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Kung Fu: The Legend Continues

{{short description|Television series}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}

{{Infobox television

| image = Kung Fu - The Legend Continues (television series logo).svg

| caption =

| based_on = {{based_on|Kung Fu|Ed Spielman
Jerry Thorpe
Herman Miller}}

| camera =

| runtime = 44–46 minutes

| company = {{Plainlist|

}}

| creator = Ed Spielman

| producer = {{Plainlist|

  • Gavin Mitchell
  • Susan Murdoch
  • John Hackett

}}

| executive_producer = Michael Sloan

| starring = {{Plainlist|

}}

| narrated = Richard Anderson

| composer = Jeff Danna

| endtheme =

| country = {{Plainlist|

  • Canada
  • United States

}}

| network = Prime Time Entertainment Network

| first_aired = {{Start date|1993|1|27}}

| last_aired = {{End date|1997|1|1}}

| num_seasons = 4

| num_episodes = 88 (list of episodes)

}}

Kung Fu: The Legend Continues is an action/crime drama series and sequel to the original 1972–75 television series Kung Fu. While the original Kung Fu series was set in the American old west, Kung Fu: The Legend Continues was set in the modern era. It starred David Carradine and Chris Potter as a father and son trained in kung fu – Carradine playing a Shaolin monk, Potter a police detective.{{cite news|last=Willman|first=Chris|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-01-27-ca-1744-story.html|title=TV REVIEWS : Carradine Kicks In With New 'Kung Fu'|date=January 27, 1993|work=The Los Angeles Times|access-date=2010-11-26}}{{cite news|last=King|first=Susan|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-01-24-tv-2338-story.html|title=Retro : Kung Fu: Alive and Kicking|date=January 24, 1993|work=The Los Angeles Times|access-date=2010-11-26}} The series aired in syndication for four seasons from January 27, 1993, to January 1, 1997, and was broadcast in over 70 countries. Filming took place in Toronto, Ontario.{{cite news|last1=Storm|first1=Jonathan|title=Still Alive and Kickin'|date=January 27, 1993|work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|access-date=April 22, 2021|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/76265181/stil-alive-and-kickin-david/|via=Newspapers}}

The show was canceled when its producer, Prime Time Entertainment Network (also known as PTEN), ceased operations and no other producer opted to continue the series.

Synopsis

Like his grandfather and namesake from the original series, Kwai Chang Caine (David Carradine) is a Shaolin priest who walked out of the past. In 1978, Caine was the head of a temple in Northern California, where his son Peter (Chris Potter) also lived and studied, until the temple was destroyed in a fire caused by a renegade priest who believed the priests should serve as mercenaries. Each believed the other had perished in the fire and went on their separate ways; Caine wandered and traveled, much as his grandfather had, while Peter became a foster child and eventually a police officer. The series begins 15 years after the destruction of the temple, when Caine reunites with Peter after entering the Chinatown district of the city where he works.

Cast and characters

=Main=

{{Cast listing|

}}

=Recurring=

{{Cast listing|small=yes|

  • Robert Lansing as Capt. Paul Blaisdell ("also Starring", seasons 1–2, 25 episodes).
  • William Dunlop as Chief of Detectives Frank Strenlich (seasons 1–4, 54 episodes).{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nyu6CwAAQBAJ&dq=%22William+Dunlop%22+%22+Frank+Strenlich%22&pg=PA149|chapter=Kung Fu: The Legend Continues|title=Encyclopedia of Weird Westerns: Supernatural and Science Fiction Elements in Novels, Pulps, Comics, Films, Television and Games, 2d Ed.|page=149|author= Paul Green|year=2016|isbn=978-1-4766-6257-2|publisher=McFarland & Company}}
  • Kim Chan as Lo Si "The Ancient" / Ping Hai (seasons 1–4, 54 episodes), an older Shaolin priest who is the proprietor of a Chinatown apothecary shop who becomes Caine's friend and mentor.
  • Rob Moses as Master Khan (seasons 1-4, 15 episodes, 4 uncredited).
  • Nathaniel Moreau as Young Peter Caine (seasons 1–3, 54 episodes, in flashbacks).
  • Robert Bednarski as Younger Peter Caine (seasons 4, 12 episodes, in flashbacks).
  • Belinda Metz as Det. Jody Powell (seasons 2–4, 33 episodes). Metz had previously played Det. Kira Blakemore in season one, "Shadow Assassin""Shadow Assassin" - Season 1, Episode 3 prior to her new role.
  • Scott Wentworth as Det. Kermit Griffin (seasons 2–4, 25 episodes)
  • Kate Trotter as Capt. Karen Simms (seasons 3–4, 25 episodes)
  • Sandey Grinn as Thomas Jefferson "T.J." Kincaid (seasons 3–4, 5 episodes)
  • Marla Schaffel as Tyler Smith (3 episodes), Peter's former fiance and on-and-off girlfriend.

}}

Production

In 1992, the series was sold to television stations as a first-run syndicated series, alongside Time Trax. The series was originally sold as Kung Fu: The Next Generation.{{cite news |last1=Lippman |first1=John |title=Too Costly for Prime Time : Television: Plunging profits are forcing Hollywood to chop paychecks and rein in production costs. |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-03-22-fi-7368-story.html |access-date=April 22, 2021 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=March 22, 1992}}

The show was filmed in Canada, on location in the historic Toronto Chinatown.{{cite web |last1=Brown |first1=Dwight |title=Chris Potter – The New Kung Fu - The Legend Continues |url=https://www.backkicks.com/christ-potter-the-new-kung-fu/ |website=Kickbacks Martial Arts Encyclopdedia |access-date=2 June 2025 |date=12 June 2022}}

Episodes

{{Main|List of Kung Fu: The Legend Continues episodes{{!}}List of Kung Fu: The Legend Continues episodes}}

{{:List of Kung Fu: The Legend Continues episodes}}

Home media

On May 27, 2014, Warner Bros. released the complete first season on DVD in Region 1 in the USA only not Canada, via their Warner Archive Collection.[http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Kung-Fu-Legend-Continues-Season-1/19843 Available Sooner (Now!) and Cheaper: 'The Complete 1st Season' DVDs] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140528011655/http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Kung-Fu-Legend-Continues-Season-1/19843 |date=2014-05-28 }} Season 2 was released on August 18, 2015.[http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Kung-Fu-Legend-Continues-Season-2/20854 Early Info Provides Date and Cost for 'The Complete 2nd Season'] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150311215440/http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Kung-Fu-Legend-Continues-Season-2/20854 |date=2015-03-11 }}

class="wikitable"
DVD name

! Ep #

! Release date

The Complete First Season

| style="text-align:center;"|22

| May 27, 2014

The Complete Second Season

| style="text-align:center;"|22

| August 18, 2015

The Complete Third Season

| style="text-align:center;"|22

| N/A

The Complete Fourth Season

| style="text-align:center;"|22

| N/A

The first season was released in Germany on DVD in 2009.

International broadcasters

References

{{reflist|30em}}

External links

  • {{IMDb title|id=0103460|title=Kung Fu: The Legend Continues}}
  • [http://www.debwalsh.com/kftlc/ Kung Fu: The Legend Continues online FAQ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100513024809/http://www.debwalsh.com/kftlc/ |date=2010-05-13 }}
  • [https://www.episodate.com/tv-show/kung-fu-the-legend-continues Kung Fu: The Legend Continues] at Episodate.com

{{Kung Fu (TV series)}}

Category:1993 American television series debuts

Category:1997 American television series endings

Category:1993 Canadian television series debuts

Category:1997 Canadian television series endings

Category:First-run syndicated television programs in the United States

Category:Prime Time Entertainment Network

Category:First-run syndicated television shows in Canada

Category:Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios

Legend Continues

Category:Television shows filmed in Toronto

Category:American English-language television shows

Category:Sequel television series

Category:Alternative sequel television series

Category:1990s American crime drama television series

Category:1990s Canadian crime drama television series

Category:American action adventure television series

Category:Canadian action adventure television series