XENA MEDIA REVIEW #28 (10/11/97) Borg 5 of 6 ================ CUT HERE ================== [480] 09-05-96 to 09-26-96 NOTE: The incredibly exciting production charts for 09/96. [480a] 09-05-96 DAILY VARIETY. Thursday. 6517 words. "TV and Cable Production Chart" COMMENTARY: Production chart for LA area: HTLJ and XWP. EXCERPT: ...MCA TELEVISION (818) 777-1242 HERCULES: THE LEGENDARY JOURNEYS (synd) (in assn w/Renaissance Pictures) EXP, Robert Tapert, Sam Raimi; CO-EXP, John Schulian; SUPR PROD, Robert Bielak; PROD, Eric Gruendemann; CO-PROD, David Eick; CASTING, Beth Hymson-Ayer. XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS (synd) (in assn w/Renassiance Pictures) EXP, Robert Tapert, Sam Raimi; CO-EXP, R.J. Stewart; SUPR PROD, Steven Sears; PROD, Eric Gruendemann; CO-PROD, Liz Friedman; CASTING, Beth Hymson-Ayer... [480b] 09-13-96 DAILY VARIETY. Friday. COMMENTARY: same as xmr480a. [480c] 09-26-96 DAILY VARIETY. Production lists. COMMENTARY: In an untitled production listing, XWP was listed after HTLJ. Same as xmr480a. [481] 09-05-96 AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN. Page E1. 992 words. "Xena's sidekick/Houstonian Renee O'Connor makes a splash with New Zealand's warrior princess" By Diane Holloway COMMENTARY: A rare interview with Rene O'Connor. This was the most extensive interview with Renee O'Connor to date. Ms. O'Connor, who is the step-daughter of the owner of Threadgill's, visited Austin, TX. Ms. O'Connor mentioned she was on her way to Africa with her mother for her 10 week break from XWP. In her contribution to the development of the Gabrielle character, Ms. O'Connor said, "Gabrielle started off spunky, spirited, wanting to be like Xena...I just made her more of a storyteller, the opposite of Xena. She's more sentimental and poetic now. That's the direction I took her. Occasionally there's some soul-searching, but mostly it's action and fun." In regard to the type of audience XWP has attracted, Ms. O'Connor stated, "Our audience is such a bizarre mix...Lucy and I have talked about it. I find it inspiring that the audience is women. I'd rather have women watching than men drooling." Ms. O'Connor also mentioned that she has a 7-year contract for XWP and plans to eventually direct. Ms. O'Connor discussed her experience in climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro in a TV interview on VIBE in late September 1997. [KT] REPRINT: It's a long way from the mythical world of "Xena: Warrior Princess," the popular action- adventure series produced in New Zealand, to the wooden tables and mouth-watering smells of Threadgill's Restaurant in Austin. Renee O'Connor, the refreshingly unspoiled Texan who plays Xena's feisty sidekick, recently made the trek to pick up her mother, Sandra Wilson, who's married to Threadgill's owner Eddie Wilson. The plan is to whisk her off, in a couple of weeks, on an exotic vacation that promises to be almost as action-packed as a typical episode of "Xena." "We're heading for Africa -- to float down the Nile, see the Pyramids, climb Mount Kilimanjaro and go on safari in Kenya," said O'Connor. The close mother and daughter are leaving Wilson at home. O'Connor has flown her mother to New Zealand three times since "Xena" debuted last year. Now on a 10-week hiatus, O'Connor and her mother plan to spend some offbeat quality time together on a grand adventure. Which is not to say O'Connor doesn't get along fine with her stepfather, who's been a member of the family for five years. "I like him," she said. "I think he'll keep me around for a while." Wilson served ice cream at a recent autograph-signing event in Austin for his stepdaughter. As fans gathered around O'Connor, Wilson scooped and smiled. "It's long been known that I'm the luckiest man in town," Wilson said, pulling up a chair near his wife and stepdaughter during a recent interview at Threadgill's. Wilson brags about O'Connor and the show whenever he gets the chance. "I tell everybody it's a medieval 'Gunsmoke' for girls," he said. "It's a little morality play. And the good guys don't just win, they kick b*tt." A spinoff of Kevin Sorbo's popular series "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys," "Xena" (Saturdays at 9 p.m. on KNVA Channel 54) was last season's highest-rated new syndicated series and is attracting a worldwide following. The show mixes mythology, action, contemporary language, moral messages and humor Actress gives comic relief Statuesque New Zealand actor Lucy Lawless stars as the fierce warrior heroine with a dark past. O'Connor's character, the fast- talking Gabrielle, provides much of the comic relief. "They actually wanted someone younger," said O'Connor, who is 25 but looks like a teenager. O'Connor, who was born in Houston and caught the acting bug studying at the Alley Theatre, made her professional debut in 1989 in the serial "Teen Angel," a regular feature on the Disney Channel's "Mickey Mouse Club." She turned 18 on the set in Arizona, where the serial was filmed, and then headed for Los Angeles. "It was exciting," O'Connor said. "It's actually similar to Houston -- a big city with lots of driving. I sort of kept to myself. I don't think I have a single friend who's an actor. It's very easy to fall into that Hollywood club scene, and I didn't want to do that. I wanted to stay close to my roots. I knew I had to stay focused to succeed." Among O'Connor's credits are the movie "The Adventures of Huck Finn" and TV movies such as ABC's "Follow the River" with Ellen Burstyn, NBC's "Danielle Steel's Changes," "The Flood" and James Garner's second "Rockford Files" reunion movie. O'Connor came to the attention of executive producers Rob Tapert and Sam Raimi when she auditioned for and won the role of Deianeira in "Hercules and the Lost Kingdom," the TV movie that inspired the series. "Gabrielle started off spunky, spirited, wanting to be like Xena," O'Connor said. "I just made her more of a storyteller, the opposite of Xena. She's more sentimental and poetic now. That's the direction I took her. Occasionally there's some soul-searching, but mostly it's action and fun." Playing an over-the-top, cartoon-type character might seem confining to some actors, but O'Connor likes it. "I actually have more freedom," she said. "There are no boundaries to what people expect." Because the cast and crew work nine months a year, 14 hours a day on the other side of the world, O'Connor was unaware of the show's popularity until recently. "It just started airing in New Zealand, so there's been no reaction there," O'Connor said. "We hear feedback from the production company in Los Angeles, and that's exciting. I've been curious to see what the spin is on the audience." Perhaps surprisingly, the audience is mostly young women, ranging in age from 14 and younger to 20s and 30s. The audience for Sorbo's "Hercules" is overwhelmingly female, many of whom are ardent, letter-writing, poster-buying fans. Apparently the well-toned Xena, whose warrior outfits are pretty skimpy, doesn't have a lot of opposite sex appeal. "Our audience is such a bizarre mix," O'Connor said. "Lucy and I have talked about it. I find it inspiring that the audience is women. I'd rather have women watching than men drooling." When the series is in production, O'Connor lives in an apartment in Auckland and has picked up a bit of an accent. "I guess I'm a bona fide Kiwi," she said, referring to the nickname for New Zealanders. Although she has a stunt double for dangerous scenes, O'Connor enjoys the action part of her job. "I love stunts, anything physical," said O'Connor, who runs and recently took up boxing and martial arts. "You have to have a certain amount of endurance to keep up with the show." As for the future, O'Connor has a seven-year contract for "Xena" and then hopes to move behind the camera. Seven years, a long way from home. "So far, so good. I like the people I'm working with," she said. "I hope to go into the production side of the business. I'd really like to direct. There aren't many women who can direct action films. I think it'd be a shame not to use what I've learned." GRAPHIC: Lucy Lawless, left, and Renee O'Connor star in 'Xena: Warrior Princess,' the popular syndicated television show. Produced in New Zealand, the show mixes mythology, action, contemporary language, moral messages and humor. Eddie Wilson, owner of Threadgill's, hugs his wife, Sandra, left, and stepdaughter, Renee O'Connor during the actress' recent visit. O'Connor was in Austin to whisk her mother away on a vacation. Texas actress Renee O'Connor plays the fast-talking Gabrielle, who provides much of the comic relief on 'Xena: Warrior Princess' [482] 09-05-96 AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN. Page 28. 561 words. "Bang! You're fried; In laser tag, everyone's got a blaster and a license to kill" By Deborah J. Wolfinsohn COMMENTARY: In an article about laser tag, the writer slyly referred to XWP by stating that, "After choosing your own code name (like Xena, or Stretch, or perhaps Bronx Thug) you proceed to the 'airlock' where, flashing vests strapped on, guns in hand, you recite the rules, such as 'I will not run or cover my target,' and 'I will play fair.'" [KT] EXCERPT: Imagine yourself in an almost pitch-black, black-lit, futuristic environment, smoke billowing around you as you make your way down a narrow passageway leading to a tower. Mirrors everywhere make it hard to see what's a wall and what isn't. Techno music pumps from invisible speakers. You wear a vest covered with flashing lights that you wouldn't be caught dead in anywhere else, but here, it makes perfect sense. You grip a gun in your hand. All of a sudden, you're hit! You look down at your gun to see who the culprit is. A second grader in glasses called "Catwoman" runs away, giggling.... ...From the outside, Laser Quest isn't much to look at, unadorned except for a poster hung in the cracked marquee of the (former) Highland Mall movie theater. But inside, you're greeted with a clash between the future and the stone age, with scary looking gargoyles painted in fluorescent paint peering out from between neon, laser-like lights. Employees play along, and are referred to by their code names -- Gambit, Logic, Raven, Andar. After choosing your own code name (like Xena, or Stretch, or perhaps Bronx Thug) you proceed to the "airlock" where, flashing vests strapped on, guns in hand, you recite the rules, such as "I will not run or cover my target," and "I will play fair." Then it begins, you and 30 other people, kids and adults alike, speeding through an 8,000-square-foot maze. Blink as your eyes adjust to the darkness, illuminated with black lights. Expect to get shot ("tagged") a lot in the beginning. When you get shot, your gun vibrates in your hand, and you go "dead" (lights off) for five seconds.... [483] 09-06-96 THE TORONTO SUN. Friday. Page 77. 574 words. "Adventures for this Season; Roadcrew, the New Superman Help Kick-off the Fall Lineup Action" By Claire Bickley COMMENTARY: After a review of the new Superman cartoon, a brief mention was made of XWP in context to The Adventures of Sinbad. Sinbad will play in Toronto the same night as XWP and HTLJ. [KT] EXCERPT: ...JERRY'S DEAD, MAN, WHAT'S MY MOTIVATION? Following Superman tomorrow night at 9 is the launch of the live-action series The Adventures Of Sinbad, which will move to Sunday afternoons as a Hercules-Xena companion piece Oct. 5. Since I couldn't get around to taking a look, take the word of Toronto comic and Sinbad cast member Tim Progosh.... [484] 09-06-96 THE PALM BEACH POST. Friday. Page 1F. 765 words. By Paul Lomartire COMMENTARY: Article about the stress involved when local TV stations add, subtract and stupefy viewers with scheduling changes. The article mentioned XWP's switch from local station WFLX-29 (Fox) to WTVX-34 (UPN). [KT] EXCERPT: Hey, what happened to Hercules? Where's Tempestt and what in the heck is Dan Aykroyd's Psi Factor? What's going on here? What's going on is a new TV season when local stations add, subtract and stupefy some viewers with scheduling changes.... ...Here's a scorecard to help you track your favorite syndicated shows:... ...WFLX-Channel 29 (Fox)... ...Gone from 'FLX: The Outer Limits, Tempestt (canceled nationally), The Montel Williams Show (to WPBF), The Gordon Elliott Show (to WPEC late night), Hercules and Xena, Tales From the Crypt (to WTVX), Sightings and Jim and Ann (out of production).... ...WTVX-Channel 34 UPN... ...Sinbad, premiering Sept. 22, is a live action/adventure that will appeal to fans of Hercules and Xena, both of which move to 'TVX from WFLX-Channel 29 (Fox) beginning Sept. 28.... [485] 09-07-96 TV GUIDE. Saturday. Page 10. 678 words. "Cheers & Jeers" COMMENTARY: Pondering whether there was a correlation between action stars and singing, the TV Guide Cheers & Jeers section cheered both Lucy Lawless' and Jackie Chan's singing on two different talk shows the same week. Ms. Lawless' sang "I'm an Old Cowhand (from the Rio Grande)" on the 08-16-96 Rosie O'Donnell Show, a syndicated TV daily talk show. [KT] In case anyone forgot, this appearance on Rosie O'Donnell led to Lawless signing to do "Grease" on Broadway. [DS] EXCERPT: CHEERS to unexpected talents. Recently two celebrities turned up on talk shows armed with more than the usual idle chitchat. On The Rosie O'Donnell Show, Lucy Lawless, the strapping star of Xena: Warrior Princess, brought down the house with a ringing rendition of "I'm an Old Cowhand (from the Rio Grande)." Just the previous day, acrobatic martial-arts star Jackie Chan ("Supercop") unexpectedly tore into a heartfelt version of Elvis's "Can't Help Falling in Love" during an appearance on Fox After Breakfast. In his vibrant tangerine-colored suit, Chan looked like the King of Karaoke. Given the physical nature of Chan and Lawless's work, it strikes us that maybe there's a correlation between action stars and singing. OK, Arnold, start practicing your scales. [486] 09-07-96 THE TAMPA TRIBUNE. Saturday. Page 7. 1765 words. "Columbia Brandon Regional Medical Center" COMMENTARY: Not a Xena XWP reference, but on August 5th in Tampa, Florida, a new Xena entered into the world, Alexis Xena Marie Lanier. EXCERPT: ...Aug. 5... ...Jeffery Lanier and Sheri Spicola Quick (Alexis Xena Marie)... [487] 09-08-96 SACRAMENTO BEE. Page EN12. 2200 words. "Mad about Syndication" By Dan Vierria COMMENTARY: In a review of the new season's freshman syndicated offerings, Mr. Vierra blamed the "huge success" of XWP and HTLJ for the appearance of "Tarzan: The Epic Adventures" and "The Adventures of Sinbad." [KT] It's good to have someone to blame because Tarzan and Sinbad are pretty darn awful. Is this kind of imitation really flattery? [DS] EXCERPT: ...* Time for action: The huge success of "Xena: Warrior Princess" and "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" in recent seasons explains two new entries in the action-adventure genre -- "Tarzan: The Epic Adventures" and "The Adventures of Sinbad."... [488] 09-08-96 THE SUNDAY STAR-TIMES (AUCKLAND). Page 11. 791 words. "Kiwi movies reel in money." By Mark Henderson COMMENTARY: Yet another story about the booming film and television industry in New Zealand. Both HERCULES and XWP are named as big employers in an industry that now makes more money than New Zealand's wine and venison industries. The article also mentions "Topless Woman Talk About Their Lives", a New Zealand film that was in post-production and stars Danielle Cormack, the famed Amazon, Ephiny, from XWP. The movie has now been released. For more information on it, see Danielle Cormack's interview in the September, 1997, WHOOSH. [DS] REPRINT: MOVIE-MAKING in New Zealand has shot from bit player to starring role as dollar earner and employer. The Kiwi film and television industries generated $86 million in foreign exchange earnings in the 1994-95 financial year, double the previous year's take. The production of big screen adventure and lounge room escapism has eclipsed combined returns from the domestic wine and venison industries. Hit television shows such as Hercules and Xena -- the Warrior Princess provide reliable employment each season for more than 300 people, including actors, directors, producers, writers, art directors, costume designers, carpenters, electricians, and animal handlers. New Zealand averages six feature films a year. Two Kiwi films are in post-production -- The Ugly and Topless Woman Talk About Their Lives -- for release early next year. The Climb, a joint New Zealand-French co-production, starring John Hurt, is shooting in Auckland. The movie has a $5 million budget and Kiwi production company Isambard has more than 100 people on the payroll, including 70 New Zealanders. The weekly wages bill for the six-week shoot is $170,000. Isambard will team with the French and the Canadians over the next two years to produce 11 more movies. Around six of the features will be filmed in New Zealand. "We have a fantastic pool of talent in New Zealand," said Simon Clegg, Isambard's head of business and legal affairs. "There is enough expertise to go around, although you wouldn't want six features to be in production here at once." "The success of television's Hercules had "bumped local crew money up", said Mr. Clegg. "They now have more of a feel for their value in international terms." Overseas buyers look first for creative ideas, said Lindsay Shelton, marketing director of the NZ Film Commission. "It might help to have a big overseas star in your movie, but the key elements are our own directors, writers and producers." Most recent New Zealand-made international attention-grabbers were Once Were Warriors, sold to 60 countries, and Heavenly Creatures, also screening around the world. The surge in television and movie joint ventures with overseas producers had been a boon to this notoriously unreliable job market. "It is difficult to get accurate employment figures because there is a large base of freelancers," said Jo Tyndall, executive director of Project Blue Sky. The industry agency had a mandate to "increase the foreign exchange earning potential of New Zealand movies". An agency survey from 1994 showed around 1500 full-time and 1600 part-timers were employed in film and TV production work. Those figures would be "substantially larger" when the next survey was completed in November, said Ms Tyndall. Precarious Project Blue Sky last year estimated the combined value of the film and television industry at $633 million. Employment in the movie business was always cyclic and precarious, said Gerben Cath, the director of South Seas Film and Television School in Auckland. "But film and television production is now a bone fide career. Surveys of our students show a 90% job retention rate. "There has been a steady increase in job opportunities," said Mr. Cath. Big budget movies mainly take on experienced freelancers, but this creates openings down the line for graduates. "The movie business was a "huge growth industry" in New Zealand, said Tony Lansdown, the executive director of the Film and Electronic Media Industry Training Organization (FaME), formed late last year. FaME has taken responsibility for setting training standards and was established out of a desire for the production industry "to get its act together," said Mr. Lansdown. "If the industry is to grow at its current rate, it requires appropriately trained people and a consistent standard of skills training." Although features are the sexy end of the film industry, much of New Zealand's movie talent and school graduates cut their production teeth on the less expensive short films and television. The film commission is convinced more government support for show business will reap dividends for the economy. In a (failed) bid for a significant increase in the Government's investment grant this year, the commission argued that an additional $10 million would attract an equal amount of foreign investment. The resulting $20 million would, it estimated, earn New Zealand $36 million through production company spending -- hire cars, hotels and services -- and additional tourism. Additionally, movie production would produce $28 million in wages and salaries. GRAPHIC: HIT...Lucy Lawless, the star of Xena. HIT...Kevin Sorbo, star of Hercules [489] 09-08-96 THE HOUSTON CHRONICLE. Television; Reruns. Page 8. 719 words. "Williams happy to leave acting behind." By David Martindale. COMMENTARY: Anson Williams directed the second-season episode, REMEMBER NOTHING -- a Xenite favorite. Here The Houston Chronicle profiles his directing career. [DS] EXCERPT: If it weren't for ''Happy Days,'' Anson Williams might not have discovered his true calling as a director. Williams still is widely remembered as Warren ''Potsie'' Webber on Happy Days, a 1970s sitcom about life in the '50s. But he has spent much of the past decade directing such TV series as SeaQuest, Melrose Place, Beverly Hills, 90210, Hercules and Xena. Now he finds it hard to imagine going back to acting full-time. "I just decided to put all my efforts behind the camera,'' he says. ''I feel much more satisfied. '' Happy Days (1974-84) played an indirect part in his arriving at that decision. Williams, 46, credits Ron Howard - his Happy Days costar, now an A-list director of feature films - for prodding him to direct. ''I always had a focus to write and produce,'' he says. ''The first thing I wrote that went to film was Skyward, with Bette Davis, in 1980. Ron directed it, and I produced it. But actually I wasn't satisfied. I found that just producing was kind of cold. It was Ron who said I should direct. '' Even though he has put acting behind him, Williams remains fond of Happy Days. ''I travel all around the world, and I meet people from totally different cultures who relate to the show. They have no reason to relate to it. I mean, a show about 1950s Americana is pretty far removed from where some of the people's lives are. Once I was recognized by someone in Africa who was literally from a tribe. He didn't know English, but he knew me and he related to my character. '' Now the time might be right for a Happy Days renaissance. Beginning next week, Nick at Nite will sign on at 7 p.m. each weeknight with back-to-back episodes. As a warm-up this week, the network devotes four hours each weeknight (7 to 11 p.m.) to vintage episodes of the show. Happy Days often has been called an American Graffiti rip-off, but Williams begs to differ. He ought to know. He and Howard co-starred in the series pilot in 1972, a year before American Graffiti's 1973 premiere. ''I auditioned with about 300 other people and got the pilot, but it didn't sell. It ended up running as an episode of Love American Style. A year later, American Graffiti came out and ABC said, 'Hey, didn't we have a pilot like that? ' I had to audition all over again to get the same role. '' Upcoming shows directed by Williams include Xena (the week of Oct. 7) and Hercules (the week of Oct.21)... ================ CUT HERE ================== XENA MEDIA REVIEW #28 (10/11/97) Borg 5 of 6