A new version of “Kung Fu” redresses past mistakes

A MAN WALKS wearily through a desert in the American West, remembering his combat training at a Shaolin monastery. He enters a saloon bar, orders a glass of water and waits for the confrontation he knows is coming. It happens quickly: another patron sidles up to the stranger and taunts him with racial slurs before reaching for weapons. The bigot is quickly dealt a flying kick to the stomach, and the stranger goes on sipping his drink.

“Kung Fu”, which had its premiere in October 1972, was the first show about martial arts on primetime American television. It was created by Ed Spielman, a comedy writer with a passion for Asian culture. As a teenager he had watched “Seven Samurai” (1954), Akira Kurosawa’s drama, and gone on to study Mandarin, kung fu and karate as an adult. He discussed the idea of writing a biopic of Miyamoto Musashi, a legendary Japanese swordsman, with Howard Friedlander, his friend and collaborator. Mr Friedlander suggested a Shaolin monk might make a more interesting protagonist, particularly if transposed to the Wild West.

Mr Spielman and Mr Friedlander pitched their film, entitled “The Way of the Tiger, The Sign of the Dragon”, to Warner Brothers. The studio liked the idea but, fearing it was risky, passed it to the television department. They greenlit the story of Kwai Chang Caine, a half-Chinese, half-American martial-arts...