Bruce Lee was screwed out of this TV show - Kung Fu (1972) Discussion

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] mclancey21 19 years ago

what i'm saying is true this show would of been alot better if Bruce Lee was the star instead of David Carradine.

Maybe if you read the facts about this rockydragon fool maybe you would learn something idiot.

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[–] qrz94 19 years ago

While the Bruce Lee movie wants people to believe this series was not created then stolen from Bruce Lee, simply studing the dates given in Bruce Lee movie will show you this is not true. Bruce Lee had been back in China for close to three years before Kung Fu was even concieved of. Also while in the movie they make appear that Bruce meet with the producer of The Green Hornet and pitched the story to him no one involved with the developement of Kung Fu worked on The Green Hornet. The truth is after the Green Hornet ended Bruce Lee made some attempts to do a starring vehicle for himself that would obviously feature the martial arts. However Lee never even got a specific concept together and wasn't taken seriously by any studio because they didn't feel America was ready for an Asian leading man.

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[–] wrenskibaby 18 years ago

I watched this TV show religiously as a kid and still watch it whenever it's on. I loved David Carradine in the role but have recently become a huge fan of Bruce Lee (since my son took up martial arts) and I agree that Bruce Lee would have been awesome in the role. I watch The Green Hornet just to see Lee's scenes. David Carradine's acting was good -- especially since he's said that he is more or less the anti-Kwai Chang Caine, not like him at all. But I find it so bittersweet that as good as Carradine was, Bruce Lee would have been a hundred times better and never got the chance to show it. Can you imagine an episode of Kung Fu where Bruce Lee gave some creepy cow hand the famous One-Inch Punch? I don't think David Carradine could have even "acted" that!

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[–] helpless_dancer 18 years ago

Carradine is a two bit actor, but at least he is an actor. Lee has less talent than Chuck Norris...and his inabilities are legendary. To say this little oriental shrimp is the greatest martial artist ever is getting so boring to hear. Catch his last "film" with Kareem Jabbar if you really want to see Lee's "acting". Pathetic.

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[–] Old_Master 15 years ago

How about showing a little *beep* respect, huh?

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[–] Zarathustras_Crown 13 years ago

You're talking about that movie where a couple scenes were shot and then it was cut and pasted into something resembling a movie after Lee's death? That flick is about as much a Bruce Lee movie as "The Clones of Bruce Lee" was, say whatever about Lee's acting ability, but in terms of his training and his flat out martial arts skill...the man was the real deal. There's a reason Jeet Kun Do is still practiced by so many and it works so well...Lee's real major contribution to the arts was saying "screw sticking to one thing, if western boxing works I'll box, if Muai Thai works I'll use that, if Kung Fu works, great I'll gladly use it". He was one of the first to really throw away the elitism and actually start mixing up the martial arts into what we think of as MMA today (that is, if most MMA circuits like UFC weren't boring as hell and bogged down in idiotic rules)

--
*+_Charos_+*

"I have often laughed at weaklings
who thought themselves good because
they had no claws."

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[–] Slew_Foot 13 years ago

Amen, ZC.

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[–] The_Dougster 10 years ago

I loved David Carradine in the role but have recently become a huge fan of Bruce Lee (since my son took up martial arts) and I agree that Bruce Lee would have been awesome in the role.

Absolutely. I really wish it had gone down that way.

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[–] vestdennis 13 years ago

I agree rockdragon20! I thought Carradine played the role beautifully. Kung Fu was way ahead of it's time and I would love to see it in re-runs...

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[–] vscalesptt 13 years ago

Bruce Lee would have made the TV show a lot better!

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[–] SuperSanity 19 years ago

David Carradine does know how to fight. When he began filming KUNG FU, Carradine became observed in the philosophy and martial way of the show. Look at him now and tell me he's not serious about it.

"I can only point the way, Grasshopper. You must walk the path yourself." -Kung Fu

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] SuperSanity 19 years ago

He was supposed to be half-chinese and half-white. David Carradine doesn't look the part but I thought he played the character quite well.

"I can only point the way, Grasshopper. You must walk the path yourself." -Kung Fu

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[–] alpurl 19 years ago

Jaden is correct.

Kaine was indeed a "half-breed."

But, he took to the Chinese and specifically the Shaolin way of life.

His father was supposed to be Chinese, and his mother a white American. Or vice-versa with his features taking a mostly WESTERN appearance. But, he was still "A Chinaman." As such, he was used, misused, and abused by all.

Even more appealing to the character was the fact that he was very quiet and soft spoken. Beyond that, he was the epitome of "speak softly, carry a big stick." Or whatever that cliché is.

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] ADStoney 19 years ago

Bruce is one of my idols and he wanted to make a TV show but "Kung Fu" was not thought up by him. He was approached by the writers and they asked him some questions about kung fu, he assumed that they were going to use him as the star. That's all. David Carradine isn't the best martial artist in the world and at the time he had only heard the term kung fu once. He knew nothing else about it but I think the way he played Caine was amazing, the soft spoken and really gentle character. I can't imagine Bruce playing a character like that, he was very energetic and would have wanted a lot of fights. The beautiful thing about "kung fu" is that Caine didn't want to fight.

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] neil-boissel 19 years ago

Some of the previous statements are very rude, please put your point of view over without calling each other names, if you called me those names to my face, i'd rip your head off and *beep* down the hole.

now girls play nice !

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[–] jlhollowell 18 years ago

he's not *beep*ing kidding, either.

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] qrz94 19 years ago

stoneykakarott's statement is true. Bruce wanted to do a martial arts series but the only things he had developed where the fact that it was going to be called "The Warrior," and it was going to star him, thats all he ever came up with. I guess using that logic you could say the creators of Walker Texas Ranger, Black Sash, Sons of Thunder, Vanishing Son, Raven, Martial Law and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers all ripped off Bruce's idea as well.

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] ballet_man 19 years ago

Bruce made a far better career choice than starring in Kung Fu--- he moved to Hong Kong and made the movies that made him an international star. If you look at Mr. Lee's chronology, you'll see he was filming Fists of Fury and the Chinese connection when Kung Fu was being produced.

Sure, I think I would have like Kung Fu more with Bruce Lee, but if that was the case, it's possible none of us would have heard of him in the first place.

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] ADStoney 19 years ago

Yeah I've seen it, it's great. That would have been one of the best films ever.

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[–] tws-2 18 years ago

Yes, after he was passed up for the role he started making those movies for I believe Raymond Chow. Those movies made him a star.

Kung Fu would have been much different if Bruce Lee had starred in it instead of David Carradine, but I think that it worked out best for both of them.

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[–] billwilliamson_8 19 years ago

Bruce Lee was a great martial artist. David Carradine was a great actor born to play the role of Quai Chang Caine. I can't imagine anyone else in the part.

Though David was Irish, both he and his father have a bit of an oriental look about them. David was also very much a seeker of knowledge which included Eastern Philosophies. Over the years, in some ways, it might be said that David Carradine has continued his growth into the part of a serene oriental master.

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] dannerlc 18 years ago

for furthur support of David as Kaine, look to Bruce Lee's own son, brandon.

Of course Bruce himself was 3/4 chinese and 1/4 German (i believe his mother was half chinese, half german), so i'm not sure if that makes Brandon exactly HALF chinese and half American, BUT either way it's really hard to see the Chinese features in Brandon. They are there, but the lighting has to hit him just right in his films.

Anyway my point is, Kaine could easily look more American than Chinese. The only thing that annoys me (and i LOVE the show) about this show, is the constant asian vs american thing and the american's immediately recognizing Kaine as Chinese. I mean come on, he could easily pass. If anything they should have been addressing him like he was American and not understanding why he supports the asians. That would have made more sense to me. But eh, i love the show either way.

"The Punk has had ENOUGH" - The Punk Manifesto
www.iellegonemad.blogspot.com

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] Lightning-Rose 18 years ago

I agree. I've never been impressed with Bruce Lee's talents as an actor.

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[–] melanieknaack 18 years ago

if you watch the seasons in order 1 thru 3, you will definitely see a marked development of Carradine's fighting skills. Hell no, I'm not saying he is like Bruce Lee or anything, but he gets better as the series goes on.

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[–] spookymulder187 18 years ago

I like Bruce Lee and all but I find him to be very overrated.

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[–] masa87 18 years ago

Kung Fu would not have been Kung Fu if Bruce Lee was cast as Cain. He's a good fighter but not a very good actor. He just would not have looked right in my opinion. I think David Carradine did the part justice and I love him in everything he does.

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[–] Ghostshadow187 18 years ago

Not getting a starring vehicle in Hollywood was the best thing that ever happened to Bruce Lee. He was a megastar in Hong Kong, way bigger than he ever could have been in Hollywood (where he probably would have started a fad for Kung Fu movies, which would probably wind up ending his career as soon as the fad fizzled out) In Hong Kong he was so big he could probably have done Shakespeare(If he wanted to).
The movie Dragon is probably inaccurate when it comes to Kung Fu though, Bruce Lee would have been making Fist of Fury or Return of the dragon in Hong Kong when it premiered in 1972. He probably did originate the concept but put on the backburner by the time this show finally came out.

Republicans dont watch stand up, theyre busy watching cartoons, trying to see who's gay.

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[–] SuperSanity 18 years ago

Not a good actor? Are you kidding me? He was a great actor. And not just because of his line delivery. He had an on screen presence and charisma that I've only seen a few actors get close to. And only a couple surpass.

Chuck Norris has a deep and abiding respect for human life... unless it gets in his way.

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[–] KwaiChang 18 years ago

Bruce Lee is Awesome! David Carradine is Awesome!

There are many conflicting stories on this. I believe after doing a great deal of research on the subject that whatever idea Bruce had it was not the same show that Kung Fu was. It was also not in the same time frame. Now the facts are that they did interview Bruce Lee for the part. They were very impressed with him. However the reason he did not get the part has nothing to do with a "prejudice" against Asians. It was simply that they felt his English would not be understood by the average American. His accent was too heavy.

My belief is that for this show Carradine was the best choice and his style of acting was the best fit!

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[–] rob-andrea 18 years ago

Well, McClunkey, if you think this show is about fighting and martial arts, then you TOTALLY missed the whole point. Sure, there's usually a fight scene or two in each episode, but that't not what this show is about. Maybe you should watch a few episodes before you spout off all this nonsense about Bruce Lee. Carradine's role was a PACIFIST who only fought when it was his last possible course of action. Compare that to Bruce Lee's character. They are completely opposite. It's not about who was a better martial artist, it's about who would be seen as a more peaceful and HUMBLE teacher. And if Lee did get screwed out of this role, it was the best thing that ever happened for this series. Carradine is perfect for this role.

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[–] bbally81 18 years ago

Not really, Lee can play a pacifist, he played a Caine type of role in the first episode of a short lived detective show called "Longstreet", his role was the complete opposite of his "Fist Of Fury" roles. Lee was a good actor, he started as a child actor in Hong Kong and I heard he was actually called the Chinese James Dean when he appeared in a Chinese movie called "the Orphan" when he was about 16 or 17 that was before he moved to the US.

Eitherway, I don't care who would be right to play Caine, Carradine was great as Caine and he seems to understand the philosiphy and knowledge of Eastern culture maybe he didn't start out that way but the show may have got him interested in Eastern philosiphy. So its all good.

Overall, I believe Lee came up with the concept but I don't really care that he didn't get the part as long as Carradine did a great job with the character. I just think Lee was a better actor than people give him credit for.

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[–] lambiepie-2 18 years ago

This is a story that has taken so many turns throughout the years.. but this is how I remember it:

"Kung Fu" was intended to be a starring weekly TV vehicle for Bruce Lee.

Bruce Lee was very much involved in the early development of a martial arts series starring him for television which eventually became ..."Kung Fu".

The leading character in development was not 'half-chinese and half white' until the brass at ABC decided that Bruce Lee was not going to star in the series.

David Carradine made this series his own regardless of what the backstory was.

I remember this story as a kid. I was so interested in the Executive Offices of the studios from Ben Brady to Fred Silverman and this was one of the programming stories that was supposed to be a disaster for all involved and turned out to be the best thing for everyone involved. Bruce Lee became a major feature film star until his untimely death. David Carradine became a household name. The show was a big hit.

And although I was very young..I do remember the ABC network working with Bruce Lee on a short lived show called "Longstreet" and if I remember correctly, the failure of this show weighed heavy with the ABC brass in the decisions with Kung Fu and right after "Longstreet", Bruce started doing feature films...that was before the series Kung Fu...and Bruce Lee was also becoming quite the feature film STAR at the time of the final green light of the show...I would think Bruce would have been pretty expensive for ABC to employ as well...

Screwed....? I think not. What I think it that would have been nice to see Bruce Lee do the series -- but I also have learned that many folks who have developed 'vehicles' didn't get to star in them for many reasons -- time, money, creative differences, better opportunities....etc.....

Awards and ribbons are no comfort on your deathbed.

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[–] MrBlondNYC 16 years ago

"Bruce Lee was also becoming quite the feature film STAR at the time of the final green light of the show...I would think Bruce would have been pretty expensive for ABC to employ as well..."

Lee was not yet a star in the U.S. at the time. His films didn't come out in the U.S. until after he died and the Hong Kong film industry did not have the global impact it gained later. He would have made more money doing "Kung Fu" getting paid what the main character of an American network show usually gets paid.

Although Bruce Lee and his widow claimed he came up with the idea, it is not true. Lee was known around Hollywood as a martial arts trainer for celebrities so he was asked for input on "Kung Fu". The show had already been conceived. Lee may have pitched them ideas but they already had their concept. Carradine, although not a huge star, was a well-known actor and - more importantly - friends with the executive producer. Carradine pitched him an idea about doing a western based the Biblical story of Cain. Carradine was always intended to be the star. But ABC wanted Lee. They wanted a real martial artist and saw his potential despite the failure of "The Green Hornet". He was a very minor character on "Longstreet" and barely had any lines so the failure of that show had nothing to do with anything. But the producer insisted on Carradine.

George Carlin: It's all bullsh-t and it's bad for ya.

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[–] gandhi_III 18 years ago

lol lol lol lol lol lol lol

Well I thought Carradine was perfect for the role.

Bruce Lee couldnt act.

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[–] 18 years ago

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