THIS WEEK IN XENA NEWS.... TWXN 53 12/22/96 Brought to you by Xena: Media Review (XMR): http://xenafan.com/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 RAMBLINGS: 1. TWXN NEWS: I am still behind (this is news?), but I am anticipating catching up before the new year. Wish me luck! 2. WEBSITE MOVE: New place for the XMR and TWXN archives!!! Visit http://xenafan.com/xmr and peruse our back issues. Thanks Tom! 3. XMR NEWS: XMR #20 may be done before the end of the year. It seems all my e-mail buddies have left their computers at home while holiday visiting and I seem to have all this time suddenly on my hands. 4. IAXS NEWS: WHOOSH #4 will be released on-line January 1, 1997, at this site: http://www.thirdstory.com/whoosh. Be there or be square. 5. CONVENTION UPDATE: All my great plans have been scrapped! No convention web page while the con is going on (I decided, heck, I am going to run around and be silly at the convention, not actually DO ANY WORK!!!) HOWEVER, I am planning on making WHOOSH #5 the official WHOOSH Convention Souvenir edition. Everything about the convention will be covered in excruciating detail!!! So, if you are going to the con and need to get in a paper or have always wondered what it would be like to be a member of fifth estate, contact me and get your official XMR/WHOOSH press credentials and sign up for what you want to cover. 6. CONVENTION PARTY NEWS: Open house at my hotel room 6-10pm on Friday and Sunday nights. We will have non-stop videos of XWP and interviews. Bring your own drink and something to pass around. Drop by and say, "My name is ---, and I am a Xenamaniac!" Friday is the Welcome to the Madhouse night and Sunday will be the IAXS/XMR "Meet the Board" night. 7. Remember, if you respond to anything by me on a mailing list, please also send it to my address (ktaborn@lightspeed.net). That way I will know you wrote. Thanks. And now...what was in the news: [ m] 12-08-96 THE WASHINGTON POST. Sunday. Page F01. 948 words. "Actionable Figures" By Tony Kornheiser COMMENTARY: This article supports Rev. Rose's annual list of unsuitable toys. EXCERPT: The other day I heard on the radio that some preacher from New England was flogging his list of the 10 most morally unsavory Christmas toys. The Rev. Christopher L. Rose apparently does this every year, identifying toys he considers mean, violent, sexist or otherwise harmful. I thought to myself: Here is yet other sanctimonious, self-appointed custodian of public morality who is going to tell us we must ban all Slinkys because they remind children of the evil serpent from the Garden of Eden, or that Road Runner cartoons will induce children to run headlong into canyon walls. Listen, I am basically for free trade and free expression. If it were not for free expression, I could not write that Ralph Reed is a weird little weenie who looks like Pee-wee Herman and appears to need an enema real bad, now could I? Anyway, I figured the Rev. Christopher L. Rose was going to be a Ralph Reed sort of character, but when he listed his bad toys I realized the man has a point.... ...Then, there is Xena II, from Toy Biz's "Hercules, the Legendary Journeys" toy series. ("Hercules, the Legendary Journeys": That sounds like a greatest-hits album. Sort of like "Sinatra, My Sleaziest Saloons.") Xena is a voluptuous doll, but that is not the Rev. Rose's problem with her. Lord knows, I am in favor of voluptuous dolls. Xena, though, includes instructions on how to remove her bra. (I wonder if they advise you to buy her a couple of drinks first.) No change of clothing is supplied, Rose says. Unsnapping her bra is the only "action" recommended for this action figure. I never had a toy that advised me to disrobe it. The package containing G.I. Joe didn't say, "Remove Joe's skivvies." Most of us got G.I. Joe to see him fight the Nazis, not turn to the side and cough... [ ] 12-08-96 THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER. Sunday. Page K08. 2010 words. ""the Web: Adding Depth to Sites" By Stephen Lynch COMMENTARY: In an interview with the president of Mustang Software about chat programs currently used on the web and the software Mustang is developing, the observation was made that most of what was on the web were "computerized billboards, vacant and hardly interactive" and that "most Web sites make 'Xena: Warrior Princess' look like quality programming." [ ] 12-09-96 VARIETY. Page 37. 671 words. "'Oprah' reigns, 'Rosie' gains in syndie sweeps" By Jenny Hontz COMMENTARY: November 1996 sweeps results! EXCERPT: ...during the four weeks overlapping its first November sweep... ...Among the weeklies, Par's "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" took the top spot at 6.6, off 10% from last year. MCA TV's "Hercules" (5.9) also fell 5%, but "Xena" (5.7) was up 6%, and it hit an all-time high of 6.3 in the latest week. All American's "Sinbad" (3.1) led the new weeklies, trailed by Rysher's "FX The Series" (3.0) and MTM's "The Cape" (2.7)... [ ] 12-09-97 LOS ANGELES TIMES. Monday. Page F4. 562 words. "The Reverend's Special Sets a Network Asunder. CBS' Ratings Are Especially Hard Hit as Affiliates Around the Nation Preempt Regular Series to Show Billy Graham's 'A Season for Peace.' By Brian Lowry COMMENTARY: In an article about how the seasonal Billy Graham specials mess up network ratings across the nation, the article reported that "Locally, the initial special was shown Saturday on KTLA-TV Channel 5, preempting the popular syndicated program 'Xena: Warrior Princess.'" [ ] 12-09-96 ELECTRONIC MEDIA. Page 6. 520 words. "Distributors Find Cable Fruitful." By Greg Spring COMMENTARY: In an article how "distributors are now using cable outlets to place first-run programming and to develop programming for national syndication", XWP was mentioned in passing in context with MCA's planned syndicated release of 'Escape from Atlantis' as a pilot in late 1997. The pilot will first be released by Starz!/Encore cable outlets first in March 1997. "While MCA has regularly launched syndicated action series such as 'Xena: Warrior Princess' after a two-hour movie pilot proved successful in syndication, this is the first time the pilot will get a cable window first." The humor of this is that XWP was never launched as a two-hour movie pilot. Xena, the character, was introduced in one episode of HTLJ titled WARRIOR PRINCESS, and then followed a month or so later by a two-parter titled THE GAUNTLET and UNCHAINED HEART. The exists no two-hour episodes of XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS. There are some episodes which are clearly presented as a set, but even those sport different names and can stand alone as drama.