THIS WEEK IN THE XENA NEWS....
TWXN #17
08/18/96

Brought to you by Xena: Media Review (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.


Editor whine: I am back after three weeks of mosquitos
and humidity as provided by the great northern mid-
west! I have mail to plow through, an issue of RIF to
produce, and then XMR MUST BE CONTINUED! Lot's of new
Xena references (I found 60 new ones last night, not to
mention the ones I found while on vacation -- Xenamania
is everywhere!!!). Therefore, I am going to try to play
catch up with TWXN since it's the most innocuous of my
fan activities. Please bear with me! I know at the rate
I am going, I will be lucky if I am caught up
by...2000!


[   ] 08-01-96
   "A Star Trek Appreciation" By L.A. Graf [Julia
Ecklar and Karen Cercone]. THE FINAL FURY. Star Trek
Voyager. Invasion 4. Pocket Books. August 1996. ---
words. Page 299. By Dafydd Ab Hugh.
   COMMENTARY: Mention of XWP appeared in Star Trek
Pocket Books first multipart novel spanning the four
Trek manifestations. The reference was found not in the
novels, but in one of the essays contained in the final
Invasion installment. In a fanciful dialogue between
Kira and Bashir discussing their realization that they
have found themselves in a Star Trek novel, Kira
expressed her disgust in being in a novel: "We're
supposed to be back in Deep Space Nine, protecting
Federation space from the Dominion, and the
Cardassians, and the Klingons."  Bashir then added:
"Not to mention Xena: Warrior Princess."


[   ]  09-01-96
   SCI-FI ENTERTAINMENT PRESENTS SCI-FI TV FALL
PREVIEW. Vol. 2. No. 1. Page 65. --- words. "Hercules
and Xena: Greek Mythology Meets Hong Kong Action" By
Craig Reid.
   COMMENTARY: The magazine was officially titled "Sci-
fi Entertainment Presents Sci-fi TV Fall Preview", but
on the cover it called itself "Sci-Fi Flix".
   Article was a Robert Tapert interview.
   Tapert was quoted as stating, "Next season's
Hercules and Xena have many new storylines and new
characters.  Although Herc and Xena are pretty much
cemented in stone, more fun things are brewing, as well
as introducing more intelligent creatures...In Xena,
we're going to introduce a new male character, Joxer,
who will appear in about a third of the season's
episodes.  He is a 'warrior wanna-be' and will be to
Xena what Salmoneous [a traveling toga salesman] is to
Hercules, except he will be a totally different
character.  We're also going to have a few episodes
with a recurring villain from earlier on, Callisto, a
very evil warrior, played by Hudson Leick.  She is not
a martial artist.  She is a force..."
   Mentioned also was that the Christmas and Halloween
specials would be Hercules and Xena cross-overs. 
Tapert stated: "Hercules and Xena are going to do very
special Christmas stories...i don't think we'll
actually have a Christ character, but the crossover
stories will be dealt with differently for Herc and
Xena.  Think of it as three guys, who are kind of
nutballs, following some star--ancient motorcycle
riders on their camels--following a star and some
special message they have. In another Bible story, Xena
will be meeting David and Goliath, where Xena and
Goliath were best friends and she owes him a favor."
   Mr. Reid added "When asked if Xena fights David for
Goliath and wins, Tapert hedges, 'Xena does what is
right.'"
   Regarding the Halloween shows, Tapert stated: "And,
oh yes, our Halloween specials.  Both shows will have
elements that resemble Halloween but are very different
stories. In Hercules, he will battle a mummy, and in
Xena we have vampires. They will bean odd mixture of
ancient and slightly Hong Kongish vampires."
   Mr. Reid then explained the difference between
Transylvanian vampires and Chinese ones: "...the
Chinese vampire has pale green skin, yellow fangs, long
nails, and, most notably, hops after its victims like a
sleep-walking kangaroo."
   Tapert continued: "We won't explore any of the
western myths, but there is bloodsucking. It's very
exciting. These vampires are in service to somebody
else--more of an initiation. I don't want to give away
too much of the storyline."
   Specifically regarding XWP, Tapert stated: "I think
on Xena that if there is anything I would like to say,
it's that we're expanding her universe. We're actually
doing a modern-day story, not a time-warp thing, but a
modern story where Gabrielle and Xena's personalities
will be in modern people.  I'm directing a back story
episode, a moment in Xena's past. A story of betrayal
by somebody she once trusted. It has cataclysmic
consequences to her life. Right now, we're doing an
episode where Lucy plays three different characters: a
warrior, a princess, and a tramp. It will be far and
away our most slapstick episode, which is something
that's at the very root of Sam's and my consciousness."
  The article closed with Tapert stating his
appreciation at all the mail the show received and
regretted that it all can't be responded to
individually.
   

[   ] 09-01-96
   BLACK BELT. September 1996. Vol. 34. No. 9. 1876
words. Page 36. "What Puts the Punch in Hercules and
Xena? Popular TV Shows Filled With Hong-Kong Style
Martial Arts Action" By Craig D. Reid.
   COMMENTARY:  This time Dr. Reid altered his
interview article when he sold them to two different
magazines. In this interview he included quotes from
both Kevin Sorbo and Lucy Lawless.
   In discussing the Hong Kong precedents for XWP,
Tapert said: "In fact, when we pitched the idea for
Xena, i made a demo reel of four Hong Kong movies to
show the syndicators the kind of action sequences we
wanted to do in the show. We also weren't afraid to
break the rules of fight realism and go for action
that's entertaining and something that the American
television audience has never seen before." 
   Peter Bell, both show's stunt coordinator was quoted
several places in the article regarding the use of
martial art techniques, the challenges in keeping the
fight scenes fresh, and the reliance of the show on "no
shadow kick" movie technique.
   Lawless was quoted as saying: "Xena is as strong as
any man or woman has ever boon...She's sort if
dysfunctional and knows about the dark side of human
nature. She is actually the person I could have been if
I had been born to different parents." [Reid used this
exact quote in his April interviews tentative XMR217.5a
& b]]. There were further quotes regarding Lawless'
enjoyment of the fight scenes, her resentment of the
physical demands, and some of her war stories about her
black eye and her back and sinus problems.
   Kevin O'Neill, the visual special effect supervisor
was quoted as well regarding his work on the HTLJ Jason
and the Argonauts episode. [Reid wrote about this
episode in detail in his April interviews, tentative
XMR217.5a & b].
