XENA MEDIA REVIEW #23 (07/28/97) Part 2 of 3 =================== CUT HERE ================= [339] 06-17-96 THE ROYAL COUPLE OF THIEVES. Episode no. 17. Second release. Guest stars: Bruce Campbell (Autolycus). Written by Steven E. Sears. Directed by John Cameron. COMMENTARY: See XMR172.5 for synopsis and commentary. [340] 06-17-96 THE EVENING POST (Wellington). Page 3. 599 words. "Xena has strength of Hercules" COMMENTARY: Review of SINS OF THE PAST. The article incorrectly stated that the first season consisted of 22 episodes (rather bizarre when one realizes that production in New Zealand was already well into the second season; it was an established fact that the first season consists of 24 episodes). This evidenced that the reviewer ( uncited ) did most of his or her work from press releases not interviews or any other type of independent research. It is interesting to note, however, that by the 2nd season XWP was in a 22 episode per season pattern. Turns out that the first season was the ture anomaly. [KT] REPRINT: IN SHORT What: Xena: Warrior Princess. Where: TV3. When: 8.30pm , Wednesday. LUCY LAWLESS stars as Xena, the beautiful, brave and fiercely independent hero of the new mythical action series, Xena: Warrior Princess. A native of Mt Albert, Auckland, Lawless first captivated American audiences with her impressive performance in three episodes of the hit series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. She was so popular American producers decided to create an entirely new series for her. Sharp-eyed Hercules fans may have already spotted Lawless as Lyla , the courageous bride of Deric the Centaur in an early episode of the programme. But it is her work as Xena, the deadly opponent of Hercules, which has catapulted the actress to international stardom. Infused with the same action-packed scenes, high production values and humour of Hercules, the new series will combine mythology with martial arts, big-screen special effects and spectacular New Zealand scenery in 22 episodes. Xena: Warrior Princess is set in the "golden age" of myth, long before ancient Greece or Rome, on the distant frontier of known civilisation far away from the land of mighty Hercules. The whims of capricious gods and the greed of human tyrants make Xena's world a treacherous one. Surrounded by enemies, barbaric tribes, slave traders and a host of other evils, the warrior princess is on a mission to help people free themselves from tyranny and injustice, with her sidekick Gabrielle at her side. Xena's skills in combat and warfare are constantly put to the test. To defeat her foes, she relies on strategy, agility, acrobatics, martial arts and a variety of weapons including her chakram, a razor sharp discus-like weapon that she hurls at her enemies with astonishing speed. Also in her arsenal is the special Xena touch - a two-fingered pinch on the pressure points of her victim's neck - which she uses to extract information from otherwise uncooperative-operative sources. Cutting-edge computer graphic imaging techniques, including 3D animation and digital compositing , are combined with complex makeup and prosthetic effects to create a terrifying assortment of mythological gods, demons and monsters. Filmed on location in and around Auckland, Xena: Warrior Princess is backed by a production team headed by series executive producers Rob Tapert and Sam Raimi . ALMOST six feet tall, with black hair and blue eyes, Lawless is the fifth of seven children and the oldest girl in her family. A self-confessed tomboy as a child, she is every bit as independent as her strong willed character Xena. After finishing high school, where she appeared in numerous musicals and plays, she attended Auckland University. She married in Australia and returned to Auckland. She has a seven-year-old daughter, Daisy. Lawless has appeared as a co-host on Air New Zealand Holiday but sees the role of Xena as her first major breakthrough as an actress. WE'VE teamed up with TV3 to offer 10 readers the chance to win a six-inch Xena action doll. To be in the draw to win one of the Xena dolls, write the answer to our question with your name, address and phone number on the back of an envelope and send it to Xena Competition, Features Department, The Evening Post, P O Box 3742, Wellington. Please enclose this coupon (not a photocopy). Who is Xena's sidekick? Entries close at 5pm on Tuesday, June 25. We'll announce the winners on Monday, July 1. GRAPHIC: SUPERGIRL - Lucy Lawless stars as the Warrior Princess. [341] 06-18-96 DAILY VARIETY. Page 28. 160 words. " Warner Bros. TV renews 'Babylon 5'" By Jenny Hontz COMMENTARY: Passing mention that XWP got higher ratings than Babylon 5. [KT] EXCERPT: Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution has renewed weekly sci-fi adventure series "Babylon 5" for a fourth season, despite lagging ratings. Season-to-date "Babylon 5" has averaged a 3 rating, but its most recent national number, for the week ended June 2, was a 2.4. That puts it behind weekly action hours such as Paramount Domestic Television's "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" and MCA TV's "Hercules" and "Xena."... [342] 06-19-96 THE EVENING POST (Wellington). Page 14. 408 words. "Local favourites may go as TVNZ regroups" By Phil Wakefield COMMENTARY: Promo , highlighting Jay Laga'aia ( Draco ), for SINS OF THE PAST (#01). [KT] EXCERPT: ...WATER RAT Jay Laga'aia resurfaces tonight as an evil warlord who's an ex-lover of Xena: Warrior Princess (Lucy Lawless) in the Hercules spin-off of the same name (TV3, 8.30). The show's opening credits call her a "mighty princess forged in the heat of battle" but the best description yet comes from Entertainment Weekly: "Wonder Woman on steroids". [343] 06-20-96 THE TIMES-PICAYUNE. Page E1 . 629 words. "Enterprise Isn't Enough; WNOL Relies on a Strongman and a Fightin ' Femme to Rev up the Ratings in the 'Star Trek' Slot" By Mark Lorando COMMENTARY: XWP and HTLJ have ousted Star Trek: The Next Generation from a plumb programming spot in New Orleans. ST:TNG had been playing every weeknight at 7pm for the past two years. Ratings have plummeted, so WNOL will discontinue ST:TNG and show HTLJ on Monday, XWP on Tuesday, WB programming on Wednesday, ST:TNG on Thursday, and Tales of the Crypt on Friday. ST:TNG will also replace the HTLJ and XWP's earlier time of 10am to noon on Sunday. This will all begin June 30, 1996. [KT] EXCERPT: Scanning the dials . . . It's a veritable Trekker tragedy: After years of nightly broadcasts, WNOL is cutting back "Star Trek: The Next Generation" to one night a week. The series has been in reruns for two years and in ratings decline since January, when the loss of its Fox affiliation forced Channel 38 to juggle its prime-time schedule. "Next Generation," a staple at 9 p.m. weeknights after Fox, was transported to 7 p.m. to accommodate the station's new WB affiliation and 8 o'clock movie lineup. The ratings descended at warp speed, and starting next week, Picard and Co. will be replaced by "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" (Mondays), "Xena: Warrior Princess" (Tuesday) and back-to-back "Tales from the Crypt" (Friday). WB network programming will continue to air on Wednesdays and "Next Generation" will remain at 7 p.m. Thursdays. It'll also take over the old "Hercules/Xena" second-run slots at 10 and 11 a.m. Sundays, starting June 30.... [344] 06-20-96 to 06-24-96 NOTE: First run of "Death Mask", episode no. 23. XWP took 2nd place of the action hours with a 5 share. ST:DS9 took first place with a 5.4 share, and HTLJ took third with 4.9. [KT] [344a ] 06-20-96 DAILY VARIETY. Page 2. 366 words. "Sitcoms in close syndie race" By Jenny Hontz COMMENTARY: Death Mask, 1st release, ratings EXCERPT: ...According to Nielsen ratings for the week ending June 9... ...Among the action weeklies, Par's "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," continued to lead the pack, although its 5.4 was down 5% for the week. MCA TV's "Xena" rose 14% to a 5, while MCA's "Hercules" fell 2% to a 4.9... [344b ] 06-24-96 VARIETY. Page 31. 364 words. "Improvement for ' Seinfeld ' in syndie off-net sitcom race" By Jenny Hontz COMMENTARY: Substantially same as XMR344a. [344c] 06-24-96 VARIETY. Page 31. 194 words. "Nielsen Syndication Ratings" COMMENTARY: Death Mask, 1st release, ratings REPRINT: For week ended June 9, 1996 Stations/ Rank Program % coverage AA% GAA% 1 Wheel of Fortune 221/98 10.3 - 2 Jeopardy! 215/98 8.8 - 3 Home Improvement 225/96 6.9 7.3 3 Oprah Winfrey Show 235/99 6.9 6.9 5 Seinfeld 220/97 6.5 - 6 Entertainment Tonight 178/95 5.6 5.6 6 WCW Wrestling 180/93 5.6 8.8 8 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 227/98 5.4 5.8 9 Xena 197/96 5.0 5.3 10 Journeys of Hercules 211/96 4.9 5.2 10 Inside Edition 162/90 4.9 4.9 12 Simpsons 190/95 4.7 4.9 13 Wheel of Fortune-Wknd. 174/79 4.6 - 14 Fresh Prince of Bel-Air 169/92 4.5 4.9 15 Jenny Jones 214/96 4.4 4.6 15 Live w/Regis & Kathie Lee 230/98 4.4 - 17 Hard Copy 178/91 4.1 4.1 17 Roseanne 171/90 4.1 4.4 19 Ricki Lake 220/98 4.0 4.2 20 Home Improvement-Wknd. 209/87 3.9 - 20 Maury Povich Show 175/93 3.9 - 20 World Wrestling Fed. 154/90 3.9 4.6 AA average refers to nonduplicated viewing for multiple airings of the same show. GAA average encompasses duplicated viewing. GAA average does not apply when there is only one run of a show. [345] 06-21-96 XENA MEDIA REVIEW. No. 12. Edited by and annotations by Kym Masera Taborn. COMMENTARY: A world press review of coverage on XWP, Renee O'Connor, or Lucy Lawless. Covered 12/26/95 through 01/13/96. Notorious Village Voice review of XWP; Lucy Lawless interview; XWP & HTLJ influence on the action genre; XWP hits #1 action hour; and more. [346] 06-23-96 THE SUNDAY STAR-TIMES (Auckland). Page 13. 451 words. "New Atkinson antics are not much cop" By Colin Hogg COMMENTARY: Hmmmmmmmmm , the Kiwis have decided that Xena is just so much high-spirited rubbish, eh? And what was Funny Business? Do they just not get the jokes, or what? So XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS is light on the violence and sex, eh? All they want is "Dallas", "Dallas", "Dallas"!!! [MBE] EXCERPT: ...The other new arrival for the week at least looked more like a superhero -- or heroine -- as TV3 last Wednesday launched Xena: Warrior Princess. Hercules in a leather bra, Xena is a copycat spin-off from that show starring Aucklander Lucy Lawless as a fighting feminist trying to lighten up the Dark Ages -- a time, it appears, when the blokes had all the fun, not to mention the most interesting hairdos. Set, like Hercules, against a loose arrangement of New Zealand backdrops and featuring a loose arrangement of New Zealand actors -- Darien Takle as Xena's mum and Jay Laga'aia as supreme bad guy Draco, among them -- Xena is high-spirited rubbish that, despite its seeming promise in those departments, is light on the violence and the sex and heavy on the satire, although that may not be entirely intentional. It exhibits a fine ear for the language of the time. "Hey," says the programme's female version of Hercules' sidekick to a silent villager, "just because we're betrothed doesn't mean you an boss me around." He, wisely, went back to ploughing his field. There's no end of work to be done there. In the search for new depths to take primetime TV to, there's plenty of digging to be done yet . . [347] 06-24-96 THE PATH NOT TAKEN. Episode no. 5. Third release. Guest stars: Bobby Hosea (Marcus) and Stephen Tozer. Written by Julie Sherman. Directed by Stephen L. Posey. COMMENTARY: See XMR054.5 for synopsis and commentary. [348] 06-24-96 STAR TRIBUNE. Page 7E. 904 words. "Syndicated shows may fall victim to programming pinch" By Alan Sepinwall COMMENTARY: More bemoaning of the fact that syndicated action shows are getting less air time because of the appearance of UPN, WB, and other consortiums. XWP is mentioned in passing. [KT] EXCERPT: "Baywatch" fans, beware. Some day in the not-too-distant future, there may be no more room on the TV dial for your weekly CPR seminar. With the arrival of fledgling networks UPN and WB, syndicated action shows like "Baywatch" and "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" are in danger of getting bumped from an increasingly crowded programming schedule - and especially from prime-time slots. (This doesn't apply to other syndicated products like game shows, talk shows and network reruns.)... ...Action-adventure series Once these shows proved they could succeed outside the Big Three networks (Big Four, if you count Fox), others quickly followed: a TV version of the "Highlander" film series; a sequel to the old "Kung Fu" series; and the mythological "Hercules" and "Xena: Warrior Princess." Virtually all were action-adventure series, a genre that's been largely abandoned by the networks in recent years. But now the syndicated action series is in danger. Across the country, independent stations have become affiliates of UPN and WB and are obligated to run their networks' prime-time programming, bumping syndicated fare out of the way.... [349] 06-24-96 CAVE OF ECHOES. HTLJ episode no. 37. First release. Guest stars: []. Written by []. Directed by []. COMMENTARY: Bottle show which showed clips from "Hercules and the Lost Kingdom" (with Renee O'Connor, who appeared in the clip); "As Darkness Falls" (with Lucy Lawless, who did not appear in the clip); and "Unchained Heart" (with Lucy Lawless as Xena, who appeared briefly in the clip). [KT] If any one want to do a synopsis or review of this show: PLEASE FEEL FREE. Any information about this episode would be appreciated! [350] 06-24-96 BROADCASTING AND CABLE. Page 30. 108 words. "Fourth year for 'Babylon 5," television syndication. COMMENTARY: Oh boy, Bab 5 fans rally to save their baby from the butcher block. Gotta watch your back around XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS... [MBE] REPRINT: Babylon 5 will stay in orbit for a fourth year in syndication. Warner Bros.' sci-fi weekly lost ground in the ratings race to MCA's campy Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess this past season, but ardent Babylon 5 fans sent stacks of mail and e-mail lobbying Warner Bros. and stations to save the show. "It's fair to say that Babylon 5 fans are quite powerful, and they made a difference," says Scott Carlin, executive vice president of Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. Babylon 5, which stars Bruce Boxleitner as the leader of a UN-style space station in year 2260, begins its new season in November. [351] 06-25-96 NOTE: The Xena toy is mentioned in passing as being "scarce" in this report on the booming field of toy scalping. Since this is a hot issue in Xena collecting circles and the articles give a pretty good assessment of the problem, the article is reprinted in whole. [KT] [351a] 06-25-96 THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER. Page A01 . 1058 words. "Toy Story: Scalping Pays; Business: Ability to Predict Changing Fads Can Pay off in Reselling Toys." By Joseph Pereira (The Wall Street Journal) COMMENTARY: The seedy world of toy scalping. REPRINT: It is 8 a.m., and a Target store here has just opened for business. Dennis Barger , who has been waiting in the parking lot since 7:30, races in to buy a toy. A few minutes later, he is down the road at a Wal-Mart, then on to a Kmart and two Toys 'R' Us stores. At 10:30, a weary Barger finds a coffee shop, sits down to an iced tea, and surveys his haul: one Captain Kirk, three Guinans , two Cygors , one Hamburger Head, one Worf , one Violator 13 action figures in all, from the world of Star Trek or Spawn comic books. Total price: $ 55. Barger didn't get everything he was looking for, but not to worry. "I'll sell two figures and get my money back," he says. The entire purchase, he reckons, should fetch him more than $ 200. Barger, 24, is a toy scalper. By staying alert to the latest fads, moving fast and using special purchasing channels, he makes his living buying toys that are in short supply and then selling them at huge markups to collectors, other resellers, or parents and children who are desperate to have them. In the toy business, where shortages are increasing, the role of scalpers is growing. For reasons that are hotly debated, temporary unavailability of certain toys has plagued consumers ever since the big run on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers began three years ago. Parents agonized when Mattel Inc.'s Happy Holiday Barbie sold out weeks before last Christmas morning. Not long before that, stores were cleaned out of Earring Magic Ken. More recently, Mattel's Treasure Hunt cars, Toy Biz Inc.'s Xena the Warrior, and the Cal Ripken Jr. replica from Hasbro Inc.'s Starting LineUp have been scarce. Some buyers speculate that shortages are designed by manufacturers seeking to create cachet for toys and stir consumer interest. Others say supply problems are the result of a highly unpredictable market in which toy makers aren't sure what products will become hot. "The penalty for overproducing product in the toy industry is so huge many toy companies have gone out of business. And because of that, manufacturers would rather deal with a shortage than overproduction," says Sean McGowan, an analyst for Gerard Klauer Mattison & Co., a New York investment bank. Toy makers say their calculations have been upset by collectors, such as the Barbie devotees who gobbled up so many Happy Holidays last Christmas. Estimates on the number of collectors vary widely, from 200,000 to 3 million. Judging from ads in toy-collector magazines, there is a thriving business for scalpers as well. Last week a Toys 'R' Us store in New Hampshire banned a collector for the first time from buying any more toys there. The company says the collector had become too frequent a customer, purchasing thousands of dollars of hot figures. While some stores set limits on the number of certain items each customer can purchase, "it's very hard to police" scalping, says Michael Goldstein, chairman of Toys 'R' Us Inc., the nation's largest toy retailer. "Scalpers can easily sidestep the customer limit by having relatives or friends come in to buy for them. " Toys 'R' Us has investigated a number of deals made between its employees and scalpers, Goldstein says, leading to the dismissal of some workers. At Toys 'R' Us stores, characters such as Obi Wan Kenobi and Princess Leia retail for $ 4 to $ 5 if you can find them. Kilian Ellison, 11, couldn't. After what he calls "an endless search for the princess," he ran into Barger at a comic-book store, and paid $ 55 for one. "I get $ 15 for mowing people's lawns," shrugs Kilian, who lives with his mom in Ann Arbor, Mich. "So I'll mow a few more lawns. " Barger has a wide reputation and an eclectic clientele. During the Power Ranger drought, he sold scarce versions of the drop-kicking avengers for about $ 120 apiece to film stars Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon, who gave them to their children for Christmas. Specialty shops paid plenty for his Earring Magic Kens, which had become a novelty item among homosexuals. There is nothing illegal about what Barger does, but that doesn't make kids any happier when they can't find their favorites. "The adults beat us to the store every time," says Jon Iwata, 10, combing shelves for Star Wars and Hercules figures at a Caldor store in Braintree, Mass. "It's like little kids racing against these big adults in a 100-yard dash or something. " Barger says he doesn't feel guilty, reasoning that he deals mostly with adult collectors and owners of small toy stores. He blames toy makers for shortages, saying they don't make enough toys to go around. He adds that he makes donations to Toys for Tots and other children's charities as "a way of saying to kids: 'I'm sorry for buying up all your toys. ' " A stocky figure with a penchant for black T-shirts and baseball caps worn backward, Barger graduated from Eastern Michigan University this month with a major in marketing. He declines to discuss his income, but says he paid for college with scalping profits. "I almost never sell my stuff for less than a 100 percent markup," he says. "What stock on any of the exchanges offers that kind of return in just a few weeks? " Industry estimates are that a good scalper can make upward of $ 50,000 a year. Barger's biggest concern at the moment is moving his bulging inventory which he values at $ 200,000 in street prices to a larger home. Except for the Victorian architecture, his three-bedroom apartment might be mistaken for a toy store. Customers may, by appointment only, stop in to peruse thousands of action figures that hang five to 10 deep on foot-long metal spikes, just like the ones seen at check-out counters. Thousands more are stacked to the rafters in his garage. During visits to stores, Barger introduces himself to back-room crews and hands out business cards. On one outing, he beckons a stockroom clerk at a Toys 'R' Us outside Detroit to a quiet corner. "I'm a toy dealer," he whispers. "I buy and sell toys, lots of toys. I was wondering if you could, like, give me a call, you know, when something hot comes in. I could make it worthwhile for you. " The clerk listens carefully, nods, and after a moment's hesitation, says, "No problem, man, I'll let you know." [351b] 06-25-96 THE NEWS AND OBSERVER (RALEIGH, NC). Page D1. 1428 words. "Toy market is booming for scalpers" by Joseph Pereira, The Wall Street Journal. COMMENTARY: Same as xmr351a [352] 06-25-96 to 06-27-96 NOTE: In an interview of William Davis, the Cigarette-Smoking Man in X-Files, it is revealed that Davis teaches acting and one of is students was Lucy Lawless. Mr. Davis has a framed under glass handwritten note by Ms. Lawless which stated, "Providence brought me to the William Davis Centre and I'll thank God to my dying day for it." [KT] [352a] 06-25-96 CALGARY HERALD. Page D11. 690 words. "Cigarette turns Davis into villain" By Ian Bailey. COMMENTARY: First appearance of article. EXCERPT: A suit helps. So does a script. But William Davis needs a cigarette to play the key villain of The X-Files. It's an acting thing, Davis explains as he sits in his office at the acting school he runs when not on the Vancouver set of the spooky TV hit. Toying with a butt -- actually herbal-made smokes -- puts the Toronto native in the mood to play a character known on the show only as the Cigarette-Smoking Man.... ...For three years, X-Files has been a high-profile example of British Columbia's success attracting film and TV production. Last year, the industry pumped about $ 430 million into the economy -- up $ 30 million from 1994. Davis has had his cut, even before X-Files. He appeared in locally shot films like Look Who's Talking, and TV shows such as Airwolf and MacGyver. While working in these productions, Davis was teaching acting. He founded his own school in 1989. Graduates include Lucy Lawless, who plays Xena, Warrior Princess in the cheesy syndicated TV show of the same name. "Providence brought me to the William Davis Centre and I'll thank God to my dying day for it," Lawless says in a handwritten note, framed under glass on the wall in Davis' school. [352b] 06-27-96 THE TORONTO STAR. Page D23. 550 words. 'Toronto actor's career is smokin' William Davis the dark man on The X-Files" By Ian Bailey. COMMENTARY: Same as XMR352a. [353] 06-26-96 THE EVENING POST (WELLINGTON). Page 12. 401 words. "Poor-quality US Shows Spell Gloom Locally." by Phil Wakefield. COMMENTARY: More chatter about the sad state of New Zealand TV and how they rely on "3rd Rock from the Sun" and XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS to keep things jazzy. I just want to know what a "younger-skewing" program is...sounds particularly violent to me. [MBE] EXCERPT: TV3 PROGRAMMING chief Gary Brown is pessimistic about next year's US TV prospects. He predicts only a handful of the 90 new shows the networks will launch from September will survive the season with decent ratings. Brown and TV2 rival Andrew Shaw previewed the pilots in Los Angeles earlier this month. Shaw was circumspect in his comments on the quality but Brown readily acknowledges it was "a disappointing year" and says the US networks are out of touch with what mass audiences want. "You would expect a lot of the shows we saw to screen on cable networks, not mainstream," he says. "They won't travel that well, and I'm not just talking about ethnic comedies, either." He believes some of the mid-season entries - those shows being kept in reserve until January - offer more hope but he thinks that the outlook generally is grim. "I think it would be fair to say both TV3 and TVNZ would conclude that it's been a very lacklustre year for American product." Brown says other buyers he's spoken to feel the same, and despite a Hollywood Reporter story that quoted British and Canadian contemporaries as saying US network fare had improved. If Brown's instincts are right, the news is worse for his channel than TV2. While heavily reliant on programmes produced in the US, TV2 also has a pool of New Zealand and Australian dramas, and has started screening more British fare, such as re-runs of Prime Suspect, the Lady Chatterly mini-series and the new comedies, The Thin Blue Line and Father Ted. TV3 also is targeting more British shows. Brown says once they would have been unacceptable for his channel's profile but the British market is starting to produce younger-skewing programmes like Bugs, a TV3 acquisition that sounds like a cross between The Professionals and The Avengers. However, what truly will be TV3's salvation are further runs of hits like 3rd Rock From the Sun and Xena: Warrior Princess. "We have enormous strength in our renewals," Brown says. "We haven't lost one single programme that is going to hurt us. "The shows that have done a good job for us will be back," Brown says.... =================== CUT HERE ================= XENA MEDIA REVIEW #23 (07/28/97) Part 2 of 3