In 1968 Bruce appeared in the Western series, Here Come the Brides, in an episode entitled Marriage, Chinese Style. The series was situated in 1870s Seattle, during the times women were imported from the East as brides, and starred Robert Browne (Jason), Bobby Sherman (Jeremy), and David Soul (Joshua) as brothers. The late Mark Lenard appears as Aaron Stemple in the Bruce episode. I don't know if he was a regular. He went on to achieve Star Trek fame as Sarek, the father of Spock. He also guest-starred as a Romulan commander in another episode.

The episode concerns Toy Quan (Linda Dangcil), a bride for an arranged marriage, whose arranged husband fails to turn up. Abruptly finding herself deeply in debt for the trip to the US she runs away, and is found and saved by Jeremy - who settles her debt. She immediately adopts Jeremy as her new husband, unfazed by his being engaged already.

Meanwhile her intended husband, Lin Sung - played by Bruce - has his own problems. He has refused to go through with the marriage arranged by the Chinese Society he belongs to, and also wants to resign from them. Lin Sung is not interested in living according to the traditional Chinese ways but wants to adopt the American way of life, which is anathema to the Society. However, to save both his life and his honour Chi Pei, leader of the Society, decrees that he find Toy Quan, take her back from her American "abductor" and kill him. Two of the members of the Society accompany him to ensure his compliance.

The killing is botched - Lin Sung's fighting skills leave something to be desired - and Jeremy and his would-be killer get a chance to straighten out the misunderstanding. The other two Society members are jailed. Jeremy even manages to concoct a scenario in which Lin Sung "saves" Toy Quan from drowning after Jeremy dumps her in the drink. The grateful bride switches to her galant saviour and all is well. Except that Joshua has been abducted by the Society to ensure the release of their members. Lin Sung and Jason go to Tacoma to help.

Jason arrives at the Chinese Society HQ to save his brother, only to be unexpectedly coldcocked by Sin Lung, who thus "saves" Chi Pei from the Westerners in yet another staged rescue. As payment for saving Chi Pei's life, Sin Lung demands that the elder let the brothers go, and also grant more freedom to the members of the Society.

The episode is quite enjoyable and well worth seeing - also for Mark Lenard, if you're a Star Trek fan. In fact, I spent quite a bit of time wondering whether he had a nose job before becoming a Vulcan. It even features Bruce riding a horse, and acquitting himself well in a non-action role. The displays of physical superiority are reserved for the heroes of the series though. And unfortunately a large portion of Bruce's dialogue is dubbed - especially the outdoors scenes. I can't help thinking that the practice of switching allegiance to a rescuer must play havoc with Chinese relationships!