According to Fred Weintraub's memories (producer of Enter the Dragon), and to Matthew E. Polly's Bruce Lee's biography (the first authoritative one), Kung Fu was the creation of Ed Spielman and Howard Friedlander. They were paid for a movie script that would become the series pilot in 1969. Bruce Lee auditioned for the leading role and was rejected for several reasons, including accent and race. He did author a series' treatment which would become The Warrior, for which he was offered a development deal, but after the success of The Big Boss he preferred to focus on his movie career. Although similar, his idea was quite different from what became Kung Fu. It was a sort of Dante's Peak vs. Volcano situation.
Bruce Lee.
According to Fred Weintraub's memories (producer of Enter the Dragon), and to Matthew E. Polly's Bruce Lee's biography (the first authoritative one), Kung Fu was the creation of Ed Spielman and Howard Friedlander. They were paid for a movie script that would become the series pilot in 1969. Bruce Lee auditioned for the leading role and was rejected for several reasons, including accent and race. He did author a series' treatment which would become The Warrior, for which he was offered a development deal, but after the success of The Big Boss he preferred to focus on his movie career. Although similar, his idea was quite different from what became Kung Fu. It was a sort of Dante's Peak vs. Volcano situation.
Sources:
Fred Weintraub. https://www.scribd.com/book/131190162/Bruce-Lee-Woodstock-And-Me-From-The-Man-Behind-A-Half-Century-of-Music-Movies-and-Martial-Arts
Matthew E. Polly. https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Bruce-Lee/Matthew-Polly/9781501187636
(Excerpts can be read at Google Books)
Synthesis of the situation: https://www.martialjournal.com/the-truth-about-the-creation-of-the-kung-fu-tv-series/
Edited by Ambrosoli