THIS WEEK IN XENA  NEWS...  
TWXN 111
09/23/97
Tuesday

The advance sheet of XENA MEDIA REVIEW (XMR):
http://xenafan.com/xmr

Excerpts from the following cites will appear in future
issues of XMR.

From the editor:

1. I need MORE volunteers! This is news? I could use
help in posting TWXN on the NetForum, Xenite Message
Center, and alt.tv.xena. If anyone who frequents any of
these places would be so kind as to post TWXN for me, I
would be greatly appreciative!!! If you want to join
the family here at Bill Gates, oops, I mean, Kym Taborn
Labors of Love (I would prefer the Satellite of Love,
but we all know HOW THOSE things go), then e-mail me
at...where else... ktaborn@lightspeed.net and tell me
that YOU want to help me in my quest for total world
domination. 

2. I am still puttering around with XMR #27 but it
looks like it has a great chance of going out either
today or tomorrow (or I might opt to take out some time
to eat and then it may go out Thursday...). WHOOSH #13
will be released on October 1st. Big week: the
beginning of the new XWP season, Renee O'Connor's first
convention appearance, and WHOOSH's first year
anniversary issue. Be still my heart.

3.  WARNING: We begin coverage of the Red Wings
incident. 


And now here's the news:


[    ] 05-08-97
   THE TIMES UNION (Albany, NY). Thursday. Page D1.
1060 words. "Telejoke Inside jokes have been around for
years, but only the true teleliterate get them" By Rob
Owen. TV/Radio writer
   COMMENTARY: This is actually a fascinating book and
Bianculli is onto something here. It sure helps is
understanding why XWP seems so dumb and so hip at the
same time. 
   EXCERPT:
   Sometimes art imitates life imitating art.
   Take tonight's ''Seinfeld,'' for instance. Kramer
leads a bus tour of sites mentioned in the
autobiography of catalog guru J. Peterman the fictional
J. Peterman, not the real one. The storyline is a
parody of Kenny Kramer the real Kramer, not the
fictional one who gives tours of ''Seinfeld'' sites in
Manhattan.     
   Confused yet?
   Although it's not necessary to know that this
''Seinfeld'' (9 p.m. on WNYT, Ch. 13) spoofs the guy
who inspired one of its characters, being aware of the
background adds to the fun. 
   Understanding such jokes is a sign of
''teleliteracy,'' according to New York Daily News TV
critic David Bianculli, author of the 1992 book
''Teleliteracy'' ($ 12, Touchstone) and ''Dictionary of
Teleliteracy'' ($ 29.95, Continuum), published last
year.
   Bianculli contends that inside jokes, recurring
characters and humor involving multiple levels of
reality make TV more enjoyable for both viewers and a
show's writers. Bianculli said such elements are
present in shows ranging from ''The Simpsons'' to
''Chicago Hope'' to ''Xena: Warrior Princess.''


[    ] 05-08-97
   THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER. Thursday. Sports. Page
D13. 734 words. "Hebert likely to sit out at least one
more game to get healthy. Ducks Notes: The All-Star
goaltender is optimistic, but Coach Wilson said he
won't play until Game 5 at the earliest" By Cammy
Clark; Earl Bloom, The Orange County Register
   COMMENTARY: A unique article in that it does not
mention Ms. Lawless' unfortunate incident.
   EXCERPT:
   ...Wilson was obviously unfamiliar with Lucy
Lawless, who sang the national anthem Tuesday night at
The Pond.  "I thought it was Wonder Woman," Wilson said
of the actress who plays Xena Warrior Princess on
television....


[   b] 05-08-97
   THE DETROIT NEWS. Thursday. Sports. Page F3. 569
words. "NHL Insider" by John Niyo & Cynthia Lambert
   COMMENTARY: But, the Detroit news noticed!
   EXCERPT:
   ...There were other celebrity sightings -- not the
least of which was Lucy Lawless (a.k.a. Xena, the
Warrior Princess), who provided an accidental
striptease during an awful rendition of the national
anthem...


[   c] 05-08-97
   THE DETROIT NEWS. Thursday. Page C1. 317 words.
"Lawless wakes with realization she had flashed a TV
audience" By Tim Kiska. Detroit News Television Writer
   COMMENTARY:
   REPRINT:
   Lucy Lawless stars in "Xena Warrior Princess." She
bared a breast as she sang "The Star-Spangled Banner"
before the Red Wings playoff game Tuesday night.
   By Tim Kiska
   Detroit News Television Writer
   Last week, Ellen DeGeneres came out of the closet.
This week, Lucy Lawless -- star of TV's campy Xena:
Warrior Princess -- came out of her costume.  
   The star had been tapped to sing "The Star Spangled
Banner" at Tuesday night's Detroit Red Wings-Anaheim
Mighty Ducks hockey playoff game, which was televised
locally on Channel 50 (WKBD).
   Lawless was almost finished when her top popped out
of her gaudy, tight-fitting, flag-striped costume,
which she described to WOMC-FM (104.3) radio host Dick
Purtan Thursday morning as "Uncle Sam meets Hugh
Hefner."
   Channel 50 viewers apparently took the incident in
stride (the station got only one complaint call, and 10
from folks wanting a rebroadcast). But producers were
stunned as Lawless' breast waved in the air while she
concluded with "... home of the brave."
   "Coronary failure," was how Toby Cunningham, in
charge of Wings' broadcasts for Channel 50, described
his feelings in the control booth in Anaheim. "I saw my
career pass before me. I was stunned, to tell you the
truth.
   "I've never seen anything like this at a sporting
event," Cunningham, who has been involved in televising
hockey for 20 years, added in a phone call. He quickly
ordered cameras shifted to a less revealing angle.
   The event came full circle on Purtan's show
Wednesday.
   WOMC sports director Mark Andrews had approached the
Wings last December about getting a guest national
anthem shot for Lawless, whom he knows through his
wife, Amy. Mark Andrews then got Lawless on the
telephone with Purtan to talk about the breast
incident.
   As Lawless told Purtan: "I'm just waking up with the
shocking news that I've been flashing on national
television."


[   d] 05-08-97
   DAILY NEWS (New York). Thursday. Page 114. 787
words. "early look at what peacock is hatching for its
fall Sked"
   COMMENTARY:
   EXCERPT:
   ...Tube topper
   Yes, sports fans, that was "Xena" beauty Lucy
Lawless popping out of her top on last night's WNBC/Ch.
4 sportscasts...
   The leggy Lawless was on the ice Tuesday night to
sing the national anthem before the Detroit-Anaheim NHL
playoff game.
   Lawless, wearing a bustier-type outfit, raised her
hands to hit a high note, and, whoops.
   Ch. 4 aired the clip during the sports segment with
a black bar across her bosom....


[    ] 05-08-97
   DAILY VARIETY. Thursday. 1592 words. "TV creatures
gang up on film monsters" By Simon Bacal. 
   COMMENTARY: Some interesting side comments about
special effects production for XWP.
   REPRINT:
   When it comes to today's film and TV monsters,
Hollywood's growing group of creature creators is using
a wide variety of techniques to conjure up some
challenging, imaginative and gut-wrenching fright
sights...
   ...Equally challenging are television's expanding
plethora of digital devils --- even though there are
major differences between their conception and that of
feature film effects...
   ..."TV and feature work are on opposite sides of the
spectrum," says Kevin Kutchaver, who with partners
Kevin O'Neill and Doug Beswick heads Flat Earth Prods.,
a company that uses Macintosh and Carrera Alpha systems
and such software as Newtek's Lightwave 3-D to invoke
the digital creatures seen in the fantasy shows "Xena:
Warrior Princess" and "Hercules: The Legendary
Journeys." "When we receive the script, we often have
about five weeks to deliver the final render --- about
half the schedule of some feature films," says
Kutchaver, whose budget can reach $ 130,000 within a
single episode. "On the bigscreen, a flying skeleton
--- one of our many creatures --- would probably reach
down and grab an actor in one shot, but in a TV show
that skeleton can only fly down and take a swipe at
somebody --- thanks to tighter time constraints."...
   ...


[   e] 05-09-97
   THE TORONTO SUN. Friday. Sports. Page 126. 783
words. "the Last Word" By Bill Lankhof, Toronto Sun
   COMMENTARY: The last of today's Red Wings games
coverage.
   EXCERPT:
   ...BREAST OF MIGHTY DUCK: The Red Wings-Ducks series
gets a Triple X-rating. First we have sexcapades in the
back rows of Joe Louis Arena. Prior to Game 3, as Lucy
Lawless, star of Xena: Warrior Princess, finished the
national anthem with a wave, she became, ahem ... Lucy
Braless. She fell out of her top.
   Oh say, can you see? ... Too much! Detroit's Channel
50 got a TV lens full of breast. "I've never seen
anything like this at a sporting event,'' said
production manager Toby Cunningham. Actually, some of
us have never seen anything like this anywhere. 
   The station got one complaint. Oh, and 10 viewers
wanted a replay...
   ...NOTES: Oh baby, local gal getting graphic in a
BIG way ... Xena star has...


NOTICES:

All back issues of XMR and TWXN are available at
(http://xenafan.com/xmr). We herein give praise and
thanks to Tom Simpson for the space he has graciously
donated from his spectacular, TOM'S XENA PAGE
(http://xenafan.com). If you have never been there, you
are **not** a xenafan! And congrats on Tom finding the
woman of his dreams. I wish them all the happiness in
the world and look forward to the wedding of the
decade.

TWXN is the advance sheet for XMR, an annotated world
press review of reports regarding the internationally
syndicated television show XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS (1995
- 2000) and the castmembers, Lucy Lawless and Renee
O'Connor. TWXN is not available for subscription,
however it is posted regularly on the XenaVerse,
Hercules-Xena, and Chakram Mailing Lists (thank you
Lucia! I am greatly indebted to you), the MCA NetForum,
the Xenite Message Center, and alt.tv.xena. I also
would like to thank sirvin@law.wfu.edu for assistance
in collecting the newstories. For a free e-mail
subscription to XMR subscribe by e-mail to
ktaborn@lightspeed.net by stating somewhere in the
subject or text "sub xmr". 


