THIS WEEK IN XENA  NEWS...  
TWXN 81
07/02/97
Wednesday

Brought to you by XENA: MEDIA REVIEW (XMR):
http://xenafan.com/xmr

All back issues of XMR and TWXN are available at the
above site. 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).

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 Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on
the XenaVerse, Hercules-Xena, and Chakram Mailing Lists
(thank you Lucia!), the MCA NetForum, the Xenite
Message Center, and alt.tv.xena. 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".

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

From the editor:

1. Wednesday is XMR Day! XMR is looking for a few good
people who would be interested in writing up regular
excruciatingly detailed reviews of web-sites, mailing
lists, fanzines, etc. for the Xena Media Review. If you
think you are made of the right stuff to take on a
challenge like that, send a statement of why you would
be a good reviewer and a sample of your work to
ktaborn@lightspeed.net with the subject "XMR Reviewer".

2. And more WANT ADS!!! I (Kym Taborn) am looking for
someone to help with IAXS mail and upkeep of the IAXS
FAQS. It would require about 10-15 hours of work per
month. You would be responsible for processing new
members, keeping the FAQs up-to-date, helping in the
reorganization of IAXS and the IAXS website, answering
mail, and whatever else I can think of. If you want
hands on experience in operating an international fan
organization and to learn everything I know on how to
do it, then this is the job for you! Send a statement
of why you would be an excellent mail bunny to
ktaborn@lightspeed.net with the subject "IAXS
Assitant".

3. ANNOUNCING, the upcoming formation of the Official
Danielle Cormack Fan Club (ODCFC). Bret Rudnick and I
(Kym Taborn) have been sanctioned by Ms. Cormack to run
her fan club. We hope to have it fully functioning by
the end of the summer. Ms. Cormack is perhaps best
known in these circles as Ephiny, the Amazon who at
first thought Gabrielle was a waste of time, but who
now loves and respects her. If you would like to have
your name placed on a mailing list for further details
and updates, please write to DanCorFans@aol.com and you
shall be informed! 

4. This issue covers February 13th through 20th. Sorry
about it being such slow going. I shall try to pick up
speed here in the next few issues. Please bear with me.
We are four months behind. Woo-wee. But I am BOUND AND
DETERMINED to catch up. Ever wonder what musical
performers Lucy Lawless would recommend that you should
listen to? Read on! Ever wonder what a promo for the
return of XWP on UK television would be like? Read on! 
Ever wonder who has called XWP hare-brained
action-adventure? Read on! Ever wonder if others off
the 'net have noticed the Bonanza wife syndrome in
Raimi-Tapert productions? Read on! Ever have an urge to
see spandex and Xena mentioned in the same sentence?
Read on! Ever wonder how often other communities run
their Xena promos on radio? Read on!

5. Friday's issue will be INFINITELY better than this
one. It will offer us inspiration while we check out
what is happening in Scotland and as we note the
peculiar rise in macho men in leather in our popular
culture. 

And here are the excerpts:


[    ] 02-13-97
   THE ATLANTA JOURNAL AND CONSTITUTION. Thursday. Page
06E. 1095 words. "Home Entertainment; The Latest in
Music, Videos and Books; New Music; Mini Reviews;
Review; "Gridlock'd"; Various artists. Death Row
Records. 15 tracks. *** 'Gridlock'd' soundtrack pairs
Shakur, Snoop" By Sonia Murray
   COMMENTARY: Ms. Lawless lists the performers she
recommmends to listen to.
   EXCERPT:
   ...GRAPHIC:  Chart: RECENT & RECOMMENDED...
   LUCY LAWLESS, Star of TV adventure "Xena: Warrior
Princess"
1. Etta James
2. Nina Simone
3. Lyle Lovett
4. Dan Hicks and his Hot Licks...


[    ] 02-19-97
   THE INDEPENDENT. Wednesday. Page  5. 335 words. "New
name, new station ... same old stories" By Thomas
Sutcliffe (TV Critic) 
   COMMENTARY:
   EXCERPT:
   Channel Five is so proud of its corporate buzz
words, "modern mainstream", that it has actually taken
out a trademark on them. You can see the protective
initials in the glossy preview brochure which
accompanied the launch of its schedule, as if the
phrase is a sort of secret formula for the creation of
a television station and mere repetition of it might
transform a mixed bag of foreign soaps, buy-in drama
and cheap-and-cheerful home-grown product into "a force
for change in popular contemporary culture".
    What exactly does it have in mind, one wonders -
the arrival of Hercules and Xena, an American treat for
"fans of hare-brained action-adventure"?  Or
Exclusive!, a half-hour of celebrity gossip which will
run every night at seven as part of the "stripped and
stranded" schedule? This sounds like a particularly
horrible stag night prank but actually refers to the
American practice of not frightening the audience with
any sudden movements....
   IN SHORT
   What: Xena: Warrior Princess.
   Where: TV3.
   When: 8.30pm, Friday.
   SHE HAS to have been blessed by the gods to have
gone from a guest appearance on a hit series to the
star of her own spin-off in such a short time.  
   But that's what Lucy Lawless did in Xena: Warrior
Princess, and it was a demi-god who made it all happen.
   The New Zealand actor signed on for three episodes
on the series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys during
its first series. Before her stint was over, she was
headlining her own show Xena: Warrior Princess.
   Lawless first appeared on Hercules as a feared, evil
marauder who flattened everything in her path. Problem
was, audiences loved her. So Xena did a quick aboutface
and now battles evil with the best of them.
   A new series of Xena: Warrior Princess begins this
week.
   The idea all came about, says Lawless, with a phone
call from Hercules' co-executive producer, Rob Tapert,
who asked her if she would like a show of her own.
   "I said, Pardon?' and he repeated it," she says.
   "Then I said Ah Mr Tapert, that sounds very nice.
Why don't you get back to me at a later date when it's
more concreted."
   Obviously he did.
   Xena: Warrior Princess is one of the highest rating
one-hour series in the United States.
   GRAPHIC: MATES - Xena (Lucy Lawless) and sidekick
Gabrielle (Renee O'Connor).


[    ] 02-19-97
   THE INDEPENDENT. Wednesday. Page  5. 335 words. "New
name, new station ... same old stories" By Thomas
Sutcliffe (TV Critic) 
   COMMENTARY:
   EXCERPT:
   Channel Five is so proud of its corporate buzz
words, "modern mainstream", that it has actually taken
out a trademark on them. You can see the protective
initials in the glossy preview brochure which
accompanied the launch of its schedule, as if the
phrase is a sort of secret formula for the creation of
a television station and mere repetition of it might
transform a mixed bag of foreign soaps, buy-in drama
and cheap-and-cheerful home-grown product into "a force
for change in popular contemporary culture".
    What exactly does it have in mind, one wonders -
the arrival of Hercules and Xena, an American treat for
"fans of hare-brained action-adventure"?  Or
Exclusive!, a half-hour of celebrity gossip which will
run every night at seven as part of the "stripped and
stranded" schedule? This sounds like a particularly
horrible stag night prank but actually refers to the
American practice of not frightening the audience with
any sudden movements....


[    ] 02-19-97
   DAILY VARIETY. Wednesday. Page 1. 522 words. "Ch. 5
Ready for Air with H'wood Flair" By Steve Clarke
   COMMENTARY:
   EXCERPT:
   Britain's Channel 5, one of the last terrestrial
stations to come onstream in Europe, is putting its
faith in Hollywood as it gears up for launch on March
30.
   Details of its schedule, announced Tuesday, reveal a
program lineup designed on U.S. lines with shows
stripped across the week and about 40% of the
programming acquired from U.S. producers....
   ...The new Aaron Spelling soap "Sunset Beach" will
be shown every weekday at lunchtime. Other American
series include daily screenings of "The Bold and the
Beautiful" plus showcases for "Twin Peaks," "Melrose
Place" and "Journeys of Hercules" and "Xena: Warrior
Princess." There also is a sprinkling of antipodean
fare, including a daily dose of Oz kids' soap "Bush
Patrol" and Oz drama "Halifax SP."...
   

[    ] 02-20-97
   ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH. Thursday. Page 39. 64
words. "Critic's Television Choice" By Gail Pennington
   COMMENTARY:
   EXCERPT:
   ...In the tradition of "Bonanza,'' Hercules' new
bride (Sam Jenkins) promptly bites the dust on
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (7 tonight on Channel
11). Luckily, the lovely Xena (Lucy Lawless) turns up
to offer support...
 

[    ] 02-20-97
   NEWSDAY. Thursday. Page B21. 701 words. "Home Fires
/ Best Hot Spot Is in Front of the Hearth" By Denise
Flaim 
   COMMENTARY:
   EXCERPT:
   IT'S BEEN a year.
   A year ago from this Saturday, to be exact. A year
of writing Home Fires, which I suppose makes this
particular column an anniversary one.
   Before this, I wrote another kind of column for
Newsday for a total of five years, but I never once
noted its anniversary date. Five years on the nightclub
beat is a long time, and in between having my shoes
sloshed with Sex on the Beach and having guys in
toupees insist that my I'm-from-Newsday introduction
was an elaborate pick-up line, I learned a lot. I
learned that no one goes out before 11 p.m., and no one
gives a lucid quote after 1 a.m. I learned that those
perfectly made-up, perfectly coiffed cheerleaders from
high school go on to become perfectly made-up,
perfectly coiffed club bunnies, and that no matter how
hard we try, we'll never look like Xena: Warrior
Princess in Spandex because we just don't have the
genes....


[    ] 02-20-97
   THE BUFFALO NEWS. Thursday. Page 5D. 1271 words.
'Another Priceless 'Seinfeld' Episode, plus a Prize
From 'Reading Rainbow'" By Alan Pergament
   COMMENTARY:
   EXCERPT:
   ...Is it just me, or does WB49 seem to have
unlimited promotional funds? You can't turn on the
radio without hearing a promo for "Hercules" or "Xena"
on some station. And about that $ 1 million contest by
the new station: That's what you'd have to pay me to
watch most of their talk shows. But seriously, folks,
want to know what the contest is all about? If you're
the 49th caller and your telephone number matches one
of 200 pre-selected phone numbers on a computer, you
win $ 1 million. The WB says your odds of winning are 1
in 3,400. The 49th caller does always get some prize,
such as a health club membership, sun roofs, dinette
sets and entertainment centers.
   This ratings period is the second one for Channel
49, which was encouraged by its opening numbers in
November. Channel 49 executives note that syndicated
shows like "Hercules," "Xena" and the entire 5 to 8
p.m. block improved by as much as 400 percent when
comparing the fourth week of the November book to the
first. But other sources say that improvement could
just be the result of different people having ratings
books in their hands....



