltown.
Review of Kung Fu
