THIS WEEK IN XENA NEWS.... TWXN 65 02/01/97 Brought to you by Xena: Media Review (XMR): http://xenafan.com/xmr TWXN is the advance sheet for 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. From the Editor: 1. Bad news WHOOSH fans. We are having technical difficulties at www.thirdstory.com. WHOOSH #05 was supposed to have been released today, and by gum! it is there but it's not currently accessible by web browser (pretty bad position for a website to be in!). Nonetheless, rest assured we are working on the problem. 2. Let me praise WHOOSH #05, not bury it. WHOOSH #05 is the ALL CONVENTION issue. We cover the highs and lows of the Burbank Con. Lots of pictures, lots of info, and a few surprises are in store for you once we figure out why www.thirdstory.com is acting up. 3. We thank you for your patience. 4. Since this was STAR WARS weekend, there is next to nothing in the way of commentary (like people read this for my commentaries). Enjoy anyway. [ ] 01-12-97 STAR TRIBUNE. Page 1F. 886 words. "Xena; Ode to a Grecian warrior princess with guts, wits, awesome moves, wide-ranging appeal - and a cult following" By Kristin Tillotson COMMENTARY: Hey! It's MY first media Xena interview and there is some other stuff other than my 15 minutes of fame, too! REPRINT: If you see a 9-year-old girl waving a stick on the playground and shouting, "Don't tarry! Disperse these ruffians!" there's no cause for alarm. She's only been watching Xena. Finally, we know what the "X" in Generation X should stand for: Xena, Warrior Princess, possibly the best female role model on television. Certainly the most fun. Part Greek goddess, part American Gladiator and part "Avenger" Emma Peel, Xena is more cult hit than blockbuster. But already she claims a wide demographic appeal. Grandmas as well as fourth-graders, academics along with oafs, feminists and good ol' boys all love this video comic-strip. "Xena" and its sibling action series "Hercules" (starring Mound native Kevin Sorbo and also filmed in New Zealand) are consistently among the highest-rated TV shows in syndication. Nowhere is there more evidence of Xena's popularity than on the Net. It could be a full-time job just to monitor the 100-plus web sites dedicated to Xena and the actress who plays her, New Zealander Lucy Lawless. There's a newsletter called Whoosh - a favorite Xena sound effect - and the International Association of Xena Studies (IAXS), an online collection of 150 musings including "Chain Mail and Its Uses on X:WP" and "The Influence of Xena on the Medical Profession." You can even download her war cry. This weekend, thousands of fans from across the country are converging at a Burbank, Calif., hotel for a Hercules and Xena "convention." What has spawned such mass adoration? Simple: Xena satisfies more standard fantasy categories than any current supermodel, movie star or pop idol. - Your average ogler: If all you really want from your TV screen is T&A, you've got a modest version of it here. Just cover up that codpiece if Xena catches you leering. - Male seeks dominatrix: A 6-foot woman in leather and studs is the preferred, if stale, stereotype. Xena makes it clear that she's the boss, albeit a benevolent one. - I watch it for the allegory: Inside jokes and allusions to ancient mythology help eggheads deconstruct their reasons for taking shameless cerebral holidays. - Revenge of the adolescent: The plot of every installment begins with outrage and ends with justice for the oppressed, thus perfectly representing the lives of long-suffering teens. - Hangin' with the big kids: Fast pace, simple messages and a vague, harmless hint of taboo keep the grade-schoolers mesmerized, a happy medium between Saturday-morning cartoons and that stuff Mom and Dad will never let 'em watch. - Riot grrls of all ages: Xena doesn't sacrifice sexiness for smarts, she doesn't take any guff and she's got a killer sense of humor. She's also true-blue to her best friend, Gabrielle, unlike most pop-culture portrayals of female relationship dynamics, which are filled with backbiting and competition for male attention. From her metal breastplate to her over-the-knee leather boots, Xena is all woman. But she does not run, throw or scream "like a girl" (to borrow the common phrase with which men try to insult each other and, in so doing, devalue women). This superhero was raised on Gabrielle Reece's Nike commercials, not "Charlie's Angels" and "Wonder Woman." Unlike previous TV female action gals, Xena does not move, or sound, like a paper tigress created by men, for men, but masquerading as a feminist. She can take out eight guys, no problem, with a couple of war whoops, well-timed head butting and warp-speed scissor kicks. Actually, she reminds Michael Evans-Layng of his wife, Mari, "a combination of fierce intelligence and physical beauty who struggles to do the right thing." Evans, a 43-year-old Ph.D. whose online fan-club handle is "xenaphile," has no trouble admitting he likes the costume. But he watches the show with his 5-year-old daughter, for whom he considers Xena a great friendship role model. "XWP," as its devotees call it, blends the best of what television used to be and the best of what it can be today, combining good old-fashioned fantasy and farce with upstanding messages slipped in between the fisticuffs. As for the violence, "Three Stooges" reruns are no more likely to beget real-life bullies. Xena is probably even less so - she has a conscience. "XWP is really a bare-bones morality play, like 'Star Trek' was in the 1960s," says Kym Taborn, who runs several Xena websites, including IAXS, and edits Whoosh. She cited an episode that showed what really happens when you get skewered by a sword, another that showed Helen's point of view about the Trojan War and others that presented an interracial relationship without making it a plot point. As Taborn optimistically puts it, "Whether by design or luck, the creators of XWP have unleashed a new model of what a woman can be." A lofty contention, perhaps. But any challengers might want to download a certain war cry before lipping off themselves. "Xena: Warrior Princess" airs locally on WFTC-Ch. 29, 10 p.m. Sunday and repeats at midnight the following Saturday. Comments may be sent via letter to Kristin Tillotson, c/o the Star Tribune, 425 Portland Av. S., Minneapolis, MN 55488, or e-mailed to: popstand@gw.startribune.com GRAPHIC: Photo of Xena [ a] 01-12-97 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. January 12, 1997. Sunday. AM cycle. Domestic News. 654 words. "People in the news" COMMENTARY: The first news story from the convention and it was about Saturday's Hercules Convention. EXCERPT: ...BURBANK, Calif. (AP) - Sorry would-be matchmakers, Hercules and Xena the warrior princess are just good friends. At a weekend convention devoted to the twin hit syndicated TV shows, "Hercules" star Kevin Sorbo fielded questions from fans. One child asked if he was going to marry Lucy Lawless, star of "Xena Warrior Princess." "She has a boyfriend I'd have to go through first," Sorbo said. Lawless was to appear on Sunday at the gathering where thousands of fans shell out $ 18 each to buy T-shirts, "barbarian" blades and other souvenirs. There were also swordsmanship displays, blooper reels and special effects demonstrations. "I think the stars are the appeal of the shows," said Rob Tapert, executive producer of both shows. "Hercules is just a super good guy, and Xena, well, she's real neat and cool."... [ ] 01-13-97 CHICAGO TRIBUNE. Monday. Page 5. 261 words. "'SPY GAME' Coming to ABC this Month" By Kate O'Hare COMMENTARY: REPRINT: Sometime this month, ABC plans to premiere a new series from Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert, creators and executive producers of "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" and "Xena: Warrior Princess," and John McNamara, called "Spy Game." It follows close on the heels of CBS' abortive attempt to resurrect the espionage drama, "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," which starred Scott Bakula and Maria Bello. It is being replaced by "JAG," which has leaped to the CBS from NBC. Raimi also has had some experience with being canceled by CBS, with his critically praised but short-lived "American Gothic." Says Tapert about "Spy Game": "It's like a modern, slightly five-minutes-into-the-future, 'Avengers'-esque show." Linden Ashby and Allison Smith star as Lorne Cash and Maxine "Max" London, two brilliant but very different undercover operatives. Since the Cold War has ended, their mission now is to protect the United States and its government from former agents intent on peddling their skills to the highest bidder. They have gone to work for the top-secret organization called E.C.H.O. (Emergency Counter Hostilities Organization). It is secretly run by the President to suppress "domestic brush fires" involving ex-agents. Its leader is Micah Simms (Bruce McCarty). "There's no real formula to the stories," says Tapert. They have different bad guys. Russians are only one of the flavors once in a while. They take on cases on a piecemeal basis. Sometimes they go with the government, sometimes they go against it. Sometimes other people bring them the cases." [ ] 01-13-97 USA TODAY. Monday. Page 3D. 308 words. "Killing time with 'Nikita' remake" By Matt Roush COMMENTARY: In a review of the cable (USA Network) TV show, NIKITA, the reviewer stated, "As Nikita, the Australian Wilson cuts a lithe and intriguing figure: steely and sullen, yet also at times vulnerable and capable of bursts of awkward girlishness. Her intensity is reminiscent of China Beach's great Marg Helgenberger, and when she puts her blond hair in pigtail braids, you might think Pippi Silk-Stalkings. In short, she's a package. Xena gone Eurotrash."