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Season 1 – Kung Fu

Play trailer Poster for Season 1 – Kung Fu Oct 1972 Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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80% Tomatometer 20 Reviews 100% Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
Shaolin monk and martial-arts expert Caine flees China after his master is killed. Now he wanders the Old West of America, defending the helpless and beating down bad guys with his skills, all while trying to find his half-brother and evade Chinese bounty hunters.
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Kung Fu — Season 1

Kung Fu — Season 1

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Critics Consensus

Kung Fu follows the same well-trodden path of other action serials, but David Carradine's coiled charisma and a thoughtful script give this Western a heart.

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Critics Reviews

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Jerry Coffey Fort Worth Star-Telegram/DFW.com 10/05/2021
The result was a rousing chop-up that was lots more fun to watch than your average six-gun shootout. Go to Full Review Tom Donnelly Washington Post 10/05/2021
As TV action series are measured, Kung Fu is an amusing and bemusing affair. David Carradine, who plays Caine, is called upon to keep his face straight almost all of the time and achieve an effect that is maybe two parts inscrutable to one part stupid. Go to Full Review John J. O'Connor New York Times 10/05/2021
Given the established format of the TV western, the new series is attempting a new direction, away from the "eye for an eye" brand of confrontation. Go to Full Review L. Ian MacDonald Montreal Gazette 10/05/2021
The program was remarkably well strung out in the past and present tenses (there wasn't a single jumpy or clumsy flashback in the lot) and David Carradine played the principal, Kaine, with skill and requisite dignity. Go to Full Review Judy Bachrach Baltimore Sun 10/05/2021
Not a little pretentious and not a little didactic, but not bad all the same. Go to Full Review Stuart Galbraith DVDTalk.com 10/05/2021
2.5/5
Beyond its cast, the program is notable mainly in its unusualness, rather than the quality of its writing. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Davide l @RT55580789 12/22/2023 Wu Wei at its best. Be like water, it's what you're mostly made of! See more brent g @RT38718160 09/04/2022 I love Kung Fu almost as much as I like the Twilight Zone. Newer movie and TV series seem to me to have taken this whole idea of the "flawed hero" too far. I see no problem with the idea that a monk may be virtuous. That said, the first season is the best season of Kung Fu. The protagonist, Caine, literally teaches life-lessons to the audience about discretion, patience, and self-control. I literally found myself a better person for watching this, and became less easy to be triggered or manipulated by others. It really got me to thinking about how pointless it is to fight people in situations where there is nothing to win. I can appreciate the movie for ground-breaking a dialog about how the Chinese of that time faced discrimination. In some cases, it also raises black discrimination. People who have been discriminated against can teach us all a lot about how to make the best of what we have. Later seasons waned in quality. Season two has a lot of good material, too. Much of season three is just...bad. See more Read all reviews
Kung Fu — Season 1

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Cast & Crew

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David Carradine

Kwai Chang Caine

Keye Luke

Master Po

Philip Ahn

Master Kan

Radames Pera

Caine

L.Q. Jones

Guest Star

Mako

Guest Star

Episodes

Episode 1 Aired Oct 14, 1972 King of the Mountain Caine faces a bounty hunter (John Saxon) after befriending a boy (Brandon Cruz) who lost his father and mother in an Indian attack. Details Episode 2 Aired Nov 11, 1972 Dark Angel A blind preacher (John Carradine) saves Caine's life as the priest seeks his American grandfather (Dean Jagger); guest Robert Carradine. Details Episode 3 Aired Jan 18, 1973 Blood Brother Caine searches for a boyhood friend, but finds him murdered by thugs; guests Robert Urich, Benson Fong, Clu Gulager. Details Episode 4 Aired Jan 25, 1973 An Eye for an Eye A woman (Lane Bradbury) impregnated in a rape endures more tragedy when she and her father try to take revenge on her soldier-attacker. Details Episode 5 Aired Feb 1, 1973 The Tide A woman saves Caine and considers trading him for her father, a writer imprisoned in China; guests Mako, Andrew Duggan, Rosalind Chao. Details Episode 6 Aired Feb 8, 1973 The Soul of the Warrior Caine offers to walk through a pit of snakes to save the life of a sheriff (Pat Hingle) who was forced to kill the son of a rancher. Details Episode 7 Aired Feb 15, 1973 Nine Lives Greed tempts a gold prospector (Albert Salmi) when he finds out about the price on Caine's head; guests Merlin Olsen, Geraldine Brooks. Details Episode 8 Aired Feb 22, 1973 Sun and Cloud Shadow Caine helps a Chinese woman in love with the son (Richard Hatch) of a rancher who threatens to evict her people; guest Soon-Teck Oh. Details Episode 9 Aired Mar 8, 1973 Chains The Army arrests Caine and then shackles him to another prisoner, a huge man seeking revenge on his enemies; guest Geoffrey Lewis. Details Episode 10 Aired Mar 15, 1973 Althea A girl witness (Jodie Foster) mistakenly accuses Caine of murder after seeing him momentarily holding a gun during a stagecoach robbery. Details Episode 11 Aired Mar 22, 1973 The Praying Mantis Kills With Caine's help, the son of a slain sheriff defends his jail and prisoner, the leader of the gang responsible for the lawman's death. Details Episode 12 Aired Apr 5, 1973 Superstition Caine, wrongly convicted of a robbery, is sentenced to hard labor in a silver mine located in an Indian graveyard; guest Mike Mazurki. Details Episode 13 Aired Apr 12, 1973 The Stone A thief (Moses Gunn) searches for a lost diamond; an Armenian (Gregory Sierra) chooses between love and patriotism; guest Kiel Martin. Details Episode 14 Aired Apr 26, 1973 The Third Man Thugs steal a gambler's winnings, entrusted to Caine, then murder the owner of the cash; guests Ed Nelson, John Anderson, Sheree North. Details Episode 15 Aired May 3, 1973 The Ancient Warrior Caine befriends a dying Indian (Chief Dan George) seeking to reclaim his burial land; guests Gary Busey, William Katt, Victor French. Details

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Kung Fu — Season 1

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Season Info

Director
Jerry Thorpe, Robert Butler, Charles S. Dubin, Walter Doniger, Richard Lang, John Badham, Allen Reisner
Network
ABC
Rating
TV-PG
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date
Oct 14, 1972