(Photo by: Dean Buscher/The CW)
Vulture Watch
What’s This TV Show About?
Airing on The CW television network, the Kung Fu TV show stars Olivia Liang, Kheng Hua Tan, Shannon Dang, Jon Prasida, Eddie Liu, Gavin Stenhouse, Vanessa Kai, Yvonne Chapman, Tony Chung, JB Tadena, and Tzi Ma. The series revolves around Nicky Shen (Liang), a young Chinese American woman who questions her life’s trajectory and drops out of college to go on a life-changing journey to an isolated monastery in China. When Nicky returns to San Francisco, she finds that her hometown is overrun with crime and corruption. The third season picks up after an earthquake and Nicky, her family, and her community attempting to rebuild in more ways than one. Nicky, still reeling from her abrupt breakup with her boyfriend Henry (Liu), and the shocking death of her nemesis-turned-ally Zhilan (Chapman), puts on a brave face as she juggles a new job teaching kung fu while fighting a growing crimewave in San Francisco.
Season Three Ratings
The third season of Kung Fu averaged a 0.07 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 405,000 viewers in the live+same day ratings (includes all DVR playback through 3:00 AM). Compared to season two, that’s down by 18% in the demo and down by 20% in viewership. While these numbers don’t include further delayed or streaming viewing, they are a very good indicator of how a show is performing, especially when compared to others on the same channel. There can be other economic factors involved in a show’s fate, but the higher-rated series are usually renewed and the lower-rated ones are cancelled. Find out how Kung Fu stacks up against other The CW TV shows.
Kung Fu has been cancelled, so there will not be a fourth season. Could this reboot be revived someday? Stay tuned for further updates.
Telly’s Take
Will The CW cancel or renew Kung Fu for season four? The network was previously used to air Paramount and Warner Bros. series and didn’t focus on being profitable because the parent companies made money selling the shows internationally and via streaming. Now that the network is run by Nexstar, The CW is shifting toward using acquired and inexpensive original programming to fill the schedule. The goal is to focus on programming that attracts a broad demographic (instead of focusing on a younger audience) and to be profitable by 2025. The CW cancelled a lot of shows last year but renewed Kung Fu, which is produced by Warner Bros. Television (Warner Bros. Discovery owns 12.5% of the network). The show’s done pretty well in the ratings, and Nexstar CEO Perry Sook and newly installed CW president Dennis Miller are reportedly fans. I suspect that it will be renewed for a fourth season, but if not, I could see HBO Max taking it over for at least a final season. I’ll update this page with breaking developments. Subscribe for free alerts on Kung Fu cancellation or renewal news.
5/12/23 update: Kung Fu has been cancelled after three seasons by The CW.
Kung Fu Cancellation & Renewal Related Links
- TV show ratings are still important. Follow Kung Fu‘s weekly ups and downs.
- How do this show’s ratings compare to other channels’ TV shows?
- Find more Kung Fu TV series news or other CW TV show news.
- Explore The CW status page and other TV show status pages.
- Check out our lists of already cancelled and ended TV shows.
What do you think? Were you hoping the Kung Fu TV show would be renewed for a fourth season? Are you sorry that The CW cancelled this TV series instead?
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