When you can take the affidavit from my hand, you are ready.
Not everything gets done right the first time. Take the 1970s television series Kung Fu. Based at least in part on an idea from martial arts legend Bruce Lee, the series was the #1 show in the U.S. in 1973. But casting David Carradine over Lee seems nothing short of lunacy in hindsight. While Lee’s heirs later continued his vision in Cinemax’s The Warrior, the series that became Kung Fu is getting a reboot, a re-imagining, or a redo next month as Olivia Liang takes the lead role as Nicky Shen in CW’s Kung Fu. Well-timed to follow the success of the similar-vibed live-action Mulan and some of our favorite recent martial arts series like Wu Assassins, the series follows a Chinese American college student who travels to China and is taken under the wing of a Shaolin master. She returns to San Francisco with a new purpose. Nicky looks like a superheroine in the first trailers for the series, which makes the CW network of Arrowverse fame a good place to air the series. The new series also seems to have the slow-motion martial arts effects the original Kung Fu was known for (the same later used in the Six Million Dollar Man).
Check out some great first trailers for the series below.
The series has instant credibility with fan-favorite actor Tzi Ma, again tying the show to Wu Assassins and Mulan and playing Nicky’s father. Other key cast members include Shannon Dang (The Romanoffs) as Nicky’s sister, Tan Kheng Hua Tan (Crazy Rich Asians, Magnum, PI) as Nicky’s mother, Eddie Liu (Broad City, Silicon Valley) as Henry Chu, Gwendoline Yeo (Star Wars: The Clone Wars, American Crime, 24) as Zhilan, Yvonne Chapman (The 100, Street Legal) as Zhilan, Ludi Lin (Power Rangers, Mortal Kombat, Aquaman) as Kerwin, and Tony Chung (Mortal Kombat 11) as Dennis Soong.
As in Wu Assassins, we return to the story of a super-powered warrior taking on the Triad gang in San Francisco. This is also similar to the plot of The Night Comes for Us. Both are among the best shows streaming today.
Take a look at these fun, great trailers for Kung Fu:
Look for Kung Fu premiering on the CW network April 7, 2021.
C.J. Bunce / Editor / borg