XMR #20 Part 1 of 4

============= CUT HERE ======================


     _____               ______                               ._
     `\`/>`\            /`/` /`__________,.'>___      _____   )~\
       /<`\ `\        /`/` /``\ \./------> /|\./\     |\./|  / | \
      /< `\`\ `\    /`/` /`   | | |----\ /  | |\ \    | | |././^\ \
 |\__{o}\--`\`\ `\/`/` /`-----| | |-----`------\`\`\--| | |----^ \ \----.
[\\\\\\\{*}==`>      <`=======| | ==============`\`\`\| | |=====\ \ \==-->
 |/~~{o}/-- /`/  /\ \ `\------| | |---------------`\`\\ | |------\ \ \--'
      \<  /`/` /`  `\`\ `\    | | |_____,.'>| | |   `\`\| | /'    \ \ \
       \< /` /`      `\`\ `\  ,/ /^\------> / |/^\|   \ | |/       \/^\\.
      /`/\>/`           `\`\ `\`~~~~~~~~~~~\ / ~~~~~   )^\,\,      '~~~~~
     `~~~~~`             '~~~~~`            `          ~~~~~~

==========================
XENA: THE MEDIA REVIEW #20
==========================
An All Talk No Action Publication
http://xenafan.com/xmr
c/o RIF BBS, P.O. Box 81181, Bakersfield, CA 93308
RIF BBS (805) 588-9349  [24hrs, 14.4bps, free]

503 subscribers and growing!
This document has 2236 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. 20
Release date: December 29, 1996
Covering 05/02/96 - 05/15/96
Annotations 266 to 287


INTRODUCTION
DISPATCHES FROM THE FRONT: The Netherlands
TIMELINE
AMENDED ANNOTATIONS
 [090.5] 11-30-96 THE EVENING POST (Wellington) HTLJ
 [090.6] 12-02-95 THE DOMINION (Wellington) mention
 [099.5a] 12-13-95 THE EVENING POST (Wellington) racist
 [099.5b] 12-15-95 THE DOMINION (Wellington) drivel
 [100.5] 12-14-95 THE DOMINION (Wellington) Rhodes
 [122.5] 12-31-95 THE SUNDAY NEWS (Auckland) XWP #1
 [144.5] 01-27-96 THE DOMINION (Wellington) HTLJ on TV
 [149.5] 01-28-96 THE SUNDAY NEWS (Auckland) HTLJ on TV
 [149.6] 01-28-96 THE SUNDAY NEWS (Auckland) foam pltic
 [149.7] 01-28-96 THE SUNDAY STAR-TIMES  Grant Bridger
 [219.8] 04-01-96 TELEVISION BUSINESS INTERNATIONAL. 
ANNOTATIONS
 [266] 05-02-96. THE TAMPA TRIBUNE. Nat'l TV Turnoff Wk
 [267] 05-02-96. THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. world market
 [268a] 05-02-96. DAILY VARIETY.Product'n Chart forMay
 [268b] 05-09-96. DAILY VARIETY. "
 [268c] 05-16-96. DAILY VARIETY. "
 [268d] 05-23-96. DAILY VARIETY. "
 [269] 05-03-96. THE COURIER-JOURNAL. local promotion
 [270] 05-04-96. THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER. mention
 [271a] 05-05-96. PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE. B. Campbell
 [271b] 05-05-96. THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS. "
 [271c] 05-05-96. CHICAGO TRIBUNE.         "
 [272] 05-05-96. THE ORLANDO SENTINEL. Q&A
 [273a] 05-06-96. VARIETY. BEWARE OF GREEKS, 2nd rel.
 [274] 05-06-96. THE GREATER GOOD. Ep. no. 21. 1st rel.
 [275] 05-07-96. THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR. Q&A
 [276a] 05-07-96. AP ONLINE. Top Ten Who's Beautiful 
 [276b] 05-07-96. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. "
 [277] 05-10-96. THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR. Q&A
 [278] 05-10-96. THE FRESNO BEE. passing mention
 [279] 05-10-96. THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER. Sndtrack 
 [280] 05-10-96. XENA MEDIA REVIEW. No. 6. 
 [281] 05-10-96. THE EVENING POST (Wellington). 
 [282] 05-11-96. THE INDIANAPOLIS NEWS. local promo 
 [283] 05-12-96. ANCHORAGE DAILY NEWS. mom to Xena
 [284] 05-12-96. THE TORONTO SUN. Q&A
 [285] 05-13-96. CALLISTO. Episode no. 22. 1st release.
 [286] 05-14-96. THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. Baywatch  
 [287] 05-14-96. NEWS TRIBUNE. poll for real people
THE BACK PAGE


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

INTENSE XENA EXPERIENCES COMING UP IN JANUARY

During this winter of our discontent, we find ourselves
in the midst of the first re-run spell of the 2nd
season. We have to wait until mid-January for the new
rush of episodes: THE XENA SCROLLS (Gabrielle & Xena's
descendents during the 1930s; highlight: Gabrielle
dressed in Indiana Jones garb -- can you say POSTER
MATERIAL???); WHY & WHERE or DESTINY (rumors have a
young Julius Caesar hanging out at the mall with the
gals); THE QUEST (more Autolycus hi-jinks and --
please, say it ain't so, Joe -- more mind
transference?); and A NECESSARY EVIL (where Callisto
returns with back-up and a mind to getting things set
straight once and for all). 

BUT...before all of us receive our Xenafix, we will
have experienced (or heard about other people's
experiences with) the first major convention for XENA:
WARRIOR PRINCESS. In FOURTEEN DAYS the largest
gathering of Xenafans to date will converge in Burbank,
California. January 12th will be a watershed day for
all of Xena fandom. The internet and non-internet fans
will be allowed at last to cross-fertilize unfettered.
DO YOU REALIZE WHAT THIS MAY CAUSE???? A grand
explosion of fan activity; new friendships forged in
the heat of conventioning; and a true sense of fan
sisterhood and brotherhood the likes of which only have
seen before in select institutions...yes!!! This
convention will change not only the way others view the
fans of Xena but how the hardcore fans view themselves.

I plan to attend the convention and relate some of my
experiences in this fine publication; however, the most
part of the reporting will appear in the February '97
issue of WHOOSH (http://www.thirdstory.com/whoosh). We
are hoping to have enough material in order to devote
the entire issue to the convention. We've got a
scanner, some cameras, and have deputized a cadre of
cub reporters. Yes, this is going to be a job too big
even for a Kym enhanced by bottomless Dr. Peppers and
M&Ms. 



THE SEASON THUS FAR....

We have already been blessed with nine new episodes.
The tenure of the season thus far has been somewhat
haphazard, but considering the lead actress was put out
of action for a couple of months, we should be grateful
that we still have a television show to be obsessive
about. Callisto (and the ghost of Callisto) has
dominated the season. She has appeared in or has been
referenced in four 2nd season episodes (RETURN OF
CALLISTO #29, WARRIOR...PRINCESS...TRAMP #30, INTIMATE
STRANGER #31, and TEN LITTLE WARLORDS #32). That's a
WHOLE MONTH of Callisto. No wonder the character has
inspired her own mailing list, web pages, and fan
following. Some people are actually getting confused as
to who's show XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS is! (Yes, we
know...it's Argo's, but I don't want to get into it
right now.) And there is more Callisto to come. The
upcoming episode A NECESSARY EVIL, scheduled to be
released 02/03/97, features Callisto along with a
'friend' to help her out. Maybe she got a penpal in
Tartarus?  

There have been three pure fluff pieces, two of which
were geared towards the calendar. GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE
FUN (#28) was the Halloween show which displayed the
ladies as vampiristic followers of Bacchus.
WARRIOR...PRINCESS...TRAMP (#30) was a generic fluff
piece which allowed Lucy Lawless to showcase her acting
skills. She expanded on the themes of last season's
WARRIOR...PRINCESS (#15) by adding yet another
lookalike, Meg, to the plot. Can we look forward to
Lyla from AS DARKNESS FALLS (HLTJ #06) and THE OUTCAST
(HTLJ #18) or Lysia from HERCULES AND THE AMAZON WOMEN,
both of whom are spitting images of Xena, to pop up on
the 3rd season's WARRIOR...PRINCESS...TRAMP...AMAZON
and the 4th season's WARRIOR...PRINCESS...TRAMP...
AMAZON...CENTAUR MOLL? On second thought, let's hope
not. 

The final fluff piece of the season thus aired was A
SOLSTICE CAROL. Clearly a Christmas show, the episode
was a homage to Dickens' Christmas Carol. Talking about
homages, REMEMBER NOTHING (#26), was a homage to Frank
Capra's perennial Christmas classic IT'S A WONDERFUL
LIFE. 

The final show I have not mentioned yet was GIANT
KILLER, a stand alone which allowed the gals to visit
ancient Israel and take on Goliath and the Philistines,
thus continuing their grand tradition of showing us the
true story of how Xena influenced great legends (see
also PROMETHEUS #08; BEWARE OF GREEKS BEARING GIFTS
#12; and ALTARED STATES #19).

The biggest news this season, perhaps, is how XENA:
WARRIOR PRINCESS has gained a whole point in the
ratings compared to last year and is consistently
averaging the number 2 spot in the syndicated action
hours. XWP has placed #1 two times (GIRLS JUST WANNA
HAVE FUN, 1st release; TEN LITTLE WARLORDS, 1st
release), and has reached it's personal best of 6.3
rating twice in a row (INTIMATE STRANGER, 1st release;
TEN LITTLE WARLORDS, 1st release). Before INTIMATE
STRANGER, the only time XWP earned in the 6's was
BEWARE OF GREEKS BEARING GIFTS back in January 1996.
For GREEKS, XWP earned a 6.1; the only 6 until INTIMATE
STRANGER.

ORPHAN OF WAR started the season, and placed 3rd with a
5.3. REMEMBER NOTHING followed at 2nd with a 5.4. GIANT
KILLER returned to 3rd with a 5.4. GIRLS took 1st with
a 5.5. I haven't been able to confirm RETURN OF
CALLISTO's rank, but it did earn a 5.2. This was the
lowest of the season thus far. WARRIOR...
PRINCESS...TRAMP took 3rd with a 5.7. I haven't been
able to confirm INTIMATE STRANGER's rank, but it earned
a 6.3. TEN LITTLE WARLORDS took 1st with a continuing
6.3.

This all adds up to an average rating of 5.6375 and an
average rank of 2.16 for the first 8 episodes of the
2nd season of XWP. How does that compare to the first 8
episodes of season one? Glad you asked!!! The average
rating for season one was 4.8875 and the average rank
was 3.375. 


THE TIME ANOMALY KNOWN AS XENA: MEDIA REVIEW

I want to apologize as to my brief insanity when I
stated in XMR #19 that I wanted to start releasing the
XMRs fortnightly and that XMR #20 would come out
12/13/96. I have no idea what came over me. I will be
lucky to get these out monthly! Nevertheless, I thank
everyone for their patience and support of my Xena
condition which compels me to send these things out.

I want to continue to release the XMRs covering half a
month each. Thus, #20 will cover 05/01-05/15/96 and #21
05/16-05/31/96. Any even numbered XMR after #20 will
cover the first part of the month, and the odd numbered
ones henceforth will cover the last half. That means
not only order and harmony has been brought to my life
but that I can now anticipate which XMR the THIS WEEK
IN XENA NEWS (TWXN) cites will appear. This excites
me...greatly. So, expect XMR #50 to cover 08/01-15/1997
and to be released no sooner than 2/1/98.


500TH SUBSCRIBER AND BEYOND!

XMR enthusiastically welcomes our 500th subscriber:
Sylvia from New Zealand! And kudos to the others who
have made the great list of XMR Random Supporters:

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
500th subscriber: Sylvia       12/28/96


That's all I want to say for this issue, other than
thanks again for your loyalty and patience and good
humor. I will be taking a list of subscribers to XMR
and WHOOSH so I'll be sure to give credit where credit
is due. And don't forget the boffo 4th issue of WHOOSH!
The Journal of the International Association of Xena
Studies will be released January 1st 1997 at
http://www.thirdstory.com/whoosh. Until next time,
battle on!

--- Kym



--------------------------
DISPATCHES FROM THE FRONT
--------------------------
Report on XWP Activities in the Netherlands
by correspondent: Petra de Jong
(p.j.dejong@stud.frw.ruu.nl)


Xena Fandom in the Netherlands: The Undiscovered
Country.

I could be really short here and state that Xena fandom
is non-existing in this small country but I won't do
that. Instead I will go over the how and why of Xena
not being known here. This is followed by a look at the
potential of Xena in the Netherlands. 

XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS can only be seen on a German
satellite network called RTL+. This little fact cuts
the potential audience down to the viewers that can
receive this satellite network, either through their
own satellite dish or through their cable company.

Since the group of dish owners is very small there
won't be many Xena fans among them. The cable network
is another story; almost every family is connected to
the Dutch TV cable network. Here, the cable companies
decide whether or not to pass the signal of RTL+.
Because of a surge in Dutch TV networks, cable
companies have to divide the space on the cable between
all the available networks. This means that foreign
networks like RTL+ are often thrown off the cable to
make room for Dutch networks. For example, my cable
company decided to keep RTL+ and dump a French network
to create room for a new Dutch sports network. My
parent's company chose to dump RTL+. So this leaves
only a small group of potential Xena viewers. 

This small group of viewers (almost) all share one
thing in common: they detest German dubbed shows. As a
multi-cultural society, which is the Dutch society, we
like to watch TV shows and movies in their original
language, be it English, French or whatever. For
translation we use subtitles so we can hear the
original voices of the actors. We wouldn't want it any
other way.

We're probably the only country where Disney movies are
shown in three different versions: the plain English
version, the English version with Dutch subtitles, and
finally the Dutch dubbed version for the kids. 

Then there's also the fact that there are many Dutch
who just don't like Germans (call this the war syndrome
or little brother syndrome (depends on your point of
view)) and they don't even want to watch a German
network. 

And of course there are many people who just don't
understand German. German and Dutch are two entirely
different languages.

Finally, let's take a look at the potential of Xena in
the Netherlands. At the moment we're experiencing a
trend towards an acceptance of science-fiction/fantasy
shows. There's been a long period of time of sci-fi
being thought of as second-rate and 'only for
nerds/dysfunctional people'. I think this has something
to do with the down-to-earth attitude of the Dutch. A
Dutch saying says it all: 'Just be yourself, that way
you're already acting crazy enough'. 

But lately, through a surge of Dutch networks, we get
confronted with many different sci-fi/fantasy shows and
suddenly the media turns its attention towards the fans
of the shows. And it turns out: they are not all nerds!
Now it is accepted that you're a Trekker or an X-philer
or a Babylon 5 fan. 

This acceptance provides an excellent base for a series
like HERCULES: THE LEGENDARY JOURNEYS or XENA: WARRIOR
PRINCESS, so I personally think  that the shows will
soon arrive on Dutch TV (I just hope that this isn't
merely hopeful thinking).

The acceptance also brings some other advantages: the
English novels appear in the stores, the soundtracks
are available, American and English science-fiction
magazines are available, and so on. Especially the
magazines give Dutch fans insight into other existing
series, that aren't shown yet on Dutch television. That
is how I first 'met' Xena.

This brings me back to the series. What elements will
be appealing to the Dutch viewer?

There are of course the obvious reasons: two beautiful
women, funny story lines, lots of humor and action and
so on. But there are other elements (or so I think):

First, there's the characters of Xena and Gabrielle. We
are used to seeing female warriors; our armed forces
have lots of them (even F-16 and Apache pilots) and
they are also put into combat situations, just like
their male counterparts. So Dutch viewers won't be put
off by the characters; on the contrary, they would love
it.

Also part of the characters is their relationship, be
it gay or otherwise. This isn't an issue in my country,
where the 'gays in the army' issue was solved back in
the seventies with not much of a fuss. The show will be
considered a normal show and won't attract nor lose
more viewers because of this relationship.

The humor is a big plus. Especially the dry humor of
Xena is what the Dutch will appreciate. The slapstick
(the 'unbelievable' acrobatics) on the contrary is
something we can do without (remember the saying). 

The scenery: New Zealand. The wilderness attracts us.
In a country where every plant and tree is planned (we
have to; we're the most densely populated
industrialized country in the world) and where
everything is flat as a dime we like to dream about
rough terrain, mountains and so on; the untamed land.
And of course, it doesn't hurt that the show is shot in
New Zealand, a country discovered by a Dutchman and
named after one of our provinces, Zealand.

These three points show a few elements why I think that
Xena will attract a large audience once it is aired on
Dutch television. So Xena fandom in the Netherlands may
be non-existent at the moment but I feel that won't
last long. 

As for now, Xena is an undiscovered country to the
Netherlands. Or to state it in Xena terms: Xena hasn't
conquered this small part of the world yet, but she's
knocking at the gates.

ADDENDUM:

Since writing the above, things have been changing
rapidly over here. In the article I mentioned the
sports channel that had driven RTL+ off the cable in
many cities. Now the sports channel has stopped
broadcasting due to financial problems. This will
probably mean that RTL+ will return on the cable.

Also, a Dutch network, RTL4 (the most popular network)
is going to air HERCULES: THE LEGENDARY JOURNEYS as of
January 5, 1997. This means that XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS
is soon to follow (or so I assume).



--------
TIMELINE
--------
 05/06/96  21  The Greater Good
 05/13/96  22  Callisto




============= CUT HERE ======================

Continued in part 2
