TV Cream

TV: K is for...

Kung Fu

DAVID CARRADINE, short of tongue and long of mumbling, loafs around 19th Century America partaking of much wandering and standing still while violence aplenty goes on, before embarking on a climactic martial arts display when he’s finally pushed too far. Slow motion deployed when impractical punching required. “Personal quest” to help others. Boring flashbacks to life as a child afforded viewer many toilet breaks.

6 Comments

6 Comments

  1. Glenn Aylett

    June 14, 2009 at 6:20 pm

    RIP David Carradine, this used to be one of my favourite shows when I was a kid and developed a love for martial arts films and shows that has never abated. Ahhh, grasshopper, the wind blows from the east.

  2. Sonny Jim

    October 24, 2015 at 3:26 pm

    A complete load of cobblers, in all honesty!

    97{30e2395aaf6397fd02d2c79d91a1fe7cbb73158454674890018aee9c53a0cb96} all talk & walking around aimlessly; 3{30e2395aaf6397fd02d2c79d91a1fe7cbb73158454674890018aee9c53a0cb96} real-deal kick-ass, Bruce Lee style!

    Massive disappointment – should have renamed the show to “Walkie-Talkie Grasshopper”

  3. Joanne Gray

    February 18, 2017 at 7:44 pm

    Always had most kids in my primary school the following day blundering about holding ping pong balls over their eyes and intoning “Ah Grasshopper” in an Oriental-type accent. Try explaining to youngsters today why we gained such amusement from this and they look at you like you’ve just dropped out of a dog’s bottom.

    • Glenn Aylett

      February 15, 2020 at 1:35 pm

      @ Joanne Grey, political correctness hadn’t been invented in 1974, as surely these days some snowflake would find a white man playing an Asian offensive, just as much as the blind martial arts instructor. Who cares, it was a good series and very popular and being like a cross between a Western and a martial arts film made Kung Fu unique.

      • richardpd

        February 15, 2020 at 3:34 pm

        I heard that Bruce Lee was considered, but the powers that be vetoed him because they didn’t want a non-white lead character, so a compromise was made with David Carradine trying to be Eurasian.

        • Glenn Aylett

          February 15, 2020 at 6:27 pm

          Actually Carradine really embraced the role and Bruce Lee died in 1973, so Kung Fu would have finished a lot earlier. Again back in 1973 no one cared about a white man playing an Asian, and Carradine was excellent as Kwai Chang Caine.

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