''Khan!'' is an American television
detective series. Set in
Chinatown
A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...
,
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, the titular character is a
Chinese-American detective, played by
Khigh Dhiegh
Khigh Alx Dhiegh ( or ; born Kenneth Dickerson; August 25, 1910 – October 25, 1991) Includes short biographical summary of Khigh Dhiegh. was an American television and motion picture actor of Anglo-Egyptian Sudanese ancestry, noted for portr ...
. Khan's police contact was Lt. Gubbins, played by
Vic Tayback. Series regulars were rounded out by his children Kim (played by
Evan C. Kim
Evan C. Kim (born February 17, 1953) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Harry Callahan's partner Inspector Al Quan in the fifth, and final, "Dirty Harry" film ''The Dead Pool'' (1988).
Early and personal life
Kim was born in New ...
) and Anna (
Irene Yah-Ling Sun), who helped him solve crimes. Four episodes were aired in February 1975 on
CBS; all seven of the produced episodes were aired during its Australian broadcast run on
Channel Seven in 1976.
Production and publicity
In November 1974, CBS announced the series would replace
''Planet of the Apes'' starting in February 1975, with Khigh Dhiegh filling the lead role.
[ Khan was billed as a "wily Asian ]private investigator
A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI and informally called a private eye), a private detective, or inquiry agent is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigators of ...
" who blended modern skills and technology (with help from his daughter and son) with his culture's innate wisdom.
Dhiegh insisted on having no onscreen billing for his role, despite playing the title character. In an interview with Marilyn Beck to promote the show, he stated, "To be made the focal point of attention is something that disturbs me greatly. After all, we must remember it is not me, the individual, that is important. That is why I have told CBS I want no credits for the series. The goal is not to make any one person a star, but to create something that is good for all." He was selected for the role in November 1974.
Dhiegh's casting in ''Khan!'' and the 1974 TV movie '' Judge Dee in the Monastery'' drew criticism from Chinese American groups who felt that Dhiegh, whose real name was Kenneth Dickerson, was miscast in the role of a Chinese-American detective. The trend of casting of non-Asian actors in an Asian lead role had been established by Charlie Chan (played by Warner Oland and Sidney Toler), Mr. Moto
Mr. Moto is a fictional Japanese secret agent created by the American author John P. Marquand. He appeared in six novels by Marquand published between 1935 and 1957. Marquand initially created the character for the ''Saturday Evening Post'', whi ...
( Peter Lorre), and Fu Manchu
Dr. Fu Manchu () is a supervillain who was introduced in a series of novels by the English author Sax Rohmer beginning shortly before World War I and continuing for another forty years. The character featured in cinema, television, radio, comic ...
(Oland, Boris Karloff
William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), better known by his stage name Boris Karloff (), was an English actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film ''Frankenstein'' (1931) (his 82nd film) established h ...
, and Nils Asther). Dhiegh, who was better known for portraying villains, was described as "only slightly Oriental" in a contemporary article, adding that "my mother was Chinese, Egyptian and Spanish; my father, Italian, Puerto Rican and Zulu. I am a mongrel."
Reception
Criticism of the first episode centered on the writing and delivery by the show's lead. In a review published in the ''New York Daily News
The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...
'', Khan's detective skills are compared unfavorably to Charlie Chan's, noting the first case "gets solved despite him." The review also criticized Dhiegh for delivering lines "in a flat, dull monotone." Jay Sharbutt added the "plot f the premiere episodeis so tiny it belongs in a fortune cookie" and said Dhiegh " xudesno signs of life. He probably took his cue from the script and direction of this show and maybe he should now give it back right now."[ Critic John Archibald also drew comparisons with Charlie Chan, concluding "the only thing Oriental about 'Khan!''is that the plot was jaded." Tom Hopkins, reviewing the debut episode, wrote he had "scarfed up a few egg rolls that had more personality han Dhiegh In fact, it's 60 minutes of absolutely nothing." Frank Swertlow, writing for ]United Press International
United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ...
, called the show "chop phooey" and singled out Dhiegh's performance, comparing him to "a windup buddha doll suffering from terminal constipation ... ecitinghis lines like a telegram."[ In John J. O'Connor's review for '']The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', he called the script "an abomination" and added "the acting is dreadful ndthe production is stultifying", concluding that as the show was produced by the CBS Television Network, an antitrust suit had significant merit.
Episodes
The first episode debuted on Friday, February 7, 1975.[ Based on poor critical responses, "Khan", the episode originally scheduled to be broadcast first, was pulled four hours before the premiere.][ "Mask of Deceit" ran instead as the debut episode.] "Khan" was written by Edward J. Lakso
Edward Joseph Lakso (September 20, 1932 – May 23, 2009) was an American screenwriter, producer, and composer, known for his work on series such as ''Star Trek'', ''Planet of the Apes'', ''Charlie's Angels'' and ''Combat!''. He is sometimes misc ...
, directed by Ivan Dixon
Ivan Nathaniel Dixon III (April 6, 1931 – March 16, 2008) was an American actor, director, and producer best known for his series role in the 1960s sitcom ''Hogan's Heroes'', and for his starring roles in the 1964 independent drama '' Not ...
, and produced by Laurence Heath
Laurence is an English language, English and French language, French given name (usually female in French and usually male in English). The English masculine name is a variant of Lawrence (given name), Lawrence and it originates from a French for ...
.[
After the second episode aired, CBS announced that ''Khan!'' would be cancelled and replaced by two half-hour comedies: '' The Friday Comedy Special'' and '' We'll Get By'', starting in March. ''Khan!'' placed 59th out of 60 shows for the week of February 10–16, 1975, ahead of only ''Kung Fu''.]
''Khan!'' made its Australian premiere on Saturday, April 24, 1976 with "Gift of Anger".[ The Australian run included all seven episodes that had been produced, including three that were not aired in America during the original run.
;Notes
]
See also
* ''Ohara'', a police procedural
The police show, or police crime drama, is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasizes the investigative procedure of a police officer or department as the protagonist(s), as contrasted with other genres that focus on eith ...
with a similar Asian American lead and premise
References
External links
*
* {{epguides, Khan, Khan!
1975 American television series debuts
1975 American television series endings
1970s American crime television series
Television series by CBS Studios
Television shows set in San Francisco
American detective television series
English-language television shows
CBS original programming