Xena Media Review #19 (12/08/96) - Part 1 of 4

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XENA: THE MEDIA REVIEW #19
==========================
An All Talk No Action Publication
http://www.teleport.com/~gater/IAXS/IAXS.html
c/o RIF BBS, P.O. Box 81181, Bakersfield, CA 93308
RIF BBS (805) 588-9349  [24hrs, 14.4bps, free]

463 subscribers and growing!
This document has 2843 lines.

Xena Media Review (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. Copyright,
legal, and editorial notices are found at the end of
this newsletter.

Issue No. 19
Release date: December 8, 1996
Covering 04/29/96 - 05/01/96
Annotations 260 to 265

INTRODUCTION
DISPATCHES FROM THE FRONT: Great Britain
REMEMBRANCES OF THINGS PAST: Tonight Show 10-30-96
TIMELINE
AMENDED ANNOTATIONS
ANNOTATIONS
THE BACK PAGE

------------
INTRODUCTION
------------

THINGS TO DO WHEN YOU ARE NEAR DEATH IN SAN DIEGO

Okay. I am not near death. I lied. However, I am
writing this in San Diego over the Thanksgiving Day
weekend. I get points for that, don't I? I am still in
recovery from a nasty little viral infection that I
sort of picked up somewhere...and yet, here I am,
during the most aggressive shopping day of the year, in
a badly lit room, typing away. For what purpose? Love.
Love of that darn show which has successfully consumed
a better part of my existence during the year 1996. I
won't even insult your intelligence by telling you the
name of the show or by making some cute joke and
telling you that it's BAYWATCH or something...even
though I must admit after reading that article about
BAYWATCH NIGHTS in the December 1996 issue of SCI-FI
UNIVERSE I am...oh, nevermind.

Yes!!! I am suffering from The Theodorus Syndrome.
NO!!!! NOT THAT THEODORUS! Not the Theo that Callisto
dug up in order to realize her twisted and yet
strangely fulfilling Xena-fantasy, but the original
Theodorus who met his end on the wrong side of a rake
in Hercules' mother's barn...the one when asked by
Hercules why he tried to kill Herc, said, "Love," and
then before the lights went out, gasped, "Xena, I have
failed you." That Theo. The first Theo. The Theo to
judge all subsequent Theo's with. THAT Theo was not
afraid to express his love to his adored and suffer the
icky consequences. However, I digress.

In my case, however, I am not trying to kill Hercules
for the love of Xena, though I am trying to do
something just as silly. I am acting out and exposing
my fan inclinations on a rather broad palette. And I am
not the only one.

XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS has inspired hundreds of
otherwise reasonable and sane people to act and
interact in ways which they have never acted before. I
personally have donated a lot of time and energy and
money to my various XWP projects (web pages, monthly
on-line fanzine, a world press review, a listing of
Xena "sightings", and now this wacky convention coming
up in January '97); and I am not alone. I have read and
discussed this phenomena with many people. The show is
inspiring folks from all ilks to come out of the closet
and to give a hearty "Yiyiyiyiyiyiyi". I do not think
these people are watching the show many times, building
web pages, discussing the show ad nauseam, or meeting
near strangers at taco stands in San Diego, for fame or
attention (well, there may be some ego massaging now
and then, but if that were the true aim, I am sure they
could choose a bit more socially powerful subject to
pontificate on!).  They are doing so because of love.
They feel they get the joke, they understand the
subtext, and appreciate the production. They are bonded
with the other fans knowing that something special is
going on. Everyone, of course, has their opinions as to
what exactly may be going on, but they all agree it is
special. 

I am consistently amazed at what other viewers and
myself get from this show. Just looking at the high
concept, "two women, trained in martial arts, traveling
around ancient Greece beating up bad guys", makes the
show seem almost harmless, if not campy. However, from
this show almost 100 articles have been proposed for
the journal of the International Association of Xena
Studies; over 80 web pages have been lovingly created
and attended to; it has captivated some members of the
press not to mention some sociologists and students of
popular culture; there are Xena nights in bars and
restaurants; many fellow television shows have honored
it with a reference or two; and it seems to be paying a
lot of bills for MCA.

There is deeper talk that XWP might be the start of a
new pop culture legend or may even be a sign of some
profound cultural change taking place in our society.
These involved theories aside, XWP is clearly still in
its ascendancy. Where it will go, who knows? I, for
one, am just happy to have been part of the ride so far
and look most forward to see where it will take me
tomorrow. By the way, that is probably why I am typing
away in this dark little room when I should be outside
getting some San Diego sun on my borg-like skin. Love
makes us do wacky things. Even people like Theodorus;
even both Theodorus' (Theodorii?). 

I have used my five day sans internet vacation in San
Diego to play catch-up with XMR and to meet with a
couple of San Diego Xena fans. Of all my virtual
children, XMR is easily the most neglected; and yet, it
is the most loved. What can I say, other than irony
seems to be my most potent motivator. 

My lunch on Saturday (for you archivists out there,
11/30/96) with Lucia, 3Cats, and DJ was fun. We went to
El Indo, an excellent border taco stand and spent about
two hours talking Xena. My son and husband were there
and they didn't even try to keep up. 


INTO THE WAYBACK MACHINE

The great plans that were for XMR #19 are no more. I
have decided to release the originally planned contents
of XMR #19 over two issues. Yes! We are going to relive
the good old days when XMR came out once a week on
Friday! That might even give me enough lead time to get
XMR #22 out in December as well. Then again, the
excitement might be too much and I may just have to
make XMR quarterly. 

Therefore, what you are about to read is an XMR which
only annotates 5 whole articles (four of which are from
Spectrum) and 1 episode. However this issue is
supplemented by my recollections from the October 30,
1996 Lucy Lawless appearance on The Tonight Show with
Jay Leno; a report from a Xena fan in Great Britain; 
and some amended Annotations from the New Zealand
press. If this doesn't help you get over some of the
December repeats, nothing will.

For those who have just come out of the convent, May
1st was the symbolic release date of the seminal
SPECTRUM #5, which ran four articles about XWP. There
was a general essay on the early XWP phenom, a review
of the Hercules Trilogy, a side-bar article on some
great Gabrielle lines; and the first part of an episode
guide for the first season (through episode #10, HOOVES
AND HARLOTS). XMR #19 will highlight these critical
contributions to XWP criticism. 


PROGRESS, SCHMOGRESS!

XMR #18 celebrated the 300th subscriber, and now XMR
#19 celebrates its 400th:  Nicole! Nicole subscribed
November 1st. Welcome, Nicole. For those who care, a
quick run-down of the other subscribers who were
milestones: 

1st subscriber:   Jill Dybka   03/23/96
100th subscriber: Sandi Jepsen 05/09/96
200th subscriber: Lois Price   06/25/96
300th subscriber: Xanth        09/21/96
400th subscriber: Nicole       11/01/96


ON TOWARDS THE FUTURE

In one week's time waiting in your little email inbox
will be XMR #20, which will continue with some more
amended annotations from New Zealand; a fan report from
the Netherlands; and annotations from at least May 2nd
to 15th. Hopefully, the episodes THE GREATER GOOD and
CALLISTO will be reviewed and a fun time will be
experienced by all.



-------------------------
DISPATCHES FROM THE FRONT
-------------------------
Report on XWP Activities in Great Britain
by correspondent: C. Johnson (c.johnson@ucsm.ac.uk)
Originally printed in WHOOSH #3 (November 1996), e-mail
edition.

XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS and Fandom in Britain

"By Christ! An actress who looks like she can actually
wield the damn thing!"

The above remark came from a mate of mine who saw
Xena for the first time in a run-up preview to the
launch of Sky 2. It was an appropriate coincidence 
because several of us were watching HIGHLANDER at the
time (enjoyable sword-fest that it is) and we had had
some debate on the skinniness of Amanda's character and
her relative skill with the blade. Suddenly during 
an advertisement break we were treated to this six-foot
dark-haired leather-clad creature swirling a sword
around to ward off a host of Hera's deadly minions, and
up went the cries of "That's more like it!" and
"Biceps! Gimme biceps!"

I cannot remember what happened to Duncan MacLeod
after that. You might have hoped that a well-balanced
cross-section of educated folk would find more to talk
about in half an hour than Lucy's/Xena's physical
attributes.  Not so. Without exception, male and female
alike, agreed that she was, "stunning", "gorgeous",
"real", "erotic", "convincing", and no one in their
right mind would get up to argue with her or kick her
out of bed.  The end of the show and another promo
break later, and there she was again, doing her bit for 
Astra sales: "See me on Sky..." said Gillian
Anderson.... "See me on Sky," repeated Lucy Lawless. 
"Count on it," I added.

As promised, XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS, arrived in
Britain in September 1996, when Sky TV launched some
new channels on the Astra satellite.  DREAMWATCH
MAGAZINE (now also available in the USA) was one of the
few publications to mention the show: 

"Telefantasy fans were spoilt for choice in
September as Sky 2 launched amid a blaze of
publicity... XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS, with its
predominantly male audience, not only fought off its
parent show HERCULES: THE LEGENDARY JOURNEYS on Sky 1,
but emerged as the champion of Sky 2 s first-run
American genre series."

I am trying to find out where the information about
the show having a predominantly male audience comes
from (because I am not convinced that it is accurate)
but overall the report is a good one.  In fact, XENA:
WARRIOR PRINCESS scored 3rd place in the Science
Fiction/Fantasy satellite top 10 programmes - rating
0.233 million viewers.  This means it beat STAR TREK:
DEEP SPACE 9; HERCULES: THE LEGENDARY JOURNEYS; LOIS &
CLARK; HIGHLANDER; QUANTUM LEAP; POLTERGEIST; and our
old friend, V.  THE OUTER LIMITS squeezed it into third
place with 0.314 million and THE X-FILES panned
everyone with over half a million as expected.

Satellite is really the best bet for science
fiction, fantasy and cult TV programmes on this island. 
The four terrestrial channels usually buy the big names
- the BBC shows, THE X-FILES (a season late), and
various incarnations of STAR TREK (even more late). The
very classy Channel 4 has brought us BABYLON 5 with
world-premiere speed (broadcasting some episodes before
American audiences get to see them).  However cult and
classic provision is generally short-changed unless you
tune into Astra.

I bought my satellite dish and decoder about a year
ago, and immediately started scouring the channels for
cult U.S. and Great Britain telly. I have not been
disappointed; in over twelve months I think I have
spent more time glued to old British favourites and new
American genres than I have collectively spent eating,
sleeping, bathing, and playing networked Command and
Conquer (drinking real ale and having sex are not
included in this equation). 'Tis true to say, if you
are after a rich vein of SF and fantasy telly here, you
had better search the skies.

And that is the difficulty - not everyone has
access to the skies.  Virtually the whole country has
terrestrial TV and most have invested in VCRs. However,
only about 5.4 million houses have access to the Astra
satellite, either directly through their own dishes, or
via the cable companies which exist sparsely in a few
urban areas.  This notches up at about 15.3 million 
people - not quite 25% of the combined populations of
Scotland, England and Wales.  This means that while 
XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS is proving very popular amongst
Sky viewers of genre shows, most of the nation has not
heard of it and could not access it even if they had. 
(They could if they all went out to buy receiving
dishes right away, but these things are not cheap,
especially if you live in the north of England like I
do, and need a big slab of a disc to get good quality
pick-up from Astra's geo-centric orbit.  Go further
north into Scotland and it gets even more expensive).

So any Xena fandom in Britain is at an extremely
embryonic stage to say the least, and not likely to
grow fast unless one of the terrestrial channels buys
the series, which they are unlikely to do while Sky has
the rights to the early seasons.  What does this mean
in fandom terms?  Well for a start there is no related
merchandise on sale and nothing in the way of
mainstream publicity.  I went into my local cult shop
last week and the counter chap (a genuine STAR TREK,
BLAKE'S 7 fan) had not heard of either  XENA: WARRIOR
PRINCESS or HERCULES: THE LEGENDARY JOURNEYS. "Are they
Aussie cartoons?" he asked. I put him straight and
bought a Borg t-shirt for a friend who's teaching out
in North Vietnam.  The upside of this dearth of
Xena-related material - no temptation to spend money on
it.

A more serious hole is the lack of any Xena-
related conventions at the moment.  This is a pity
because traditional British fan-run conventions are a
dream.  They go on for days, they permit a decent level
of social interaction between star guests and
attendees, they have no commercial agenda, they donate
surplus cash to charities, and they provide beer.
Warrior-enamoured fans in particular (a few Klingons
spring to mind) make the most of the great social
opportunity that these events provide, with the bars
and all-night parties that usually follow each day's
hard session of guests and gaming.  The warrior Xena
would be an ideal feature in such an environment, but
at the moment not many people know of her.

What is on the cards is a Xena feature at one of
the combined series cons. Often fans of different
programmes will team up, and the shows which have less
of a profile generate awareness together.  Now that
XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS is being shown here, albeit to a
limited audience, with luck this will start to happen
for Xena.

If this sounds a bit depressing, the good news is
that anyone here who wants to develop fan interest in 
XENA; WARRIOR PRINCESS can jump into a virtually clear
arena. For those people who like running fanclubs,
zines and meetings, the launch pad's empty and
beckoning; and there could be great potential for Xena
in this country because Britain is something of a
goddess culture, thanks to both Celtic and Saxon
influences.  Female leaders fare with relative
distinction (hence the many militaristic or strongly-
associated female words and names in the language -
Britannia, Boudicca, Elizabeth's Gloriana, Victoria,
Thatcherism(!), etc.).  Because the warrior queen, the
warrior princess, is a powerful figure in native
memory. That aspect of  XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS alone 
may be enough to spark a wider interest - it is
certainly the characteristic that drew my attention in
the first place.  It also has to be said that where 
Hercules  might be perceived as overly pc and
moralistic (the "Oh no, yet more verbal fascism from
America" complaint), Xena's darker and sardonic side is
more appealing to natural British cynicism.

Of course the Internet has a powerful role to play
as an international link for fans.  It is through this
medium that I have found all my Xena connections so
far, and I anticipate that this is where most of the
action will be found for some time to come. Meanwhile I
will get on with my IAXS research project "Xena and
Servelan - The Once and Future Bitchin  Queen", and
look forward to all the cracking episodes I know I have
got ahead of me.


---------------------------
REMEMBRANCES OF THINGS PAST
---------------------------
The Tonight Show Odyssey of October 30, 1996.

The buzz was intense about this show. The scheduling of
Lucy Lawless on the Wednesday taping was only announced
the afternoon of Tuesday, October 29th! The power and
pervasiveness of the world wide web allowed the word to
get out. I remember sitting at my computer and reading
the news on the NetForum. My first thought was, is this
true? So I tried to remember every single person I knew
to be located in the LA region and wrote them an e-
mail: "Have you heard about Lucy Lawless on Leno
tomorrow? Has it been confirmed or denied?" Then I
waited for any replies. I got tons back. 

At first it was fellow fans who were trying to get
either a confirmation or denial. Luckily, Quest
responded to my skeptic note with an NBC telephone
number for information and news of a dinner party at
Acapulco's afterwards. By 6pm, I had called in for
vacation time at work, got all my family clearances to
be out of town for a full day, put in my reservation
for The Acapulco, worked out who would pick up the kid
from afterschool daycare and other mundane matters.
Then I concentrated on how to get a ticket.

I live in Bakersfield. It is a two hour drive to
Burbank, where the NBC Studios are located. I would not
be able to leave Bakersfield until 8am which meant I
could not arrive at the studios any earlier than 10am.
The panic started to set in. I could sense that the
tickets would be scarce. The last time I went to a Leno
taping, the stand-by tickets began to be distributed by
3pm. For some reason, I did not want to trust that it
would be true at this taping. I started to write
everyone I could think of to encourage them to pick me
up an extra ticket when they went in the morning to get
their tickets. I finally discovered Sojourner who said
she'd be sure to get in line by 8am (I was pleading
people to get their early) and to pick up an extra
ticket (you are allowed to pick up one extra ticket) if
I wanted it. I coveted that extra ticket. I could taste
that ticket. HOWEVER, Sojourner's server went down
before I could confirm the deal! Everything I tried to
e-mail to her came back. I was desperate. Finally, on
one of her e-mails I noticed she had put her phone
number. It was 11pm...I was desperate....I wanted a
ticket sooooo bad, that I ignored all bounds of
civility and politeness and I called her. I phoned a
total stranger after 11pm on a weekday just to BEG for
a potential Jay Leno ticket. Fortunately, I have no
sense of decency.

She fell for it. She told me to meet her in line the
next day. I could go to bed knowing that I might have a
ticket. Happy thoughts bounced in my head during my
dream-like state throughout the night (you didn't think
I would actually be able to sleep, did you???)

I got up the next morning. It was raining. Trucks were
colliding on the Grapevine. I didn't care. This was the
moment we bought our all terrain vehicle for. I jumped
into the all terrain vehicle and said "Darn those
torpedoes and straight ahead!" I passed by spots where
I should have stopped and waited for the rain to
subside, but I was like a demon possessed. I had to get
to the taping if only for closure. I had attended the
ill-fated October 8th taping where Ms. Lawless
sustained some pretty nasty injuries. I was so up and
excited about that original taping, that it was very
crushing when the seriousness of the injury and
consequences to Ms. Lawless dawned on me. October 8th
was a weird experience for many, not just me. I met RJ
Stewart and Rob Tapert that night because of the
injury, but I still would have preferred it if Ms.
Lawless had not fallen off that darn horse. It's always
disconcerting to experience happy moments when they are
a direct result of sad moments.

I passed by several trucks which looked like they had
seen better days. I kept on driving like a she-devil.
Nothing was going to stop me. Luckily, nothing did. I
got to Burbank and then the search for a parking place
began. I drove by the line outside of Studio 3, and
stopped the car. Illegally parking, I jumped out and
introduced myself to Sojourner. She was there!!! She
was number 3 in line (just for the record, after I
parked and settled myself in the queue, there were less
than thirty people in the entire line...a critical fact
for later) and she was holding a beautiful Tonight Show
ticket. It was a strong vibrant color. It was one of
the most beautiful tickets I had ever seen. Time
stopped and I swear there was a magic aura about that
ticket. But I had to cut my reverie short. I had to
find a parking spot. 

I drove around a long time until finally I gave up and
stopped at one of the NBC gates and begged the guard
for info where to park. He showed me how to get to the
"official" ticket-holding parking lot. I went. I
parked. There weren't that many spaces left and it was
10am. Very scary. I jumped out of the car and trekked
over to the studio. The parking lot was next to the
hospital. The hospital where Ms. Lawless was first
admitted (coincidence! yes! but who cares???).

I then got into line to wait for seven hours until the
taping (can you say obsessive fan?). I tried to be
cordial to Sojourner, who had already been there for
two hours! I was truly indebted to her because the
stand-by tickets began to be distributed at 10am. If I
had depended upon my own devices, I would have only got
a stand-by ticket. This would have been more than
devastating. But regardless of my intense need to
express my gratitude to Sojourner, I needed a rest
room. That's when I was directed to the Mobil Station
across the street. Yes! It was like an oasis. It had a
rest room and a mini-mart. I went in and requested the
key. It was a unisex one-room set-up. However, someone
had beaten me to it! So I waited. And waited. And
waited. I walked out. I walked in. Looked at every item
available for purchase. Then...the key returned. I
didn't even let the person hand it politely to the
clerk. I grabbed it from their hands and made my get
away. I no longer cared about any semblance of
civility. Afterwards, in gratitude to their facilities,
I did buy a drink from the Mobil, a Kiwi/Mango
juice...Kiwi...get it? Very few in line were impressed
but I was!

As I bonded with Sojourner, I also bonded with many
others. I met a group which harkened from Florida,
Seattle, and Santa Barbara. They were a feisty group.
Probably a result from all that traveling. While in
line I noticed Daryl, myhero, Kathy R., Lasha,
warriorgal, Kittle, Dearcy, Holli, lilac, Xenatized,
Nexzia, RitaReckless (who could miss her?), Mystic
Lady, Lucia, #1XeniteNutball, aquagal, mick, Crju, and
Nancy. I also met some NON-XWP line keepers. Two were
visiting from New York State and another from Kentucky.
There was also the woman in a wheelchair who came to
every Leno taping, even though I did not notice her
during the Oct. 8th taping...but then I wasn't really
paying attention to the line then.

The hours ticked by. There were more visits to the
Mobil station and little girls room; there were visits
with the other Xena fans as they arrived from all over;
I tried to trick Lucia Correa into doing something, but
it didn't work (drat! foiled again!); we tried
proselytizing the non-XWP people in line; I saw some
familiar faces and met new ones. Then the big moment
began.

They started to the count down. The first thirty in
line get special treatment. There were apparently some
people who found themselves further along the line than
some other people liked. The crowd got ugly. The pages
came out and tried to re-gain order. They tried using
guilt to make the line-cutters to go back. I tried to
block the whole traumatic experience from myself. I
just grabbed on to those around me and hoped we would
survive. We did. We got in the first thirty. We were
actually in the first 5! But enough of this BRAGGING,
we got in and were blessed with being able to sit on
the cold wooden chairs on the floor two inches from the
sound system. Can you say "It's kind of loud?"

I had the great fortune to be placed in the first row
of wooden seats. However, the VISIBLE first row was
where they sat the VIPs. They are the ones who get
panned all the time by the camera and get to shake
Leno's hand at the beginning of the show. It's a
ritual, you know. If you were facing the stage, I was
to the left. Or on stage, I was on Leno's right. Got
that? You can see me at the beginning of the show where
the camera pans by me. I sat where Xenatized sat on the
10/8 taping for those in the know.

After two viewings of the Tonight Show (10/8 and
10/30), I have become an expert in the protocol and
customs of the show. It's very tightly run and it moves
like clockwork. You can set your watch to this show.
Both shows were identical except for what was on tape.
Jay's warm-up monologue was almost identical (can't
blame them though, they have to do this almost 290
times a year since Leno refuses to take vacations).
However, I swear, if I have to be exposed to the guy
who throws things at the audience one more time, I may
have to surrender my blood innocence. I rarely am
turned off by someone so much.  I have grown to despise
this man. I know I do not know him. He's probably a
fine upstanding citizen. However, his onstage demeanor
is so arrogant, sexist, condescending, mean-spirited,
that I just want to find a weapon and knock him
senseless. He REALLY irks me.  

During the show, when Leno was speaking with his first 
guest, Gabriel Byrne, all I saw was a partial side of
his face and his neck. Byrne never looked out at my
side of the audience. I anticipated the same for Ms.
Lawless. However, I was not disturbed by this because I
knew it was going to be taped and I would later view
the interview in the privacy of my own home. Also, the
clarity of the audio was not too good in the first row.
The last taping I sat in the middle bleacher and I was
right in the line of sight of Leno at his desk and the
audio was crystal clear. This time I missed about 40%
of what was said on stage because of the audio set up.

The rest of the Xena types who got into the first 30 in
line opted to sit in the second row of the middle floor
seats. They were right behind the VIP seats. I saw them
a couple of times on the tape. I saw myself too, but
you really would have to know me to know it was me.
Xenatized, myhero (flew in from Seattle), warriorgal
(from Santa Barbara), sojourner, Nexzia, lilac, and
Kathy R (flew in from Florida) were in that row. In my
row was me (I am from Bakersfield) on the right aisle
and Holli, who drove in from Las Vegas that morning --
arrgh, 7.5 hours!) on the left aisle.

Holli was closest to Lucy Lawless' daughter, Daisy, who
was standing on the sidelines -- she had a stuffed
Shamu so they must have gone to Seaworld -- is this
obsessing or what??? Anyways, I did notice that Daisy
had that wonderful Lucy Lawless smile. Whenever she'd
get eye contact with her mother (Ms. Lawless would
smile at Daisy periodically), Daisy would smile back.
Ms. Lawless was giving Daisy A LOT of attention. Even
when the interview was over, Ms. Lawless immediately
had Daisy brought on stage and throughout the whole
time she either had both her hands on Daisy's
shoulders, holding hands, embracing her, or whatever.
I'm sure Daisy had quite a scare when she heard about
her mother's injury. Ms. Lawless introduced Daisy to
everyone, and then she went backstage with Daisy in
tow. I did not see Robert Tapert anywhere, but RJ
Stewart and other staff were in the audience -- facing
the audience, upper level right, first row. The entire
row appeared to be XWP production people.)

The titles to the show had to be taped over at the end
of the show because the cheering when Lucy's name was
announced made the meter go off the scale -- they were
too slow to compensate. We actually cheered louder the
second time, but the sound guy was prepared. If you
listen closely, you can tell it was pretty loud even
though they compensated for it.  

The people sitting behind me I met in line. I was there
at 10am. We didn't get seated until about 4:15pm. The
show started taping at 5pm. They were visiting from New
York. A group of us converted them into Rabid Xena
Fans. Well, we hope we did.

Apparently Ms. Lawless recently got the go ahead from
her doctor that she could return to New Zealand, where
she lives and XWP is filmed. The production people
called Leno and Leno put her on the show last minute.
Leno also said during the show that he wanted her back
and "it would be different". That implied he was aware
that she was getting minimum time and wanted to remedy
it in the future. He kept his promise to get her on
before she left for New Zealand, so perhaps he will
deliver on this one too. I hope. 

The audience reacted favorably to the Xena skit which
consisted of Xena de-capitating Gilbert Gottfried (you
have to have been there). It looked like she was
wearing the Xena garb from the Herc trilogy. I bet it's
the same suit which was on exhibit at the San Diego
Comic Convention. That was what she wore for the
GAUNTLET/UNCHAINED HEART.  It makes sense, since that
is the full costume that resides in LA.

I am sure most reading this already know about Ms.
Lawless' entrance and dance. A note about the dance.
She was not supposed to have done that. When she did
that the production staff just about passed out.
Apparently, she was supposed to be carried on, talk on
camera, and then be carried off. The guys came back at
the commercial break and she told them that she wanted
to stay. What a woman! I heard she got a stern talking
to about that!  I also heard that she's supposed to
take three months for recovery, but it was anticipated
that she would shave off a month and start filming in
December.  Although I have never had the pleasure of
meeting Ms. Lawless, from my limited discussions with
people who do know her, I get the distinct impression
that she is rather headstrong and stubborn and when Ms.
Lawless wants something to be, it's going to be that
way...especially when it revolves around her family or
her work. Again, I get the strong impression that Ms.
Lawless is very aware of her responsibilities and takes
them very seriously. She is trying to be responsive not
just to the fans, but to the crew and production and
all the other people who are getting their livelihood
currently from XWP. The longer she's out of action, the
more precarious their jobs become. All the staff that I
have talked with are just as much (and perhaps moreso,
if possible) XWP and Lucy Lawless fans as any of the
fans I have met.  They love the show and they love that
woman. I have never really encountered anything quite
like it. However, I now understand a little more about
this Lucymania. The woman has charisma.

Where I sat, when she talked to Leno, all I saw was the
side of her face. But I expected that. No big deal, I
was taping the show at home. However, she actually
moved her head around. She talked not just to Leno, but
to Byrne, to the audience, and TO ALL SIDES OF THE
AUDIENCE (I saw her full face several times when they
were taping), to the camera. She was extremely
considerate to the audience. She even found time to
look at Daisy a few times and smile at her. She also
acknowledged Daisy and I think she was hoping they
would show Daisy on camera, but when she mentioned it
the cameras were all in the wrong set up for it. Which
is strange because during the DeGeneres shoot they were
always sweeping the audience. They even got DeGeneres'
five people who gave her a standing ovation. Ovation! I
forgot about the ovation. 

On the 10/8 taping they did a pan of the audience when
DeGeneres came out and focused on the ovation. I
suggested to the mid-floor Xena contingent to jump up
just as soon as Ms. Lawless' name was mentioned. We did
so, and I am sure the fans in the other seats did too
(they were behind me so I did not see. But the people
next to me and immediately behind me, who were not
there for Lucy, gave her an ovation too -- I guess
after talking with us about the joys and wonders of XWP
for EIGHT HOURS made them jump to their feet when Ms.
Lawless came on stage). However, it never appeared on
screen because they were concentrating on the two guys
carrying Ms. Lawless out. Bummer. But we gave her a
wonderful ovation and she did notice.

To be honest I hardly remember the interview. But
during the break, she started talking with Byrne and
then she looked out into the audience. She pointed out
Daisy to Byrne and then after the short conversation
she then waved at the production people and some people
in the audience. I was right in her direct line of
vision. I know she wasn't looking at me but I think we
did inadvertently have eye contact a few times. I'm
sure she couldn't miss the person staring at her in the
front row. All the lights were on, both in the audience
and on the stage. I had a full face view of her,
non-stop for a culmination of about ten minutes, which
is a really long amount of time when you are staring at
someone). Like an idiot I just stared at her. I am sure
she ignored me. I would have hated to have scared her
or anything.  I hated myself for doing that but she
does have something about her. I guess charisma.
Anyways I just happily stared at her like a jerk. I was
content. Now I have this irrational urge to stalk down
Renee O'Connor so I can stare at her too. I am trying
to look at this positively in that at least I have
graduated from staring at backs for sustained amounts
of time.

It was very short. Too short, but it was fun. I met a
lot of nice people. Converted several to XENA. Met some
of the people behind the names I see on the 'net.
Afterwards at the party, Avicus showed up and we
discussed GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN, of course. I asked
some of my inane questions about his editing and he set
me straight. He told an anecdote about his mother
calling him after the show aired in LA about how weird
it was. He told her it was weird because it was a
Halloween episode; it was supposed to be weird. Then
his mother berated him saying, if it was a Halloween
episode, they got the name wrong, it should have been
called "Ghouls Just Want to Have Fun".

Highlights of the party (well, at least for me):

I got terribly confused driving into the Acapulco valet
parking area, and I drove rather goofily doing a
strange half u-turn into the parking area while also
missing the actual drive-way and did not even get close
to keeping within "the lines" of the drive-way. Hey, I
was driving an all terrain vehicle so I knew those
pesky cement blocks wouldn't get in my way, but it did
make me look like I was on a drug or two. I also
noticed a group of Xena fans conversing by a car in the
parking lot but luckily they appeared totally engrossed
in their conversation so I don't think anyone actually
associated me with the awkward driving. The valet
looked at me strangely when I de-carred and the car was
at a diagonal when it should have been straight. But he
cheerfully took the keys when I stuffed his hand with a
pre-tip. I scurried into the restaurant hoping no one
was really watching.

Hitting the tables I was at last relieved when Xana
remembered me! I am so used to being the stealth fan,
that it was jarring at first having people recognize
me. But they were nice. I got some very positive
feedback about WHOOSH (my latest obsession) and my web
page. I think I may have successfully blinded EVERYONE
with my camera flash. (tangent: I got the photos
developed and I am still in the process of getting them 
scanned so I can eventually distribute them to the
proper parties).  Avicus and I actually ate off the
same plate (it was my plate and I offered to share with
him and he accepted). I think I may be in love. And
this was done after we had discussed my "negative"
review of the direction and editing of GIRLS, too. What
a sport! (Hmmm, I dis his episode and then he eats MY
dinner...).  

In the most surreal moment of the evening, RJ Stewart
popped in for five minutes looking for Robert Tapert.
Stewart thought that Tapert might be there. That
fascinated me. First, Stewart considered our little
intimate gathering (only about 35, almost half as much
as gathered after the 10/8 taping) a possible hang out
for Robert Tapert. Hey! We are part of the social "A"
List for the big gun staff. Second, WHERE WAS
TAPERT???? And why didn't Stewart know????  More
mysteries in the mysterious world of the Xenaverse...

I know I am missing a lot of stuff, but I wanted to
keep it short (HA! HA!).


================== cut here ==================

Continued in Part 2

