It’s been nearly a half-century since the slo-mo spinning back kicks of “Kung Fu” first disrupted American living rooms, but the original TV western retains a singular place in the history of Hollywood yellowface: Not only was David Carradine cast as Kwai Chang Caine, Shaolin monk and martial-arts master, but the producers allegedly stole the idea from Bruce Lee and then declined to cast him. “You can’t make a star out of a 5-foot-6 Chinese actor,” an ABC executive reportedly said.
Wiser heads are behind The CW’s new “Kung Fu,” which not only casts Asians as Asians but makes its hero a woman. And moves the principal locale out of the Wild West and into current-day San Francisco. And eliminates a lot of the Taoist profundities that informed Carradine’s dialogue. And no one says “Grasshopper.” So, basically, it’s an entirely different show. Albeit with the same name and a similar number of slo-mo spinning back kicks. It’s also much more fun.