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...

