THIS WEEK IN XENA NEWS....


TWXN 64


01/29/97





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.











[    ] 01-09-97


   DENVER WESTWORD. Thursday. 1719 words. "Letters"


   COMMENTARY: Letter to an editor complained about a


prominent person being characterized in cartoon


effigies. The writer commented, "What gives with the


cartoon effigies of Patricia Calhoun? The Rocky


Mountain News once had a photo that depicted Patricia


sturdy as TV's Xena: Warrior Princess, albeit a bit


fatigued."


   This is more evidence of how deeply XWP is becoming


ingrained not just on popular culture, but political


and civic as well.








[    ] 01-10-97


   THE ORLANDO SENTINEL. Friday. Page E1. 1074 words.


"Xena, Herc: the Stuff of TV Legends; Fantasy, Action


Win Loyal Fans" By Jim Abbott


   EXCERPT:


   Kathy Ross generally doesn't do things on the spur


of the moment - and she doesn't watch much TV.


   The 28-year-old Orlando resident - an exercise


physiologist with a master's degree from the University


of Central Florida - says most prime-time fare is


"totally ridiculous." 


   But she can't miss Xena: Warrior Princess, the


syndicated series that combines elements of mythology


with martial arts action administered by a leather-clad


beauty.


  "My family thinks I'm crazy," Ross said. "My husband


doesn't, luckily."    


   Ross isn't alone in her devotion.


   Xena and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys have


inspired a following reminiscent of the original Star


Trek TV series.    


   Few in the TV industry anticipated that Hercules


would spark such interest when it debuted in January


1995. Nine months later, the show had spawned a spinoff


in Xena.


   Each week, the syndicated dramas are viewed by


millions in the United States. Internationally, the


shows air in 15 to 20


countries, including Germany, France, Argentina,


Australia and the location where they are filmed - New


Zealand. An international Hercules/Xena convention is


planned for Saturday and Sunday in Burbank, Calif.


   Thousands of fans communicate on the World Wide Web,


which includes MCA TV's two official show sites and an


expanding array of privately produced home pages.


Sometimes they find themselves doing things they never


imagined.    


   Ross, for instance, jetted to Los Angeles on a whim


in October to get in the studio audience for The


Tonight Show With Jay Leno. All because she heard the


night before that Xena star Lucy Lawless was to be a


guest.    


   This summer, she auditioned - unsuccessfully - to


play the Xena character at Universal Studios Florida -


despite having no acting experience and being 10 inches


shorter than the required height.    


   The popularity of Xena and Hercules is responsible


for a new wave of gothic fantasy fare on TV this season


- including Tarzan: The Epic Adventures (which filmed


its original two-hour pilot in Central Florida), The


Adventures of Sinbad, and The New Adventures of Robin


Hood, a show that debuts Monday on TNT. Highlander,


another action series in the genre, is in its fifth


season.    


   Season-to-date, Sinbad and Highlander rank in the


Top 10 among nationally syndicated dramas, drawing an


average of about 4 million viewers each. Tarzan


finishes at No. 21, with 2.4 million.


   Without the success of Hercules, there wouldn't be a


Robin Hood, said Lisa Mateas, senior vice president of


programming at TNT.


   "You always need something to prove that people will


watch," Mateas said. "Because Hercules has done so


well, it allows for other shows of the same type to


come along."


   So far this season, Hercules and Xena rank second


and third in ratings for U.S. households among


syndicated dramas behind Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.


Hercules averages 8 million viewers a week, with Xena


drawing 7.8 million.    


   Gothic fantasy shows such as Hercules and Xena owe


their identity to classic literature and mythology - as


well as the cartoonish fight scenes of Hong Kong


movies. Although the characters are different, each


show features a common thread of nonstop action,


good-looking stars and a battle between good and evil.


   Advertisers like the shows because they attract a


broad audience of men, women and children, an industry


observer said.    


   "They do well across almost all demographics," said


Donna Hathaway, a vice president with Advanswers Media


in St. Louis, a company that sells TV time to


advertisers. "They've done a fine job of promoting


them."    


   Rob Tapert, co-executive producer of both shows with


filmmaker Sam Raimi, said the key is to create likable


characters.


   "The success tells me very specifically that people


don't want to turn on their TV to invite a bad guy into


their living room every week," said Tapert, who


experienced the industry's down side as producer of the


short-lived Fox series M.A.N.T.I.S. "They want somebody


they like."


   Ross agrees. That's why she videotapes Xena and fits


it into her busy schedule - something she doesn't


bother to do with Seinfeld, NYPD Blue, ER or other


mainstream offerings.


   Ross prefers Xena to such testosterone-fueled heroes


as Rambo, James Bond, the Terminator - and even


Hercules.


   "You don't see that many strong women characters out


there," Ross said. "She's a lover and a mother and a


friend - she wears all the hats."    


   Ross appreciates the positive moral messages she


finds in Xena, where the allusions are just as often


biblical as sexual.


   Another fan said the same about Hercules, which


stars Kevin Sorbo as the mythological son of Zeus and


Alcmene.


   Kristine Mayer, a psychologist in Tulsa, Okla.,


started watching Hercules with her sons - 7 and 4 -


about a month before the Oklahoma City bombing.    


   "Right around the time that we were basically losing


our innocence countrywide, this was one bright spot I


could focus my kids on," Mayer said. "It's a true


escape show that's silly and harmless, and it has


ethical points."    


   It also has vast marketing potential. Action figures


and sound-effect swords inspired by the shows are


moving briskly in toy stores throughout the country,


according to Toy Biz, the New York company that makes


them.    


   In the works are computer screen-savers, interactive


video games, mugs, apparel and novels for adults and


kids.


   Both series are renewed through 1998, and Tapert


expects them to continue another two years after that.


There's also an


animated direct-to-video movie scheduled for release


next year and a Young Hercules project under


discussion. If a feature film is made, it will probably


be 10 years down the road, Tapert said.    Equally


important, Xena and Herc are earning a place in popular


culture via the tube, said Brad Carpenter,


merchandising and marketing director for Renaissance


Pictures.


   Xena, for instance, is the favorite show of the


fictional characters Kevin and Jamie (Ron Eldard, Rob


Schneider) on NBC's Men Behaving Badly. A fantasy scene


in a Roseanne episode last season was a direct


reference to a Xena story line.


   "It's a cultural thing now," Carpenter said. "The


way Star Trek influenced pop culture, that's exactly


what's happening with Hercules and Xena."...


   ...GRAPHIC: (1 & 2) X-Women. Exercise physiologist


Kathy Ross (above) is a big-time fan of 'Xena' star


Lucy Lawless (top). (3) Lucy Lawless who portrays 'Xena


Warrior Princess.' (4) Power play. Who knew? Kevin


Sorbo portrays Hercules in the show that few in the TV


industry thought would become so popular. (5) Tarzan


returns. The success of 'Xena' and 'Hercules' led to


this season's syndicated Tarzan series with Joe Lara


and Lydie Denier. 








[    ] 01-10-97


   CALGARY HERALD. Friday. Page D8. 110 words. "Mything


something?"


   COMMENTARY: News of yet another XWP clone...ROAR!


   REPRINT:


   In case you haven't noticed, mythology is in as a


series subject these days, what with the success of the


syndicated Hercules, Xena: Warrior Princess and Sinbad. 


   Now it looks like the Celts are about to ring in,


thanks to Sean Cassidy and Universal TV. The actor-cum-


writer/producer is getting ready to exec-produce a


pilot he's created for a series to be called Roar,


based on the last warring tribes of Ireland. 


   Or, as the production team describes them, "the


original heavy metal gangs." 


   It'll focus on a main character named Conor, contain


much music and magic and, if all goes according to


plan, show up on the Fox network by fall. 








[    ] 01-11-97


   CHATTANOOGA FREE PRESS. Saturday. Page B6. 926


words. "Was Dubbing Used For Hawkins' Voice?" By Dick


Kleiner.


   COMMENTARY: It is only 11 days into 1997, and yet we


may have come to the most bizarre Q&A question for the


entire year of 1997!!!!!


   EXCERPT:


   ...Q. For about a month, my mother and I have been


wondering if Lucy Lawless, the star of "Xena," is


Lucille Ball's and Desi Arnaz's daughter. Is she? Also,


could you tell me if the '67 movie Thoroughly Modern


Millie is out on a video? 


   -- C.P., Palm City, Fla.


   A. The only Ball/Arnaz daughter is Lucie Arnaz, who


isn't Lucy Lawless. And, yes, there is a VCR on


Thoroughly Modern Millie...