THIS WEEK IN THE XENA NEWS.... TWXN #17 08/18/96 Brought to you by Xena: Media Review (XMR) XMR is a periodic annotated world press review of reports regarding the internationally syndicated television show XENA: Warrior Princess (1995 - ) and the castmembers, Lucy Lawless and Renee O'Connor. For a free e-mail subscription send "subscribe XMR" to ktaborn@lightspeed.net. Excerpts from the following cites will appear in future issues of XMR. Editor whine: I am back after three weeks of mosquitos and humidity as provided by the great northern mid- west! I have mail to plow through, an issue of RIF to produce, and then XMR MUST BE CONTINUED! Lot's of new Xena references (I found 60 new ones last night, not to mention the ones I found while on vacation -- Xenamania is everywhere!!!). Therefore, I am going to try to play catch up with TWXN since it's the most innocuous of my fan activities. Please bear with me! I know at the rate I am going, I will be lucky if I am caught up by...2000! [ ] 08-01-96 "A Star Trek Appreciation" By L.A. Graf [Julia Ecklar and Karen Cercone]. THE FINAL FURY. Star Trek Voyager. Invasion 4. Pocket Books. August 1996. --- words. Page 299. By Dafydd Ab Hugh. COMMENTARY: Mention of XWP appeared in Star Trek Pocket Books first multipart novel spanning the four Trek manifestations. The reference was found not in the novels, but in one of the essays contained in the final Invasion installment. In a fanciful dialogue between Kira and Bashir discussing their realization that they have found themselves in a Star Trek novel, Kira expressed her disgust in being in a novel: "We're supposed to be back in Deep Space Nine, protecting Federation space from the Dominion, and the Cardassians, and the Klingons." Bashir then added: "Not to mention Xena: Warrior Princess." [ ] 09-01-96 SCI-FI ENTERTAINMENT PRESENTS SCI-FI TV FALL PREVIEW. Vol. 2. No. 1. Page 65. --- words. "Hercules and Xena: Greek Mythology Meets Hong Kong Action" By Craig Reid. COMMENTARY: The magazine was officially titled "Sci- fi Entertainment Presents Sci-fi TV Fall Preview", but on the cover it called itself "Sci-Fi Flix". Article was a Robert Tapert interview. Tapert was quoted as stating, "Next season's Hercules and Xena have many new storylines and new characters. Although Herc and Xena are pretty much cemented in stone, more fun things are brewing, as well as introducing more intelligent creatures...In Xena, we're going to introduce a new male character, Joxer, who will appear in about a third of the season's episodes. He is a 'warrior wanna-be' and will be to Xena what Salmoneous [a traveling toga salesman] is to Hercules, except he will be a totally different character. We're also going to have a few episodes with a recurring villain from earlier on, Callisto, a very evil warrior, played by Hudson Leick. She is not a martial artist. She is a force..." Mentioned also was that the Christmas and Halloween specials would be Hercules and Xena cross-overs. Tapert stated: "Hercules and Xena are going to do very special Christmas stories...i don't think we'll actually have a Christ character, but the crossover stories will be dealt with differently for Herc and Xena. Think of it as three guys, who are kind of nutballs, following some star--ancient motorcycle riders on their camels--following a star and some special message they have. In another Bible story, Xena will be meeting David and Goliath, where Xena and Goliath were best friends and she owes him a favor." Mr. Reid added "When asked if Xena fights David for Goliath and wins, Tapert hedges, 'Xena does what is right.'" Regarding the Halloween shows, Tapert stated: "And, oh yes, our Halloween specials. Both shows will have elements that resemble Halloween but are very different stories. In Hercules, he will battle a mummy, and in Xena we have vampires. They will bean odd mixture of ancient and slightly Hong Kongish vampires." Mr. Reid then explained the difference between Transylvanian vampires and Chinese ones: "...the Chinese vampire has pale green skin, yellow fangs, long nails, and, most notably, hops after its victims like a sleep-walking kangaroo." Tapert continued: "We won't explore any of the western myths, but there is bloodsucking. It's very exciting. These vampires are in service to somebody else--more of an initiation. I don't want to give away too much of the storyline." Specifically regarding XWP, Tapert stated: "I think on Xena that if there is anything I would like to say, it's that we're expanding her universe. We're actually doing a modern-day story, not a time-warp thing, but a modern story where Gabrielle and Xena's personalities will be in modern people. I'm directing a back story episode, a moment in Xena's past. A story of betrayal by somebody she once trusted. It has cataclysmic consequences to her life. Right now, we're doing an episode where Lucy plays three different characters: a warrior, a princess, and a tramp. It will be far and away our most slapstick episode, which is something that's at the very root of Sam's and my consciousness." The article closed with Tapert stating his appreciation at all the mail the show received and regretted that it all can't be responded to individually. [ ] 09-01-96 BLACK BELT. September 1996. Vol. 34. No. 9. 1876 words. Page 36. "What Puts the Punch in Hercules and Xena? Popular TV Shows Filled With Hong-Kong Style Martial Arts Action" By Craig D. Reid. COMMENTARY: This time Dr. Reid altered his interview article when he sold them to two different magazines. In this interview he included quotes from both Kevin Sorbo and Lucy Lawless. In discussing the Hong Kong precedents for XWP, Tapert said: "In fact, when we pitched the idea for Xena, i made a demo reel of four Hong Kong movies to show the syndicators the kind of action sequences we wanted to do in the show. We also weren't afraid to break the rules of fight realism and go for action that's entertaining and something that the American television audience has never seen before." Peter Bell, both show's stunt coordinator was quoted several places in the article regarding the use of martial art techniques, the challenges in keeping the fight scenes fresh, and the reliance of the show on "no shadow kick" movie technique. Lawless was quoted as saying: "Xena is as strong as any man or woman has ever boon...She's sort if dysfunctional and knows about the dark side of human nature. She is actually the person I could have been if I had been born to different parents." [Reid used this exact quote in his April interviews tentative XMR217.5a & b]]. There were further quotes regarding Lawless' enjoyment of the fight scenes, her resentment of the physical demands, and some of her war stories about her black eye and her back and sinus problems. Kevin O'Neill, the visual special effect supervisor was quoted as well regarding his work on the HTLJ Jason and the Argonauts episode. [Reid wrote about this episode in detail in his April interviews, tentative XMR217.5a & b].