The Real Reason 'Kung Fu' was Cancelled

remember that scene in pulp fiction when samuel l jackson and john travolta are sitting at the diner and jackson explains his life dream he said he wants to just walk the earth like kane's character in kung fu to walk from place to place meeting different people and getting into all kinds of adventures kung fu undeniably had an impact on quentin tarantino who even incorporated various themes from the hit 1970s show into his martial arts inspired feature film kill bill for example bill himself was played by david carradine who was the star of kung fu he even sported the same look flute and all as his iconic transient wanderer kwai chang kane pai may kill bill's master also conjured up the memory of kane's father master poe the similarities abound kung fu had far reaching influence when it premiered in 1972 it was one of the very first martial arts themed shows to find success in american pop culture it didn't hurt that the series was basically a western set in the old wild west in the mid 19th century even today martial arts retained their popularity on the tv screen let's dig in deeper and take a reflective peek at a show that helped define the genre facts first presents the real reason kung fu was cancelled but before we dust off our black belts and go on that fateful journey back in time do us a small favor and give this video a like subscribe to our channel and turn notifications on by tapping the bell icon to ensure you never have to miss another one of our action-packed fax filled videos ever again because why would you want to kung fu was a family affair at least for david carradine that is he got a chance to work on set with many of his family members his little brother keith showed up in flashbacks as a much younger not to mention bald cain his youngest brother robert who you might remember from revenge of the nerds showed up in an episode entitled sunny jim david's dad john carradine took on the recurring role of reverend serenity johnson so when it came to the carradine family they really kept it all in the family the shaolin temple set looked pretty familiar in fact it was recycled from a famous musical you might have seen it took a little bit of tweaking to turn king arthur's home into an epicenter of martial arts but the chinese temple was modified from a set used in 1967 for the musical film kamala that film was based on the stage play by alan j lerner and frederick lowe which in turn was based upon a novel by t h white called the once and future king so the set could be said to be an adaptation of another adaptation it's funny how all that plays out william smith tried out for the lead role macho man smith had become quite notorious in hollywood for appearing in a half dozen or so biker flicks no one could pull off the rough and tumble biker brawler aesthetic quite convincingly as he could smith had actually put together an eight-minute screen test of himself playing kane he had really hoped to land the role so much so he even wore specialized eye makeup to appear more asian obviously today this wouldn't score him any points but back then it impressed the network and they planned on including him in the cast the show's lead creator and producer however had different plans jerry thorpe found smith to be too beefy and intimidating for the part this wasn't the end of the line for william however he did get the chance to appear in one episode of kung fu in the chalice he got the chance to take kane on in a melee that included smith wielding a chain later on he would become the last marlboro man to appear in the tobacco company's advertising john saxon was also in the running for the role of kane you probably recognized jon from enter the dragon where he played the part of roper interestingly william smith also was offered that role saxon went on to play law enforcement characters in films like argento's tenebre black christmas and a nightmare on elm street he'd finish up his career in minor and supporting roles in movies like the appaloosa and from dusk till dawn speaking of quentin tarantino the two were actually buddies bruce lee also had his eyes set on the roll since we already touched on enter the dragon it only makes sense we take a look at bruce lee's connection to kung fu there's actually quite a deal of controversy surrounding lee and the origins of the series in question bruce lee's family insists the concept was stolen from an idea of bruce's the warrior you can find more about this claim in the 1993 biopic film dragon the bruce lee story in the book the kung fu book of kane which bills itself as the quintessential guide to the classic tv show author herbie pilato adamantly denies this allegation he claims that ed spielman was the definite creator of the kung fu series he went on to state that any claim contrary to this fact is both an injustice to spielman and wholly factually incorrect spielman briefly considered taking legal course against bruce lee and his estate for these claims furthermore the network turned down bruce lee for consideration of the role because they felt his english wasn't up to snuff at the time of course bruce lee would prove otherwise in the green hornet no one was more qualified for the role than bruce lee carradine had no martial arts training prior to playing kane not only did carradine come from a family full of actors and performers he had already established himself as a seasoned actor both on broadway and in hollywood before he landed the role of kane in kung fu he starred in one of martin scorsese's earlier films boxcar bertha as the character big bill shelley the year before but he had no formal martial arts training before coming to the kung fu set he was hired for the job because he had experience as a dancer on broadway and that was enough to impress the network execs once he got the role however he became an ardently devout student of the martial arts from the early 70s until his death in 2009 he practiced tai chi and kung fu with an almost religious passion carradine refused to cut his hair until the series ended carradine started off on kung fu with a shaved head in flashbacks featuring his brother of course we are reminded of this fact as the show progressed his hair got longer and longer eventually reaching jesus length by the second and third seasons of the series in his personal life carradine took his role very seriously and he never touched a pair of scissors or clippers to his locks to stay true to the aesthetics of his on-screen persona so you can pretty much identify which era of the series you're watching by the length of his hair of course towards the end of the show he shaved off all his hair again so you have to account for that as well if you're using hair length as the only way of dating an episode star trek and star wars converged on kung fu fans of star trek the original series should be on the lookout for their boy william shatner when he plays a sleazy sea captain in the episode a small beheading in 1974. his shaggy character went by the truly remarkable name brandywine gage later on in that same season on the episode crossties a very young harrison ford aka han solo makes a surprise appearance the show was cancelled due to injuries not falling ratings the show did quite well pulling in high ratings throughout its entire run on screen it was david carradine that finally pulled the plug on the show he felt as if he had sustained too many injuries to go on this decision actually meant great things for the show's final season some shows get cancelled and are never given a fitting or ceremonious ending questions go unanswered and fans are left feeling cheated david's decision to move on gave the show's producers the chance to tie up all the loose ends and finish up the story arcs between kane and his brother thus resulting in a satisfying ending there were sequels and one on the way the first bit of fanfare we got following the show's finale came in 1986 in the made for tv movie kung fu the movie brandon lee son of bruce played the role of kane's son lee played kane's great grandson in 1987 in the series kung fu the next generation in 1993 kung fu the legend continues debuted starring carradine once again in the lead role this time however he's kane's grandson if you think all this is confusing that's because it is the show ran in syndication for four seasons before it was cancelled in 1997 when the production company responsible for the show tanked another reboot will debut on the cw in 2021 this time featuring a female in the lead role and will take place in the present day a young chinese-american woman is forced by personal issues to leave college and make the journey to a monastery in china there she learns martial arts and shaolin values when she returns to her hometown of san francisco she uses these newfound skills to fight crime and corruption instigated by the triad in addition to avenging the death of her shaolin mentor who was assassinated well it's that time again we've arrived at the end of this particular video but don't worry there will always be more but as always that means it's time to let your voice be heard what do you think about the new reboot series do you think it will live up to the original series or do you think it's going to be a total flop let us know what you think in the comments section and before you go if you haven't already give this video a like and subscribe to our channel tap the bell icon as well to turn on notifications it only takes a second and it's the easiest way for you to show us some support so we can keep bringing you fascinating videos just like this you

Channel: Facts Verse

Views: 487,082

Rating: 4.9022164 out of 5

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Id: 7CmLGdwhNyM

Length: 10min 11sec (611 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 05 2020