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No doubt Bruce Lee was highly trained and conditioned and apparently mastered the martial arts in real life - I wouldn't mess with him, that's for sure. He used to demonstrate something called the "one inch punch" where he'd put his fist one inch from a man's chest and without moving the rest of his body, he'd drive his fist one inch forward from a stationary position and send that man to the ground every time.

However, I find his movies very dull because all of it is so staged. It was almost comical the way he'd have 50 or so people come after him all at once and he'd kill every one of them with his bare hands (with the occasional use of a stick or nunchucks). That simply could not happen in real life no matter how strong he is. Also, in a real-life situation, somebody would just put a bullet in him and be done with it.

Anyway, I wonder how he died. I don't think anybody knew for sure. My theory is that his diet and exercise regime were so extreme that his body just gave up on him. From what I read about him, he was very uptight and super-disciplined in real life and did something like a thousand pushups and situps every morning before having his typical breakfast of six raw eggs. It's too bad he couldn't chill out and have a Twinkie every now and then.

The dude should have had his own series, but discrimination prevented this.

What was the connection between Bruce Lee
and the television series "Kung Fu"?

Was this part really developed for Bruce Lee and did he help write it?

Special Edition U.S.

From Canada
Region 2

We have no inside information on this subject, but the pilot was written in New York by two people who had no connection to Bruce Lee. Warner Brothers bought the script and it bounced around their people for some time. During this time, someone from the studio discussed it with Bruce Lee and that person probably asked Mr. Lee questions about the Shaolin. We do not know if any information from these discussions and answers was incorporated into the script. The script Warner Brothers bought was far too long for a movie of any kind and so had to be seriously cut, not expanded. On the other hand, some of the information gathered from Mr. Lee could have been changed things in the script they ended up shooting or have been used in the series later and his information may have provided support for the whole project.

Still, Bruce Lee probably honestly thought they were considering him for the role while the people who had control of the project claim they never talked to him or considered him. But someone at Warner Brothers surely talked to him and may have given him the impression that he was being considered.

Was there racism involved in the fact that the people in charge of the project didn't consider Lee? That seems likely. But in the special on the new DVD a VP of ABC said that Lee came to see him and he had trouble understanding what Lee was saying and he felt that pretty much disqualified him. Although he admits that Lee had an enourmous "presence" and he talked with some people for about an hour about the possibility of using Lee.

But it was after this series came out that Bruce Lee did "Enter the Dragon" which changed the world of "Kung Fu" movies.

The dude should have had his own series, but discrimination prevented this. One can only imagine where Lee would be today had he survived.

You hit the nail on the head... "Kung Fu" was originally written for Bruce, but the a$$hat$ in the studios decided that David Caradine would make a better Chinese philosopher/warrior.

Mark