THIS WEEK IN XENA NEWS....
TWXN 65
02/01/97

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.

From the Editor:
   1. Bad news WHOOSH fans. We are having technical difficulties
at www.thirdstory.com. WHOOSH #05 was supposed to have been
released today, and by gum! it is there but it's not currently
accessible by web browser (pretty bad position for a website to
be in!). Nonetheless, rest assured we are working on the problem. 
   2. Let me praise WHOOSH #05, not bury it. WHOOSH #05 is the
ALL CONVENTION issue. We cover the highs and lows of the Burbank
Con. Lots of pictures, lots of info, and a few surprises are in
store for you once we figure out why www.thirdstory.com is acting
up.
   3. We thank you for your patience. 
   4. Since this was STAR WARS weekend, there is next to nothing
in the way of commentary (like people read this for my
commentaries). Enjoy anyway.


[    ] 01-12-97
   STAR TRIBUNE. Page 1F. 886 words. "Xena; Ode to a Grecian
warrior princess with guts, wits, awesome moves, wide-ranging
appeal - and a cult following" By Kristin Tillotson
   COMMENTARY: Hey! It's MY first media Xena interview and there
is some other stuff other than my 15 minutes of fame, too! 
   REPRINT:
   If you see a 9-year-old girl waving a stick on the playground
and shouting, "Don't tarry! Disperse these ruffians!" there's no
cause for alarm.  She's only been watching Xena.
   Finally, we know what the "X" in Generation X should stand
for: Xena, Warrior Princess, possibly the best female role model
on television. Certainly the most fun.  
   Part Greek goddess, part American Gladiator and part
"Avenger" Emma Peel, Xena is more cult hit than blockbuster.  But
already she claims a wide demographic appeal.  Grandmas as well
as fourth-graders, academics along with oafs, feminists and good
ol' boys all love this video comic-strip.  "Xena" and its sibling
action series "Hercules" (starring Mound native Kevin Sorbo and
also filmed in New Zealand) are consistently among the
highest-rated TV shows in syndication.
   Nowhere is there more evidence of Xena's popularity than on
the Net.  It could be a full-time job just to monitor the
100-plus web sites dedicated to Xena and the actress who plays
her, New Zealander Lucy Lawless.  There's a newsletter called
Whoosh - a favorite Xena sound effect - and the International
Association of Xena Studies (IAXS), an online collection of 150
musings including "Chain Mail and Its Uses on X:WP" and "The
Influence of Xena on the Medical Profession." You can even
download her war cry.
   This weekend, thousands of fans from across the country are
converging at a Burbank, Calif., hotel for a Hercules and Xena
"convention." 
   What has spawned such mass adoration?  Simple: Xena satisfies
more standard fantasy categories than any current supermodel,
movie star or pop idol. 
   - Your average ogler: If all you really want from your TV
screen is T&A, you've got a modest version of it here.  Just
cover up that codpiece if Xena catches you leering.
   - Male seeks dominatrix: A 6-foot woman in leather and studs
is the preferred, if stale, stereotype.  Xena makes it clear that
she's the boss, albeit a benevolent one.
   - I watch it for the allegory: Inside jokes and allusions to
ancient mythology help eggheads deconstruct their reasons for
taking shameless cerebral holidays.
   - Revenge of the adolescent: The plot of every installment
begins with outrage and ends with justice for the oppressed, thus
perfectly representing the lives of long-suffering teens.
   - Hangin' with the big kids: Fast pace, simple messages and a
vague, harmless hint of taboo keep the grade-schoolers
mesmerized, a happy medium between Saturday-morning cartoons and
that stuff Mom and Dad will never let 'em watch.
   - Riot grrls of all ages: Xena doesn't sacrifice sexiness for
smarts, she doesn't take any guff and she's got a killer sense of
humor. She's also true-blue to her best friend, Gabrielle, unlike
most pop-culture portrayals of female relationship dynamics,
which are filled with backbiting and competition for male
attention.
   From her metal breastplate to her over-the-knee leather boots,
Xena is all woman.  But she does not run, throw or scream "like a
girl" (to borrow the common phrase with which men try to insult
each other and, in so doing, devalue women).
   This superhero was raised on Gabrielle Reece's Nike
commercials, not "Charlie's Angels" and "Wonder Woman." Unlike
previous TV female action gals, Xena does not move, or sound,
like a paper tigress created by men, for men, but masquerading as
a feminist.  She can take out eight guys, no problem, with a
couple of war whoops, well-timed head butting and warp-speed
scissor kicks. 
   Actually, she reminds Michael Evans-Layng of his wife, Mari,
"a combination of fierce intelligence and physical beauty who
struggles to do the right thing." Evans, a 43-year-old Ph.D.
whose online fan-club handle is "xenaphile," has no trouble
admitting he likes the costume.  But he watches the show with his
5-year-old daughter, for whom he considers Xena a great
friendship role model. 
   "XWP," as its devotees call it, blends the best of what
television used to be and the best of what it can be today,
combining good old-fashioned fantasy and farce with upstanding
messages slipped in between the fisticuffs.  As for the violence,
"Three Stooges" reruns are no more likely to beget real-life
bullies. Xena is probably even less so - she has a conscience. 
   "XWP is really a bare-bones morality play, like 'Star Trek'
was in the 1960s," says Kym Taborn, who runs several Xena
websites, including IAXS, and edits Whoosh.  She cited an episode
that showed what really happens when you get skewered by a sword,
another that showed Helen's point of view about the Trojan War
and others that presented an interracial relationship without
making it a plot point.
   As Taborn optimistically puts it, "Whether by design or luck,
the creators of XWP have unleashed a new model of what a woman
can be." 
   A lofty contention, perhaps.  But any challengers might want
to download a certain war cry before lipping off themselves.   
   "Xena: Warrior Princess" airs locally on WFTC-Ch. 29, 10 p.m.
Sunday and repeats at midnight the following Saturday. Comments
may be sent via letter to Kristin Tillotson, c/o the Star
Tribune, 425 Portland Av. S., Minneapolis, MN 55488, or e-mailed
to: popstand@gw.startribune.com
   GRAPHIC: Photo of Xena


[   a] 01-12-97
   THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. January 12, 1997. Sunday. AM cycle.
Domestic News. 654 words. "People in the news"
   COMMENTARY: The first news story from the convention and it
was about Saturday's Hercules Convention.
   EXCERPT:
   ...BURBANK, Calif. (AP) - Sorry would-be matchmakers, Hercules
and Xena the warrior princess are just good friends.
   At a weekend convention devoted to the twin hit syndicated TV
shows, "Hercules" star Kevin Sorbo fielded questions from fans.
One child asked if he was going to marry Lucy Lawless, star of
"Xena Warrior Princess." 
   "She has a boyfriend I'd have to go through first," Sorbo
said. 
   Lawless was to appear on Sunday at the gathering where
thousands of fans shell out $ 18 each to buy T-shirts,
"barbarian" blades and other souvenirs. There were also
swordsmanship displays, blooper reels and special effects
demonstrations.
   "I think the stars are the appeal of the shows," said Rob
Tapert, executive producer of both shows. "Hercules is just a
super good guy, and Xena, well, she's real neat and cool."...


[    ] 01-13-97
   CHICAGO TRIBUNE. Monday. Page 5. 261 words. "'SPY GAME' Coming
to ABC this Month" By Kate O'Hare
   COMMENTARY:
   REPRINT:
   Sometime this month, ABC plans to premiere a new series from
Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert, creators and executive producers of
"Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" and "Xena: Warrior Princess,"
and John McNamara, called "Spy Game." 
   It follows close on the heels of CBS' abortive attempt to
resurrect the espionage drama, "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," which starred
Scott Bakula and Maria Bello. It is being replaced by "JAG,"
which has leaped to the CBS from NBC.  Raimi also has had some
experience with being canceled by CBS, with his critically
praised but short-lived "American Gothic." 
   Says Tapert about "Spy Game": "It's like a modern, slightly
five-minutes-into-the-future, 'Avengers'-esque show."

   Linden Ashby and Allison Smith star as Lorne Cash and Maxine
"Max" London, two brilliant but very different undercover
operatives. Since the Cold War has ended, their mission now is to
protect the United States and its government from former agents
intent on peddling their skills to the highest bidder. 
   They have gone to work for the top-secret organization called
E.C.H.O. (Emergency Counter Hostilities Organization). It is
secretly run by the President to suppress "domestic brush fires"
involving ex-agents. Its leader is Micah Simms (Bruce McCarty).   
   "There's no real formula to the stories," says Tapert. They
have different bad guys. Russians are only one of the flavors
once in a while. They take on cases on a piecemeal basis.
Sometimes they go with the government, sometimes they go against
it. Sometimes other people bring them the cases." 


[    ] 01-13-97
   USA TODAY. Monday. Page 3D. 308 words. "Killing time with
'Nikita' remake" By Matt Roush
   COMMENTARY: In a review of the cable (USA Network) TV show,
NIKITA, the reviewer stated, "As Nikita, the Australian Wilson
cuts a lithe and intriguing figure: steely and sullen, yet also
at times vulnerable and capable of bursts of awkward girlishness.
Her intensity is reminiscent of China Beach's great Marg
Helgenberger, and when she puts her blond hair in pigtail braids,
you might think Pippi Silk-Stalkings. In short, she's a package.
Xena gone Eurotrash."

