October 14, 1972: Kung Fu premieres on ABC, television's response to the movies' wave of "revisionist Westerns."
David Carradine plays the half-American-half-Chinese Kwai Chang Caine, wandering through America's "Wild West," battling anti-Asian bigotry and other issues that afflicted that place and that time -- and some that can afflict any place at any time.
In the pilot episode, Caine's beloved mentor and elder, the blind Master Po (played by veteran Chinese-American actor Keye Luke), is murdered by the nephew of the Emperor of China, with a firearm. Outraged, Caine retaliates by killing the nephew, with everyone unaware that the man was reloading his weapon to attack him again. With a price on his head, Caine flees China to the western United States, where he seeks his family roots, and ultimately, his half-brother, Danny Caine.
In the pilot episode, a telegram dated November 21, 1873 indicates that most of the episode's American story takes place before that. In a Season 3 episode, a recent tombstone has a death date of 1874.
Flashbacks often used to recall specific lessons from Caine's training as a child (Radames Pera, 12 years old when the show began) at the monastery from his teachers, Master Po and Master Chen Ming Kan (Philip Ahn). Po advises his young student, "Patience, Grasshopper," a name derived from a lesson he taught a young Caine about being aware of the world around him, including the grasshopper that happened to be at his feet at that moment.
During 4 episodes of Season 3, Caine finds his brother Danny (Tim McIntire) and his nephew Zeke (John Blyth Barrymore, grandson of John and half-brother of Drew).
One way to tell the sequence of the episodes: Carradine started the series with a completely shaved head, and never cut his hair once through the 3 seasons.
Kung Fu and the films of Bruce Lee helped to make martial arts, and the movies based on them, enormously popular in America. There is some question as to whether Lee was robbed of the idea. He spoke in 1971 of having a similar concept, but having trouble pitching it to film studios. Carradine himself said that Lee was passed over for the role. However, a treatment for the series, without Lee's involvement, was dated 1969.
In 1986, Kung Fu: The Movie aired on CBS. Carradine returned as Caine, and met his previously unknown son, Chung Wang, played by Brandon Lee, the real-life son of Bruce. In 1987, CBS aired Kung Fu: The Next Generation, taking place in the present day, without Carradine's involvement. Brandon Lee played Johnny Caine, the great-great-grandson of Kwai Chang Caine.
A sequel series, Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, aired in syndication starting in 1993, and it ignored the events of Kung Fu: The Next Generation -- but not necessarily those of Kung Fu: The Movie. Carradine, then 56 years old, returned, as the grandson of the original Caine; and Chris Potter played his son, Peter Caine, a Los Angeles cop. (Despite the L.A. setting, the show was filmed by a Canadian production company, in Toronto, and a map of Southern Ontario can easily be seen at Peter's desk.) It lasted longer than the original, 4 years, and was only canceled because its production company went bankrupt.
In 2021, The CW began airing a new Kung Fu series, with a female protagonist, Olivia Liang as Nicky Shang, living in present-day San Francisco. Aside from the title and the basic idea, this show has nothing in common with either of the Carradine series, and there is no mention of the Caine family. Ed Spielman, co-creator of the original series, has been involved with the production of all 3 series. (UPDATE: That series lasted 3 seasons, the same as the original.)
Philip Ahn died in 1978, Tim McIntire in 1986, Keye Luke in 1991, Brandon Lee under tragic circumstances in 1993, and David Carradine under bizarre circumstances in 2009. As of October 14, 2022, John Blyth Barrymore and Chris Potter are still alive.
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October 14, 1972 was a Saturday. Game 1 of the World Series was played. The Oakland Athletics beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-2 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Ken Holtzman outpitched Gary Nolan. A's catcher Gene Tenace hit home runs in his 1st 2 World Series at-bats.
Among the college football games played on this day were these:
* Number 1 University of Southern California beat the University of California, 42-14 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. USC won the Pacific-Eight Conference Championship, and accepted the accompanying bid to the Rose Bowl.
* Rivalry: Number 2 Oklahoma beat Number 10 Texas, 27-0 at the Cotton Bowl stadium in Dallas. It was the only game Texas lost all season, and they won the Southwest Conference Championship and the accompanying bid to the Cotton Bowl.
Oklahoma lost the next week, to Colorado, but still managed to win the Big Eight Conference Championship. Instead of accepting the accompanying bid to the Orange Bowl, they accepted an invitation from the Sugar Bowl. They faced Penn State, who had risen to Number 5, and beat them. But USC having already won the Rose Bowl earlier in the day, Oklahoma were frozen out of the National Championship.
* Number 3 Alabama beat Florida, 24-7 at Denny Stadium (now Bryant-Denny Stadium) in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. 'Bama went on to win the Southeastern Conference Championship, but instead of accepting the accompanying bid to the Sugar Bowl, they went to the Cotton Bowl instead, where they lost to Texas.
* Number 4 Ohio State beat Illinois, 26-7 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus. Ohio State went on to win the Big Ten Conference Championship, and the accompanying bid to the Rose Bowl. If they could beat USC, and Oklahoma were to lose the Sugar Bowl, Ohio State could have won the National Championship. But USC won the Rose Bowl, and the title.
* Rivalry: Number 5 Michigan beat Michigan State, 10-0 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor. Michigan would rise to Number 3, before losing to Ohio State, blowing their chances at the Big Ten Conference and National Championships.
* Number 6 Nebraska beat Missouri, 62-0 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska. Nebraska blew its shot at the Big 8 title by losing to Oklahoma. But when Oklahoma went to the Sugar Bowl, Nebraska were invited to the Orange Bowl.
* Number 7 Notre Dame beat the University of Pittsburgh, 42-16 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. As an independent, Notre Dame did not have a Conference Championship to win, and could accept a bid to any of the New Year's Day bowls except the Rose. They went to the Orange Bowl, where they lost to Nebraska.
* Number 8 Louisiana State University beat Number 9 Auburn, 35-7 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU had a shot at the SEC title, but lost to Alabama, and ended up going to the Bluebonnet Bowl in Houston, where they lost to Tennessee, a fellow SEC team, but one they hadn't played in the regular season.
* Number 12 University of Washington were upset by Number 17 Stanford, 24-0 at the original Stanford Stadium outside San Francisco in Palo Alto, California.
* Number 13 Colorado beat Number 18 Iowa State, 34-22 at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colorado.
* Number 19 Oklahoma State were upset by Virginia Tech, 34-32 at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, Virginia.
* Rivalry: Virginia beat Virginia Military Institute, 45-14 at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville.
* Rivalry: Wyoming beat Colorado State, 28-9 at Hughes Stadium in Fort Collins, Colorado.
* Among the service academies, Number 16 Air Force beat Boston College, 13-9 at Alumni Stadium just outside Boston in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts; Army lost to Number 15 Penn State, 45-0 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York; and Navy lost to Syracuse, 30-14 at Archbold Stadium in Syracuse, New York.
* And with New Jersey's teams, Rutgers beat Lafayette, 21-7 at Fisher Field (now Fisher Stadium) in Easton, Pennsylvania; and Princeton lost to Dartmouth, 35-14 at Memorial Stadium in Hanover, New Hampshire.
There were 6 games in the NBA:
* The New York Knicks beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 125-100 at Madison Square Garden.
* The Houston Rockets beat the Buffalo Braves, 121-113 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium. Fred Hilton scored 36 points in defeat for the Braves.
* The Boston Celtics beat the Chicago Bulls, 96-88 at the Chicago Stadium.
* The Kansas City-Omaha Kings beat the Detroit Pistons, 113-101 at the Kansas City Municipal Auditorium. Nate "Tiny" Archibald scored 38. This was the 1st game in Kansas City for the team that had been the Cincinnati Royals since 1957, after playing their "home opener" 3 nights earlier, at the Omaha Civic Auditorium. They played 15 games at Omaha in 1972-73, 15 more in 1973-74, and 11 in 1974-75, before switching to Kansas City-only for 1975-76, before moving to Sacramento in 1985.
* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Golden State Warriors, 81-77 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.
* And the Phoenix Suns beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 124-120 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum. Charlie Scott scored 38 for the Suns.
There were 5 games in the ABA:
* The New York Nets lost to the Carolina Cougars, 126-78 at the original Charlotte Coliseum.
* The Kentucky Colonels beat the Virginia Squires, 130-110 at Freedom Hall in Louiville, Kentucky.
* The Denver Rockets beat the Indiana Pacers, 96-90 at the Indiana State Fair Coliseum (now the Corteva Coliseum).
* The Utah Stars beat the Dallas Chaparrals, 106-90 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City, Utah.
* And the San Diego Conquistadors beat the Memphis Tams, 135-118 at the Peterson Gym on the campus of the University of San Diego. Larry Miller, Ollie Taylor and Jerry Chambers each scored 27 points for the Conquistadors. George Thompson scored 37 in defeat for the Tams.
All 16 NHL teams were in action:
* The New York Rangers lost to the Montreal Canadiens, 6-1 at the Montreal Forum.
* The New York Islanders lost to the Boston Bruins, 7-4 at the Nassau Coliseum. This was the 3rd game, all at home, for the expansion Isles.
* The Atlanta Flames and the Buffalo Sabres played to a tie, 1-1 at The Omni in Atlanta. This was the 1st home game for the expansion Flames, who played their 1st 4 games on the road. They moved to Calgary in 1980.
* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Los Angeles Kings, 6-4 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.
* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the California Golden Seals, 5-2 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.
* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 5-0 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit.
* The Minnesota North Stars and the Vancouver Canucks played to a tie, 3-3 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of
Bloomington, Minnesota.
* And the Chicago Black Hawks beat the St. Louis Blues, 4-2 at the St. Louis Arena. The Blues consider the Hawks their arch-rivals, but the Hawks consider theirs to be the Red Wings.
There were 2 games in the brand-new World Hockey Association. The New York Raiders beat the Ottawa Nationals, 8-6 at Madison Square Garden. And the Cleveland Crusaders beat the Alberta Oilers, 3-2 at the Cleveland Arena.
And in English soccer, Arsenal beat Suffolk team Ipswich Town, 1-0 at the Arsenal Stadium, a.k.a. Highbury, in North London.
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