Asian Actresses in America: HONG KONG - The TV Show with Rod Taylor

Despite the publicity that nowadays we are finally seeing Asian Americans on television and in the movie theaters, this is just publicity and, basically, untruthful. There were times when Asian Americans, and in particular, Asian females, were in demand on the small and big screen. One could say, and there are facts that prove this, that Asians and Asians were more popular in "the old days" than they are now. After all, the first and thus far the only Asian to win an Academy award was Miyoshi Umeki for her performance in the 1957 film, SAYONARA.

HONG KONG was one of the shows on television that had a focus on Asia and Asians. There were various TV shows that had an Oriental flavor. The South Seas (not in Asia but close to it) had ADVENTURES IN PARADISE. Two episodes even had the legendary Chinese-American actress Anna May Wong. Periodically, TV shows needed Asians for guest roles or visual atmosphere. And the old standby, Charlie Chan, had a TV show. Actresses who benefited from this entertainment environment were many, including Lisa Lu, France Nuyen, Anita Loo, etc. It was a time when if you were Asian, you were "in demand." I SPY started its season with exteriors filmed in Hong Kong. Later on, TV shows like HAWAII FIVE-O and KUNG FU kept the visibility prominent of Asians. And there was STAR TREK, of course, which had various ethnicities in its cast, including George Takei as Sulu, a helmsman of the Starship Enterprise.

HONG KONG, the TV show, was filmed in black-and-white, and initially was going to be only 30 minutes, but it was determined that 60-minutes would be better against the highly-rated show, WAGON TRAIN, which would be its competition.

Taylor played Glenn Evans, a reporter whose beat was the exotic and adventurous British colony, Hong Kong. The Fox show had a cadre of Fox contract players, like France Nuyen who played "Happy" and may have been back in another season. The show tried to tweak itself to change its ratings that were not promising. One episode even has the musical prodigy, the child Ginny Tiu, who, at the end of the episode, plays on a piano to the surrounding cast members.

Taylor spoke about his show when it was starting out. "I had turned down 25 offers to do a TV series, but when this one came along, it sounded like something I could do with real integrity, as well as making a bit of money for myself."

Taylor owned 15% of the show and received a $3750 per episode, at that time a sizable figure. There was a gritty honesty to the show, and an attempt to stay away from the cliched plot and dialog of a Fu Manchu and Charlie Chan film, though gun play and fisticuffs had to be in there for action fans. Not a problem for Taylor. Taylor loved doing most of his own stunts and was not afraid of getting mussed up, if needed.

Three weeks location shooting in Hong Kong were used for background shots for the series, and the rest was shot in the Fox studios in Hollywood, where sets were designed with a Hong Kong look.

As promising as the show was, and as much effort that had been put into the series, the show failed to capture a sizeable audience that would justify its costly expenditure. It was canceled after 26 episodes. Despite this cancellation, there was talk of bringing the series back after a public outcry. But when the new show finally materialized, it was left in the vaults. The new show was titled DATELINE: SAN FRANCISCO, and the name of the character was different, possibly because it was made for Universal and not Fox.

As for the series, HONG KONG, it increases in reputation, though few of the current public know about the show at this point. The Fox vault may hold the key if they release the show in the best quality possible, and finally the public will have an opportunity to see the series like they've never seen it before.