Xena Media Review #19 (12/08/96) - Part 1 of 4 ================== cut here ================== _____ ______ ._ `\`/>`\ /`/` /`__________,.'>___ _____ )~\ /<`\ `\ /`/` /``\ \./------> /|\./\ |\./| / | \ /< `\`\ `\ /`/` /` | | |----\ / | |\ \ | | |././^\ \ |\__{o}\--`\`\ `\/`/` /`-----| | |-----`------\`\`\--| | |----^ \ \----. [\\\\\\\{*}==`> <`=======| | ==============`\`\`\| | |=====\ \ \==--> |/~~{o}/-- /`/ /\ \ `\------| | |---------------`\`\\ | |------\ \ \--' \< /`/` /` `\`\ `\ | | |_____,.'>| | | `\`\| | /' \ \ \ \< /` /` `\`\ `\ ,/ /^\------> / |/^\| \ | |/ \/^\\. /`/\>/` `\`\ `\`~~~~~~~~~~~\ / ~~~~~ )^\,\, '~~~~~ `~~~~~` '~~~~~` ` ~~~~~~ ========================== XENA: THE MEDIA REVIEW #19 ========================== An All Talk No Action Publication http://www.teleport.com/~gater/IAXS/IAXS.html c/o RIF BBS, P.O. Box 81181, Bakersfield, CA 93308 RIF BBS (805) 588-9349 [24hrs, 14.4bps, free] 463 subscribers and growing! This document has 2843 lines. Xena Media Review (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. Copyright, legal, and editorial notices are found at the end of this newsletter. Issue No. 19 Release date: December 8, 1996 Covering 04/29/96 - 05/01/96 Annotations 260 to 265 INTRODUCTION DISPATCHES FROM THE FRONT: Great Britain REMEMBRANCES OF THINGS PAST: Tonight Show 10-30-96 TIMELINE AMENDED ANNOTATIONS ANNOTATIONS THE BACK PAGE ------------ INTRODUCTION ------------ THINGS TO DO WHEN YOU ARE NEAR DEATH IN SAN DIEGO Okay. I am not near death. I lied. However, I am writing this in San Diego over the Thanksgiving Day weekend. I get points for that, don't I? I am still in recovery from a nasty little viral infection that I sort of picked up somewhere...and yet, here I am, during the most aggressive shopping day of the year, in a badly lit room, typing away. For what purpose? Love. Love of that darn show which has successfully consumed a better part of my existence during the year 1996. I won't even insult your intelligence by telling you the name of the show or by making some cute joke and telling you that it's BAYWATCH or something...even though I must admit after reading that article about BAYWATCH NIGHTS in the December 1996 issue of SCI-FI UNIVERSE I am...oh, nevermind. Yes!!! I am suffering from The Theodorus Syndrome. NO!!!! NOT THAT THEODORUS! Not the Theo that Callisto dug up in order to realize her twisted and yet strangely fulfilling Xena-fantasy, but the original Theodorus who met his end on the wrong side of a rake in Hercules' mother's barn...the one when asked by Hercules why he tried to kill Herc, said, "Love," and then before the lights went out, gasped, "Xena, I have failed you." That Theo. The first Theo. The Theo to judge all subsequent Theo's with. THAT Theo was not afraid to express his love to his adored and suffer the icky consequences. However, I digress. In my case, however, I am not trying to kill Hercules for the love of Xena, though I am trying to do something just as silly. I am acting out and exposing my fan inclinations on a rather broad palette. And I am not the only one. XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS has inspired hundreds of otherwise reasonable and sane people to act and interact in ways which they have never acted before. I personally have donated a lot of time and energy and money to my various XWP projects (web pages, monthly on-line fanzine, a world press review, a listing of Xena "sightings", and now this wacky convention coming up in January '97); and I am not alone. I have read and discussed this phenomena with many people. The show is inspiring folks from all ilks to come out of the closet and to give a hearty "Yiyiyiyiyiyiyi". I do not think these people are watching the show many times, building web pages, discussing the show ad nauseam, or meeting near strangers at taco stands in San Diego, for fame or attention (well, there may be some ego massaging now and then, but if that were the true aim, I am sure they could choose a bit more socially powerful subject to pontificate on!). They are doing so because of love. They feel they get the joke, they understand the subtext, and appreciate the production. They are bonded with the other fans knowing that something special is going on. Everyone, of course, has their opinions as to what exactly may be going on, but they all agree it is special. I am consistently amazed at what other viewers and myself get from this show. Just looking at the high concept, "two women, trained in martial arts, traveling around ancient Greece beating up bad guys", makes the show seem almost harmless, if not campy. However, from this show almost 100 articles have been proposed for the journal of the International Association of Xena Studies; over 80 web pages have been lovingly created and attended to; it has captivated some members of the press not to mention some sociologists and students of popular culture; there are Xena nights in bars and restaurants; many fellow television shows have honored it with a reference or two; and it seems to be paying a lot of bills for MCA. There is deeper talk that XWP might be the start of a new pop culture legend or may even be a sign of some profound cultural change taking place in our society. These involved theories aside, XWP is clearly still in its ascendancy. Where it will go, who knows? I, for one, am just happy to have been part of the ride so far and look most forward to see where it will take me tomorrow. By the way, that is probably why I am typing away in this dark little room when I should be outside getting some San Diego sun on my borg-like skin. Love makes us do wacky things. Even people like Theodorus; even both Theodorus' (Theodorii?). I have used my five day sans internet vacation in San Diego to play catch-up with XMR and to meet with a couple of San Diego Xena fans. Of all my virtual children, XMR is easily the most neglected; and yet, it is the most loved. What can I say, other than irony seems to be my most potent motivator. My lunch on Saturday (for you archivists out there, 11/30/96) with Lucia, 3Cats, and DJ was fun. We went to El Indo, an excellent border taco stand and spent about two hours talking Xena. My son and husband were there and they didn't even try to keep up. INTO THE WAYBACK MACHINE The great plans that were for XMR #19 are no more. I have decided to release the originally planned contents of XMR #19 over two issues. Yes! We are going to relive the good old days when XMR came out once a week on Friday! That might even give me enough lead time to get XMR #22 out in December as well. Then again, the excitement might be too much and I may just have to make XMR quarterly. Therefore, what you are about to read is an XMR which only annotates 5 whole articles (four of which are from Spectrum) and 1 episode. However this issue is supplemented by my recollections from the October 30, 1996 Lucy Lawless appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno; a report from a Xena fan in Great Britain; and some amended Annotations from the New Zealand press. If this doesn't help you get over some of the December repeats, nothing will. For those who have just come out of the convent, May 1st was the symbolic release date of the seminal SPECTRUM #5, which ran four articles about XWP. There was a general essay on the early XWP phenom, a review of the Hercules Trilogy, a side-bar article on some great Gabrielle lines; and the first part of an episode guide for the first season (through episode #10, HOOVES AND HARLOTS). XMR #19 will highlight these critical contributions to XWP criticism. PROGRESS, SCHMOGRESS! XMR #18 celebrated the 300th subscriber, and now XMR #19 celebrates its 400th: Nicole! Nicole subscribed November 1st. Welcome, Nicole. For those who care, a quick run-down of the other subscribers who were milestones: 1st subscriber: Jill Dybka 03/23/96 100th subscriber: Sandi Jepsen 05/09/96 200th subscriber: Lois Price 06/25/96 300th subscriber: Xanth 09/21/96 400th subscriber: Nicole 11/01/96 ON TOWARDS THE FUTURE In one week's time waiting in your little email inbox will be XMR #20, which will continue with some more amended annotations from New Zealand; a fan report from the Netherlands; and annotations from at least May 2nd to 15th. Hopefully, the episodes THE GREATER GOOD and CALLISTO will be reviewed and a fun time will be experienced by all. ------------------------- DISPATCHES FROM THE FRONT ------------------------- Report on XWP Activities in Great Britain by correspondent: C. Johnson (c.johnson@ucsm.ac.uk) Originally printed in WHOOSH #3 (November 1996), e-mail edition. XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS and Fandom in Britain "By Christ! An actress who looks like she can actually wield the damn thing!" The above remark came from a mate of mine who saw Xena for the first time in a run-up preview to the launch of Sky 2. It was an appropriate coincidence because several of us were watching HIGHLANDER at the time (enjoyable sword-fest that it is) and we had had some debate on the skinniness of Amanda's character and her relative skill with the blade. Suddenly during an advertisement break we were treated to this six-foot dark-haired leather-clad creature swirling a sword around to ward off a host of Hera's deadly minions, and up went the cries of "That's more like it!" and "Biceps! Gimme biceps!" I cannot remember what happened to Duncan MacLeod after that. You might have hoped that a well-balanced cross-section of educated folk would find more to talk about in half an hour than Lucy's/Xena's physical attributes. Not so. Without exception, male and female alike, agreed that she was, "stunning", "gorgeous", "real", "erotic", "convincing", and no one in their right mind would get up to argue with her or kick her out of bed. The end of the show and another promo break later, and there she was again, doing her bit for Astra sales: "See me on Sky..." said Gillian Anderson.... "See me on Sky," repeated Lucy Lawless. "Count on it," I added. As promised, XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS, arrived in Britain in September 1996, when Sky TV launched some new channels on the Astra satellite. DREAMWATCH MAGAZINE (now also available in the USA) was one of the few publications to mention the show: "Telefantasy fans were spoilt for choice in September as Sky 2 launched amid a blaze of publicity... XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS, with its predominantly male audience, not only fought off its parent show HERCULES: THE LEGENDARY JOURNEYS on Sky 1, but emerged as the champion of Sky 2 s first-run American genre series." I am trying to find out where the information about the show having a predominantly male audience comes from (because I am not convinced that it is accurate) but overall the report is a good one. In fact, XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS scored 3rd place in the Science Fiction/Fantasy satellite top 10 programmes - rating 0.233 million viewers. This means it beat STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE 9; HERCULES: THE LEGENDARY JOURNEYS; LOIS & CLARK; HIGHLANDER; QUANTUM LEAP; POLTERGEIST; and our old friend, V. THE OUTER LIMITS squeezed it into third place with 0.314 million and THE X-FILES panned everyone with over half a million as expected. Satellite is really the best bet for science fiction, fantasy and cult TV programmes on this island. The four terrestrial channels usually buy the big names - the BBC shows, THE X-FILES (a season late), and various incarnations of STAR TREK (even more late). The very classy Channel 4 has brought us BABYLON 5 with world-premiere speed (broadcasting some episodes before American audiences get to see them). However cult and classic provision is generally short-changed unless you tune into Astra. I bought my satellite dish and decoder about a year ago, and immediately started scouring the channels for cult U.S. and Great Britain telly. I have not been disappointed; in over twelve months I think I have spent more time glued to old British favourites and new American genres than I have collectively spent eating, sleeping, bathing, and playing networked Command and Conquer (drinking real ale and having sex are not included in this equation). 'Tis true to say, if you are after a rich vein of SF and fantasy telly here, you had better search the skies. And that is the difficulty - not everyone has access to the skies. Virtually the whole country has terrestrial TV and most have invested in VCRs. However, only about 5.4 million houses have access to the Astra satellite, either directly through their own dishes, or via the cable companies which exist sparsely in a few urban areas. This notches up at about 15.3 million people - not quite 25% of the combined populations of Scotland, England and Wales. This means that while XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS is proving very popular amongst Sky viewers of genre shows, most of the nation has not heard of it and could not access it even if they had. (They could if they all went out to buy receiving dishes right away, but these things are not cheap, especially if you live in the north of England like I do, and need a big slab of a disc to get good quality pick-up from Astra's geo-centric orbit. Go further north into Scotland and it gets even more expensive). So any Xena fandom in Britain is at an extremely embryonic stage to say the least, and not likely to grow fast unless one of the terrestrial channels buys the series, which they are unlikely to do while Sky has the rights to the early seasons. What does this mean in fandom terms? Well for a start there is no related merchandise on sale and nothing in the way of mainstream publicity. I went into my local cult shop last week and the counter chap (a genuine STAR TREK, BLAKE'S 7 fan) had not heard of either XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS or HERCULES: THE LEGENDARY JOURNEYS. "Are they Aussie cartoons?" he asked. I put him straight and bought a Borg t-shirt for a friend who's teaching out in North Vietnam. The upside of this dearth of Xena-related material - no temptation to spend money on it. A more serious hole is the lack of any Xena- related conventions at the moment. This is a pity because traditional British fan-run conventions are a dream. They go on for days, they permit a decent level of social interaction between star guests and attendees, they have no commercial agenda, they donate surplus cash to charities, and they provide beer. Warrior-enamoured fans in particular (a few Klingons spring to mind) make the most of the great social opportunity that these events provide, with the bars and all-night parties that usually follow each day's hard session of guests and gaming. The warrior Xena would be an ideal feature in such an environment, but at the moment not many people know of her. What is on the cards is a Xena feature at one of the combined series cons. Often fans of different programmes will team up, and the shows which have less of a profile generate awareness together. Now that XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS is being shown here, albeit to a limited audience, with luck this will start to happen for Xena. If this sounds a bit depressing, the good news is that anyone here who wants to develop fan interest in XENA; WARRIOR PRINCESS can jump into a virtually clear arena. For those people who like running fanclubs, zines and meetings, the launch pad's empty and beckoning; and there could be great potential for Xena in this country because Britain is something of a goddess culture, thanks to both Celtic and Saxon influences. Female leaders fare with relative distinction (hence the many militaristic or strongly- associated female words and names in the language - Britannia, Boudicca, Elizabeth's Gloriana, Victoria, Thatcherism(!), etc.). Because the warrior queen, the warrior princess, is a powerful figure in native memory. That aspect of XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS alone may be enough to spark a wider interest - it is certainly the characteristic that drew my attention in the first place. It also has to be said that where Hercules might be perceived as overly pc and moralistic (the "Oh no, yet more verbal fascism from America" complaint), Xena's darker and sardonic side is more appealing to natural British cynicism. Of course the Internet has a powerful role to play as an international link for fans. It is through this medium that I have found all my Xena connections so far, and I anticipate that this is where most of the action will be found for some time to come. Meanwhile I will get on with my IAXS research project "Xena and Servelan - The Once and Future Bitchin Queen", and look forward to all the cracking episodes I know I have got ahead of me. --------------------------- REMEMBRANCES OF THINGS PAST --------------------------- The Tonight Show Odyssey of October 30, 1996. The buzz was intense about this show. The scheduling of Lucy Lawless on the Wednesday taping was only announced the afternoon of Tuesday, October 29th! The power and pervasiveness of the world wide web allowed the word to get out. I remember sitting at my computer and reading the news on the NetForum. My first thought was, is this true? So I tried to remember every single person I knew to be located in the LA region and wrote them an e- mail: "Have you heard about Lucy Lawless on Leno tomorrow? Has it been confirmed or denied?" Then I waited for any replies. I got tons back. At first it was fellow fans who were trying to get either a confirmation or denial. Luckily, Quest responded to my skeptic note with an NBC telephone number for information and news of a dinner party at Acapulco's afterwards. By 6pm, I had called in for vacation time at work, got all my family clearances to be out of town for a full day, put in my reservation for The Acapulco, worked out who would pick up the kid from afterschool daycare and other mundane matters. Then I concentrated on how to get a ticket. I live in Bakersfield. It is a two hour drive to Burbank, where the NBC Studios are located. I would not be able to leave Bakersfield until 8am which meant I could not arrive at the studios any earlier than 10am. The panic started to set in. I could sense that the tickets would be scarce. The last time I went to a Leno taping, the stand-by tickets began to be distributed by 3pm. For some reason, I did not want to trust that it would be true at this taping. I started to write everyone I could think of to encourage them to pick me up an extra ticket when they went in the morning to get their tickets. I finally discovered Sojourner who said she'd be sure to get in line by 8am (I was pleading people to get their early) and to pick up an extra ticket (you are allowed to pick up one extra ticket) if I wanted it. I coveted that extra ticket. I could taste that ticket. HOWEVER, Sojourner's server went down before I could confirm the deal! Everything I tried to e-mail to her came back. I was desperate. Finally, on one of her e-mails I noticed she had put her phone number. It was 11pm...I was desperate....I wanted a ticket sooooo bad, that I ignored all bounds of civility and politeness and I called her. I phoned a total stranger after 11pm on a weekday just to BEG for a potential Jay Leno ticket. Fortunately, I have no sense of decency. She fell for it. She told me to meet her in line the next day. I could go to bed knowing that I might have a ticket. Happy thoughts bounced in my head during my dream-like state throughout the night (you didn't think I would actually be able to sleep, did you???) I got up the next morning. It was raining. Trucks were colliding on the Grapevine. I didn't care. This was the moment we bought our all terrain vehicle for. I jumped into the all terrain vehicle and said "Darn those torpedoes and straight ahead!" I passed by spots where I should have stopped and waited for the rain to subside, but I was like a demon possessed. I had to get to the taping if only for closure. I had attended the ill-fated October 8th taping where Ms. Lawless sustained some pretty nasty injuries. I was so up and excited about that original taping, that it was very crushing when the seriousness of the injury and consequences to Ms. Lawless dawned on me. October 8th was a weird experience for many, not just me. I met RJ Stewart and Rob Tapert that night because of the injury, but I still would have preferred it if Ms. Lawless had not fallen off that darn horse. It's always disconcerting to experience happy moments when they are a direct result of sad moments. I passed by several trucks which looked like they had seen better days. I kept on driving like a she-devil. Nothing was going to stop me. Luckily, nothing did. I got to Burbank and then the search for a parking place began. I drove by the line outside of Studio 3, and stopped the car. Illegally parking, I jumped out and introduced myself to Sojourner. She was there!!! She was number 3 in line (just for the record, after I parked and settled myself in the queue, there were less than thirty people in the entire line...a critical fact for later) and she was holding a beautiful Tonight Show ticket. It was a strong vibrant color. It was one of the most beautiful tickets I had ever seen. Time stopped and I swear there was a magic aura about that ticket. But I had to cut my reverie short. I had to find a parking spot. I drove around a long time until finally I gave up and stopped at one of the NBC gates and begged the guard for info where to park. He showed me how to get to the "official" ticket-holding parking lot. I went. I parked. There weren't that many spaces left and it was 10am. Very scary. I jumped out of the car and trekked over to the studio. The parking lot was next to the hospital. The hospital where Ms. Lawless was first admitted (coincidence! yes! but who cares???). I then got into line to wait for seven hours until the taping (can you say obsessive fan?). I tried to be cordial to Sojourner, who had already been there for two hours! I was truly indebted to her because the stand-by tickets began to be distributed at 10am. If I had depended upon my own devices, I would have only got a stand-by ticket. This would have been more than devastating. But regardless of my intense need to express my gratitude to Sojourner, I needed a rest room. That's when I was directed to the Mobil Station across the street. Yes! It was like an oasis. It had a rest room and a mini-mart. I went in and requested the key. It was a unisex one-room set-up. However, someone had beaten me to it! So I waited. And waited. And waited. I walked out. I walked in. Looked at every item available for purchase. Then...the key returned. I didn't even let the person hand it politely to the clerk. I grabbed it from their hands and made my get away. I no longer cared about any semblance of civility. Afterwards, in gratitude to their facilities, I did buy a drink from the Mobil, a Kiwi/Mango juice...Kiwi...get it? Very few in line were impressed but I was! As I bonded with Sojourner, I also bonded with many others. I met a group which harkened from Florida, Seattle, and Santa Barbara. They were a feisty group. Probably a result from all that traveling. While in line I noticed Daryl, myhero, Kathy R., Lasha, warriorgal, Kittle, Dearcy, Holli, lilac, Xenatized, Nexzia, RitaReckless (who could miss her?), Mystic Lady, Lucia, #1XeniteNutball, aquagal, mick, Crju, and Nancy. I also met some NON-XWP line keepers. Two were visiting from New York State and another from Kentucky. There was also the woman in a wheelchair who came to every Leno taping, even though I did not notice her during the Oct. 8th taping...but then I wasn't really paying attention to the line then. The hours ticked by. There were more visits to the Mobil station and little girls room; there were visits with the other Xena fans as they arrived from all over; I tried to trick Lucia Correa into doing something, but it didn't work (drat! foiled again!); we tried proselytizing the non-XWP people in line; I saw some familiar faces and met new ones. Then the big moment began. They started to the count down. The first thirty in line get special treatment. There were apparently some people who found themselves further along the line than some other people liked. The crowd got ugly. The pages came out and tried to re-gain order. They tried using guilt to make the line-cutters to go back. I tried to block the whole traumatic experience from myself. I just grabbed on to those around me and hoped we would survive. We did. We got in the first thirty. We were actually in the first 5! But enough of this BRAGGING, we got in and were blessed with being able to sit on the cold wooden chairs on the floor two inches from the sound system. Can you say "It's kind of loud?" I had the great fortune to be placed in the first row of wooden seats. However, the VISIBLE first row was where they sat the VIPs. They are the ones who get panned all the time by the camera and get to shake Leno's hand at the beginning of the show. It's a ritual, you know. If you were facing the stage, I was to the left. Or on stage, I was on Leno's right. Got that? You can see me at the beginning of the show where the camera pans by me. I sat where Xenatized sat on the 10/8 taping for those in the know. After two viewings of the Tonight Show (10/8 and 10/30), I have become an expert in the protocol and customs of the show. It's very tightly run and it moves like clockwork. You can set your watch to this show. Both shows were identical except for what was on tape. Jay's warm-up monologue was almost identical (can't blame them though, they have to do this almost 290 times a year since Leno refuses to take vacations). However, I swear, if I have to be exposed to the guy who throws things at the audience one more time, I may have to surrender my blood innocence. I rarely am turned off by someone so much. I have grown to despise this man. I know I do not know him. He's probably a fine upstanding citizen. However, his onstage demeanor is so arrogant, sexist, condescending, mean-spirited, that I just want to find a weapon and knock him senseless. He REALLY irks me. During the show, when Leno was speaking with his first guest, Gabriel Byrne, all I saw was a partial side of his face and his neck. Byrne never looked out at my side of the audience. I anticipated the same for Ms. Lawless. However, I was not disturbed by this because I knew it was going to be taped and I would later view the interview in the privacy of my own home. Also, the clarity of the audio was not too good in the first row. The last taping I sat in the middle bleacher and I was right in the line of sight of Leno at his desk and the audio was crystal clear. This time I missed about 40% of what was said on stage because of the audio set up. The rest of the Xena types who got into the first 30 in line opted to sit in the second row of the middle floor seats. They were right behind the VIP seats. I saw them a couple of times on the tape. I saw myself too, but you really would have to know me to know it was me. Xenatized, myhero (flew in from Seattle), warriorgal (from Santa Barbara), sojourner, Nexzia, lilac, and Kathy R (flew in from Florida) were in that row. In my row was me (I am from Bakersfield) on the right aisle and Holli, who drove in from Las Vegas that morning -- arrgh, 7.5 hours!) on the left aisle. Holli was closest to Lucy Lawless' daughter, Daisy, who was standing on the sidelines -- she had a stuffed Shamu so they must have gone to Seaworld -- is this obsessing or what??? Anyways, I did notice that Daisy had that wonderful Lucy Lawless smile. Whenever she'd get eye contact with her mother (Ms. Lawless would smile at Daisy periodically), Daisy would smile back. Ms. Lawless was giving Daisy A LOT of attention. Even when the interview was over, Ms. Lawless immediately had Daisy brought on stage and throughout the whole time she either had both her hands on Daisy's shoulders, holding hands, embracing her, or whatever. I'm sure Daisy had quite a scare when she heard about her mother's injury. Ms. Lawless introduced Daisy to everyone, and then she went backstage with Daisy in tow. I did not see Robert Tapert anywhere, but RJ Stewart and other staff were in the audience -- facing the audience, upper level right, first row. The entire row appeared to be XWP production people.) The titles to the show had to be taped over at the end of the show because the cheering when Lucy's name was announced made the meter go off the scale -- they were too slow to compensate. We actually cheered louder the second time, but the sound guy was prepared. If you listen closely, you can tell it was pretty loud even though they compensated for it. The people sitting behind me I met in line. I was there at 10am. We didn't get seated until about 4:15pm. The show started taping at 5pm. They were visiting from New York. A group of us converted them into Rabid Xena Fans. Well, we hope we did. Apparently Ms. Lawless recently got the go ahead from her doctor that she could return to New Zealand, where she lives and XWP is filmed. The production people called Leno and Leno put her on the show last minute. Leno also said during the show that he wanted her back and "it would be different". That implied he was aware that she was getting minimum time and wanted to remedy it in the future. He kept his promise to get her on before she left for New Zealand, so perhaps he will deliver on this one too. I hope. The audience reacted favorably to the Xena skit which consisted of Xena de-capitating Gilbert Gottfried (you have to have been there). It looked like she was wearing the Xena garb from the Herc trilogy. I bet it's the same suit which was on exhibit at the San Diego Comic Convention. That was what she wore for the GAUNTLET/UNCHAINED HEART. It makes sense, since that is the full costume that resides in LA. I am sure most reading this already know about Ms. Lawless' entrance and dance. A note about the dance. She was not supposed to have done that. When she did that the production staff just about passed out. Apparently, she was supposed to be carried on, talk on camera, and then be carried off. The guys came back at the commercial break and she told them that she wanted to stay. What a woman! I heard she got a stern talking to about that! I also heard that she's supposed to take three months for recovery, but it was anticipated that she would shave off a month and start filming in December. Although I have never had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Lawless, from my limited discussions with people who do know her, I get the distinct impression that she is rather headstrong and stubborn and when Ms. Lawless wants something to be, it's going to be that way...especially when it revolves around her family or her work. Again, I get the strong impression that Ms. Lawless is very aware of her responsibilities and takes them very seriously. She is trying to be responsive not just to the fans, but to the crew and production and all the other people who are getting their livelihood currently from XWP. The longer she's out of action, the more precarious their jobs become. All the staff that I have talked with are just as much (and perhaps moreso, if possible) XWP and Lucy Lawless fans as any of the fans I have met. They love the show and they love that woman. I have never really encountered anything quite like it. However, I now understand a little more about this Lucymania. The woman has charisma. Where I sat, when she talked to Leno, all I saw was the side of her face. But I expected that. No big deal, I was taping the show at home. However, she actually moved her head around. She talked not just to Leno, but to Byrne, to the audience, and TO ALL SIDES OF THE AUDIENCE (I saw her full face several times when they were taping), to the camera. She was extremely considerate to the audience. She even found time to look at Daisy a few times and smile at her. She also acknowledged Daisy and I think she was hoping they would show Daisy on camera, but when she mentioned it the cameras were all in the wrong set up for it. Which is strange because during the DeGeneres shoot they were always sweeping the audience. They even got DeGeneres' five people who gave her a standing ovation. Ovation! I forgot about the ovation. On the 10/8 taping they did a pan of the audience when DeGeneres came out and focused on the ovation. I suggested to the mid-floor Xena contingent to jump up just as soon as Ms. Lawless' name was mentioned. We did so, and I am sure the fans in the other seats did too (they were behind me so I did not see. But the people next to me and immediately behind me, who were not there for Lucy, gave her an ovation too -- I guess after talking with us about the joys and wonders of XWP for EIGHT HOURS made them jump to their feet when Ms. Lawless came on stage). However, it never appeared on screen because they were concentrating on the two guys carrying Ms. Lawless out. Bummer. But we gave her a wonderful ovation and she did notice. To be honest I hardly remember the interview. But during the break, she started talking with Byrne and then she looked out into the audience. She pointed out Daisy to Byrne and then after the short conversation she then waved at the production people and some people in the audience. I was right in her direct line of vision. I know she wasn't looking at me but I think we did inadvertently have eye contact a few times. I'm sure she couldn't miss the person staring at her in the front row. All the lights were on, both in the audience and on the stage. I had a full face view of her, non-stop for a culmination of about ten minutes, which is a really long amount of time when you are staring at someone). Like an idiot I just stared at her. I am sure she ignored me. I would have hated to have scared her or anything. I hated myself for doing that but she does have something about her. I guess charisma. Anyways I just happily stared at her like a jerk. I was content. Now I have this irrational urge to stalk down Renee O'Connor so I can stare at her too. I am trying to look at this positively in that at least I have graduated from staring at backs for sustained amounts of time. It was very short. Too short, but it was fun. I met a lot of nice people. Converted several to XENA. Met some of the people behind the names I see on the 'net. Afterwards at the party, Avicus showed up and we discussed GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN, of course. I asked some of my inane questions about his editing and he set me straight. He told an anecdote about his mother calling him after the show aired in LA about how weird it was. He told her it was weird because it was a Halloween episode; it was supposed to be weird. Then his mother berated him saying, if it was a Halloween episode, they got the name wrong, it should have been called "Ghouls Just Want to Have Fun". Highlights of the party (well, at least for me): I got terribly confused driving into the Acapulco valet parking area, and I drove rather goofily doing a strange half u-turn into the parking area while also missing the actual drive-way and did not even get close to keeping within "the lines" of the drive-way. Hey, I was driving an all terrain vehicle so I knew those pesky cement blocks wouldn't get in my way, but it did make me look like I was on a drug or two. I also noticed a group of Xena fans conversing by a car in the parking lot but luckily they appeared totally engrossed in their conversation so I don't think anyone actually associated me with the awkward driving. The valet looked at me strangely when I de-carred and the car was at a diagonal when it should have been straight. But he cheerfully took the keys when I stuffed his hand with a pre-tip. I scurried into the restaurant hoping no one was really watching. Hitting the tables I was at last relieved when Xana remembered me! I am so used to being the stealth fan, that it was jarring at first having people recognize me. But they were nice. I got some very positive feedback about WHOOSH (my latest obsession) and my web page. I think I may have successfully blinded EVERYONE with my camera flash. (tangent: I got the photos developed and I am still in the process of getting them scanned so I can eventually distribute them to the proper parties). Avicus and I actually ate off the same plate (it was my plate and I offered to share with him and he accepted). I think I may be in love. And this was done after we had discussed my "negative" review of the direction and editing of GIRLS, too. What a sport! (Hmmm, I dis his episode and then he eats MY dinner...). In the most surreal moment of the evening, RJ Stewart popped in for five minutes looking for Robert Tapert. Stewart thought that Tapert might be there. That fascinated me. First, Stewart considered our little intimate gathering (only about 35, almost half as much as gathered after the 10/8 taping) a possible hang out for Robert Tapert. Hey! We are part of the social "A" List for the big gun staff. Second, WHERE WAS TAPERT???? And why didn't Stewart know???? More mysteries in the mysterious world of the Xenaverse... I know I am missing a lot of stuff, but I wanted to keep it short (HA! HA!). ================== cut here ================== Continued in Part 2