# Kung Fu (1972)

> A Shaolin monk wanders the nineteenth century American West, using his martial arts skill to help strangers while seeking his way home.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/1388

## Facts

- Seasons: 3
- Episodes: 62
- Episode runtime: 50 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: action, western, drama
- Created by: Herman Miller, Ed Spielman, Jerry Thorpe
- Network: ABC
- Cast: David Carradine, Keye Luke, Philip Ahn, Radames Pera, Brandon Cruz, Scott Hylands, Robert Carradine, John Doucette
- TMDB rating: 7.6/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068093/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: mild
- Tone: meditative, contemplative, melancholic, wistful, stylized, sincere

## What critics say

Audiences rated the series positively overall, with its first season standing out as the strongest.

## Synopsis

Kung Fu (1972-1975) is an American western action drama created by Herman Miller, Ed Spielman and Jerry Thorpe for ABC. David Carradine plays Kwai Chang Caine, a Shaolin monk wandering the American West armed only with his martial arts skill, while Keye Luke as Master Po and Philip Ahn as Master Kan appear in the flashbacks that shape his training. Each episode is a self-contained case of the week in which Caine arrives at a frontier town, meets strangers in trouble, and resolves their conflicts through restraint, discipline and combat. The engine of the series is his quiet search for peace amid violence, and the tension between his pacifist teachings and the dangers he keeps running into. Across three seasons and sixty-two episodes, the show mixes stylized fight scenes with contemplative moments and Eastern philosophy, giving it a meditative, melancholic and occasionally wistful register. Set in the nineteenth century American frontier, it lands somewhere between a classic western and a martial arts adventure. Fans of Have Gun - Will Travel, Kung Fu: The Legend Continues and Avatar: The Last Airbender will find resonance in its wandering hero and blend of philosophy and action.

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