Kung Fu - The Complete Second Season

"Kung Fu" influenced thousands, maybe millions of people around the world (including me) with its great writing & hero that was different from any other previous Western hero: he didn't ride a horse, didn't wear/shoot a gun, wasn't a Christian, & practiced non-violence. The quality of writing has endured over time & is still SO much better than a lot of today's TV shows that I feel lucky to have grown up with it. It's also fun to watch the episodes again & pick out all the famous actors/actresses that guest starred, some of whom are no longer in this world. Two Thumbs WAY Up!!! :)

DVD's arrived quickly and were in perfect condition. I'm still catching up on all the episodes I never knew I missed. A great product.

The episodes in season two look better than season one and now Caine is not being hunted by bounty hunters in every episode......Not that I mind watching him KICK some greedy ignorant dirtbag ***! The extras are interesting on this set too, with some funny commentary by the man who made the series what it was. I'm looking forward to watching the third and final season.

Ideally, an Asian or Asian American actor, instead of David Carradine, should have played the lead role of Kwai-Chang Caine in "Kung Fu." Why do I say this? Because ethnically Asian actors do not have equal opportunities to play lead roles in the U.S. entertainment industry, and the part of Caine was a rare Asian main character in Hollywood. But "Kung Fu" has so many other positive and excellent qualities that I am willing not to let the perfect become the enemy of the good.

According to the first-season DVD's "making-of" documentary, the creators behind "Kung Fu" at least *considered* a number of Asian actors -- including martial-arts exemplar Bruce Lee -- for the lead role, and the character's mixed racial heritage was germane to the story. On both points, I cannot say the same for the Broadway musical "Miss Saigon" (1991-2001), another high-profile work whose Asian male lead went to a Caucasian actor. I'm willing to believe that at the time "Kung Fu" was made in the 1970s, there weren't enough Asian actors in Hollywood's talent pool to choose from. (I say this because many of the same Asian guest stars keep cropping up as different characters on the show: James Hong, Benson Fong, Richard Loo, Clyde Kusatsu, etc.) I'm confident that the situation is different today.

Also, I see Carradine's wonderfully understated performance as Caine to be a transition of sorts. Prior to "Kung Fu," American audiences still saw white actors in heavy Asian make-up, and with caricatured Asian mannerisms, as acceptable. A mere decade before "Kung Fu," Mickey Rooney went uncriticized for his cringe-inducing grotesquerie of Mr. Yunioshi in "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (1962). We can breathe a sigh of relief because "Kung Fu" (1) cast a Caucasian actor whose natural appearance was believably half-Asian and did not need heavy cosmetics; (2) does not require Caine to affect an artificial "foreign" accent; (3) allows Caine to speak in complete sentences instead of the fractured pidgin gibberish common to Hollywood's Asian characters at the time. In today's entertainment industry, if casting white actors in Asian roles -- a practice dubbed "yellowface" by its critics -- isn't exactly prohibited, Hollywood has made important progress in recognizing the custom to be at least problematic.

The DVD's documentary seems tacitly designed to deny the rumor that Bruce Lee initiated the concept that eventually became "Kung Fu," giving creative credit instead to New York writer Ed Spielman. But many Lee fans insist to this day that their idol came up with the idea for "Kung Fu" and was robbed of the role of Caine by the Hollywood honchos who took over his property. I'm willing to believe this version of events, but I haven't been persuaded yet. However, the very existence of this story, true or untrue, speaks volumes about the "Enter the Dragon" star's enormous iconic stature. In many situations when I bring up the TV series "Kung Fu" to others, it's not long before I hear something like, "Didn't Bruce Lee have something to do with that show?"

To me, the true tragedy is *not* that Lee lost the role of Caine, but that his death at age 32 was so untimely. Had he lived, Lee's career post-"Enter the Dragon" would surely have surpassed Carradine's career post-"Kung Fu," relegating the martial artist's involvement or non-involvement in the TV show to a trivial footnote in his biography. With his ghost continuing to haunt a series that he officially had little connection to, I think that Bruce Lee is having the last laugh.

(Note: I have also written reviews for the first and third seasons of "Kung Fu.")

The dvd's were very good and as advertised. Soon I will buy the third season as well.