Kung Fu TV show CW REMAKE

[GeneChing]

‘Kung Fu’ Female-Led Series Reboot From Greg Berlanti & Wendy Mericle Set At Fox As Put Pilot (http://deadline.com/2017/09/kung-fu-female-tv-series-fox-greg-berlanti-wendy-mericle-put-pilot-1202178645/)
by Nellie Andreeva
September 28, 2017 12:15pm

https://pmcdeadline2.files.wordpress.com/2017/09/kungfu.jpg?w=446&h=299&crop=1
WBTV

EXCLUSIVE: In a competitive situation, Fox has landed Kung Fu, a drama with a female lead based on the 1970s David Carradine-starring TV series. The project, executive produced by Greg Berlanti, was given a put pilot commitment.

Written by Arrow executive producer and longtime Berlanti collaborator Wendy Mericle, Kung Fu is a sequel to the original 1880s-set series, which was created by Ed Spielman and chronicled the adventures of Kwai Chang Caine (Carradine), a Shaolin monk who travels the American Old West armed only with his spiritual training — including a ton of aphorisms — and his skill in martial arts in search of his half-brother.

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The new Kung Fu follows the adventures of Lucy Chang, a Buddhist monk and kung fu master who travels through 1950s America armed only with her spiritual training and her martial arts skills as she searches for the man who stole her child years before. When she teams with JT Cullen, a charming Korean War vet with his own secrets, the two form an unlikely alliance that allows Lucy to continue her search while also coming to the aid of people in need. (It is unclear whether Carradine’s character and Lucy Chang are related.)

Mericle and Berlanti Prods’ Berlanti and Sarah Schechter executive produce for Warner Bros TV and studio-based Berlanti Prods.

If the project goes to series, it would mark a rare Big 4 broadcast drama series with an Asian character at the center.

https://pmcdeadline2.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/fox-tv-logo__131101190305.png?w=279&h=121

The original 1972 Kung Fu series started with a 90-minute TV movie, which served as a pilot (you can watch the series’ opening sequence below). The drama’s three-season run on ABC was followed by a stand-alone TV movie, Kung Fu: The Movie, which aired on CBS in 1986 with Carradine reprising his role and Brandon Lee playing his son. CBS the following year tried to launch a sequel series, Kung Fu: The Next Generation, centered on Lee’s character, though it did not go beyond the pilot stage. There also was Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, an American-Canadian series, which aired four seasons from 1993-97.

It has been another big development season for Berlanti Prods., which has 10 series on the air. The company’s sales include three other put pilot commitments — for an untitled legal drama written by Martin Gero & Brendan Gall at CBS; the White House political drama Republic, written by Alex Berger, at NBC; and light hourlong procedural God Friended Me at CBS, from Steven Lilien, Bryan Wynbrandt and Marcos Siega. Additionally, Berlanti Prods. has three projects set up at the CW including The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, eyed as a Riverdale companion.

Mericle’s first writing job was on Berlanti’s first series as a creator, Everwood. She also worked with him on Jack & Bobby and Eli Stone before joining Arrow after the pilot, rising to executive producer. She is repped by CAA and attorney Nina Shaw. Berlanti is with WME.

Here’s the original Kung Fu sequence:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=rp1AuBj53Co


A Shaolin nun. Interesting twist.

[GeneChing]

‘Kung Fu’ Sequel Drama From Albert Kim & Berlanti Prods. Set At Fox As Put Pilot (https://deadline.com/2018/10/kung-fu-drama-albert-kim-greg-berlanti-fox-put-pilot-1202479763/)
by Nellie Andreeva
October 9, 2018 5:00pm

https://pmcdeadline2.files.wordpress.com/2017/11/albert-kim-2.jpg?w=446&h=299&crop=1
Courtesy of UTA

Fox has given a put pilot commitment to Kung Fu, a present-day sequel to the 1970s David Carradine-starring TV series, from former Sleepy Hollow executive producer Albert Kim, Greg Berlanti’s Berlanti Prods. and Warner Bros. TV, where the company is based.

https://pmcdeadline2.files.wordpress.com/2018/04/greg-berlanti.jpg?w=297&h=186
Courtesy of International Emmy Awards

Written by Kim, Kung Fu is an action-driven procedural about a young Chinese-American woman who inherits her father’s kung fu studio, only to discover it’s actually a secret center dedicated to helping members of the Chinatown community who have nowhere else to turn. With the help of a former star pupil — a smart and driven ex-Marine — she vows to continue the school’s mission. In the process, she discovers things she never knew about her cultural background and family’s heritage, including a connection to a legendary ancestor.

That legendary ancestor presumably is Carradine’s character from the original series, Shaolin monk Kwai Chang Caine. The 1970s series, created by Ed Spielman, chronicled the adventures of Caine who travels the American Old West armed only with his spiritual training — including a ton of aphorisms — and his skill in martial arts in search of his half.

https://pmcdeadline2.files.wordpress.com/2017/09/kungfu.jpg?w=363&h=204
WBTV

Last year, Fox, Berlanti Prods. and WBTV developed a more straight-forward female-lead reboot of the original series with a different writer. The period drama, which did not go to pilot, followed the adventures of Lucy Chang, a Buddhist monk and kung fu master who travels through 1950s America armed only with her spiritual training and her martial arts skills as she searches for the man who stole her child years before.

Because Fox was Kung Fu‘s home last year, I hear the new take was taken to that network first, and Fox brass bought it with a put pilot commitment. Kim executive produces with Berlanti Prods.’ Berlanti and Sarah Schechter.

https://pmcdeadline2.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/fox-logo-featured.jpg?w=243&h=166
Fox

Kim most served as executive producer/co-showrunner on Fox/20th TV’s Sleepy Hollow, and before that as writer/co-executive producer on the CW/Warner Bros. TV’s Nikita. He also developed at WBTV last season. Kim is repped by ICM Partners and attorney Jeff Frankel.

This is Berlanti Prods.’ fifth drama sale this broadcast pitch season. Kung Fu joins Prodigal Son, which also has a put pilot commitment at Fox. Elsewhere, the company has a pilot production commitment at CBS for The Secret To a Good Marriage, a put pilot at ABC with an untitled Nkechi Carroll project as well as a Batwoman DC adaptation at the CW, which is eyeing a pilot order. Berlanti and Schechter are repped by WME and attorney Patti Felker.

As Fox prepares to go independent following Disney’s acquisition of major Fox assets, including 20th Century Fox TV, the network has been actively buying from indie studio WBTV. Fox takes ownership in all projects it buys from outside studios.

"Lucy Chang, a Buddhist monk and kung fu master" - 'monk' typically refers to men in English. Should be 'nun'. But never mind. Looks like they abandoned that concept.

I think Finn Jones would be a good fit for the ex-marine. :p

[GeneChing]

I watch more CW shows than any other broadcast network nowadays. Which isn't saying that much because I seldom watch broadcast networks nowadays.


NEWS
‘Kung Fu’ Female-Led Reboot From Christina M. Kim, Martin Gero & Berlanti Prods. In Works At The CW (https://deadline.com/2019/11/kung-fu-reboot-female-led-christina-m-kim-martin-gero-greg-berlanti-prods-at-the-cw-1202779400/)
By Nellie Andreeva, Denise Petski
November 6, 2019 12:30pm

https://pmcdeadline2.files.wordpress.com/2019/11/christina-m.-kim-martin-gero.jpg?w=681&h=383&crop=1
Chris Kapa/Maarten de Boer

The CW has put in development Kung Fu, a reimagining with a female lead of the 1970s David Carradine-starring TV series. The hourlong project hails from the Blindspot team of writer-executive producer Christina M. Kim, creator-executive producer Martin Gero, executive producers Greg Berlanti & Sarah Schechter and Warner Bros. TV, where Kim, Gero and Berlanti Prods. are under deals.

https://pmcdeadline2.files.wordpress.com/2017/09/kungfu.jpg?w=338&h=190
WBTV

Written by Kim, inspired by the original series created by Ed Spielman, in the reimagined Kung Fu, a quarter-life crisis causes a young Chinese-American woman to drop out of college and go on a life-changing journey to an isolated monastery in China. But when she returns to find her hometown overrun with crime and corruption, she uses her martial arts skills and Shaolin values to protect her community and bring criminals to justice…all while searching for the assassin who killed her Shaolin mentor and is now targeting her.

https://pmcdeadline2.files.wordpress.com/2019/08/greg-berlanti.jpg?w=320&h=180

Kim and Gero executive produce via Gero’s Quinn’s House Production Company, which produces in association with Berlanti Prods. and Warner Bros. TV. Berlanti and Schechter executive produce for Berlanti Prods.

Two incarnations of the project with different writers — both featuring a female lead — were in development at Fox the last two seasons from Berlanti Prods and Warner Bros. TV with a put pilot commitment. Neither went to pilot.

https://pmcdeadline2.files.wordpress.com/2019/05/the-cw-2019-logo-black.jpg?w=297&h=167
The CW
Berlanti Prods. and WBTV have a successful track record moving to CW projects that had been originally developed at Fox. The CW hit Riverdale and DC drama Black Lightning both originated as Fox development before migrating to the CW.

Kim has been with Blindspot since the first season, starting as a co-executive producer and rising to executive producer in Season 4. Her other credits include consulting producer on Hawaii Five-O and co-executive producer on NCIS: Los Angeles. She began her TV career as a story editor on Lost.

Gero also is executive producing The Service, a one-hour drama from writer Drew Lindo (The 100, Reign), via his Quinn’s House and WBTV, which has received a script commitment with penalty at Fox.

Gero, who also created The L.A. Complex and has been working on a reboot for the CW, did stints on several Stargate series: Stargate Atlantis — on which he rose to showrunner — Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Universe. At WBTV, in addition to creating, executive producing and showrunning Blindspot — which is heading into a fifth season on NBC — Gero also executive produced the ABC series Deception.

[GeneChing]

Hang on now...CW? Does this mean it's going to be some soap opera-esque series like the Arrow (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?67811-Arrow)verse?

Actually, that might be kinda good...:o


JANUARY 30, 2020 5:00PM PT
‘Kung Fu’ Reboot, ‘Republic of Sarah’ Ordered to Pilot at CW (https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/kung-fu-reboot-republic-of-sarah-pilot-cw-1203487699/)
By JOE OTTERSON
TV Reporter
@https://twitter.com/joeotterson

https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2016/06/the-cw-logo.jpg?w=729&h=410&crop=1
CREDIT: COURTESY OF THE CW

The CW has ordered pilots for the dramas “Kung Fu” and “The Republic of Sarah.” Both projects were previously set up at different networks prior to coming to CW.

“Kung Fu” is a reboot of the original series created by Ed Spielman. In the new version, a quarter-life crisis causes a young Chinese-American woman to drop out of college and go on a life-changing journey to an isolated monastery in China. But when she returns to find her hometown overrun with crime and corruption, she uses her martial arts skills and Shaolin values to protect her community and bring criminals to justice, all while searching for the assassin who killed her Shaolin mentor and is now targeting her.

The project was previously set up at Fox with a put pilot order. Christina M. Kim will write and executive produce. Martin Gero will executive produce via Quinn’s House along with Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schechter of Berlanti Productions. Warner Bros. Television will produce. Kim, Gero, and Berlanti Productions are all currently under overall deals at WBTV.

The reboot has been in the works for some time, with Wendy Mericle originally attached to write before Albert Kim came onboard in 2018. The original “Kung Fu” starred David Carradine as Kwai Chang Caine, a Shaolin monk who traveled the Old West in search of his brother. The series ran for three seasons on ABC.

Christina M. Kim has been a writer and producer on the NBC drama “Blindspot,” which was created by Gero and produced by Berlanti Productions, since the show’s first season. Her other credits include “Lost,” “Hawaii Five-0,” “NCIS: Los Angeles,” and “Ghost Whisperer.”

In “The Republic of Sarah,” rebellious high school teacher Sarah Cooper utilizes an obscure cartographical loophole to declare independence from the U.S. when faced with the destruction of her town at the hands of a greedy mining company. Now Sarah must lead a young group of misfits as they attempt to start their own country from scratch.

A previous iteration of the show was set up at CBS last year with a pilot order but was ultimately passed over. Jeffrey Paul King remains attached as writer and executive producer, as do executive producers Marc Web via Black Lamb and Jeff Grosvenor and Leo Pearlman of Fulwell 73. Mark Martin of Black Lamb will also executive produce. CBS Television Studios will produce. Fulwell is currently under a deal at the studio.

These two pilots mark the first formal pilot orders for The CW of the 2020-2021 season. The network previously ordered backdoor pilots for both an “Arrow” spinoff about the Canaries and a prequel to “The 100.” The CW also gave series orders to a “Walker, Texas Ranger” reboot starring Jared Padalecki and to “Superman & Lois” starring Tyler Hoechlin and Elizabeth Tulloch.

One more question. Is this different than the Leitch project announced a week+ ago (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?62248-Kung-Fu-TV-show-REMAKE&p=1317377#post1317377)? Like is that a movie and this a TV show? :confused:

[GeneChing]

‘Kung-Fu’: Tzi Ma & Kheng Hua Tan To Co-Star In the CW Reboot Pilot (https://deadline.com/2020/02/kung-fu-tzi-ma-kheng-hua-tan-cast-the-cw-reboot-pilot-1202862221/)
By Nellie Andreeva
February 18, 2020 11:23am

https://pmcdeadline2.files.wordpress.com/2020/02/tzi-ma-kheng-hua-tan.jpg?w=681&h=383&crop=1
Photos: Diana Ragland, Shevonne Wong

EXCLUSIVE: Tzi Ma (The Man In the High Castle, The Farewell) and Kheng Hua Tan (Marco Polo, Crazy Rich Asians) have been cast as series regulars in the CW pilot Kung Fu, a reimagining with a female lead of the 1970s David Carradine-starring TV series. Ma and Kheng will play the parents of the protagonist in the project, from Christina M. Kim, Martin Gero, Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter and Warner Bros. TV, where Kim, Gero and Berlanti Prods. are under deals.

Written by Kim, inspired by the original series created by Ed Spielman, in the new Kung Fu, a quarter-life crisis causes a young Chinese-American woman to drop out of college and go on a life-changing journey to an isolated monastery in China. But when she returns to find her hometown overrun with crime and corruption, she uses her martial arts skills and Shaolin values to protect her community and bring criminals to justice…all while searching for the assassin who killed her Shaolin mentor and is now targeting her.

Ma and Kheng will play the woman’s father, Jin Chen, and mother Mei-Li — a husband-and-wife restaurateurs whose secrets threaten to destroy their lives just as they deal with the return of their estranged daughter.

Kim and Gero executive produce via Gero’s Quinn’s House Production Company, which produces in association with Berlanti Prods. and Warner Bros. TV. Berlanti and Schechter executive produce for Berlanti Prods.

Together with his parents and four of his siblings, Ma worked in a family-owned restaurant on Staten Island when growing up. His extensive acting resume includes major roles on Wu Assassins, Veep, The Man In the High Castle, 24, Hell On Wheels and Satisfaction. His feature credits include Arrival and The Farewell, Disney’s upcoming live-action Mulan and Netflix’s Tigertail. He is repped by BRS/Gage Talent Agency and Echelon Talent Management.

Kheng, well known in her native Singapore and Malaysia, co-starred as Empress Dowager on the Netflix original series Marco Polo. She plays Kerry Chu, the mother of protagonist Rachel Chu (Constance Wu), in the Crazy Rich Asians movie franchise. Her English-language credits also include the Channel 4 limited series Chimerica and guest shots on Medical Police, Magnum P.I. and Grey’s Anatomy. She is repped by Zero Gravity, GVA Talent Agency and Fly Entertainment in Singapore.

Still confused about whether this CW series is different from a feature film from Leitch.

[GeneChing]

NEWS
‘Kung Fu’: Jon Prasida, Shannon Dang & Eddie Liu To Co-Star In the CW Reboot Pilot (https://deadline.com/2020/02/kung-fu-jon-prasida-shannon-dang-eddie-liu-to-co-star-in-the-cw-reboot-pilot-1202865838/)
By Denise Petski
Senior Managing Editor
February 21, 2020 3:20pm

https://pmcdeadline2.files.wordpress.com/2020/02/jon-prasida-shannon-dang-eddie-liu.jpg?w=681&h=383&crop=1
(L-R) Jon Prasida, Shannon Dang and Eddie Liu
Johnny Diaz Nicolaidis/Paul Smith//Kane Lieu

EXCLUSIVE: Jon Prasida (Hiding), Shannon Dang (The L Word) and Eddie Liu (Silicon Valley) have been cast as series regulars in the CW pilot Kung Fu, a reimagining with a female lead of the 1970s David Carradine-starring TV series. It hails from Christina M. Kim, Martin Gero, Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter and Warner Bros. TV.

Written by Kim, inspired by the original series created by Ed Spielman, the new Kung Fu sees a quarter-life crisis causing a young Chinese-American woman to drop out of college and go on a life-changing journey to an isolated monastery in China. But when she returns to find her hometown overrun with crime and corruption, she uses her martial arts skills and Shaolin values to protect her community and bring criminals to justice — all while searching for the assassin who killed her Shaolin mentor and now is targeting her.

https://pmcdeadline2.files.wordpress.com/2019/05/the-cw-2019-logo-black.jpg?w=300&h=169
The CW

Prasida will play Ryan Chen, a quick-witted medical student who has to deal with the sudden return of his estranged older sister, Nicky.

Dang will portray Althea Chen, Nicky’s larger-than-life older sister who’s newly engaged and on her way to planning her dream Chinese wedding.

Liu will play Henry Chu, a martial arts instructor and Chinese art history buff who has instant chemistry with Nicky.

They join previously announced series regulars Tzi Ma and Kheng Nua Tan.

Kim and Gero executive produce via Gero’s Quinn’s House Production Company, which produces in association with Berlanti Prods. and Warner Bros. TV. Berlanti and Schechter executive produce for Berlanti Prods.

Prasida starred as Garys in the TV series Hiding, and went on to play the role of Lee in the TV series adaptation of the book series Tomorrow When The War Began. He most recently guest starred in the ABC drama Warriors and will next be seen in the upcoming TV series Harrow and Sando. He is repped by CBM Management in Australia and Silver Lining Entertainment in the U.S.

Dang’s credits include include The L Word, Sorry For Your Loss, Veronica Mars, The Romanoffs, American Vandal and Doubt. She recently wrapped supporting roles in the comedy features Film Fest and Prison Logic. Dang is repped by Singular Talent and Working Entertainment.

Liu is best known for his role as Doug in HBO’s Silicon Valley. He’s repped by Greene & Associates Talent Agency, A & R Management and attorney Jeff Bernstein.

I'm not familiar with any of these actors. Would it be silly to ask if any of them have any martial arts skills?

[@PLUGO]

By Nellie Andreeva for Deadline.com (https://deadline.com/2020/02/kung-fu-olivia-liang-cast-the-lead-the-cw-reboot-pilot-1202868906/)
February 26, 2020 9:09am



10815

The CW pilot Kung Fu has found its star in Legacies‘ Olivia Liang. She will headline the reimagining with a female lead of the 1970s David Carradine-starring TV series, which comes from Christina M. Kim, Martin Gero, Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter and Warner Bros TV, where Kim, Gero and Berlanti Prods. are under deals.

Written by Kim and inspired by the original series created by Ed Spielman, in the new Kung Fu, a quarter-life crisis causes a young Chinese-American woman, Nicky Chen (Liang), to drop out of college and go on a life-changing journey to an isolated monastery in China. But when she returns to find her hometown overrun with crime and corruption, she uses her martial arts skills and Shaolin values to protect her community and bring criminals to justice — all while searching for the assassin who killed her Shaolin mentor and is now targeting her.

Liang joins previously cast Tzi Ma and Kheng Hua Tan, who play her parents, as well as Jon Prasida, Shannon Dang and Eddie Liu.

Kim and Gero executive produce via Gero’s Quinn’s House Production Company, which produces in association with Berlanti Prods. and Warner Bros TV. Berlanti and Schechter executive produce for Berlanti Prods.

Chang’s casting in the CW/WBTV pilot Kung Fu pilot comes on the heels of her joining the network and studio’s drama series Legacies as a recurring earlier this season. She plays Alyssa Chang on The Vampire Diaries offshoot.

Liang’s previous credits include Dating After College and guest shots on Grey’s Anatomy and One Day at a Time. She guest stars on the current second season of Hulu’s Into the Dark. Liang is repped by Abrams Artists Agency.

[GeneChing]

https://i1.wp.com/hnentertainment.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/CW_PILOT_KUNG-FU_SHOOTS_MARCH_IN-VANCOUVER_.jpg?fit=1409%2C781&ssl=1

CW’s ‘Kung Fu’ Reboot Pilot Directed By Hanelle M. Culpepper Shoots Next Month In Vancouver – Will Star Olivia Liang (https://hnentertainment.co/cws-kung-fu-reboot-pilot-directed-by-hanelle-m-culpepper-shoots-next-month-in-vancouver-will-star-olivia-liang/)
By Christopher Marc -February 27, 20200

Yesterday, Deadline announced that Legacies actress Olivia Liang had landed the lead role in CW’s reboot of the David Carradine martial arts series Kung Fu.

HN Entertainment has confirmed the pilot will be directed by Hanelle M. Culpepper and will shoot from March 9th to March 30th in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Hanelle’s credits include Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek: Discovery, Supergirl, The Flash, Gotham, Lucifer, and Quantico.

Written by Kim and inspired by the original series created by Ed Spielman, in the new Kung Fu, a quarter-life crisis causes a young Chinese-American woman, Nicky Chen (Liang), to drop out of college and go on a life-changing journey to an isolated monastery in China. But when she returns to find her hometown overrun with crime and corruption, she uses her martial arts skills and Shaolin values to protect her community and bring criminals to justice — all while searching for the assassin who killed her Shaolin mentor and is now targeting her.

Carradine was famously chosen over martial arts legend Bruce Lee for the lead role on the original series.

At the same time, Warner Bros. is developing a feature film adaption with director David Leitch (Deadpool 2, Hobbs & Shaw, Atomic Blonde, John Wick).

If CW likes the pilot they’ll likely give Kung Fu a series order.

This is the first article to distinguish between the Leitch film and the CW TV pilot. I should probably split the threads at some point.

[GeneChing]

I'm splitting this thread now.
There's the original thread which I'm adding 'film' to Kung Fu TV show REMAKE (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?62248-Kung-Fu-TV-show-REMAKE) and a new thread which will just focus on the Kung Fu TV show CW REMAKE.


NEWSMARCH 5, 2020 1:00PM PT
Hanelle Culpepper to Direct ‘Kung Fu’ Pilot at CW (EXCLUSIVE) (https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/kung-fu-reboot-cw-hanelle-culpepper-1203525156/)
By JOE OTTERSON
TV Reporter
@https://twitter.com/joeotterson

https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2020/03/hanelle.jpg?w=1000&h=563&crop=1
CREDIT: WILLY SANJUAN/INVISION/AP/SHUTTERSTOCK

Hanelle Culpepper has signed on to direct and co-executive produce the “Kung Fu” reboot pilot at The CW, Variety has learned exclusively.

This marks the latest high-profile directing credit for Culpepper, who made headlines when it was announced she would direct the first three episodes of “Star Trek: Picard” at CBS All Access, marking the first time a female director launched a new “Star Trek” series in the franchise’s 53-year history. She previously directed multiple episodes of fellow All Access how “Star Trek: Discovery.”

Her other directing credits include shows like “Mayans MC,” “How to Get Away With Murder,” “Gotham,” “Empire,” “American Crime,” and “NOS4A2.” It was also recently announced that she will direct the feature “1000 Miles,” Big Beach’s adaptation of the memoir “Running A Thousand Miles For Freedom” by William and Ellen Craft.

“I am very excited to join the fantastic team of Christina Kim, Martin Gero, Berlanti, and Warner Bros. to bring ‘Kung Fu’ to a new generation,” Culpepper said. “An authentic and honest portrayal of a Chinese American family is rare in mainstream media so I am honored to be able to introduce the Shen family and shoot some thrilling action sequences as well. I think many people, myself included, can relate to our heroine’s journey of self-discovery and finding her purpose.”

Culpepper is repped by Verve and Metamorphic Entertainment.

The CW’s “Kung Fu” is a reboot of the original series created by Ed Spielman. In the new version, a quarter-life crisis causes a young Chinese-American woman, Nicky Chen (Olivia Liang), to drop out of college and go on a life-changing journey to an isolated monastery in China. But when she returns to find her hometown overrun with crime and corruption, Nicky uses her martial arts skills and Shaolin values to protect her community and bring criminals to justice — all while searching for the assassin who killed her Shaolin mentor and is now targeting her.

Along with Liang, the cast also includes Tzi Ma and Kheng Hua Tan. Christina M. Kim will write and executive produce. Martin Gero will executive produce via Quinn’s House along with Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schechter of Berlanti Productions, with Culpepper co-executive producing. Warner Bros. Television will produce. Kim, Gero, and Berlanti Productions are all currently under overall deals at WBTV.

[GeneChing]

Do any of the members of this cast know Kung Fu? It might not have mattered for Carradine 48 years ago, but as I hope we learned from Iron Fist (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?49086-Iron-Fist), it matters now.


‘Kung Fu’: Gavin Stenhouse & Gwendoline Yeo Join the CW Reboot Pilot (https://deadline.com/2020/03/kung-fu-gavin-stenhouse-gwendoline-yeo-join-the-cw-reboot-pilot-1202877907/)
By Denise Petski
Senior Managing Editor
March 9, 2020 3:45pm

https://pmcdeadline2.files.wordpress.com/2020/03/gavin-stenhouse-gwendoline-yeo.jpg?w=681&h=383&crop=1
Gavin Stenhouse, Gwendoline Yeo
Shutterstock; Courtesy of Brian Bobila

EXCLUSIVE: Gavin Stenhouse (Black Mirror) and Gwendoline Yeo (American Crime) are set as series regulars in the CW pilot Kung Fu, a reimagining with a female lead of the 1970s David Carradine-starring TV series. It hails from Christina M. Kim, Martin Gero, Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter and Warner Bros. TV.


Written by Kim, inspired by the original series created by Ed Spielman, the new Kung Fu sees a quarter-life crisis causing a young Chinese-American woman to drop out of college and go on a life-changing journey to an isolated monastery in China. But when she returns to find her hometown overrun with crime and corruption, she uses her martial arts skills and Shaolin values to protect her community and bring criminals to justice — all while searching for the assassin who killed her Shaolin mentor and now is targeting her.

Stenhouse will play Evan Hartley, a highly successful Assistant District Attorney who still has a soft spot for his first love, Nicky, when she returns home.

Yeo will portray Zhilan, a cryptic woman with deep criminal ties and a mysterious connection to the Shaolin monastery where Nicky trained in Kung Fu. Her quest for power led her to murder Nicky’s mentor, proving that she will be a determined and dangerous foe.

Kim and Gero executive produce via Gero’s Quinn’s House Production Company, which produces in association with Berlanti Prods. and Warner Bros. TV. Berlanti and Schechter executive produce for Berlanti Prods.

Stenhouse will next be seen in the Blumhouse/Hulu anthology series Into The Dark. He recurs on Fox’s 9-1-1 and was part of the cast of the Emmy-winning “San Junipero” episode of Black Mirror on Netflix. He previously was a series regular role opposite Hope Davis in NBC’s drama series Allegiance. Stenhouse is repped by Gersh and Authentic Talent and Literary Management.

Best known for her roles on Desperate Housewives and American Crime, Yeo co-starred in Amazon’s, An American Girl Story: Ivy & Julie live-action special. She also has voiced characters on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Wolverine and X-Men miniseries, among others. Yeo is repped by Pakula/King & Associates, Rothman Andres Entertainment and McKuin Frankel Whitehead.

[GeneChing]

It's a bad sign when the Kung Fu in the poster looks weak.



The CW's Kung Fu Reboot Gets First Poster, Synopsis (https://comicbook.com/tv-shows/news/the-cws-kung-fu-reboot-gets-first-poster-synopsis/)
By Russ Burlingame - May 14, 2020 04:13 pm EDT

The CW has released the first poster and official synopsis for Kung Fu, a new series from Warner Bros. Television and executive producers Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schecter, the team behind most of DC's live-action shows. The series, a reinvention of the '70s TV series starring David Carradine, centers on a young Chinese-American woman who drops out of college and travels to a Chinese monastery to train -- only to return home to a nightmarish San Francisco under the thumb of organized crime. As you might expect, she takes matters into her own hands, launching a martial arts-powered war on crime.
This isn't the first time Kung Fu has been revived. In 1986, there was a Kung-Fu movie, followed by Kung Fu: The Next Generation in 1987. That failed pilot starred Brandon Lee. In 1993, Kung Fu: The Legend Continues aired for four seasons. A Kung Fu movie was a more modern sensibility has been on the radar intermittently for years, with actor/director Bill Paxton and filmmaker Baz Luhrmann both attached to it at various points.
You can check the synopsis out below.

https://media.comicbook.com/2020/05/kung-fu-reboot-1220569.jpeg

A quarter-life crisis causes a young Chinese-American woman, Nicky Shen (Olivia Liang), to drop out of college and go on a life-changing journey to an isolated monastery in China. But when she returns to San Francisco, she finds her hometown is overrun with crime and corruption and her own parents (Tzi Ma and Kheng Hua Tan) are at the mercy of a powerful Triad. Nicky will rely on her tech-savvy sister (Shannon Dang), pre-med brother (Jon Prasida), Assistant District Attorney and ex-boyfriend (Gavin Stenhouse), and new love interest (Eddie Liu) as well as her martial arts skills and Shaolin values to protect her community and bring criminals to justice ... all while searching for the ruthless assassin (Gwendoline Yeo) who killed her Shaolin mentor and is now targeting her. Inspired by the original series created by Ed Spielman, KUNG FU is from Warner Bros. Television in association with Quinn’s House and Berlanti Productions, with writer/executive producer Christina M. Kim (“Blindspot,” “Lost”) and executive producers Martin Gero (“Blindspot,” “LA Complex”), Greg Berlanti (“Arrow,” “The Flash,” “Riverdale”) and Sarah Schechter (“Arrow,” “The Flash,” “Riverdale”).

Kung Fu will be part of The CW's midseason series, which will likely debut in late spring 2021. Other midseason series include DC's Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl, In The Dark, Roswell New Mexico, and Republic of Sarah.


Disclosure: ComicBook is owned by CBS Interactive, a division of ViacomCBS.

[GeneChing]

‘Kung Fu’: Vanessa Kai Joins the CW Reboot Series (https://deadline.com/2020/09/kung-fu-vanessa-kai-the-cw-reboot-series-1234578162/#!)
By Denise Petski
Senior Managing Editor
September 16, 2020 12:50pm

https://deadline.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Vanessa-Kai-the-cw.jpg?w=681&h=383&crop=1
Vanessa Kai
Courtesy of CLA
EXCLUSIVE: Vanessa Kai (New Amsterdam) is set as a series regular opposite Olivia Liang in Kung Fu, the CW’s reimagining with a female lead of the 1970s David Carradine-starring TV series, from Christina M. Kim, Martin Gero, Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter and Warner Bros TV.

Written by Kim and inspired by the original series created by Ed Spielman, in the new Kung Fu, a quarter-life crisis causes a young Chinese-American woman, Nicky Shen (Liang), to drop out of college and go on a life-changing journey to an isolated monastery in China. But when she returns to find her hometown overrun with crime and corruption, she uses her martial arts skills and Shaolin values to protect her community and bring criminals to justice — all while searching for the assassin who killed her Shaolin mentor and is now targeting her.

Kai will play Pei-Ling Zhang, a skilled fighter, spiritual guide, and mentor to Nicky Shen (Liang), one of dozens of monks that lived and trained in an all-female Shaolin temple buried deep in the mountains of Yuanyang province. After her tragic death at the hands of a mysterious assassin, Pei-Ling lives on in Nicky’s memory, evoking the lessons and skills her mentor taught her at the monastery. But as Nicky hunts down Pei-Ling’s murderer, she will discover her beloved Sifu had her own dark secrets… and will learn that Pei-Ling’s past might hold the key to Nicky’s future.

In addition to Liang, Kai joins previously cast Tzi Ma, Kheng Hua Tan, Jon Prasida, Shannon Dang and Eddie Liu.

Kim and Gero executive produce via Gero’s Quinn’s House Production Company, which produces in association with Berlanti Prods. and Warner Bros TV. Berlanti, Schechter and David Madden executive produce for Berlanti Prods.

Kai’s credits include New Amsterdam, The Blacklist and Orange is the New Black, among others. She’s repped by Harold Lewter and Cyd LeVin at CLA Partners and attorney Julie Feldman at Schreck, Rose, Dapello, Adams, Berlin & Dunham.
So she's the new Master Po?

[GeneChing]

Anyone know him?



BREAKING NEWS
‘Kung Fu’: Tony Chung Joins the CW Reboot Series (https://deadline.com/2020/10/kung-fu-tony-chung-the-cw-reboot-series-1234592375/)
By Denise Petski
Senior Managing Editor
October 6, 2020 12:05pm

https://deadline.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Tony-Chung-CW.jpg?w=681&h=383&crop=1
Courtesy of CW
EXCLUSIVE: Tony Chung (Hours of Operation) is set as a series regular opposite Olivia Liang in Kung Fu, the CW’s reimagining with a female lead of the 1970s David Carradine-starring TV series, from Christina M. Kim, Martin Gero, Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, Robert Berens and Warner Bros TV.

Written by Kim and inspired by the original series created by Ed Spielman, in the new Kung Fu, a quarter-life crisis causes a young Chinese-American woman, Nicky Shen (Liang), to drop out of college and go on a life-changing journey to an isolated monastery in China. But when she returns to find her hometown overrun with crime and corruption, she uses her martial arts skills and Shaolin values to protect her community and bring criminals to justice — all while searching for the assassin who killed her Shaolin mentor and is now targeting her.

Chung will play Dennis Soong, the beloved son of the wealthy Soong family, Althea’s fiancé Dennis is coasting on being the hot and popular guy after growing out of his nerdy high school “mathlete” persona. He’s breezed through his 20s on his effortless charm, good looks and money, making him the perfect trophy husband for Althea. Dennis is utterly besotted by Althea, and he sees only smooth sailing ahead. But clashes between their families (and a few of their own long-buried secrets) threaten to ruin their perfect engagement… and to tear them apart on their way to the altar.

In addition to Liang, Chung joins previously cast Tzi Ma, Kheng Hua Tan, Jon Prasida, Shannon Dang, Eddie Liu and Vanessa Kai.

Kim wrote the pilot episode and serves as executive producer/co-showrunner of the series with Robert Berens. Berlanti, Schechter, Gero, and David Madden also serve as executive producers. Hanelle Culpepper is directing and co-executive producing the pilot episode. Kung Fu is produced by Berlanti Productions and Quinn’s House in association with Warner Bros. Television.

Chung is repped by Innovative Artists.

[GeneChing]

Antonio Jaramillo Joins ‘Snowfall’; ‘Kung Fu’ Casts Yvonne Chapman (https://deadline.com/2020/11/antonio-jaramillo-snowfall-kung-fu-yvonne-chapman-1234613931/)
By Denise Petski
Senior Managing Editor
November 18, 2020 1:52pm
https://deadline.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Antonio-Jaramillo-Yvonne-Chapman.jpg?w=681&h=383&crop=1
Storm Santos/Katherine Calnan

Mayans M.C. alum Antonio Jaramillo is set for a recurring role on the upcoming fourth season of FX’s Snowfall. Created by John Singleton & Eric Amadio and Dave Andron, the drama series revolves around the start of the cocaine epidemic in Los Angeles. Jaramillo will play Chief Oscar Fuentes, the new Tijuana Police chief who is bold, ambitious, connected, smart and dangerous. He’s willing to let Teddy and Gustavo continue to go about their business in Mexico but only if they make it worth his while. Best known for his role as Riz Arisa on Mayans M.C., Jaramillo’s previous credits include on NBC’s Shades of Blue, TNT’s Dallas and Universal Picture’s Savages. He was recently cast opposite Octavia Spencer in Amazon’s Invasion. Jaramillo is repped by McKeon/Myones Entertainment and SMS Talent.

Yvonne Chapman (Street Legal) has booked a recurring role opposite Olivia Liang in Kung Fu, the CW’s reimagining with a female lead of the 1970s David Carradine-starring TV series, from Christina M. Kim, Martin Gero, Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, Robert Berens and Warner Bros TV. Written by Kim and inspired by the original series created by Ed Spielman, in the new Kung Fu, a quarter-life crisis causes a young Chinese-American woman, Nicky Shen (Liang), to drop out of college and go on a life-changing journey to an isolated monastery in China. But when she returns to find her hometown overrun with crime and corruption, she uses her martial arts skills and Shaolin values to protect her community and bring criminals to justice — all while searching for the assassin who killed her Shaolin mentor and is now targeting her. Chapman will play Zhilan, a hard-edged and cunning assassin, ruthless in achieving her goals. After stealing an ancient sword from Nicky’s shifu Pei-Ling–and nearly killing Nicky in the process– Zhilan flees China and begins her pursuit of the rest of the mystical weapons. The mystery of Zhilan’s identity, and her real intentions with those weapons, will fuel Nicky’s quest for justice. Chapman recently starred in the CBC reboot of the 1980’s series Street Legal in the series regular role of Mina. She’s repped by Industry Entertainment and The Characters Agency in Vancouver.
Don't know Yvonne. Anyone?

[GeneChing]

Ludi Lin Joins The CW’s ‘Kung Fu’ Reboot (https://deadline.com/2021/02/ludi-lin-the-cw-kung-fu-1234696063/)
By Dino-Ray Ramos
Associate Editor/Reporter
@DinoRay

February 18, 2021 10:00am

https://deadline.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/ludi-lin.jpg?w=681&h=383&crop=1
Courtesy of Evaan Kheraj
EXCLUSIVE: Ludi Lin is set to join The CW’s forthcoming reboot of the classic series Kung Fu.

Christina M. Kim and Robert Berens serve as executive producers and co-showrunners of the new iteration of Kung Fu which follows Nicky (Olivia Liang) who is in a middle of a quarter-life crisis. This causes her to drop out of college and go on a life-changing journey to an isolated monastery in China. But when she returns to San Francisco, she finds her hometown is overrun with crime and corruption and her own parents Jin (Tzi Ma) and Mei-Li (Kheng Hua Tan) are at the mercy of a powerful Triad.

As a result, she will rely on her tech-savvy sister Althea (Shannon Dang) and her fiancé Dennis (Tony Chung), pre-med brother Ryan (Jon Prasida), Assistant District Attorney and ex-boyfriend Evan (Gavin Stenhouse), and new love interest Henry (Eddie Liu) as well as her martial arts skills and Shaolin values to protect her community and bring criminals to justice…all while searching for the ruthless assassin Zhilan (Yvonne Chapman) who killed her Shaolin mentor Pei-Ling (Vanessa Kai) and is now targeting her.

Lin is set to play the character of Kerwin, heir to the billionaire Tan family fortune. He is described as “dashing, handsome, physically fit, and impossibly charismatic”. He puts on a suave playboy act to the world but is driven by a deep hurt and antipathy towards his father. An erotically charged partnership with Zhilan will provide Kerwin with just the path to revenge (and vindication) he has been waiting for.

Lin stars as Liu Kang in Warner Bros.’ Mortal Kombat which is set to debut on April 16. He can also be seen next in the Chinese remake of the AMC series Humans and the upcoming Chinese film Death Caller.

His credits also include the recently released civil rights drama Son of the South as well as Aquaman, Power Rangers and Summer Knight, Ghost Bride, Black Mirror and Marco Polo.

Lin is repped at ICM Partners, Echelon Talent Management, and attorney Derek Kroeger of Myman Greenspan.

Good for Ludi Lin.

[GeneChing]

‘Power Book II: Ghost’s Bradley Gibson To Recur On ‘Kung Fu’ Reboot ; Quentin Plair Joins ‘Roswell, New Mexico’ (https://deadline.com/2021/02/bradley-gibson-kung-fu-reboot-quentin-plair-rosewell-new-mexico-the-cw-1234698585/)
By Dino-Ray Ramos
Associate Editor/Reporter
@DinoRay

February 22, 2021 3:07pm
https://deadline.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/gibson-plair.jpg?w=681&h=383&crop=1
Courtesy of Jane Jourdan, The CW
Bradley Gibson, who currently recurs as Everett on the Starz series Power Book II: Ghost is set to join the forthcoming reboot of Kung Fu at the CW in a recurring role.

Gibson will play the character of Joe Harper in Kung Fu. He is described as a man in his 20s who is a graphic artist and community organizer in Oakland. Joe is “funny, sexy, hip — deeply serious about his work and his activism, but equally committed to the joys of life: friendship, art, love.”

Heis a social butterfly, having a foot in many of the San Francisco Bay Area’s communities including gay San Francisco, bohemian San Francisco, the Black community of Oakland — which is where he grew up. Joe is an idealist, but he’s profoundly realistic about the many obstacles to deep, systemic change. However, he can’t keep his guard up about is love. He has an intensely romantic streak that will draw him to Nicky (Olivia Liang) brother, Ryan (Jon Prasida) They couldn’t be more different, but they find themselves drawn to each other, bonding over their shared passion for their respective communities.

Gibson was the most recent Simba in The Lion King on Broadway. He also appeared in A Bronx Tale after making his Broadway debut in Rocky. Heis set to return for the second season of the aforementioned Ghost, which is currently shooting in New York. He is repped by BRS-Gage and Steve Maihack at 44 West Entertainment.

In another bit of CW casting news, Rosewell, New Mexico has added Quentin Plair in a recurring guest star role.

The actor is set to play Dallas, a “charmingly enigmatic preacher with the ability to divine people’s troubles and provide them with the counsel they seek.” He is thoughtful and well-versed in many religions. He has a passion for music and is able to quote scripture and lyics from Biggie Smalls in the same breath. Dallas draws others into his orbit with his unique outlook on the big mysteries of life and will cross paths with Rosa during a pivotal point on her road to recovery.

Plair was most recently seen starring opposite Ethan Hawke and Daveed Diggs in the Showtime series The Good Lord Bird. His credits also include BET’s The Quad, ABC’s The Good Doctor and Hello Cupid for for Black & Sexy TV. He has also co-starred in the Netflix film Burning Sands and Drumline for VH1. He is repped by David Lederman at Innovative Artists and Lesley Brander at Monogram Management Group.

I recently found out that an acquaintance of mine, a fellow reporter that I met in the Badlands (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?67844-Into-The-Badlands), is a writer for this show.

[GeneChing]

Feb 24, 2021 3:35pm PT
The CW Sets ‘Kung Fu,’ ‘The Republic of Sarah’ Premiere Dates (TV News Roundup) (https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/the-cw-kung-fu-republic-of-sarah-dates-tv-news-roundup-1234914625/)

By Natalie Oganesyan

https://variety.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/The-Republic-of-Sarah.jpg
The Republic of Sarah -- "Pilot"
Philippe Boss/The CW
In today’s TV news roundup, The CW announced premiere dates for new and returning series, including “Kung Fu” and “The Republic of Sarah,” and the 2021 Writers Guild Awards will be hosted by Kal Penn.

RENEWALS
CNN has picked up a second season of “Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy,” an original series featuring the actor’s travels across Italy. Season 2, which will premiere in 2022, will follow Tucci as he explores the culinary sphere and cultural traditions of new regions in Italy. The series is executive produced by Tucci for Raw TV, Adam Hawkins, Eve Kay and Amy Entelis and Lyle Gamm for CNN Original Series.

Vice TV announced four docuseries — Michael K. Williams’ “Black Market,” “I Was a Teenage Felon,” “While the Rest of Us Die” and “The Devil You Know” — have been greenlit for second seasons. Returning after a 5-year hiatus, “Black Market” explores the factors that lead people to participate in underground economies and illicit trades. Season 2 is produced by Freedome Productions and Picture Farm and co-produced by Vice World News. The second volume of “I Was a Teenage Felon,” produced by the Intellectual Property Corporation, will follow how average American children pursue smuggling, dealing, scamming and hacking through first-person interviews and cinematic visuals. Season 2 of “While the Rest of Us Die” will explore decades of government decisions that have widened the wealth gap, such as prioritizing large corporations over the interests of working-class families. Efran Films and Vice TV will produce. “The Devil You Know,” produced by Vice Studios, will return with a six-part season that uncovers the growth of online cults in the United States through the investigation of cult leader Sherry J. Shriner and her New Age Alien Agenda, a lizard cult.

DATES
The CW announced that its new dramas “Kung Fu” and “The Republic of Sarah” making their series debuts April 7 at 8 p.m. and June 14 at 9 p.m., respectively. The network will also premiere the new seasons of “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow,” “Dynasty” and “In the Dark” respectively on May 2 at 8 p.m., May 7 at 9 p.m. and June 9 at 9 p.m. And, an all-new one-hour special “World’s Funniest Animals: Spring Fling” will air April 30 at 8 p.m. “Kung Fu,” which stars Olivia Liang, Tzi Ma and Kheng Hua Tan, will follow a young Chinese-American woman Nicky Shen (Liang) who must protect her hometown, overrun with crime and corruption, with the help of her loved ones and martial arts skills. Starring Stella Baker and Luke Mitchell, “The Republic of Sarah” unfolds as a rebellious high school teacher goes head-to-head with a greedy mining company that aims to destroy her town.

I don't even watch broadcast TV anymore but I'll surely tune in for this at some point.

[GeneChing]

The trailer is only available on ET right now, but it'll be everywhere soon.



'Kung Fu': Nicky Shen Battles Bad Guys in Action-Packed First Trailer (Exclusive) (https://www.etonline.com/kung-fu-trailer-nicky-shen-battles-bad-guys-exclusive-161806)
By Philiana Ng* 9:00 AM PST, March 8, 2021

‹›
Now playing
Time to see Nicky Shen in action.

Kung Fu debuts its very first official trailer for the upcoming CW drama series, led by Legacies' Olivia Liang and legendary actor Tzi Ma, and only ET exclusively premieres the action-packed minute-long promo. (See the first photos from Kung Fu.)

A modern-day reimagining of the 1970s series and starring a predominantly Asian cast, Kung Fu follows a young Chinese American woman, Nicky Shen (Liang), who drops out of college and goes on a life-changing journey to an isolated monastery in China. But when she returns to San Francisco three years later, she finds her hometown is overrun with crime and corruption and her own parents, Jin (Ma) and Mei-Li (Kheng Hua Tan), are at the mercy of the powerful Triad.

In order to go up against the powerful crime syndicate, Nicky will rely on her tech-savvy sister Althea (Shannon Dang) and Althea’s fiancé Dennis (Tony Chung), pre-med brother Ryan (Jon Prasida), Assistant District Attorney and ex-boyfriend Evan (Gavin Stenhouse) and new love interest Henry (Eddie Liu), as well as her martial arts skills and Shaolin values to protect her community and bring criminals to justice -- all while searching for the assassin, Zhilan (Yvonne Chapman), who killed her Shaolin mentor, Pei-Ling (Vanessa Kai), and is now targeting her.

The Kung Fu trailer opens with Pei-Ling offering words of wisdom to her protégé, Nicky, as she embarks on her kung fu training: "To truly master kung fu, you will must find peace -- peace with your family." Easier said than done as Nicky foreshadows, "Peace and my family don't really go together."

Cut to an awkward family meal around the dinner table celebrating Nicky's unexpected return home and it's clear she has a lot of catching up to do with her family. "Golden child's back baby!" her brother Ryan quips, after she breaks the news she's likely not going back to law school.

Not long after Nicky's back in town, she meets martial arts expert and Chinese history buff Henry, who quickly becomes an ally, and her three years away of secret kung fu training sessions under the tutelage of Pei-Ling reveals itself in intense street fights and badass hand-to-hand combat situations against unsavory folk. To say her siblings are stunned by this unforeseen turn of events is an understatement.

"You're a kung fu, butt-kicking hero?!" Nicky's sister Althea says, a bit in awe, after witnessing her (and Henry) take down a group of Triad baddies without so much as batting an eyelash.

And of course, things are bound to get complicated when Nicky turns to her former love Evan for help and reassures him that she "stepped in" to handle a dicey situation. When he doesn't seem to be persuaded by Nicky's diplomatic choice of words, she finally acknowledges the truth. "More like... punched and kicked," she admits as the trailer cuts to Nicky beating down on an army of men solo.

"You took down an army by yourself. You basically walked on air," Henry says, clearly impressed by Nicky, who brushes off his compliments. "It was physics," she states matter-of-factly. Something tells us Nicky's about to be The CW's latest badass heroine to grace the screen. Watch the official trailer above.

The groundbreaking drama, created by co-showrunner Christina M. Kim, is also executive produced by co-showrunner Robert Berens, Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schecter, Martin Gero (Blindspot) and David Madden. Hanelle Culpepper directed and co-executive produced the pilot. Also starring in recurring roles on Kung Fu are Ludi Lin (Power Rangers, Mortal Kombat) and Bradley Gibson (Power Book II: Ghost).

Kung Fu premieres Wednesday, April 7 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wg2_8cxbAXI

[GeneChing]

‘Kung Fu’ Stars Olivia Liang & Tzi Ma Condemn Atlanta Shootings, Explain How CW Series Can Be Part Of “Long-Term Solution” To AAPI Hate (https://deadline.com/2021/03/kung-fu-olivia-liag-tzi-ma-atlanta-shooting-cw-1234716495/)
By Alexandra Del Rosario
TV Reporter
@_amvdr

March 17, 2021 10:31am
https://deadline.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Kung-Fu-2.jpg?w=681&h=383&crop=1
Kailey Schwerman/The CW
During a panel Wednesday promoting their upcoming series, Kung Fu stars Olivia Liang and Tzi Ma responded to the rising number of violent acts against Asian Americans, condemning the latest incident in Atlanta when a gunman killed eight people, a majority of whom were Asian American.

“What happened last night in Atlanta with eight people killed breaks my heart and I’m not quite sure what the short-term fix is,” said Ma, who appears in the upcoming series as Jin, the father of Liang’s Nicky Shen. “We are the long-term solution.”

“It pains me, everyday it happens, everyday it’s something,” he added.

While Ma said he’s unsure of any quick fix to bring justice to the victims or undo the racist attacks, he said Asian American representation in television and media are part of long-term goals. Liang agreed with her co-star, adding that “the timing of our show is really impeccable.”

Written by Christina M. Kim and inspired by the original series created by Ed Spielman, in the new Kung Fu, a quarter-life crisis causes a young Chinese American woman, Nicky (Liang), to drop out of college and go on a life-changing journey to an isolated monastery in China. But when she returns to San Francisco, she finds her hometown is overrun with crime and corruption and her own parents Jin (Tzi Ma) and Mei-Li (Kheng Hua Tan) are at the mercy of a powerful Triad. Nicky will rely on her martial arts skills and Shaolin values to protect her community and bring criminals to justice…all while searching for the ruthless assassin who killed her Shaolin mentor Pei-Ling (Vanessa Kai) and is now targeting her.

Liang said that the Kung Fu reboot is a notable moment for Asian Americans in Hollywood and spoke about the importance of representation and inclusion in media.

“We need to be invited to people’s homes who don’t see us in their everyday life just to humanize us, normalize seeing us and remind them that we are people just like they are and that we have a place in this world,” she said. “Hopefully having this show in their homes will expand their worldview.”

Also condemning the racist attacks was Kung Fu executive producer and co-showrunner Kim, who said the Atlanta shooting Tuesday was “absolutely sad and tragic.” She echoed her stars’ points about representation in media and how her show can be apart of bringing about cultural awareness and acceptance.

Kim wrote the pilot episode and serves as executive producer/co-showrunner with Robert Berens. Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, Martin Gero and David Madden also serve as executive producers. Hanelle Culpepper is directing and co-executive producing the pilot. Kung Fu is produced by Berlanti Productions and Quinn’s House in association with Warner Bros Television.

Kung Fu premieres April 7 on the CW.

thread
Kung-Fu-TV-show-CW-REMAKE (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71750-Kung-Fu-TV-show-CW-REMAKE)
Stop-Asian-Hate (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?72003-Stop-Asian-Hate)

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpVyS6P4PRQ

threads
Comic-Cons (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70242-Comic-Cons)
Kung-Fu-TV-show-CW-REMAKE (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71750-Kung-Fu-TV-show-CW-REMAKE)

[GeneChing]

Read my latest feature for Den of Geek: Kung Fu: Inside The History of a Martial Arts Classic (https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/the-cw-kung-fu-history/)

https://www.denofgeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Kung-Fu-CW.jpg?resize=768%2C432

[GeneChing]

I'm really curious how this will be received. My NDA is expired now because today's is the premiere.

Personally, I wasn't impressed. I luved Tzi Ma. He was the best part, and unusually timely given #stopasianhate. I want to see a show where he's the dad of a bevy of ninjettes.

But seriously, eager to hear your opinions on this one.

[YinOrYan]

But seriously, eager to hear your opinions on this one.

Well, if you want opinions, tell people what CW means! Ever try searching for something that is two letters? Eventually discovered that it stands for CBS/Warner, and then it took a while to find that its KTTV channel 5 on Dish! I must be getting old, because to me CBS was always channel 2...

[YinOrYan]

I'm really curious how this will be received. My NDA is expired now because today's is the premiere.

Personally, I wasn't impressed. I luved Tzi Ma. He was the best part, and unusually timely given #stopasianhate. I want to see a show where he's the dad of a bevy of ninjettes.

But seriously, eager to hear your opinions on this one.

Wonder if there's any historical examples of a sword handle having a heating element, whether gunpowder or gas? Watched the whole show. Could hardly follow it with so many commercials. Have not watched TV for years...

[GeneChing]

The Kung Fu Video pilot is here on The CW site (https://www.cwtv.com/shows/kung-fu/pilot/?play=705e9452-4156-4f98-8cea-21372097ad05).

Looks like they'll be streaming new eps every Thursday here. I'm obligated to watch.

The premiere did okay. We'll see if they sustain it.

Ratings: Kung Fu Gives CW Slot a 2-1/2 Year Audience High, Nancy Drew Rises (https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/ratings-kung-fu-gives-cw-153201112.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAIVbUljnaxwjc9sYecmZScNiqmnb op49UFDAPhZMJ3JeKmSQ6du8_tIZr5DMmtPqTp5V9Jea3zBIj0 Y6zcbgoua1gEc4IMRWmjJHjVikBphSb4STHpNkwK2MBeCXZeTv W3rP6T4d-B09TVOo-1mJ1SK_Uu2R6oT141VU1xPxJ2nJ)
Matt Webb Mitovich
Thu, April 8, 2021, 8:32 AM·2 min read

https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/isPIM.afCSUqtaYa2Qr0_A--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0Ni4xNTM4NDYxNT M4NDYyO2NmPXdlYnA-/https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/fxuRLCg_NOKk8gfAZJJyVg--~B/aD00MjA7dz02MjQ7YXBwaWQ9eXRhY2h5b24-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/tvline.com/2b44b1b366f979f25000f46d6b4b2fb9

In the latest TV show ratings, The CW’s Kung Fu debuted on Wednesday night to 1.4 million total viewers and a 0.2 demo rating — improving upon Riverdale‘s season averages to date (530K/0.14) and, in fact, giving the time slot its largest audience in two-and-a-half years. TVLine readers gave the premiere an average grade of “B”; read recap.

Leading out of the reboot, Nancy Drew (666K/0.1) rose to its largest audience in 16 months while (faint praise alert!) improving on last week’s 0.0 rating.

[GeneChing]

‘Kung Fu’ & ‘Stargirl’ Renewed At The CW (https://deadline.com/2021/05/kung-fu-stargirl-renewed-at-the-cw-1234748891/)
By Peter White
Television Editor
@peterzwhite

May 3, 2021 10:30am

https://deadline.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/pjimage-1-1.jpg?w=681&h=383&crop=1
CW

The CW is continuing to kick-ass with renewals.

The youth-skewing broadcaster has picked up freshman series Kung Fu for a second season and handed a third season of DC’s Stargirl ahead of its sop****re debut.

This comes as the network continues to look for stability in its scripted lineup – bringing the number of renewals for the 2021-22 season to 15 with only The Republic of Sarah, which launches in June, still pending.

The renewal of Kung Fu is not a surprise. The drama kicked off strong with more than 3.5M viewers watching the premiere episode and it had the highest total viewership number for a Wednesday debut in 7 years since The 100 debuted in 2014.

Kung Fu follows a young Chinese American woman, Nicky Shen, played by Olivia Liang, whose quarter-life crisis causes her to drop out of college and go on a life-changing journey to an isolated monastery in China. But when she returns to San Francisco, she finds her hometown is overrun with crime and corruption and her own parents Jin (Tzi Ma) and Mei-Li (Kheng Hua Tan) are at the mercy of a powerful Triad. Nicky will rely on her tech-savvy sister Althea (Shannon Dang) and Althea’s fiancé Dennis (Tony Chung), pre-med brother Ryan (Jon Prasida), Assistant District Attorney and ex-boyfriend Evan (Gavin Stenhouse), and new love interest Henry (Eddie Liu) as well as her martial arts skills and Shaolin values to protect her community and bring criminals to justice…all while searching for the ruthless assassin who killed her Shaolin mentor Pei-Ling (Vanessa Kai) and is now targeting her.

Christina M. Kim wrote the pilot episode and serves as executive producer/co-showrunner with Robert Berens. Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, Martin Gero and David Madden also serve as executive producers. Hanelle Culpepper directed and co-executive produced the pilot episode. Kung Fu is produced by Berlanti Productions and Quinn’s House in association with Warner Bros. Television and is inspired by the original series created by Ed Spielman.

Similarly, last year’s premiere of Stargirl was The CW’s most-watched summer debut in six years. The show’s second season premieres on August 10.

Stargirl follows high school sop****re Courtney Whitmore (Brec Bassinger) and her stepfather Pat Dugan (Luke Wilson) as she leads an unlikely group of young heroes to take on the legacy of DC’s very first superhero team, the Justice Society of America. In the thrilling second season, Courtney and her friends take on one of the most frightening adversaries in DC’s mythology – the dark entity of corruption known as Eclipso.

Geoff Johns is showrunner and executive produces with Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schechter. Based on the characters from DC, it is produced by Berlanti Productions and Mad Ghost Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television.

The renewal of both shows has been made slightly easier due to corporate synergies. Kung Fu’s premiere episode also aired on TNT, the basic cable network owned by The CW co-owner WarnerMedia.

The CW Sets Summer Premieres For Final ‘Supergirl’ Season, ‘DC’s Stargirl’, ‘Roswell, NM’ & More; ‘Riverdale’ Moves To August

The pick-up of Stargirl, meanwhile, is part of a deal between The CW and HBO Max to co-finance the show. The show originally aired as part of DC Universe, but was renewed for a second season by The CW in summer 2020 and a deal was worked out between the broadcast network and the streamer where The CW gets first run followed by its launch on HBO Max.

These are the latest examples of the two companies working together – they recently picked up Wellington Paranormal, a New Zealand horror mockumentary based on Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi’s What We Do in the Shadows film, together.

“We are beyond proud to continue to share the stories of Nicky Shen and Courtney Whitmore, two strong, powerful young women at the center of this new generation of hit shows for The CW in Kung Fu and DC’s Stargirl,” said Mark Pedowitz, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The CW Network. “While each boasts remarkable talent on both sides of the camera, Kung Fu and DC’s Stargirl have not only treated fans to some visually stunning action and high-flying heroics, but they also both strike very powerful emotional chords as they delve into the family dynamics and personal relationships at their core, and we are so excited to see what happens next.”

They join recently renewed series including Superman & Lois, Walker, All American, Batwoman, Charmed, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Dynasty, The Flash, In the Dark, Legacies, Nancy Drew, Riverdale and Roswell, New Mexico.

Anyone watching this? I am. I feel obligated. :(

[YinOrYan]

Anyone watching this? I am. I feel obligated. :(

Is there not some easy way of watching this without ads?

[GeneChing]

I find it fascinating that Warrior (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68676-Bruce-Lee-s-Warrior) & Kung Fu (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71750-Kung-Fu-TV-show-CW-REMAKE) are both choreographed by Brett Chan. This two shows are like yin and yang when it comes to choreo quality.



Jun 3, 2021 9:05am PT
‘Snowpiercer,’ ‘Kung Fu’ and ‘Warrior’ Stunt Coordinator on Keeping Fights Grounded in Character (https://variety.com/2021/tv/features/snowpiercer-warrior-kung-fu-stunts-brett-chan-1234933180/)

By Danielle Turchiano

https://variety.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Brett-Chan.jpg
Brett Chan
Courtesy of David Bukach
With more than two decades in the business, Brett Chan has racked up quite the résumé as both a stunt performer and a coordinator. On the small screen alone he has dozens of credits from superhero dramas “Arrow” and “Supergirl,” to Netflix’s “Altered Carbon.” Now, he is responsible for the stunts on a quartet of high-adrenaline series: TNT’s “Snowpiercer,” WarnerMedia’s “Warrior,” the CW’s “Kung Fu,” and the upcoming “Halo” for Paramount Plus.

How does a character’s backstory affect the kind of fight style you create for them, especially on a show like “Snowpiercer” where people from all walks of life are crammed on that train?
It’s basically characters first, and then you have to elaborate from there. Daveed Diggs’ [character Andre Layton] was an ex-police officer, and so was [Mickey Sumner’s Bess] Till, but they both have very different backgrounds in terms of what their positions were in the police force. [Layton] had been on the force for a little bit longer, so he had a little bit more of a street toughness to him. I tried to give them a little bit more adeptness because police do some basic self defense, gun disarms and how to deal with situations with multiple people or when you’re trying to keep a person [subdued]. It’s always harder to be police officer because you can’t just hit people, you always have to try and and incapacitate them by not striking at them, but at the same time keeping yourself safe. Neither Till nor [Layton] had any martial arts training. The Jackboots were trained military guys — soldier types — so we gave them a standard basic etiquette about how they move with their weapons and we gave them a little more regimented look. They had a definite order about they move in formation, and you have to because if you don’t and one side falters, then the line gets overrun and they can pull you over.

Between Season 1 and Season 2 of shows like “Warrior” and “Snowpiercer,” did you have time to get in and train with any actors, or did they have to rely on muscle memory?
If anything the actors came in more gung ho for Season 2: They loved the stunt team training room and spent more time in there than anywhere else. As more actors joined the “[Warrior”] cast in Season 2, it was more about trying to get them out of the stunt training room. Many of our stunt team remain very close with many of the actors. When Season 3 got renewed there was not any doubt that everyone would do whatever they needed to do in order to be a part of that season. It is an anomaly of a show and if you ever get to work on one like this in terms of the people and content of the project, you are lucky. It is one in a million. [Between seasons of “Snowpiercer”] there isn’t really time to do anything. It’s really up to the actors themselves. Mickey, in her spare time when she wasn’t filming, was training [such as in] jujitsu. It was on her own time. She just wants to train and kick butt — and she wants to be able to show women empowerment, that women don’t need to be saved by men all the time; they can have their own collective of how they survive, especially in that type of climate, where you have to be a little sneakier. She wanted to look like she was better at it, and she was really good and she picked it up really fast. We can definitely give her moves to make it look like she’s a fighter. And we always paired her with a really good dance partner, per se, so she can showcase what she’s doing.


How does the train setting on “Snowpiercer” inform the scope of what you can accomplish in any given stunt sequence?
It can’t be all martial arts. And we have cots in it and we’re dealing with extras. You’ve got to fill the train; you can’t have a car with 50 people and they’re all stunt guys. We have to be really cognizant of that, but we still have to make it look chaotic. We have to keep the action mitigated a certain way so that we can keep our actors safe and keep everyone else around them safe at the same time. I’ll either be able to choreograph on the actual train booth, depending on if they’re shooting or not. If not, then I’ll go tape out the dimensions of it and use boxes and choreograph everything in there. And it definitely limits what you can do and where you can go because the train walls aren’t all solid. Because we have to be able to take the walls off and on and move really fast between shots, that means we can’t always bang against the train walls or they’ll fall and hurt people.

Do you have leeway to have walls moved if you need a bit more room for something special?
They built some trains to be like that, like the Night Car: it’s supposed to be like a giant, two-level thing and it’s wider. But it’s definitely confining and it limits the weapons you can use because if you start putting long weapons in there and you’re swinging them around, you’re hitting people behind you and in front of you. But we’ve had no injuries!

The second season finale had an unexpected dog attack stunt. How complicated was that to pull off, given everything you’ve already talked about as limitations?
We used the actual trainer to be the person the dog attacks because he knows that person already. A dog comes on set, no one’s going to touch him, no one’s allowed to pet him, [there’s] no, “Oh you’re so cute!” You can’t do that because the dog’s got to keep the focus. We keep all things off the set that don’t need to be there because that changes the parameter of things, too.

What sequence did you feel was the most complicated to choreograph and then successfully achieve on the day of production on Season 2 of “Warrior”?
Episode 205’s Zing vs. Li Yong fight and the Episode 209 riot sequence with the individual fights were the most difficult because of logistics involved due to the time we had. We were shooting four episodes at once and I was action directing all of them while still choreographing and doing other work for them. Additionally I was in development for Episode 6 simultaneously. Episode 205’s saving grace was director Loni Peristere. He gave me full control to go to town, allowing me to time manage. He was extremely collaborative. For Episode 209, director Denny Gordon was also extremely collaborative and was a large reason I was able to execute such a difficult sequence. If I had to pick one fight that was the most complicated it would definitely be the riot with the individual fights in Episode 209.

When you have characters like Ah Sahm, who are martial arts experts when they are introduced, what is your philosophy about “topping” the fights and sequences, to continuously show off more of those characters’ skills?
I don’t know if it is just because they are cool fights or needing to “top a fight,” but more of that I think it all comes down to the story and the characters. Really, a fight is just a fight — but if you give it the story and individual characteristics associated with each character at that moment in time, the motivation for the fight becomes more meaningful and has more impact. As storylines changed in Season 2, so did our fight sequences.

How different was experience on “Kung Fu,” in which Olivia Liang, who plays the lead, had no martial arts training before the show but whose character needed to look like an expert?
Even after 10 years, you won’t even really be really that good in a stylistic martial art, and this is specifically stylistic. I said, “They need a little bit of martial arts training, give me eight weeks to train them.” But they gave me this girl who had no martial arts training and five days to to train her. None of the leads had martial arts training. But when they showed up, all they did was train. Olivia said, “I don’t care, I want to train Saturdays, Sundays.” We trained four to six hours a day. She has a dance background so she did fantastic, and she’s just getting better and better.

How does the mysticism element of “Kung Fu” affect what you are creating?
The show was never meant to be “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.” “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” has its audience has its genre, and it’s fantastic, but Christina [M. Kim], the showrunner, basically said, “Let’s ground it.” So, it was about keeping the kung fu grounded into daily fighting, but keeping the flair of the styles. We pick her movements depends on the style. Tiger is a very aggressive style, while crane is not. So you see a lot of crane, but when she’s angry, you’ll see the tiger come out. And then we start blending the two together, which starts leveling off her emotional levels. We tried giving that purpose to everybody.

[GeneChing]

Watching Martial Arts Movies Amid Anti-Asian Violence Is Much-Needed Catharsis (https://www.vice.com/en/article/n7bepd/watching-martial-arts-movies-amid-anti-asian-violence-is-much-needed-catharsis)
Movies and TV shows like 'The Paper Tigers' and 'Warrior' show the beauty of Asian American survival.
By Frances Nguyen
June 8, 2021, 4:00am

https://video-images.vice.com/articles/60bd735312903c0093cf911a/lede/1623029363448-mortal-kombat.jpeg
IMAGE VIA YOUTUBE
When I saw the opening seven minutes of Mortal Kombat on Instagram, it was the first time I’d felt anything in the realm of joy in over a month. Given the contents of the clip, I was also a little horrified at myself.

Faithful to its video game source material, the violence in the film begins almost immediately. Within the opening minutes, a woman dies. A child dies. Hanzo Hasashi—the man who will become Scorpion, the character in the game I played most often growing up—liberates what looks like quarts of blood from the bodies of his masked opponents before confronting his nemesis, the man who will become the ice-wielding assassin Sub-Zero. The teaser leaves you at the edge of a fight that promises to be an enthralling one; here, once again, someone will surely die violently.


The theatrically gory film was an odd source of comfort during the weeks-long despondency I felt following a series of shootings in Atlanta that left eight people dead, six of whom were women of Asian descent. With a never-ending reel of brutal violence against Asians circulating online, there was something refreshing about escaping into a world populated by people who look like me and who are portrayed as strong.

Coming at the end of a year that gave rise to more than 6,600 reported instances of anti-Asian hate between March 2020 and March 2021, and where assaults continue almost daily across the country, watching a group of Asian characters wield their bodies with physics-defying agility and precision to deliver bouts that look and feel more like physical dialogue than combat made for a stark contrast to the images I was seeing on news broadcasts and social media, which tend to foreground Asian bodies as quiet, passive vessels for someone else’s rage.

Examining some of the most brutal recorded attacks that have taken place this year—on elders Vicha Ratanapakdee, Vilma Kari, and Yao Pan Ma—the abridged stories captured on camera repeat the same refrain: The Asian body appears and is brutalized; that’s all that we see. For Asian Americans, these scenes invite us to participate in a ritual of vicarious trauma: Without sound, our minds train instead on the movements of the bodies that appear on screen. We imagine ourselves and our loved ones in the only body that bears our likeness—the victim’s—and our own bodies are activated by the input of threat.

Up until recently, however, Hollywood has arguably done little to provide counter-narratives to these stories, narratives that acknowledge the real-life experiences and agency of the individuals who are navigating what it means to be Asian in America in real time. A report released last month—co-authored by sociologist Nancy Wang Yuen, author of Reel Inequality: Hollywood Actors and Racism, and Stacy L. Smith, founder of the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative—revealed that in the top 100 films of 2019, just over a quarter of Asian and Pacific Islander (API) characters die by the end of the film—and all but one dies violently. The study also notes that 42 percent of the API characters experienced disparagement, including racist/sexist slurs, with 30 percent being tokenized (meaning they were the only Asian character in the film or scene) and 67 percent channeling tired Asian stereotypes. Notably, only 13 percent were portrayed as “fully human,” (ie, complex characters with agency) which the report measured in terms of them having a wide spectrum of relationships.

I wasn’t alone in gravitating toward media where strong Asian characters took center stage. After the shootings in Atlanta—and after the video of Vilma Kari’s attack went viral—Yuen, the report’s co-author, told me that she and her friends started watching Kung Fu on The CW, a reboot of the 70s show starring David Carradine that premiered in early April.

Though the original was not without its shortcomings (the lead role, of a half-Chinese Shaolin monk who wanders the Wild West, went to the white actor instead of Bruce Lee, despite Carradine having no prior martial arts training), the CW series gives the story a 21st century update. This time around, the lead is an Asian woman—and, importantly, an Asian woman who kicks ass. Olivia Liang’s Nicky Shen stands alone as the only Asian American woman lead on network television right now, and her characterization as a strong and capable defender of her hometown of San Francisco offers some counterweight to the blunt fact that Asian women are twice as likely to report being targets of anti-Asian hate than Asian men are.

“Certainly, our show is not the solution, but I hope that we are a part of the solution,” showrunner Christina M. Kim said in a press conference a day after the Atlanta shootings.

As Yuen sees it, the show’s main draw is its constellation of rich characters with developed backstories. “As an Asian American watching it, I feel empowered, not just because there’s martial arts but also in seeing people who aren’t just the sidekick, or the friend, or the villain,” she said. “They are the leads, and you feel like you can see yourself in different parts of them.” Ultimately, she said, that’s the goal of the report: for Hollywood to represent API characters as complex, multidimensional human beings—just like in real life.

The Kung Fu reboot isn’t the only recent work that draws on martial arts as a vehicle for telling more three-dimensional human stories. The Paper Tigers—a charming comedy about three washed-up, middle-aged former kung fu disciples looking to avenge their sifu’s murder—uses the martial art as a way of telling a story about redemption, brotherhood, and becoming men.

Released to streaming platforms and select theaters on May 7, The Paper Tigers complicates the strong-versus-weak narrative by presenting its heroes as both in different moments. They’re strong when they’re aligned to the teachings of kung fu—which espouse traditional Eastern values like honor, discipline, humility, and bravery—and weak, both physically and morally, when they stray from them. Throughout the film, the men contend with choosing when to fight and when to walk away: When his son gets beat up by the school bully, Danny, the lead character, tells the boy that he should have walked away from the kid who has been terrorizing him and his friend. Later, after one of the Tigers is sorely wounded, Danny heads off to a fight, but not before calling his son to tell him that he’s proud of him for sticking up for his friend. Fearing that he might not make it to see another day, he tells his son how to make a fist, but offers this information with a warning: “If you go looking for a fight, that makes you the bully.”

Beyond the moments of pitch-perfect comedy (see: the many fortune cookie-worthy proverbs doled out by a white sifu, the men’s former schoolmate rival, in Cantonese, which none of them understand), there’s also something deeply gratifying about seeing bodies, out of practice for 25 years, reckon with their limitations and slowly relearn their discipline, building back their strength over time. Tran Quoc Bao, the film’s writer and director, said he wanted to highlight martial arts as a practice of discovering one’s inner strength, and learning the right moment to express it. “With martial arts,” he said, “it’s that constant sharpening of the sword knowing that you can hang it up and not use it.”
continued next post

[GeneChing]

As it turns out, the film’s resonance with the present moment is something of a coincidence: Tran conceived the story a decade ago, drawing on his experiences growing up in a multicultural martial arts community in Seattle. He never imagined it would be released during a pandemic, much less at a time of surging racist violence.

“Obviously, there’s a different subtext now that kind of lingers in the air,” he told me. Still, with its subtle allusions to race and cultural appropriation, the film hits upon facets of the Asian American experience that feel just as relevant now as they did several decades ago. Importantly, it’s also an Asian American film that exists on its own terms. Though it centers non-white experience, it doesn’t announce itself as such—not to the point of color-blindness, but in a way where cultural difference feels normal, and honored.

It’s nice to see martial arts, and kung fu especially, treated with reverence and respect. Although kung fu and martial arts movies have been a part of Hollywood’s diet since the 70s, the form has too often been relegated to an unintentional sub-genre of comedy—one replete with its fair share of racist stereotypes. As the report notes, a large component of the anti-Asian racism perpetuated in pop culture is the representation of Asian men as weak and effeminate compared to their Western counterparts—an emasculation that continues to be expressed by Hollywood through the physical domination of Asian characters by predominantly white leading characters.

One of the most notorious examples is Quentin Tarantino’s characterization of Lee, the most beloved and celebrated martial artist of all time. In Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, the Lee character—caricatured as a toxically masculine showboat—challenges Brad Pitt’s stuntman character Cliff Booth to a three-round fight. It technically results in a draw, but Lee walks away humiliated after Booth handily throws him into a car.

Yuen described the scene as exemplifying American pop culture’s impulse “to take a strong Asian man down a notch.”

“They get these really amazing Asian actors who are at the top of their martial arts game, and then they have the white lead beat them up in order to show his prowess and maintain a kind of racial hierarchy,” she said.

Not surprisingly, over the past year, there have been disturbing reflections of that dynamic in real life. After a man of Chinese descent was assaulted in an unprovoked attack outside New York City’s Penn Station in March, his attacker reportedly assumed a mocking kung fu stance before fleeing the scene.

“It makes them feel better about themselves to beat up an Asian whom they feel is the enemy, because Hollywood has historically represented Asians as enemies,” said Yuen. Trump’s “kung flu” rhetoric from last year, part of his campaign to scapegoat Asians as foreign vectors of disease, certainly hasn’t helped.

Warrior, a Cinemax original series with an Asian-dominant cast that premiered in 2019, is yet another martial arts-related project that attempts to examine and subvert this sort of racist scapegoating. With a premise conceived by the late Bruce Lee himself, the show is set during the Tong Wars of San Francisco in the 1870s—a period in American history that arguably gave birth to some of the most enduring and damaging Asian American stereotypes, from that of the disease-carrying foreigner to the Chinatown gangster and the brothel worker. The series follows Ah Sahm (played by Andrew Koji), a kung fu prodigy who becomes a hatchet man for a powerful tong, or criminal brotherhood, as it vies with rivals in Chinatown for control over resources. Notably, it’s set on the eve of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which effectively banned all immigration from China until 1943, in addition to prohibiting Chinese immigrants from becoming American citizens.

“[In the show], we are dealing with the introduction of the Chinese mythology and propaganda machine,” said Olivia Cheng, who plays Ah Toy, a fictionalized version of the eponymous Chinatown madame known as the first recorded Chinese prostitute in America. In an interview with VICE, Cheng said that she was challenged with not only honoring the real Ah Toy’s life but also playing against the traps of one of Hollywood’s favorite and most harmful tropes about Asian women: the “dragon lady,” an Asian femme fatale who wields power through sex.

I began the show a month after the Atlanta shootings, shortly after it was announced that the series would be renewed for a third season, on HBO Max. Given the heartbreak and impotence I felt, I wasn’t surprised to find myself drawn to Ah Toy, an Asian female character who seems fully possessed of her power as she navigates gender dynamics and a racist criminal justice system—power structures that are not only designed to oppress her but that render women like her entirely disposable. In the first season, when the police raid Ah Toy’s brothel as a means of signalling to its white citizens that it’s “cracking down” on Chinatown crime, she bribes the sergeant with a few calm words and a small red envelope. “A gift for Chinese New Year,” she says, meeting his gaze with an unflinching stare.

Cheng told me that other Asian women have expressed being triggered by her character’s profession, which she understands. She said she had to overcome her own reticence about Ah Toy, but ultimately decided to lead with her character’s humanity. “I definitely feel a responsibility,” she said. “I think you’d have to be incredibly vacuous to be in my position and not.”

Every character in Warrior contends with different articulations of power, said Shannon Lee, executive producer of the show and Bruce Lee’s daughter. “We’re presenting power when it gets out of control and the people who have to participate in that culture, who are the victims of that culture but who don’t think of themselves as victims,” she said. “They think of themselves as humans. They want what every human wants, and are fighting for it.”

As violent as Warrior can be (and disquietingly close to our current reality), I have been enjoying getting to know these kaleidoscopic characters—people who reveal new sides of themselves with every power play. Even as I tense at the scenes of racist confrontation (in the opening two minutes of the series, a white immigration officer singles out a man disembarking from the boat, calls him “Ching Chong,” and knocks him to the ground), I can take cover in characters with the agency to defend themselves. I can see them fight, and I can see them win.

“Catharsis is something that people need right now,” said Hoon Lee, who plays Wang Chao, a quick-witted black market arms dealer. “In the context of a show, you can experience—and, hopefully, exorcise—some of that rage that you might not know what to do with otherwise. That’s a primary function of storytelling.”

Martial arts might be a safe bet for a Hollywood looking for low-hanging fruit when it comes Asian representation, but in this new slate of film and television shows, it’s also the Trojan Horse: a vehicle for Asian characters whose identities are as layered and complex as people are in real life. And while, yes, these bodies encounter brutal violence, they survive to experience what lies beyond it—joy, grief, rage, and humor together. In devastating times like these, we need storytelling that shows us that access to the full spectrum of human experience is possible—not just suffering.


threads
Stop-Asian-Hate (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?72003-Stop-Asian-Hate)
Warrior (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68676-Bruce-Lee-s-Warrior)
Kung Fu (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71750-Kung-Fu-TV-show-CW-REMAKE)
Once-Upon-a-Time-in-Hollywood (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70864-Once-Upon-a-Time-in-Hollywood)
Mortal-Kombat-2021-reboot (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71437-Mortal-Kombat-2021-reboot)

[GeneChing]

I've seen every ep but the finale, which I plan to watch soon. That's not bragging. I'm not sure what that is. :rolleyes:

But this is sweet.

Watch injury turn into a surprise engagement for stunt doubles on set of Kung Fu (https://ew.com/tv/surprise-engagement-stunt-doubles-kung-fu/)
By Rachel Yang July 22, 2021 at 09:06 PM EDT

The cast of Kung Fu pulled off an epic stunt recently, and it had nothing to do with martial arts.

The stunt doubles for stars Olivia Liang and Eddie Liu got engaged on the set of the CW action drama while filming the season 1 finale.

Liang shared a video on Thursday of the epic moment, which happened after Ken Do (who does stunts for Liu's character Henry Yan) tripped and landed on the ground. Megan Hui, filming the scene as Liang's Nicky Shen, quickly approached him in concern.

After some excellent acting, Do pulled out the ring and popped the question, prompting oohs and ahhs from the cast and crew.

Hui's stunned reaction had Do double-checking: "Is that a yes?" It was of course a yes and the couple hugged and kissed, with Hui shedding some happy tears. The beautiful moment was capped off by cheers and claps from the Kung Fu team, many of whom helped make the surprise happen.

"the best best best part of shooting the finale was planning the engagement of our superstar stunt doubles," Liang wrote on Twitter, with plenty of crying emojis. "Megan Hui and Ken Do are the kindest, most generous, and most mega talented people i've ever met. so proud to be Megan's acting double"

Hui expressed her excitement and gratitude to her now-fiancé and everyone who helped plan the engagement "months in advance," including Liang, Liu, Jon Prasida (who plays Ryan Shen), Yvonne Chapman (Zhilan), Tony Chung (Dennis Soong), director Joe Menendez, and some of his fellow stunt performers.

"BOY DID YOU SURPRISE ME @kendo482 ! Last shot after filming the final fight for the season finale of @cw_kungfu and I thought you broke your ankle lol," Hui said on Instagram. "I feel so fortunate to be able to call you all my friends and super blessed to now be engaged to my best one."

Hui also included some fun photos on set, like one of her and Do with their "acting doubles" Liang and Liu in matching outfits.

The sweet setup even got the attention of Henry Golding, who commented, "YEESSSSSS Love this guys ♥️🙌🏼 congrats."

Hui was a stunt double in the movie Snake Eyes, which stars Golding. Hui and Do have also done stunts together for films like Deadpool 2, Skyscraper, Wu Assassins, DC's Legends of Tomorrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Arrow, and more. Hui has also appeared as the character Biyu in two episodes of Kung Fu. The series, a reboot of the 1970s show, got renewed for a second season in May, a month after it debuted.

[GeneChing]

‘Big Brother’ Wins Wednesday Ratings, ‘The $100,000 Pyramid’ Takes Viewers; CW’s ‘Kung Fu’ Season Finale Falls From Debut (https://deadline.com/2021/07/big-brother-wins-ratings-the-100000-pyramid-viewers-cws-kung-fu-finale-falls-1234797920/)
By Alexandra Del Rosario
TV Reporter
@_amvdr

July 22, 2021 11:57am
https://deadline.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Tiffany23061.jpg?w=681&h=383&crop=1
CBS
Unscripted programs ruled Wednesday evening as CBS’ Big Brother and ABC’s The $100,000 Pyramid marked the evening’s highest-rated and most-watched titles, respectively.

The latest installment of Big Brother was the most-watched program in the 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. timeslot, airing to 3.33 million viewers and gaining a 0.8 rating in the 18-49 demographic, per Nielsen Live + Same Day Day fast affiliates. Big Brother bested NBC’s Olympic Dreams Featuring Jonas Brothers special (0.3, 2.49M). ABC’s Press Your Luck was the second most-watched title of the hour (0.5, 3.29M).

Also in the same hour was the Kung Fu season one finale. The season ender, which saw a major showdown between Olivia Liang’s Nicky Shen and Yvonne Chapman’s Zhilan, aired to approximately 832,000 viewers and drew in a 0.1 rating. The finale fell from the series’ debut in April (0.2, 1.4M) by a tenth in ratings and about 40% viewers.

Later in the evening, The $100,000 Pyramid ruled the 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. slot taking in a 0.5 rating and 3.60 million viewers. Following behind were Chicago Fire (0.2, 1.83M) and Love Island (0.3, 1.62M). Crime Scene Kitchen closed off its first season crowning Natalie Collins-Fish and Luis Flores as the winners, but the season ender (0.3, 1.55M) failed to be the cherry on top viewers and ratings-wise.

https://deadline.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/TV-Ratings-7-21-21.jpg?w=935
ABC’s Match Game closed out Primetime winning the 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. time slot (0.4, 2.80M).
I'm astonished how much good press this show has received. I'm just going to say it - Tokenism?

[GeneChing]

HOME
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BREAKING NEWS
‘Kung Fu’: Yvonne Chapman Upped To Series Regular For Season 2 (https://deadline.com/2021/08/kung-fu-yvonne-chapman-promoted-series-regular-season-2-1234822892/)
By Denise Petski
Senior Managing Editor

August 26, 2021 2:35pm

https://deadline.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Yvonne-Chapman-in-Kung-Fu.jpg?w=681&h=383&crop=1
EXCLUSIVE: Yvonne Chapman, who heavily recurred as villain Zhilan on the first season of the CW’s Kung Fu, has been promoted to series regular for Season 2.

https://deadline.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/yvonne-chapman.jpg
Laura Baldwinson
Chapman’s Zhilan, a hard-edged and cunning assassin, is ruthless in achieving her goals. After stealing an ancient sword from Nicky’s shifu Pei-Ling–and nearly killing Nicky in the process–Zhilan flees China and begins her pursuit of the rest of the mystical weapons. The mystery of Zhilan’s identity, and her real intentions with those weapons, will fuel Nicky’s quest for justice.

Kung Fu follows a young Chinese American woman, Nicky Shen, played by Olivia Liang, whose quarter-life crisis causes her to drop out of college and go on a life-changing journey to an isolated monastery in China. But when she returns to San Francisco, she finds her hometown is overrun with crime and corruption and her own parents Jin (Tzi Ma) and Mei-Li (Kheng Hua Tan) are at the mercy of a powerful Triad. Nicky will rely on her tech-savvy sister Althea (Shannon Dang) and Althea’s fiancé Dennis (Tony Chung), pre-med brother Ryan (Jon Prasida), Assistant District Attorney and ex-boyfriend Evan (Gavin Stenhouse), and new love interest Henry (Eddie Liu) as well as her martial arts skills and Shaolin values to protect her community and bring criminals to justice…all while searching for the ruthless assassin who killed her Shaolin mentor Pei-Ling (Vanessa Kai) and is now targeting her.

Christina M. Kim wrote the pilot episode and serves as executive producer/co-showrunner with Robert Berens. Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, Martin Gero and David Madden also serve as executive producers. Hanelle Culpepper directed and co-executive produced the pilot episode. Kung Fu is produced by Berlanti Productions and Quinn’s House in association with Warner Bros. Television and is inspired by the original series created by Ed Spielman.

Chapman is repped by The Characters Talent Agency and Jared Schwartz at Industry Entertainment.
I kinda like her character but I'm a sucker for villainesses.

[GeneChing]

Enter to win Kung Fu: The Complete First Season (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfVUzhS-JBvCwWycZ_0cQCOt3mYOLe4hK8k8bjs-BDgmv2FIw/viewform)!
Contest ends 11/11/2021

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/jgU6yu951lfMmwBXKmxjd-ImzESLhvZqThrZbo3D2JzEXBENhMtrdXPlcUeWWR_FUJJuherM L60huTo5IlnsRvGAKsEWyR4GwPsJjkK5t3fmM0qOJ3JUQ4KPHs qy2E1GWA=w566

[GeneChing]

The CW's Midseason Schedule Teams Superman & Lois With Naomi, Sets Dynasty, Charmed and Kung Fu Returns (https://tvline.com/2021/11/05/superman-and-lois-season-2-premiere-date-cw-midseason-schedule/)
By Matt Webb Mitovich / November 5 2021, 10:30 AM PDT
https://tvline.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/cw-midseason-schedule-superman-lois-season-2.jpg?w=620&h=420&crop=1
'Kung Fu, 'Naomi' and 'Superman & Lois' (Courtesy of The CW)

The CW has released its midseason schedule for late December through early March, and there is a lot to process. So pull up a chair, grab and a pen and paper, and follow carefully.
For one, we have a Season 2 premiere date for the hit freshman series Superman & Lois, which will be paired on Tuesday nights with newcomer Naomi (as in the DC superhero series exec-produced by Ava DuVernay).
On the scripted front, there are also season premiere dates for Dynasty (which is Monday-bound, at least for a bit), Charmed and Kung Fu, plus a kickoff time for the All American: Homecoming spinoff.
(And as detailed here, both The Flash and Riverdale are bound for a months-long hiatus after their season-opening five-episode “events,” and they will each return on brand-new nights.)
Want scoop on any of the shows below? Email InsideLine@tvline.com and your question may be answered via Matt’s Inside Line.

Launch List
MONDAY, DEC. 20
8 pm Dynasty Season 5 premiere (new night!)
9 pm Dynasty (a second new episode)
FRIDAY, JAN. 7, 2022
8 pm Penn & Teller: Fool Us midseason return
9 pm Nancy Drew midseason return
TUESDAY, JAN. 11
8 pm Superman & Lois Season 2 premiere
9 pm NAOMI series premiere
WEDNESDAY, JAN. 12
8 pm Legends of Tomorrow midseason return
9 pm Batwoman midseason return
SUNDAY, JAN. 16
8 pm Legends of the Hidden Temple
9 pm Two Sentence Horror Stories Season 3 premiere
9:30 pm Two Sentence Horror Stories (second new episode)
MONDAY, JAN. 17
9 pm 4400 midseason return
THURSDAY, JAN. 27
8 pm Walker midseason return
9 pm Legacies midseason return
MONDAY, FEB. 21
8 pm All American midseason return
9 pm ALL AMERICAN: HOMECOMING series premiere
SUNDAY, MARCH 6
8 pm Riverdale midseason return (new night!)
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9
8 pm The Flash midseason return (new night!)
9 pm Kung Fu Season 2 premiere
FRIDAY, MARCH 11
8 pm Charmed Season 4 premiere
9 pm Dynasty (sorta-new… but not night) I know y'all been waiting...;)

[GeneChing]

See WINNERS-Kung-Fu-The-Compete-First-Season (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?72192-WINNERS-Kung-Fu-The-Compete-First-Season)

[GeneChing]

‘Kung Fu’: CW Reboot Adds Vanessa Yao, Annie Q. & JB Tadena To Season 2 Cast (https://deadline.com/2022/01/kung-fu-cw-reboot-annie-q-jb-tadena-vanessa-yao-season-2-cast-1234905311/)
By Denise Petski
Senior Managing Editor

January 6, 2022 1:30pm
https://deadline.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Vanessa-Rao-Annie-Q-JB-Tadena.jpg?w=681&h=383&crop=1
Courtesy of PR Machine/JC Chen/Joanna Degeneres
EXCLUSIVE: The CW is expanding the cast for Season 2 of Kung Fu, its reboot of the classic series, adding Vanessa Yao, Annie Q. and JB Tadena in heavily recurring roles.

Following the explosive Season 1 finale, Season 2 picks up with Nicky (Olivia Liang) and the Shens in a great place: Nicky’s been using her kung fu skills to keep Chinatown safe, she and Henry (Eddie Liu) are only deeper in love with each other, and unlike season one, the Shen family are all in the know about Nicky’s extracurricular activities. Jin and Mei-Li have righted the ship and Harmony Dumplings has seen an extraordinary recovery– the restaurant is doing better business than ever. Everything’s been great in Nicky’s life… that is, until the reemergence of Russell Tan, and the surprise appearance of Nicky’s cousin, Mia (Yao).

In addition to Liang and Liu, the series regular cast includes Tzi Ma, Kheng Hua Tan, Jon Prasida, Shannon Dang, Gavin Stenhouse, Vanessa Kai, Tony Chung and Yvonne Chapman.

Yao’s Mia, Nicky’s enigmatic cousin, is the daughter of Nicky’s deceased aunt Mei-Xue. Raised in extreme isolation with her mother, Mia ran away from home and has been living on her own for years. Mia will cross dramatically with Nicky in the season premiere, but it’s no warm and fuzzy family reunion: Mia is a natural powerhouse, armed with incredible strength and reflexes… and a deeply ingrained suspiciousness of other people. The daughter of a Guardian and a Warrior, her hybrid bloodline is a key piece of Russell Tan’s villainous plan. Mia could be a valuable ally to Nicky in her fight against Russell Tan… or a dangerous new adversary.

Annie Q. is Juliette Tan, the clever and conniving daughter of powerful business mogul, Russell Tan. Cultured, precocious, and already well-seasoned in the world of business, Juliette offers Russell her steadfast support, eager to prove she’s ready to succeed him at the helm of the Tan empire. But as her father’s plans get darker and more supernatural, Juliette will have to decide just how far she’s willing to go to seize the brass ring and ascend to her father’s throne.

Tadena plays Sebastian, Harmony Dumplings’ talented and charming new chef, who steps into the lurch as the restaurant’s newfound success threatens to swallow up Jin and Mei-Li. Charming, cocky, and eager to show the Shens what he’s got, Sebastian will immediately turn the newly single Ryan’s head… but, much to Ryan’s frustration, it’s unclear if the attraction is mutual. Is he Just Not That Into Ryan? Or is he merely avoiding a potentially complicated hookup with his bosses’ son? While the will-they-won’t-they suspense kills Ryan– and fuels the teasing of his watchful siblings– Sebastian will find himself a bigger and bigger part of the Shens’ lives, as his working relationship with Mei-Li blooms into an unexpected new friendship.

Christina M. Kim wrote the pilot episode and serves as executive producer/co-showrunner with Robert Berens. Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, Martin Gero and David Madden also serve as executive producers. Hanelle Culpepper directed and co-executive produced the pilot episode. Kung Fu is produced by Berlanti Productions and Quinn’s House in association with Warner Bros. Television and is inspired by the original series created by Ed Spielman.

Yao has led four films for China Central Television, including Soul Breaker and Blackfox Ridge, and also led the films Back To Youth, and Into the Darkness for Guangzhou WeiXiao Films. She also played the lead in Huaxia Films’ award winning feature Father and Hero, which premiered at the Shanghai International Film Festival, and won the New Zealand’s Asia Pacific Film Festival Best New Actor Award for her role as Wei Wei. Yao is repped by Echelon Talent Management.

Annie Q. is best known for her portrayal of Christine in HBO’s The Leftovers and Sophie Hicks in the Netflix comedy-drama Alex Strangelove. She also starred as Erica Yang in the “School Spirit” episode of the Hulu/Blumhouse anthology series Into The Dark. She is repped by Authentic Talent & Literary Management and A3 Artists Agency.

Tadena was recently seen on Westworld, NCIS, SEAL Team and voiced a character on the popular Call of Duty: Vanguard video game franchise. On the film side, he has appeared in indie Pineapple. He also leads the popular new media series Naruto: Climbing Silver. Tadena is repped by Wonder Street Management.
I did watch the whole season 1. I'll probably watch S2 as well. It was...painful.

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_saSGrLDQgs

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6P8pCv23msc

Next week...

[GeneChing]

S2e1 had more fights than in any episode I remember from S1. Everyone seems more comfortable in their skin. But it's still so CW way and wow, the CW site (https://www.cwtv.com/shows/kung-fu/year-of-the-tiger-part-1/?play=e0193eee-72a1-4375-9245-0f2691230495) inserts way more ads, more than I remember in broadcast TV. Not that I'm complaining. I get that the ads pay for it so I can watch it for free. And it does give me time to refresh my libations.

[GeneChing]

The CW Renews 7 Series: ‘The Flash’, ‘Kung Fu’, ‘All American’, ‘Nancy Drew’, ‘Superman & Lois’, ‘Walker’ & ‘Riverdale’ (https://deadline.com/2022/03/the-cw-renewals-the-flash-nancy-drew-kung-fu-1234984336/)
By Peter White
Television Editor
@peterzwhite

March 22, 2022 1:45pm
https://deadline.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/FLA801a_0269r-e1637197405642.jpg?w=681&h=383&crop=1
The Flash
Katie Yu/CW
The CW has handed early renewals to a large portion of its scripted schedule including The Flash.

The network also has renewed All American, The Flash, Kung Fu, Nancy Drew, Riverdale, Superman & Lois and Walker.

Traditionally, the youth-skewing network hands out early renewals, sometimes as early as January, to the majority of its slate – a boon for its owners CBS and Warner Bros.

However, this year, the broadcaster’s future is up in the air with local affiliate group Nexstar circling, and Deadline understands that a new majority owner likely would have a say in some of its renewal decisions. The network also needs to take into account elements such as streaming rights to shows and other variables that will determine a pickup.

The renewal of flagship series The Flash for a ninth season — making it the network’s longest-running Arrowverse series, taking over that mantle from Arrow, which ended after eight seasons — was paved earlier this year with the news that star Grant Gustin was in talks for a new deal. There’s no word from The CW yet as to whether Season 9 will be The Flash’s swan song.

Some of the other renewals were more of a given that others. All American was expected to return for Season 5, and Superman & Lois and Walker were good for their third seasons.

Riverdale also was expected to return for its seventh season, but similarly there’s no word as to whether this will be its final season.

Kung Fu only launched its second season earlier this month but is now coming back for a third.

Nancy Drew, however, was thought to be slightly more on the bubble and will return for a fourth season. That comes as spinoff series Tom Swift also has yet to launch on the network.

2022 The CW Pilots & Series Orders

There are two other tranches of shows that the network still has to make renewal decisions on – and these are expected to come over the next month or so ahead of the upfronts in May.

4400, which launched in October, Naomi, which premiered in January, and All American: Homecoming, which started last month, will all be hoping for second seasons.

There also are question marks about the future of Legends of Tomorrow, which is in its seventh season; Dynasty, which is in its fifth; Charmed and Legacies, which are in their fourth seasons; and Batwoman, which is in its third.

Stargirl’s third season and In the Dark’s fourth season have yet to premiere, while Roswell, New Mexico was picked up for a fourth season ahead of its third season.

The scripted renewals follow a batch of unscripted renewals including Penn & Teller: Fool Us and Masters of Illusion, which are both returning for their ninth season, and World’s Funniest Animals, which is heading into Season 3.

Mark Pedowitz, Chairman and CEO of the CW Network, said: “As we prepare for the 2022-23 season, these scripted series, along with the alternative series we renewed earlier, will serve as the start of a solid foundation utilizing some of our most-watched series for us to build on for next year and beyond. These dramas are also important to our overall digital strategy, as they are some of our most-streamed and socially engaged programming, and we look forward to adding more new and returning series to help strengthen and expand our multiplatform footprint.”

I feel obligated to keep watching...

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dor7d36nnpE

[GeneChing]

Kung Fu stunt coordinator and star on Nicky Shen's fighting style and new character Bo (https://ew.com/tv/kung-fu-fight-scene-breakdown-ben-levin-bo/)
By Alamin Yohannes
September 11, 2022 at 12:00 PM EDT

Kung Fu delivers high-octane action on a weekly basis.

At its core, Kung Fu is the story of Nicky Shen (Olivia Liang) as she comes back home to California to avenge her shifu and reunite with her family, which is the heart of Kung Fu's winning combo of action and story. "We always start with a couple of meetings that get into the tone, feel, structure of the scene and the story we are trying to tell," student coordinator Andrew Chin says of the process of designing fight scenes. From there, there are a lot of factors to take into account.

For one, Nicky isn't a vigilante, so Liang focuses on the reason she's fighting and the emotion behind it. "It has to be rooted in some kind of reason, and not fighting for the sake of fighting," she explains.

https://imagesvc.meredithcorp.io/v3/mm/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.onecms.io%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F6%2F2022%2F09%2F09%2FK ung-Fu-090922_1.jpg
Olivia Liang on 'Kung Fu' | CREDIT: BETTINA STRAUSS/THE CW
The show's different characters' fighting styles not only come from where and how they trained, but also who they are. Nicky, for example, came back home from a Shaolin Temple, so her specific Kung Fu style is one Chin describes as "regal" and she always carries the principles taught at the temple with her. Comparing her to other characters, you can see how Henry's (Eddie Liu) street smarts have translated to him having a mix of styles, and Zhilan's (Yvonne Chapman) training as an assassin results in a more lethal approach even though it's also Kung Fu. In terms of Nicky's romance with Henry, that also impacts how she fights. "[Nicky] and Henry have been training together, so she absorbs as much of that as possible, but still keeps her Shaolin principles and fights honorably," Chin says about how Nicky's style has evolved.

The evolution of Zhilan and Nicky's relationship is a prime example of how Kung Fu tells its stories through action sequences. The series began with Nicky hunting Zhilan for killing her mentor, but in season 2, the pair found themselves fighting together on a few occasions. "Fighting as a team came naturally for them. I was given the story point that because of their guardian-warrior combo, they just naturally are supposed to be together," Chin explains about how the mythology impacts their dynamic. What doesn't come naturally to them is working together, so they bump heads when they aren't knocking people out together.

The pair fighting big bad Russell Tan (when he was in the body of his son, played by Ludi Lin) toward the end of season 2 was a real turning point for them. In addition to fighting Russell with Zhilan, an emotional moment in that scene stands out to Liang. "Nicky finally saw a broken version of Zhilan and was able to empathize with her, so not seeing her as one-dimensional anymore adds to the storytelling of the fighting in that scene" she says about Zhilan breaking down right before they confront Russell.

https://imagesvc.meredithcorp.io/v3/mm/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.onecms.io%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F6%2F2022%2F09%2F09%2FK ung-Fu-090922_3.jpg
Andrew Chin and Olivia Liang working on 'Kung Fu' | CREDIT: BETTINA STRAUSS/THE CW
From a technical standpoint, Chin explains that in coordinating the "very emotional, grand finale scene," it was important for each of the three characters to have moments to shine. For the actors, part of getting used to the filming process was understanding that these scenes are shot in pieces. Liang used to be nervous about how the quick sections they'd shoot would come together for a strong scene, but she's learned to trust the process over time. "I'm reminded of how much movie magic goes on behind the scenes that we don't get to see," she explains.

Chin credits the actors' ability to do stunt work, especially Liang, who has trained hard since the show began. "[Olivia's] come such a long way since season 1. She's been training, so we've been able to lean on her a lot more with all of her actions. She wants to do as much as she can," he explains. Liang understands that it's powerful to see the actors doing the fighting. "For me, as Olivia, it is very empowering. When I get to do it, I get to actually feel how Nicky is feeling, it's a deeper way to connect with the character," she says. In the fight against Russell, they were able to lean on Lin, who came to the show with a strong background of martial arts movement, as well as Liang and Chapman's training. "It was pretty easy to put it all together knowing that we didn't always need to rely on stunt doubles," Chin says.

Coming into the fray in season 3 is the mysterious Bo (played by Ben Levin) who will be introduced in a fight alongside Nicky. "For Bo, we were looking for a hard-hitting character. We wanted him to have an eclectic style because he's an unknown and we wanted him to be exciting," Chin says. "When it comes to the mix, it's a natural chemistry that they wanted to see with Nicky and Bo. They kind of take an immediate liking to each other, so we want to reflect that teamwork." That is achieved by having a handful of beats where they fight together, so we get a taste of their initial chemistry without giving away too much.

https://imagesvc.meredithcorp.io/v3/mm/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.onecms.io%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F6%2F2022%2F09%2F09%2FK ung-Fu-090922_2.jpg
Olivia Liang and Ben Levin on 'Kung Fu' | CREDIT: BETTINA STRAUSS/THE CW
Kung Fu is continuing to refine and add to what it delivers through the fight scenes. "We want to focus more on quality rather than quantity," Chin says about season 3's fights. After seeing longer fights get cut down, the stunt team is honing in on the exact story they are telling in visually exciting, shorter fights. Also, they want to use weapons more even though they are a bit more difficult from a safety perspective. Chin teases a sword-wielding character whose blade work will be an exciting addition to the upcoming third season. Liang teases that she will get wired in a harness, which is something she's wanted to do since season 1.

When looking at the new season, Liang is feeling strong and is excited to show people a different energy through the fighting. "It feels a lot more fun," she says, "Season 1 and 2 Nicky would never willingly go into a fight and we're playing into the reputation that Nicky now has around the Bay Area. She's having fun and the fights look more dynamic." Part of that evolution is because Liang is feeling stronger in her martial arts training. The biggest testament to her hard work? Showrunner Christina Kim texting he saying she mistook her for a stunt double.

Kung Fu season 3 premieres Oct. 5 on The CW. Just a thought - Nicky could do Shaolin Kung Fu...:rolleyes:

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iQ5Z3EC2TY

[GeneChing]

Kung Fu Bosses Preview Nicky's 'Deeply Personal' Battle in Season 3 — Plus, Scoop on Zhilan and Pei-Ling's Returns (https://tvline.com/lists/kung-fu-season-3-spoilers-nicky-henry-breakup-zhilan-pei-ling/things-get-personal-for-nicky/)
By Keisha Hatchett / October 3 2022, 4:11 PM PDT

https://tvline.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/kung-fu-season-3-spoilers.jpg?w=620&h=420&crop=1
Courtesy of The CW

Sometimes you must put on a brave face, and that’s how we find Nicky Shen at the top of Kung Fu‘s third season (premiering this Wednesday at 9/8c on The CW).

Things are going well for her: She’s got a new job at the community center and is still protecting her city from the bad guys. But when it comes to her breakup with Henry, co-showrunner Robert Berens says she is hurting more than she lets on.

“Four months have passed,” Berens tells TVLine, “and she’s really moved on in a lot of ways. She’s teaching classes at the community center; she’s come into her own as a shifu; and she’s continued to work as the unofficial sheriff of Chinatown. She’s in a pretty good place, but across the [Season 3 premiere], we’ll come to understand that Henry’s departure actually did hurt her very deeply [and] emotionally.”

Series creator and co-showrunner Christina M. Kim notes that while Nicky starts the season in a good place, “things will get disrupted pretty early on.”

Read on for more intel on Season 3 of The CW’s Kung Fu.

A new Bo-ginning

In Henry’s absence, Nicky will encounter a new character named Bo (played by Legacies’ Ben Levin) which raises the question of whether she’s in the right place to pursue another love interest.

“Nicky will cross [paths] with Bo when she gets into a hairy situation taking down some thieves,” Berens explains. “He happened to be in the area and jumped right in and revealed himself to be an equally skilled fighter, and they find chemistry in the act of taking down these bad guys. It is kind of a fight-cute between Nicky and Bo.”

Bo is new to the city but is very aware of who Nicky is, and will occasionally jump in to help her. However, he has “no idea about the magical side of Nicky’s life — the warrior bloodline, the magic of it all. It’s an interesting relationship, [and] they start to size each other up at the top of the season.”

Things get personal for Nicky

We’ve seen Nicky the Warrior, fighting in these larger-than-life battles against the likes of Zhilan and Russell Tan. In Season 3, however, the conflict hits closer to home.

“The battle she’ll be waging is over something deeply, deeply personal to her,” Berens teases. “We’re going to be in a much more intimate epic because Nicky has a lot of skin in this game for the larger story we’re telling this season.”

Zhilan's mysterious return

Zhilan may have sacrificed herself in the Season 2 finale, but she’s sticking around full-time this season. According to Berens, we’ll find her in a new environment and in a “new context.”

Zhilan is “surviving in a very desolate environment,” he shares. She also gets to play the hero in her story despite the many horrific things she’s done in the past. She’ll get to “be kind of the Nicky of the story for a little while.” But then, of course, her past will catch up with her, and “there will eventually be a collision with this form of Zhilan.”

Whether Zhilan is alive or dead remains to be seen, but “our characters will cross paths soon enough.”

Pei-Ling's back… or is she?

Season 2 ended with Nicky’s deceased shifu Pei-Ling emerging from the woods outside of San Francisco. But is that really her? That question will loom over Season 3.

“We always joke with our actors that [when] you die on Kung Fu, death isn’t always death,” Kim says. “There is perhaps a way back, whether it’s flashbacks or other ways. This is one of those other ways.”

Berens adds that the mystery of Pei-Ling’s return is something that Nicky will be pursuing throughout the top half of the season. “It’ll be a very emotional, very dramatic mystery because for Nicky, the story all began really with the death of her shifu. We’re really excited to tell the story of the return of Pei-Ling with a question mark,” he teases.

Family matters

Season 3 finds Althea picking up the pieces after a huge career setback. She and Dennis have had to move in with her parents, which creates “opportunity for lots of fun family drama and comedy,” per Kim.

Meanwhile, things are going strong for Ryan and Sebastian, who’ve finally moved in together.

“We’re playing a lot of contrast amongst the siblings in their various romantic lives,” Berens says. “You’ve got Althea and Dennis, who’ve always been the golden couple on our show. Lots of money, lots of nice clothes, very nice apartment, and now they’re pinched into the Shens’ home. Nicky is still single and dealing with the heartbreak of Henry’s departure in the finale. And Ryan and Seb, we get to see them start the season in a really amazing place.”

This season, we’ll see Ryan and Sebastian enjoying each other’s company and in scenes that are more intimate. Plus, fans will also get a glimpse at Ryan’s apartment. “Last season, we only ever really gotten to see them at Harmony Dumplings, so we get to see the domestic side of Ryan and Seb’s romance,” Berens notes.
Anyone watching this? I gave up, but I feel someone here should be watching this.