Maybe Bruce Lee was born in the wrong era. With all of the platforms available today for long-form television and increasing diversity on small screens, think of what kind of impact the San Francisco-born martial artist and movie star would have had in these times.

Take “Warrior,” for example. Lee (1940-73) created the story about martial arts in San Francisco’s Chinatown during the post-Civil War period, based on the Tong Wars of the 1880s, and shopped it around American networks. Of course, there were only three in that pre-cable, pre-streaming and predominantly white TV landscape.

There is evidence that Warner Bros. lifted Lee’s basic concept — martial arts in the Old West — and created the ABC show “Kung Fu”; Lee was considered for the lead of that series, but the studio got cold feet and went with a white actor, David Carradine.

So now “Warrior,” based on Lee’s original treatment, finally makes it to TV as the basis of a new series that debuts Friday, April 5, on Cinemax.

Who knows what Lee would have thought of his creation in this form — a slick, ultraviolent series with lots of nudity and expletive-filled scripts (the cable channel is not referred to as “Skinamax” for nothing). It wouldn’t be suitable for his many young fans (yes, 45 years after his death, Lee still has young fans). But maybe he would have liked it — it has a lot of great roles for Asian actors, with a charismatic lead (Andrew Koji), an interesting depiction of 19th century San Francisco and some intriguing story lines.

And, says Shannon Lee, Bruce’s daughter, the series follows her father’s basic outline. She located the treatment in a box among her father’s papers and brought it to Justin Lin (the “Fast and the Furious” movies). Lin, an executive producer on the project, put it in the hands of Jonathon Tropper (creator of “Banshee,” another Cinemax series), who became the main creative force behind “Warrior.”

A live Q&A with Tropper and Shannon Lee, moderated by hip-hop artist RZA, was streamed from Brooklyn after a screening of the first episode at San Francisco’s New Mission theater. Lee said her father got the idea to explore the Tong Wars after his own violent experiences with Chinatown gangs in San Francisco.

“My father was born in San Francisco, and my brother was born in Oakland,” said Lee, who is credited as executive producer. “When (Bruce Lee) was living in Oakland, as anyone who’s a die-hard Bruce Lee fan knows, he ran into some trouble with the old guard of San Francisco’s Chinatown for going against traditions — teaching people of all different races and backgrounds and starting to change some of his approach to martial arts.”

Lee said her father spent a good amount of time doing research for the project, including logging time at the San Francisco Public Library.

The Cinemax series re-creates 19th century San Francisco on a huge set built in South Africa. It centers on a young martial arts master (Koji) who arrives in San Francisco from China and immediately finds himself in the midst of a war between two rival gangs. He is forced to join one of them but looks for a way out, especially after finding out his estranged sister (Dianne Doan) is the de facto head of the rival gang.

Meanwhile, a brothel owner (Olivia Cheng) uses her house of ill repute as cover for her plans for a revolution against white laborers, led by an Irish labor organizer (Dean Jagger) who wants the Chinese shipped back to China. The racial conflict works right into the re-election plans of the city’s mayor (Christian McKay), whose wife (Joanna Vanderham) takes an active interest in Chinese culture.

Keeping a lid on the powder keg is the SFPD’s Chinatown unit, led by a jaded cop (Kieran Bew) and his idealistic lieutenant (Tom Weston-Jones).

So, a lot to unpack here: racism, fear of immigrants, social unrest and gang violence — yet it serves as background noise to wall-to-wall action and death.

One thing that distinguished Bruce Lee’s work was his insistence on philosophical underpinnings to his stories. His characters in “Fist of Fury,” “Enter the Dragon” and others considered violence to be a last resort. In “Enter the Dragon” he called it “the art of fighting without fighting.” His martial arts films were also life lessons.

After viewing four of 10 first-season episodes of “Warrior,” I find no such philosophy. It’s efficient and entertaining, even appealing at times. But the series, painted in broad strokes, relies on stereotyping rather than subtlety. It doesn’t feel like much of an advancement.

“Warrior”: Premieres 7 p.m. Friday, April 5, on Cinemax.