THIS WEEK IN XENA NEWS....
TWXN 67
02/09/97

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. If you would like to access WHOOSH!, please use
this address: http://207.137.170.163/whoosh/
      We have already changed changed servers, but
InterNIC has not assigned the new DNS to
www.thirdstory.com. I know, bummer.
   2. Again, a thousand apologies for being soooo
behind. 


[    ] 01-12-97
   THE DAILY NEWS OF LOS ANGELES. Sunday. Page N6. 726
words. "News Lite; Lottery Turns Physician into
Baltimore Benefactor"
   COMMENTARY: Picture of convention goers. No other
text except photo caption.
   EXCERPT:
   ...GRAPHIC: Photo: (1) Labors of a Hercules fan;
Eric Laughlin, 4, of Shadow Hills overcomes shyness
Saturday in a chat with Laura Drane, playing an Amazon
warrior, at a Burbank convention of fans of the TV
shows ''Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'' and ''Xena
the Warrior Princess.''...


[    ] 01-12-97
   THE DAILY NEWS OF LOS ANGELES. Sunday. Page N6. 517
words. "News Lite; Winner of Movie Bus Loses to IRS"
   COMMENTARY: Picture of convention rehearsal. No
other text except photo caption.
   EXCERPT:
   ...GRAPHIC: Photo; Photo: Epic encounter; Bobby
Lento, left, and Tim Weske practice their battle scene
in Johnny Carson Park for this weekend's ''Official
'Hercules' and 'Xena' Convention'' at the Burbank
Hilton. The gathering will feature the stars of the two
TV shows, which feature Bronze-Age action and plot
lines from Greek mythology....


[   ] 01-13-97
   THE DAILY NEWS OF LOS ANGELES. Monday. Page N2. 838
words. "News Lite; Stewart Moving Her Act to CBS"
   COMMENTARY: Picture of Lucy Lawless at convention.
No other text except photo caption.
   EXCERPT:
   ...GRAPHIC:...PHOTO:...(2) 'Xena' wows the crowd
Lucy Lawless, star of ''Xena, Warrior Princess,''
answers fans' questions at a sold-out Xena convention
in Burbank on Sunday. Xena hats, mugs, T-shirts and fan
club memberships were also available....


[    ] 01-13-97
   MEDIAWEEK. 3477 words. "In syndication, a change is
on the air After a year of upheaval, these 5
programming executives are doing business a lot
differently" By Betsy Sharkey
   COMMENTARY: In an article interviewing a variety of
TV executives attending NATPE, James McNamara,
president of the Universal Television Enterprises
syndication unit, was profiled. In the profile
MEDIAWEEK observed, "Universal generally has earned
high marks for its success with two popular action
dramas--Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena:
Warrior Princess--but critics argued that the company's
syndie operation was a one-trick pony, with little
development or success in other genres. and mention."
   Later in the article, the producers of the
syndicated TV program CONAN: THE ADVENTURER stated,
"Broadcasters see the success of the Conan movies, and
with the success of Xena and Hercules, they see this
show as having hit potential." 


[    ] 01-14-97
   THE TIMES-PICAYUNE. Tuesday. Page F1. 1152 words.
"Visiting Warriors; XENA and HERCULES Flex Their
Muscles at NATPE" By Benjamin Morrison 
   REPRINT:
   Hercules and Xena walk among us.
   Just when you thought there weren't any heroes,
actors Kevin Sorbo and Lucy Lawless are scheduled to be
in town for the next three days.   
   Unfortunately, local fans will see them only if
they're lucky. The two international stars are here as
part of an expected crowd of 18,500 at the
members-only, very-big-deal National Association of
Television Program Executives convention. At NATPE,
syndication companies try to sell series to
local-station program buyers from all over the country.
A long time ago, syndicators learned stars, not other
businessmen, got programmer attention. 
   Despite good, even mythic connections, Herc and Xena
weren't always presumed to get much attention. In 1993,
MCA TV syndication company sold a series of packages of
TV movies under the collective heading Action Pack. One
of the five sets of movies was about Hercules, starring
then-unknown Sorbo. 
   Critical and audience reactions to the various shows
varied, but Hercules rose to the top. It became a
weekly, hour-long series.
   In fall 1995, following the success of "Hercules:
The Legendary Journeys," a female-counterpart spinoff
was spawned, "Xena: Warrior Princess." Together, they
are two of the most-seen, biggest-money-making programs
on television. The actors and their characters have
become role models for younger viewers across the globe
- especially Xena, a take-charge woman in a put-upon
world. In the land of TV syndication, "Baywatch" has
bodies but "Xena"/"Hercules" has muscle. 
   For California-boy Sorbo, whose biggest previous
exposure was commercials, "Hercules" has changed his
life. "My manager had to tell me, 'You're famous,
you're a star,' " the actor said in a phone interview,
during a recent visit to his home state.
   Both programs are filmed on the other side of the
world, what Sorbo calls "the glass vacuum of New
Zealand." Folks there aren't impressed by celebrity. 
   "I really get a sense of the show's success in the
New Zealand airport, when I'm traveling, and the
reaction of American tourists."
   Sorbo says the show is seen in more than 200 markets
across 20 countries. "This summer I was doing a
(feature) film ("Kull, the Conqueror") in Croatia and
Slovakia, and they all knew who I was.
   "Same in Germany, Italy . . . we're on in Hong
Kong."
   "I have no sense of celebrity," says Lawless, also
by phone, this time from New Zealand. "That's fine by
me. It can turn your head.
   "Actually," she continues, "I don't think people
recognize me. The flesh is probably a little
disappointing.
   "I don't dress like her or speak like her." In fact,
for the interview the New Zealand native dropped her
generic TV accent for a cadence that's clearly Down
Under. She learned a kind of international English, she
says, "before, when I was hired for roles in North
American co-productions."
   Lawless says when she's out in public, especially in
the States, "I just walk straight ahead. I don't notice
any attention." She comes to the States "three or four
times a year, but I only see friends."
   Sorbo says trips home are so fast and concentrated,
"It's like guerrilla warfare.
   "Don't get me wrong. I'm working and I'm happy. But
I miss (American) sports and friends and family."
   Sorbo never intended to have a life in Auckland. "I
was hired to do four two-hour movies over a period of
seven months," he recalls. "Halfway through, they added
a fifth (movie), and it was nine or 10 months.
   "In 2 1/2 years, I've spent all but 3 1/2 months
down there. Initially we were working six days a week,
15- or 16-hour days. They were killing me. 
   "I'm not complaining. I have friends - George
Clooney ("ER") for one - people on series who said the
hardest is a one-hour television show." 
   Lawless has the additional responsibility of raising
a child, an 8 1/2-year-old daughter, whom she describes
as "a pure delight." Lawless says the little girl at
first "didn't know how to deal with it and didn't like
having her mother on television, as the object of
everyone's attention." 
   Lawless herself is "thrilled" with the widespread
success of "Xena," adding, "The world just seems ready.
   "In France, for example, the buyers told us we would
never be big. 
   "C'mon, it's the country of Joan of Arc. We debuted
with a 50 (percent) share (of the audience), and the
numbers stayed."
   Lawless doubts whether the fearless-female image
works against her show in some countries. "But I
imagine there are places where the cleavage and the
legs could offend."
   In America, Xena has become this icon for a spectrum
of devoted fans that includes mothers and daughters,
feminists, lesbians, drag queens . . . "and young
boys," says Lawless. "I get reactions from teen-age
males on the street even here," in New Zealand. "When
their hormones are raging, I guess I'm more
recognizable."
   Lawless and "Xena" entered a very select circle when
she was on the cover of "Ms." Says the actress, "I
didn't know it was a big deal, and I was totally
unprepared for the political nature of the magazine.
   "It's not like me to get on a soap box unless it's
my soap box. And I don't care if the audience belongs
to some special political group or not. 
   "It is great, I guess, though, for a society like
New Zealand, which is traditionally male-oriented, to
get a new perspective."
   Before anybody starts getting too big for his
britches, Sorbo notes, "Hercules gave birth to Xena."
As fans probably know, Lawless and her Xena character
first appeared in Sorbo's show. And unlike Hercules,
Xena has no basis in Greek mythology. She is a totally
fabricated Amazon of the '90s, fighting the good fight
in the show's peculiar costuming and set decoration
that mix past, present and future.
   Sorbo calls the look "Medieval meets Malibu." He
also says the mighty Hercules has evolved, since the
show started, to be more sensitive toward women. 
   That stance "developed during the course of the
movies," he says, after the character started out "sort
of chauvinistic." Early scripts paid homage to the
man-saves-woman-in-distress stereotypes until, Sorbo
says, the performers got to the set.
   "We found out in the play between the actors that
there was a different way to go." Shifting emphasis
included "a humorous side, even a campy side." 
   The evolution of Xena has led to her becoming "a
flawed hero who can be wrong," says Lawless.
   "The only thing she can't be is stupid."
   Though Lawless finds herself being pushed into the
category of role model and hero, she doesn't truck much
with such talk.
   "Growing up," she says, "I looked up to real women.
I didn't go in for hero worship and I still don't.
   "Everybody has feet of clay."
=======================================================
   #ART:
   WHERE THE ACTION IS
   'Xena: Warrior Princess' airs Tuesdays, 7 p.m., and
   Saturdays, 6 p.m., Ch. 38.
   'Hercules: The Legendary Journeys' airs Thursdays
and
   Saturdays, 7 p.m., Ch. 38.
   GRAPHIC
   GRAPHIC: Lucy Lawless and Kevin Sorbo are 'Xena:
Warrior Princess' and 'Hercules: The Legendary
Journeys,' respectively. (Well, obviously he's not the
Journeys, but you get the drift.) Lucy Lawless may be a
role model, but she says, 'I imagine there are places
where the cleavage and the legs could offend.' Seen
here in a 'Baywatch'-like beefcake pose, Kevin Sorbo
says the look of 'Hercules' is 'Medieval meets Malibu.' 


