Surely you realize that Ted Stryker was an entirely different character...altogether.
It explains his drinking problem.
And I do believe the blond woman was Chirstopher Norris who went on to Trapper John MD.
MeTV's SuperSci-Fi Saturday Night
- Thread starter JD
- Start date
It explains his drinking problem.
And I do believe the blond woman was Chirstopher Norris who went on to Trapper John MD.
Alas, the best part of the episode was cut for syndication....
Dru: "Diana, I've come with a message from Paradise Island."
Diana: "Paradise Island? What is it?"
Dru: "It's an island in the Bermuda Triangle that's been populated by immortal women for thousand of years, but that's not important right now...."
Dru: "Diana, I've come with a message from Paradise Island."
Diana: "Paradise Island? What is it?"
Dru: "It's an island in the Bermuda Triangle that's been populated by immortal women for thousand of years, but that's not important right now...."
I think Dru suffered anoxia in childbirth. 
Hold on, how does Drusilla even exist? The Amazons are immortal and they've been on Paradise Island for 2000 years with no men. So how is there a teenager among them? Has she been suspended in adolescence for two millennia? Was she molded from clay? Was she shipwrecked as an infant and adopted? Or have there been men on the island that we didn't know about?
From what I've caught on DECADES, The Man from UNCLE is a series I could see myself getting into. Alas, MeTV's weekly airing is preempted for paid programming here.
Should anyone else out there stumble upon DECADES, the next Series Binge is Kung Fu, starting on Thursday.
Should anyone else out there stumble upon DECADES, the next Series Binge is Kung Fu, starting on Thursday.
The first season of TMFU is decent and has a lot of fun or impressive moments, though it's rather sexist and pretty racist in its portrayal of non-Western cultures. The second season is mostly pretty lame; it felt to me like a sloppy production where the people involved weren't really trying all that hard, and I got the sense that the two leads really didn't like each other, given how little they interacted. And it was even worse than season 1 on the sexism front, and not much better on the racial front. I've heard that the third season degenerated into dreadful camp, and I've been afraid to watch. All in all, it's my least favorite of the '60s spy shows.
The sexist part is no less than I'd expect from a 60s spy show conceived by Ian Fleming. I caught part of an episode last night with Celeste Yarnall (known to Trek fans as the yeoman in "The Apple") as a brunette and with her hair down...she was stunning.
ETA: Looks like I'll be missing an episode guest-starring Sonny & Cher while I'm watching Agents of SHIELD....
ETA: Looks like I'll be missing an episode guest-starring Sonny & Cher while I'm watching Agents of SHIELD....
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I wish Comcast would pick up Decades. I'd love to see the complete Man From Uncle. At least I've got the complete Kung Fu on DVD.
I was wrong, they've started Kung Fu tonight.
It's a great show. Caine is one of my all-time favorite characters.
I'd tried watching it through in syndication in the 90s, but the channel stopped playing it before it got to the end of the series. Alas, DECADES's relentless 24-hour airings don't allow me to catch every episode, but I've got it on.
Talk about small universe syndrome in Westerns--I think that may have come up previously in this thread--one of the earliest episodes has Caine investigating the fate of a friend he'd grown up with in the Shao-Lin temple...in a town in the American West that just happens to be somewhere near Caine's father's hometown. The man was dead and I was half-watching, so I'm not sure if it was ever firmly established that it was the same man, or just somebody else with the fairly common-sounding Chinese name (Lin Wu, IIRC).
I also have to wonder why they went with a third actor to play growing young Caine in the flashbacks. The guy looks like he was bigger than Carradine, and he's old enough that it's harder to suspend disbelief that they're the same person. Seems like Carradine could have played Caine at that age.
It's an engaging show, though...if this channel or Me ever played it at a watchable pace, I'd try watching it through again.
Talk about small universe syndrome in Westerns--I think that may have come up previously in this thread--one of the earliest episodes has Caine investigating the fate of a friend he'd grown up with in the Shao-Lin temple...in a town in the American West that just happens to be somewhere near Caine's father's hometown. The man was dead and I was half-watching, so I'm not sure if it was ever firmly established that it was the same man, or just somebody else with the fairly common-sounding Chinese name (Lin Wu, IIRC).
I also have to wonder why they went with a third actor to play growing young Caine in the flashbacks. The guy looks like he was bigger than Carradine, and he's old enough that it's harder to suspend disbelief that they're the same person. Seems like Carradine could have played Caine at that age.
It's an engaging show, though...if this channel or Me ever played it at a watchable pace, I'd try watching it through again.
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I've seen some episodes of Kung Fu in the past, and it was an interesting show; it was certainly impressive that they tried to do a show about Eastern philosophy and nonviolence on '60s TV, even if they did have to pass it off as a Western to get it on the air.
But it's hard to get past the decision to cast a white actor in yellowface as a supposedly half-Chinese lead character -- particularly given that the series was originally conceived as a Bruce Lee star vehicle. The fact that Carradine took a sincere interest in martial arts and the promotion of Shaolin/kung fu culture after the show ended ameliorates it somewhat, but still, it's an unfortunate thing in retrospect.
But it's hard to get past the decision to cast a white actor in yellowface as a supposedly half-Chinese lead character -- particularly given that the series was originally conceived as a Bruce Lee star vehicle. The fact that Carradine took a sincere interest in martial arts and the promotion of Shaolin/kung fu culture after the show ended ameliorates it somewhat, but still, it's an unfortunate thing in retrospect.
Kung Fu is one of the most incredible, intriguing, and beautiful shows to make it onto American TV. I've seen most of the episodes one or more times over the years.
David Carradine is outstanding as the half-Chinese Kwai Chang Caine. Keye Luke rightfully gets much praise as Master Po, but I personally feel that Philip Ahn's Master Kan is the truly outstanding character of the series. Both of the two Masters help make the show what it is, and there are many brilliant and memorable lines between them.
The greatest strength of the show is in the flashback scenes to China, and yet many of the scenes in America are outstanding as well, despite the obvious presence of many TV-Western clichés.
I'm not an expert on how the show was created, as I'm only judging it by what made it to screen, but FWIW the wiki article takes a stance against the claim of Bruce Lee's involvement in the creation of the show. Worth a read.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kung_Fu_(TV_series)#Bruce_Lee.27s_involvement
David Carradine is outstanding as the half-Chinese Kwai Chang Caine. Keye Luke rightfully gets much praise as Master Po, but I personally feel that Philip Ahn's Master Kan is the truly outstanding character of the series. Both of the two Masters help make the show what it is, and there are many brilliant and memorable lines between them.
The greatest strength of the show is in the flashback scenes to China, and yet many of the scenes in America are outstanding as well, despite the obvious presence of many TV-Western clichés.
It was '70s show developed in the '60s.
I'm not an expert on how the show was created, as I'm only judging it by what made it to screen, but FWIW the wiki article takes a stance against the claim of Bruce Lee's involvement in the creation of the show. Worth a read.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kung_Fu_(TV_series)#Bruce_Lee.27s_involvement
Yeah, Carradine may not have been half-Asian, but Ahn and Luke got regular work out of it.
Next Series Binge starting Saturday afternoon: The Millionaire...which I have zero interest in.
Next Series Binge starting Saturday afternoon: The Millionaire...which I have zero interest in.
I do have Decades! It's way up on the "dial" at 930. I found it by searching for Kung Fu.
Just the opposite. It was very much of the times.
Indeed. I was a tween and early teen when it was on the air and I found it riveting, as much as Star Trek. Caine had a huge effect on me.
David Carradine was born to play Caine. It's possible that an Asian actor could have played the part, despite the fact that it needed someone of mixed parentage, but Bruce Lee would have been totally wrong for it. Carradine had had that perfect quality of unbelonging in both worlds. And Philip Ahn's wry Master Kan is wonderful-- he's so perfect at delivering lines like, "I'm glad you are smarter than a monkey."
Your perseverance has rewarded you, grasshopper. 
On to the rice paper!
On to the rice paper!
