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

==========================
XENA: THE MEDIA REVIEW #23
==========================
A Homicidal Insomniac Publication
http://xenafan.com/xmr
c/o XMR, P.O. Box 81181, Bakersfield, CA 93308
RIF BBS (805) 588-9349  [24hrs, 14.4bps, free]

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. 23
Release date: July 28, 1997
CORRECTED VERSION: August 10, 1997
Covering 06/16/96 - 06/30/96
Annotations 336 to 347

FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: We are Cooking!
FROM THE EDITOR: What Has Xena Done for You Lately?
A VIEW FROM SPAIN: Xena, La  Princesa   Guerrera
UK XENANET
TIMELINE
ANNOTATIONS
   [336] ***06-16-96. THE SUNDAY NEWS. Ngila Dickson
   [337] * 06-16-96. THE SUNDAY NEWS. Irate mention
   [338] ***06-16-96. THE SUNDAY STAR-TIMES. Peter Bell
   [339] * 06-17-96. THE ROYAL COUPLE OF THIEVES. #17.
   [340] ***06-17-96. THE EVENING POST. Review SotP
   [341] 06-18-96. DAILY VARIETY. B5 feeling the heat!
   [342] 06-19-96. THE EVENING POST. Jay Laga'aia
   [343] 06-20-96. THE TIMES-PICAYUNE. Star Trek
   [344] *06-20-96 to 06-24-96. Death Mask ratings
   [345] **06-21-96. XENA MEDIA REVIEW. 
   [346] *06-23-96. THE SUNDAY STAR-TIMES. Rev of SotP
   [347] *06-24-96. THE PATH NOT TAKEN #5, 3rd rel.
   [348] 06-24-96. STAR TRIBUNE. Passing mention
   [349] 06-24-96. CAVE OF ECHOES. HTLJ #37. 1st rel.
   [350] 06-24-96. BROADCASTING AND CABLE. B5 
   [351] 06-25-96. Xena toy mentioned in passing 
   [352] *06-25-96 to 06-27-96. Int of William Davis
   [353] 06-26-96. THE EVENING POST. passing mention
   [354] 06-27-96 to 07-01-96. Prodigal ratings
   [355] 06-28-96. XENA MEDIA REVIEW. No. 13. 
   [356] 06-28-96. DAILY VARIETY. MCA problems
   [357] 06-28-96. THE PHOENIX GAZETTE. Reporter fluff
   [358] *06-29-96. ETHNIC NEWSWATCH. Xena role model?
   [359] **06-29-96. NEW ZEALAND HERALD. On the XWP set
   [360] 06-30-96. THE SUNDAY STAR-TIMES. Young Herc
   [361] 06-30-96. SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE. Xena ref 
THE BACK PAGE
   Xena Media Review Staff
   Errata
   Back Issues
   This Week in Xena News
   Reprint Policy
   Solicitations for Future Newsletters
   Disclaimer


========================
FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
========================

We Are Cooking!
---------------

In XMR #22 I introduced the "even" editor, Diane
Silver, now I get to introduce the "odd" editor, Maria
B. Erb. Having these two as editors will enhance XMR
greatly. Their styles are radically different yet they
both are professionals and have a deep love for
journalism and XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS (XWP). I first
met Diane and Maria on-line. I met Diane when she
joined the International Association of Xena Studies
back in October 1996. I met Maria when she was
researching an article about XWP that she was trying to
sell to the Christian Science Monitor around December
of 1996. The Monitor lost big time when they passed on
the article (You can read the article at 
http://www.mv.com/ipusers/erb/xenapress2.htm). 

I was able to meet Diane in Real Life at the January
1997 Burbank Convention. Diane helped me run the WHOOSH
booth. I met Maria in Real Life at the March 1997 NYC
XenaFest. She graciously agreed to appear on a panel
discussion that I was monitoring. One of the most
wonderful things about  Xenafandom is meeting the
variety of fans which flock around the show. I am very
grateful for my friendships with Diane and Maria and
now I am even more excited that we are all working on
XMR. I had a great time reading this issue, and I hope
you do too. 

Southern California XenaFest III
--------------------------------

I just got back from the SoCal XenaFest III and that is
the reason this issue is late. There were over 150 in
attendence including Supervising Producer Steven Sears
(Tyldus), Editor Robert Field (Avicus), actor Robert
Trebor (Salmoneous), Xena Fanclub Manager Sharon
Delaney, and the NZ based Mechanical Effects Supervisor
Jason Durey. We saw the fish outtakes from A DAY IN THE
LIFE, a special Salmoneous retrospective, lots of music
videos, and Robert Trebor ran the charity auction with
hilarious results. It was a very pleasant experience
but I seem to be still cursed with a face some people
just cannot remember. The person who always seems not
to recognize me every time we meet (we are up to about
5 or 6 times here folks!) again did not recognize me
(at first -- I have to give them credit for eventually
figuring out who I was). Whenever we do meet, it is
always just like the first time. I guess I should
appreciate that and cherish it as my own personal
temporal loop. 


Kym Taborn
ktaborn@lightspeed.net
Bakersfield, California
July 29, 1997


===============
FROM THE EDITOR
===============

Hi everyone! Welcome to an odd numbered issue of XMR,
specifically #23. As you may have read in the most
recent XMR, Diana Silver will be producing the even
numbered issues and I'll be doin' the odds. So kick
back and give this thing a read, kay?

What Has Xena Done for You Lately?
---------------------------------

Thinking about writing about Xena has triggered a few
pre-Xena memories of what I was like before I started
watching XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS back in December. It
was a cold night and I had seen a few previews of the
show...looked like a weird Tarzan ripoff with a busty
woman in the title role. Not something I'd normally
care to see, but for some reason (either we didn't rent
a video, couldn't find the remote, or didn't want to
change the channel) I ended up watching Lucy Lawless do
split kicks and throw a chakram. Kinda cool, I thought,
but watching a woman dole out and take physical
punishment like that made me really uncomfortable,
having only seen such a thing in a Mortal  Kombat  game
before.

But we all know what happened next.....

Exposed to weekly doses of a woman who never backs down
can really change your life, or at least make you
reconsider a lot of treasured assumptions. For example,
I'd put quite a bit of effort into transforming myself
into a demure femme, both in dress and demeanor,
because I thought that's what it meant to be an adult
woman. Can't say where that idea came from, but being
rough and sexy and brazen was not anything I'd equated
with womanhood. 

But Xena made me think again.

With the Warrior Princess (and now Buffy) in my face
every week, it became impossible not to confront my
narrow viewpoint...why can't a woman be all those
things? Who came up with this one-size-fits-all
approach in the first place? And where can I get a
leather jacket like Buffy's?

Aided and abetted by an Elastica CD, I started to lose
some of the rigidity I had imposed on myself. I began
to read Camille  Paglia , searched in vain at the local
library for Susie Bright, and ditched my clogs for
high-heeled black boots.

Just a stupid TV show?

To a lot of people, I'm sure it is. But there are a lot
of closet kick-butt femmes out there like me, just
dying for a little encouragement on our pathway from
school   marm  to  riotgrrl . And we get it every week. 

I might be the only mom at the kiddie pool in leather
someday, but I'm OK with that....

I had to wonder, though, if this was an American
phenomenon in the Western world. Is it largely American
women who are so constrained by narrow models? Every 
ten years or so we get a pop song that argues in favor
of simultaneously being a slut, bitch, mother, and
saint to remind us that such a thing is possible, but
are we really so uncomfortable with the idea of
strength, tenderness, brashness, sexiness, boldness,
and kindness residing simultaneously in a female body?
Or is it just the somewhat isolating social structure
(or hey, just the  burbs !) that cuts us off from a
greater diversity of roles?

I  dunno , but I had to ask a bunch of foreign girls for
their comments and got one response in time for this
release. Virginia, from Spain, who likes to program
chakram flight paths in  VRML  beamed over a few thoughts
to share with you.

OK. see  ya  next time!   

Maria E. Erb
maria@erb.mv.com
http://www.mv.com/ipusers/erb/xena/
New Hampshire
07/21/97


=================
A VIEW FROM SPAIN
=================
By Virginia Gasull
digitalst@adv.es
http://home.adv.es/digital/xena/


Xena, La  Princesa   Guerrera  - A new heroine in Spain
---------------------------------------------------

Xena Warrior Princess is not a social event in Spain.
Let's be realistic! We don't have a lot of fan clubs,
and we don't have a lot of information about her in our
magazines. The show's TV rankings are good, but
national shows are much more popular here. Most of us
hardcore fans look to the Internet world for support or
help and the information that we can't find here. The
show doesn't air at a convenient time (it was on at 7
PM the first season, Monday through Friday). It's not a
great slot for adults since most of us are still at our
jobs (remember, we have that siesta thing here). At the
moment, we don't even know if the show will be on again
next year (and we might not ever get to see the second
season!). Of course, we Net-enabled  Xenites  have
mobilized with an  email  campaign to protest against the
TV Channel that carries XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS.

Xena's fans are of all sorts of people: from fans of
fantasy movies, historians, fans of Mythology, and
people of various occupations. In a small public
opinion pull about the show, people love or hate the
episodes for the same reasons: they have lots of
violence and  humour .

Men are afraid of Xena, though maybe only a little.
They adore her beauty, but they admit they wouldn't
want to run into her in a dark alley. Woman admire her
courage and most importantly, her independence. She
doesn't need men by her side! She can manage alone,
she's a fighter and that kind of power is not ever seen
on the TV shows we have here. Another female character
who is very popular with girls here, is Maggie
O'Connell in "Northern Exposure". She pilots airplanes
and fights alone in cold Alaska.

About the controversy surrounding the possibility of a
lesbian relationship between Xena and Gabrielle...good!
Spain is a liberal country on that issue. One of our
more famous film directors, Roberto  Almodovar , has been
drawing on this theme in his films for many years now.
It's not surprising to see it in television. Currently,
we have a show called "Madison" on the air that depicts
the relationship between two girls and none of us are
surprised. The only subtext from Xena that we have seen
here so far was in the episode "Callisto" - the scene
in front of the bonfire - and that, I repeat, was not a
surprise. We can't wait to see the episodes from season
two to see if the subtext appears another time!

And that is the situation of Xena in Spain. Maybe the
number of fans will increase if the show gets picked up
again. But those of us who are fans are trying to
establish a strong support system on the Net. And this 
connection doesn't just help us here in Spain. We know
there are an awful lot of  Xenites  in South and Central
America too!


==========
UK XENANET
==========
By Ian  Rentoul  ( IRentoul @ msn.com )

The  XenaNet  has been formed in the UK. This is at
present an  internet -based group of  Xenites  in the UK.
Membership currently ranges in location from the south
coast of England, to the West Country, London,
Manchester, Leeds, North Wales,  Cumbria  and Scotland,
and is continuing to recruit. Everyone's e-mail
addresses are circulated to all other members of the
'network' so we can all talk to each other, or send
mail privately to one or two other individuals.

We are forging links with other Xenite groups in the US
and other parts of the world. There is a general invite
to overseas Xenites to contact us if they come to the
UK and if they wish, for any of our number that go
overseas, we will be letting Xenites in that country
know so that we can meet them on their home ground.

The first meeting of UK XenaNet took place on 4th July
1997 in London with the guest of  honour , Carole Diane
 Breakstone  ( Penthesilea  from the Xenaverse). We are in
the  throes of arranging other meetings in other parts
of the country as well as more meetings in London.

The UK XenaNet is what people make of it - it is not
just for meetings (XenaFests) but also for the exchange
of information, ideas and views. It is also planned to
eventually produce a newsletter when membership numbers
support it. Only members e-mail addresses are passed on
so that everything else about an individual is
confidential. It is entirely up to members what other
information they choose to impart!

The XenaNet is hosted by 'Co-Chieftains' Maureen Hayden
and Ian Rentoul. Their e-mail addresses are  
For Maureen Hayden: mahayden@dircon.co.uk 
And
For Ian Rentoul: IRentoul@msn.com

Everyone on the UK XenaNet is equal and everyone has a
right to his or her opinion. It is requested that no
'flaming' takes place as this is only destructive.
Healthy constructive debate is, however, encouraged!
Even about Joxer The Magnificent.


========
TIMELINE
========

06/17/96   17R   The Royal Couple of Thieves
06/24/96   5R2   The Path Not Taken


===========
ANNOTATIONS
===========

[336] 06-16-96
   THE SUNDAY NEWS (Auckland). Page 33. 878 words.
"Fantasy heaven" By David Fisher
   COMMENTARY: An article about the trials and
tribulations of being Ngila Dickson and Liz  McGregor ,
costumers for XWP and HTLJ, and having to outfit author
David Fisher as the warrior " Zador ". Included tidbits
such as the true-to-life mannequin of Lucy Lawless the
costuming department has; and a mentioning of the
Egyptian costume Lucy Lawless wore for ULYSSES [KT].
   REPRINT:
   With Hercules and Xena cutting a swathe across our
TV screens, Sunday News decided to find out what it
takes to get  kitted  up for a bit of sword and sorcery.
   ...PASTY white. My arms, that is. Spindly too. Chest
and legs as well. Both pasty white and spindly. Not a
good look for a forest bandit. 
   " Grrrrrr ."
   Again. This time twist the face up a bit.
" Grrrrrrrrrrr ."
   Better. Wish I had some muscles to flex.
   That's what costumer Liz  McGregor 's for. She's
making me look tough. 
   Tough like a forest bandit. Tough like someone who
could swing a sword at Hercules or Xena before being
pounded into  mincey  bits.
   A few arm braces and strips of leather and my arms
are padded out. Almost without effort, I heft my sword
(it's plastic) and... " Ggggrrrrrrrrrrrr ."
   Right then, on with the show.
   Out in the wilds 2000 years ago and 30 minutes drive
from Auckland two armies are facing off. Grim, bristled
faces lined with worry about the battle to come. 
    Zarnack  flexes muscle, swings sword and arranges
cod piece. His loin is girded and mind set for running
down the hill to pound  Rudopians . 
   Thirty warriors flank him, enough perhaps to bump
off the 40 well-armed soldiers climbing the hill.
   Something's not right though. Furrows line  Zarnack 's
brow as he tries and fails to lift his hand.
   It's Liz again. Hanging on tight to the strap of
leather she's trying to pin around  Zarnack 's own weedy
arm, scissors around her neck and lips pursed because
the big lug just won't stand still.  
   "If  ya  can't dress  yerself  by now, go out and be a
forest bandit,"  Zarnack 's mum told him. So it's up to
 McGregor . According to her boss Ngila Dickson, all 40
staff in the Hercules and Xena costume department do
their jobs well because their schedule is so tight
there is no room for error.
   Four or five leads, up to 100 extras and another
five or so secondary cast need dressing, and the shows
shoot one episode each in eight days. None of this
would happen without the costumes. 
   And that happens back in the real world. . .
   " GGGrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr ."
   Damn, still haven't got it. I'm slouching around a
warehouse in downtown Auckland which looks like an
ancient marketplace in a Conan movie. 
   There's row after row of  armour , boxes by the dozen
filled with helmets, racks of swords and axes, altars
and ancient Greece-type couches stacked among exotic
chests. Speaking of which, there's a true-to-life
mannequin of Lucy Lawless ( aka  Xena).
   However, Dickson is giving me the rush-rush-rush
tour so there's no time for a closer peek.
   "We rape and pillage time," she says when asked
about inspiration. Hercules is pure fantasy, so there's
no restrictions like her work on Heavenly Creatures or
Ruby and Rata.
   "We look at everything. Comics, could be a visit to
the South Auckland markets, current fashion, a movie
that's in town. Everything." 
   One wall in the huge warehouse is covered like a
 bogan  boy's bedroom - sword and sorcery posters of
snarling monsters facing muscled men and cowering women
with unusually large breasts.     
   "We learn something from everything we do. It's a
quantum leap from where we started. Now, we can do
anything here."
   It's a mammoth job. Creating clothing for hundreds
of people week after week. Everybody here works 12-hour
days at least, flat out on a killer schedule. 
   It's quality stuff too. The  armour  is solid;
clothing tough. My image of a huge pot of  papier - mache 
vanishes after a few squeezes and knocks on a helmet.
They have to be sturdy, Dickson says.
   "That's because there are so many stunts. We have to
look at the safety aspect." This may explain the switch
from aluminum to plastic swords - main man Kevin Sorbo
was accidentally hit by one of the metal ones. 
   A sketch of his latest outfit is pinned to the wall
beside Dickson's desk, along with Xena's Egyptian
costume, including the elaborate (and very rubbery)
gold jewel-studded necklace I saw somebody peeling out
of a mold over near the monsters. 
   But the schedule board doesn't seem to include
Sorbo, and Lawless has just 30 minutes scribbled in
towards the end of the week.
   "We know the characters (bodies) very well but have
very limited access to the actors because they are
working all the time." 
   But the costume crew know what each character
requires, already have their measurements and - don't
forget - the Xena mannequin.
   Fitting extras, though, can be a problem. Not often,
but sometimes the clear image of a character's shape,
size and body type doesn't match the reality of the
actor.
   Which brings us back to McGregor and her efforts to
make me tough. 
   All this leather and my wee arms and legs are poking
out like toothpicks shoved through an over-cooked
cheerio.
   Poor Liz. She wears the look of an artist given a
tatty canvas and few paints to work with. 
   She pushes a helmet down on my head, straps a
chainmail cod piece on, and throws a few more leather
bits about my arms. My photo's taken - and I'm a real
extra.
   No muscles to flex but my face can grimace. I'm most
impressed - it's a good grimace.
   "GGGRRRRRRRRRR."
   Got it
   GRAPHIC: David "Zador" Fisher goes into action. Liz
McGregor kits out reporter David Fisher in his
"rampaging hooligan" outfit.


[337] 06-16-96
   THE SUNDAY NEWS (Auckland). Page 31. 457 words.
"Bathed in  Corkery  aura" By Paulette Crowley 
   COMMENTARY: The SUNDAY NEWS was irate about the no
interview policy for Lucy Lawless. [KT]
   EXCERPT:
   ...HERCULES' female counterpart Xena: The Warrior
Princess kicks into action on TV3 this Wednesday.
According to the network's publicity, it stars "our
own" Lucy Lawless. But even though she's "ours",
interviews are out. The only explanation received - and
a grudging one at that - was the show is an American
concern (even though they use New Zealand locations and
talent) and they keep a tight control on publicity.
You'd think they'd want as many people as possible to
know about Xena, considering TV3's ratings are not
high... 


[338] 06-16-96
   THE SUNDAY STAR-TIMES. Page 3. 993 words. "Action
man who fights way to top" By Linda  Herrick  and Peter
Bell
   COMMENTARY: Interview with XWP New Zealand stunt
co-coordinator Peter Bell. The show they were filming
was unidentified, but if it was associated with the
episode discussed in  XMR322 , then it was probably
ULYSSES. [KT]
   REPRINT:
   Xena: The Warrior Princess whirls across the small
screen this week. LINDA  HERRICK  reports on the man who
puts the stun into her stunts. 
   People don't realize how difficult it is to make a
fight work, you have to start from scratch and make it
really special.
   How's this for a job reference? "I can't think of
any person I'd rather set on fire and I look forward to
that opportunity again soon!" 
   That's high praise, coming from Hercules' American
producer Eric  Gruendemann . His subject: New Zealand
stunt co-coordinator Peter Bell, who has dived from
planes, blown himself up, crashed cars and thrashed the
 baddies  for a living for more than 20 years.
   But now Bell -- a former New Zealand junior boxing
champion (1965-66) -- has left most of the hands-on
action behind.
   These days, he choreographs other people for the
spectacular fights in Hercules and sister series Xena
-- and there are a lot of them. With three major
 standups  and numerous lesser skirmishes in each
episode, Bell's gift for creative viciousness is at
full stretch.
   So it seems a little tame when he sits at the table
in his home north of Auckland, playing with tiny model
dolls and round wooden  draughts  pieces. 
   Holding two dolls in the air, he runs another little
figure -- Xena -- up their "bodies", somersaults her
against a "tree" -- his  cellphone  -- and thwacks her
down on to the heads of the two hapless "blokes". Ouch 
   "They have to hit the ground with a thud," he
laughs. "That sound gets you involved. To make a good
fight scene, you have to see all the moves, see them
fly through the air and hit the ground really hard. A
soft landing is no good." 
   Bell supervises up to 40  bravehearts  through these
crunching moves six days a week while the two series
are shooting. He receives at least two calls a week
from people who want to do stunt work but he's looking
for steady heads, not frothing macho  pitbulls .
  "Every gag has the potential of hurting yourself.
Anyone who says they're not afraid of doing anything
makes me very wary. A gung-ho attitude is dangerous and
costly."
   Each fight is carefully worked out step by step to
eliminate injury -- although Bell cheerfully admits his
team "carries injuries all the time . . . but they get
used to it".
   The other essentials are time and money. Schedules
are relentless and the luxury of  reshooting  doesn't
exist.
   The producers can't afford to have their main stars,
who appear in almost every frame of an episode, caught
in retakes. So the action is choreographed to ensure
maximum first-unit footage, after which second-unit
filming -- with stand-ins and stunt people -- fill the
gaps.
   With a fight such as the one mentioned above, Bell
plotted Xena's moves so she would face the camera
through 95% of the scene through lots of sweeping
kicks, spinning and somersaulting as her mighty thighs
flash through the air and annihilate the foes'
jawbones.
   The heroes may be superhuman but even they cannot
completely defy gravity. Enter Kiwi ingenuity. Bell
uses devices such as air rams, flying rigs, harnesses
and jerk rams to keep his people on the move. An air
ram, for example, is a platform that's fed by
compressed air, sending the designated victim soaring
across the set at mind-boggling speed after a swift
kick from Herc or Xena.  
   And he has created a rig that catapults people  20m 
into the air. "Hercules is supposed to have superhuman
strength so when he hits someone they can't just fall
over, it wouldn't look right," he points out. 
   It's another world, all right. Xena is not averse to
using an "Irish whip" when it suits her -- that is,
flipping her attacker over her. She can spin
horizontally around a spear stuck in the ground,
kicking in a circle of centaurs, thanks to an
"invisible" harness.
   "Any fight scene is as long as a piece of string,"
says Bell -- but the pressure's always on to make each
fight more spectacular than the last.  
   "A lot of people don't realize how difficult it is
to make a fight work, you have to start from scratch
and make it really special."
   He should know what makes stunts outstanding by now.
Bell (43) is highly regarded for his work in more than
60 movies, TV productions and commercials, including No
Way Out, Death Warmed Up, Shaker Run, Savage Islands,
Crush, Came A Hot Friday, Marlin Bay, The Grass Cutter,
The Bounty . . . the list goes on.     
   His reputation is not just based on how well his
stunts work. It's also because of his impeccable safety
record.
   Bell has never hurt his team or himself -- apart
from the time 20 years ago, he mentions casually, when
he broke his back while working in Canada's Calgary
Stampede.
   His act involved a "high fall" from a plane while he
was on fire, diving into an exploding landing pad
surrounded by gelignite. 
   "I used to have the high fall world record at one
stage - 150 feet. But this stunt went wrong because the
landing pad was cardboard which had got wet and
hardened up when it dried out. Also, the timing was out
for when the pad was supposed to blow up. But at least
I didn't snap my spinal cord," he says, sanguinely.
   One of his most challenging assignments was in Mad
Mission Four, a movie made in Hong Kong where, he says,
"they tend to make up a stunt and build the movie
around it". Bell's brief: To jump a car from the top of
one building to another, crash the car down through six
floors and drive away from the ground floor.     
   "Every detail was worked out. I knew I had to drive
across the first roof at  78km /h and once I started I
couldn't stop. The night before, the adrenaline's going
but you're virtually 100% sure it's going to work."
   It did, just one of many reasons Bell is still
working so hard today. 
   GRAPHIC: BATTLEDRESS...Lucy Lawless in a scene from
Xena: The Warrior Princess...PLAY FIGHTS . . . stunt
choreographer Peter Bell uses dolls to demonstrate
fight scenes


[339] 06-17-96
   THE ROYAL COUPLE OF THIEVES. Episode no. 17. Second
release. Guest stars: Bruce Campbell (Autolycus).
Written by Steven E. Sears. Directed by John Cameron.
   COMMENTARY: See  XMR172.5  for synopsis and
commentary.


[340] 06-17-96
   THE EVENING POST (Wellington). Page 3. 599 words.
"Xena has strength of Hercules" 
   COMMENTARY: Review of SINS OF THE PAST. The article
incorrectly stated that the first season consisted of
22 episodes (rather bizarre when one realizes that
production in New Zealand was already well into the
second season; it was an established fact that the
first season consists of 24 episodes). This evidenced
that the reviewer ( uncited ) did most of his or her work
from press releases not interviews or any other type of
independent research.
   It is interesting to note, however, that by the  2nd 
season XWP was in a 22 episode per season pattern.
Turns out that the first season was the  ture  anomaly.
[KT]
   REPRINT:
   IN SHORT
   What: Xena: Warrior Princess.
   Where: TV3.
   When:  8.30pm , Wednesday.
   LUCY LAWLESS stars as Xena, the beautiful, brave and
fiercely independent hero of the new mythical action
series, Xena: Warrior Princess. 
   A native of Mt Albert, Auckland, Lawless first
captivated American audiences with her impressive
performance in three episodes of the hit series
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. She was so popular
American producers decided to create an entirely new
series for her.
   Sharp-eyed Hercules fans may have already spotted
Lawless as  Lyla , the courageous bride of  Deric  the
Centaur in an early episode of the programme. But it is
her work as Xena, the deadly opponent of Hercules,
which has catapulted the actress to international
stardom.
   Infused with the same action-packed scenes, high
production values and  humour  of Hercules, the new
series will combine mythology with martial arts,
big-screen special effects and spectacular New Zealand
scenery in 22 episodes. 
   Xena: Warrior Princess is set in the "golden age" of
myth, long before ancient Greece or Rome, on the
distant frontier of known  civilisation  far away from
the land of mighty Hercules. The whims of capricious
gods and the greed of human tyrants make Xena's world a
treacherous one.
   Surrounded by enemies, barbaric tribes, slave
traders and a host of other evils, the warrior princess
is on a mission to help people free themselves from
tyranny and injustice, with her sidekick Gabrielle at
her side.  
   Xena's skills in combat and warfare are constantly
put to the test. To defeat her foes, she relies on
strategy, agility, acrobatics, martial arts and a
variety of weapons including her chakram, a razor sharp
discus-like weapon that she hurls at her enemies with
astonishing speed.
   Also in her arsenal is the special Xena touch - a
two-fingered pinch on the pressure points of her
victim's neck - which she uses to extract information
from otherwise uncooperative-operative sources.
   Cutting-edge computer graphic imaging techniques,
including  3D  animation and digital  compositing , are
combined with complex makeup and prosthetic effects to
create a terrifying assortment of mythological gods,
demons and monsters. 
   Filmed on location in and around Auckland, Xena:
Warrior Princess is backed by a production team headed
by series executive producers Rob Tapert and Sam  Raimi .
   ALMOST six feet tall, with black hair and blue eyes,
Lawless is the fifth of seven children and the oldest
girl in her family. 
   A self-confessed tomboy as a child, she is every bit
as independent as her strong willed character Xena.
   After finishing high school, where she appeared in
numerous musicals and plays, she attended Auckland
University. She married in Australia and returned to
Auckland. She has a seven-year-old daughter, Daisy.     
Lawless has appeared as a co-host on Air New Zealand
Holiday but sees the role of Xena as her first major
breakthrough as an actress. 
   WE'VE teamed up with TV3 to offer 10 readers the
chance to win a six-inch Xena action doll. To be in the
draw to win one of the Xena dolls, write the answer to
our question with your name, address and phone number
on the back of an envelope and send it to Xena
Competition, Features Department, The Evening Post, P O
Box 3742, Wellington. Please enclose this coupon (not a
photocopy). 
   Who is Xena's sidekick?
   Entries close at  5pm  on Tuesday, June 25. We'll
announce the winners on Monday, July 1.
   GRAPHIC:  SUPERGIRL  - Lucy Lawless stars as the
Warrior Princess. 


[341] 06-18-96
   DAILY VARIETY. Page 28. 160 words. " Warner  Bros.
TV renews 'Babylon 5'" By Jenny  Hontz 
   COMMENTARY: Passing mention that XWP got higher
ratings than Babylon 5. [KT]
   EXCERPT:
   Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution has
renewed weekly sci-fi adventure series "Babylon 5" for
a fourth season, despite lagging ratings. 
   Season-to-date "Babylon 5" has averaged a 3 rating,
but its most recent national number, for the week ended
June 2, was a 2.4.   That puts it behind weekly action
hours such as Paramount Domestic Television's "Star
Trek: Deep Space Nine" and MCA TV's "Hercules" and
"Xena."...


[342] 06-19-96 
   THE EVENING POST (Wellington). Page 14. 408 words.
"Local  favourites  may go as  TVNZ  regroups" By Phil
Wakefield
   COMMENTARY:  Promo , highlighting Jay Laga'aia
( Draco ), for SINS OF THE PAST (#01). [KT]
   EXCERPT:
   ...WATER RAT Jay Laga'aia resurfaces tonight as an
evil warlord who's an ex-lover of Xena: Warrior
Princess (Lucy Lawless) in the Hercules spin-off of the
same name (TV3, 8.30). The show's opening credits call
her a "mighty princess forged in the heat of battle"
but the best description yet comes from Entertainment
Weekly: "Wonder Woman on steroids".


[343] 06-20-96
   THE TIMES-PICAYUNE. Page  E1 . 629 words. "Enterprise
Isn't Enough;  WNOL  Relies on a Strongman and a  Fightin '
Femme to Rev up the Ratings in the 'Star Trek' Slot" By
Mark  Lorando  
   COMMENTARY: XWP and HTLJ have ousted Star Trek: The
Next Generation from a plumb programming spot in New
Orleans.  ST:TNG had been playing every  weeknight  at
 7pm  for the past two years. Ratings have plummeted, so
 WNOL  will discontinue ST:TNG and show HTLJ on Monday,
XWP on Tuesday, WB programming on Wednesday, ST:TNG on
Thursday, and Tales of the Crypt on Friday. ST:TNG will
also replace the HTLJ and XWP's earlier time of  10am  to
noon on Sunday.  This will all begin June 30, 1996.
[KT]
   EXCERPT:
   Scanning the dials . . .
   It's a veritable Trekker tragedy: After years of
nightly broadcasts,  WNOL  is cutting back "Star Trek:
The Next Generation" to one night a week. 
   The series has been in reruns for two years and in
ratings decline since January, when the loss of its Fox
affiliation forced Channel 38 to juggle its prime-time
schedule. "Next Generation," a staple at 9 p.m.
 weeknights  after Fox, was transported to 7 p.m. to
accommodate the station's new WB affiliation and 8
o'clock movie lineup.
   The ratings descended at warp speed, and starting
next week,  Picard  and Co. will be replaced by
"Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" (Mondays), "Xena:
Warrior Princess" (Tuesday) and back-to-back "Tales
from the Crypt" (Friday). WB network programming will
continue to air on Wednesdays and "Next Generation"
will remain at 7 p.m. Thursdays. It'll also take over
the old "Hercules/Xena" second-run slots at 10 and 11
a.m. Sundays, starting June 30....


[344]  06-20-96 to 06-24-96
   NOTE: First run of "Death Mask", episode no. 23. XWP
took  2nd  place of the action hours with a 5 share.
 ST:DS9  took first place with a 5.4 share, and HTLJ took
third with 4.9. [KT]


[ 344a ] 06-20-96
   DAILY VARIETY. Page 2. 366 words. "Sitcoms in close
 syndie  race" By Jenny  Hontz 
   COMMENTARY: Death Mask, 1st release, ratings
   EXCERPT:
   ...According to Nielsen ratings for the week ending
June 9...
   ...Among the action weeklies, Par's "Star Trek: Deep
Space Nine," continued to lead the pack, although its
5.4 was down 5% for the week. MCA TV's "Xena" rose 14%
to a 5, while MCA's "Hercules" fell 2% to a 4.9... 


[ 344b ] 06-24-96
   VARIETY. Page 31. 364 words. "Improvement for
' Seinfeld ' in syndie off-net sitcom race" By Jenny
Hontz
   COMMENTARY: Substantially same as XMR344a.


[344c] 06-24-96
   VARIETY. Page 31. 194 words. "Nielsen Syndication
Ratings"
   COMMENTARY: Death Mask, 1st release, ratings
   REPRINT:
   For week ended June 9, 1996  
                                   Stations/
Rank Program                    % coverage   AA%   GAA%
 1  Wheel of Fortune                221/98  10.3      -
 2  Jeopardy!                       215/98   8.8      -
 3  Home Improvement                225/96   6.9    7.3
 3  Oprah Winfrey Show              235/99   6.9    6.9
 5  Seinfeld                        220/97   6.5      -
 6  Entertainment Tonight           178/95   5.6    5.6
 6  WCW Wrestling                   180/93   5.6    8.8
 8  Star Trek: Deep Space Nine      227/98   5.4    5.8
 9  Xena                            197/96   5.0    5.3
10  Journeys of Hercules            211/96   4.9    5.2
10  Inside Edition                  162/90   4.9    4.9
12  Simpsons                        190/95   4.7    4.9
13  Wheel of Fortune-Wknd.          174/79   4.6      -
14  Fresh Prince of Bel-Air         169/92   4.5    4.9
15  Jenny Jones                     214/96   4.4    4.6
15  Live w/Regis & Kathie Lee       230/98   4.4      -
17  Hard Copy                       178/91   4.1    4.1
17  Roseanne                        171/90   4.1    4.4
19  Ricki Lake                      220/98   4.0    4.2
20  Home Improvement-Wknd.          209/87   3.9      -
20  Maury Povich Show               175/93   3.9      -
20  World Wrestling Fed.            154/90   3.9    4.6
   AA average refers to nonduplicated viewing for
multiple airings of the same show. GAA average
encompasses duplicated viewing. GAA average does not
apply when there is only one run of a show.


[345] 06-21-96
   XENA MEDIA REVIEW. No. 12. Edited by and annotations
by Kym Masera Taborn.
   COMMENTARY: A world press review of coverage on XWP,
Renee O'Connor, or Lucy Lawless. Covered 12/26/95
through 01/13/96. Notorious Village Voice review of
XWP; Lucy Lawless interview; XWP & HTLJ influence on
the action genre; XWP hits #1 action hour; and more.  


[346] 06-23-96 
   THE SUNDAY STAR-TIMES (Auckland). Page 13. 451
words. "New Atkinson antics are not much cop" By Colin
Hogg 
   COMMENTARY:  Hmmmmmmmmm , the Kiwis have decided that
Xena is just so much high-spirited rubbish, eh? And
what was Funny Business? Do they just not get the
jokes, or what? So XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS is light on
the violence and sex, eh? All they want is "Dallas",
"Dallas", "Dallas"!!! [MBE]
   EXCERPT:
   ...The other new arrival for the week at least
looked more like a  superhero  -- or heroine -- as TV3
last Wednesday launched Xena: Warrior Princess.  
   Hercules in a leather bra, Xena is a copycat
spin-off from that show starring  Aucklander  Lucy
Lawless as a fighting feminist trying to lighten up the
Dark Ages -- a time, it appears, when the blokes had
all the fun, not to mention the most interesting
hairdos.
   Set, like Hercules, against a loose arrangement of
New Zealand backdrops and featuring a loose arrangement
of New Zealand actors  --  Darien   Takle  as  Xena's mum
and Jay Laga'aia as supreme bad guy Draco, among them 
-- Xena is high-spirited rubbish that, despite its
seeming promise in those departments, is light on the
violence and the sex and heavy on the satire, although
that may not be entirely intentional.
   It exhibits a fine ear for the language of the time.
"Hey," says the programme's female version of Hercules'
sidekick to a silent villager, "just because we're
betrothed doesn't mean you an boss me around." 
   He, wisely, went back to ploughing his field.
There's no end of work to be done there. In the search
for new depths to take primetime TV to, there's plenty
of digging to be done yet . .


[347] 06-24-96
   THE PATH NOT TAKEN. Episode no. 5. Third release.
Guest stars: Bobby Hosea (Marcus) and Stephen Tozer.
Written by Julie Sherman. Directed by Stephen L. Posey. 
   COMMENTARY: See XMR054.5 for synopsis and
commentary.


[348] 06-24-96
   STAR TRIBUNE. Page 7E. 904 words. "Syndicated shows
may fall victim to programming pinch" By Alan Sepinwall
   COMMENTARY: More bemoaning of the fact that
syndicated action shows are getting less air time
because of the appearance of UPN, WB, and other
consortiums. XWP is mentioned in passing. [KT]         
   EXCERPT:
   "Baywatch" fans, beware. Some day in the
not-too-distant future, there may be no more room on
the TV dial for your weekly CPR seminar. 
   With the arrival of fledgling networks UPN and WB,
syndicated action shows like "Baywatch" and "Hercules:
The Legendary Journeys" are in danger of getting bumped
from an increasingly crowded programming schedule - and
especially from prime-time slots. (This doesn't apply
to other syndicated products like game shows, talk
shows and network reruns.)...
   ...Action-adventure series
   Once these shows proved they could succeed outside
the Big Three networks (Big Four, if you count Fox),
others quickly followed: a TV version of the
"Highlander" film series; a sequel to the old "Kung Fu"
series; and the mythological "Hercules" and "Xena:
Warrior Princess." Virtually all were action-adventure
series, a genre that's been largely abandoned by the
networks in recent years. 
   But now the syndicated action series is in danger.
Across the country, independent stations have become
affiliates of UPN and WB and are obligated to run their
networks' prime-time programming, bumping syndicated
fare out of the way....


[349] 06-24-96
   CAVE OF ECHOES. HTLJ episode no. 37. First release.
Guest stars: []. Written by []. Directed by [].
   COMMENTARY: Bottle show which showed clips from
"Hercules and the Lost Kingdom" (with Renee O'Connor,
who appeared in the clip); "As Darkness Falls" (with
Lucy Lawless, who did not appear in the clip); and
"Unchained Heart" (with Lucy Lawless as Xena, who
appeared briefly in the clip). [KT]
   If any one want to do a synopsis or review of this
show: PLEASE FEEL FREE. Any information about this
episode would be appreciated!


[350] 06-24-96
   BROADCASTING AND CABLE. Page 30. 108 words. "Fourth
year for 'Babylon 5," television syndication. 
   COMMENTARY: Oh boy, Bab 5 fans rally to save their
baby from the butcher block. Gotta watch your back 
around XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS... [MBE]
   REPRINT:
   Babylon 5 will stay in orbit for a fourth year in
syndication.   Warner Bros.' sci-fi weekly lost ground
in the ratings race to MCA's campy Hercules: The
Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess this past
season, but ardent Babylon 5 fans sent stacks of mail
and e-mail lobbying Warner Bros. and stations to save
the show. "It's fair to say that Babylon 5 fans are
quite powerful, and they made a difference," says Scott
Carlin, executive vice president of Warner Bros.
Domestic Television Distribution. Babylon 5, which
stars Bruce Boxleitner as the leader of a UN-style
space station in year 2260, begins its new season in
November.


[351] 06-25-96
   NOTE: The Xena toy is mentioned in passing as being
"scarce" in this report on the booming field of toy
scalping. Since this is a hot issue in Xena collecting
circles and the articles give a pretty good assessment
of the problem, the article is reprinted in whole. [KT]


[ 351a ] 06-25-96
   THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER. Page  A01 . 1058 words.
"Toy Story: Scalping Pays; Business: Ability to Predict
Changing Fads Can Pay off in Reselling Toys." By Joseph
 Pereira  (The Wall Street Journal)
   COMMENTARY: The  seedy  world of toy scalping.
   REPRINT:
   It is 8 a.m., and a Target store here has just
opened for business. Dennis  Barger , who has been
waiting in the parking lot since 7:30, races in to buy
a toy.
   A few minutes later, he is down the road at a
Wal-Mart, then on to a  Kmart  and two Toys 'R' Us
stores.  At 10:30, a weary  Barger  finds a coffee shop,
sits down to an iced tea, and surveys his haul: one
Captain Kirk, three  Guinans , two  Cygors , one Hamburger
Head, one  Worf , one Violator  13 action figures in all,
from the world of Star Trek or Spawn comic books. 
Total price: $ 55.
    Barger  didn't get everything he was looking for, but
not to worry.  "I'll sell two figures and get my money
back," he says.  The entire purchase, he reckons,
should fetch him more than $ 200.
   Barger, 24, is a toy scalper.  By staying alert to
the latest fads, moving fast and using special
purchasing channels, he makes his living buying toys
that are in short supply and then selling them at huge
markups to collectors, other resellers, or parents and
children who are desperate to have them.
   In the toy business, where shortages are increasing,
the role of scalpers is growing.  For reasons that are
hotly debated, temporary unavailability of certain toys
has plagued consumers ever since the big run on Mighty
Morphin Power Rangers began three years ago.
   Parents agonized when Mattel Inc.'s Happy Holiday
Barbie sold out weeks before last Christmas morning. 
Not long before that, stores were cleaned out of
Earring Magic Ken.  More recently, Mattel's Treasure
Hunt cars, Toy Biz Inc.'s Xena the Warrior, and the Cal
Ripken Jr. replica from Hasbro Inc.'s Starting LineUp
have been scarce. 
   Some buyers speculate that shortages are designed by
manufacturers seeking to create cachet for toys and
stir consumer interest.  Others say supply problems are
the result of a highly unpredictable market in which
toy makers aren't sure what products will become hot. 
   "The penalty for overproducing product in the toy
industry is so huge  many toy companies have gone out
of business.  And because of that, manufacturers would
rather deal with a shortage than overproduction," says
Sean McGowan, an analyst for Gerard Klauer Mattison &
Co., a New York investment bank. 
   Toy makers say their calculations have been upset by
collectors, such as the Barbie devotees who gobbled up
so many Happy Holidays last Christmas.  Estimates on
the number of collectors vary widely, from 200,000 to 3
million.  Judging from ads in toy-collector magazines,
there is a thriving business for scalpers as well.
   Last week a Toys 'R' Us store in New Hampshire
banned a collector  for the first time  from buying any
more toys there. 
   The company says the collector had become too
frequent a customer, purchasing thousands of dollars of
hot figures.
   While some stores set limits on the number of
certain items each customer can purchase, "it's very
hard to police" scalping, says Michael Goldstein,
chairman of Toys 'R' Us Inc., the nation's largest toy
retailer.  "Scalpers can easily sidestep the customer
limit by having relatives or friends come in to buy for
them. " 
   Toys 'R' Us has investigated a number of deals made
between its employees and scalpers, Goldstein says,
leading to the dismissal of some workers.
   At Toys 'R' Us stores, characters such as Obi Wan
Kenobi and Princess Leia retail for $ 4 to $ 5  if you
can find them.  Kilian Ellison, 11, couldn't.  After
what he calls "an endless search for the princess," he
ran into Barger at a comic-book store, and paid $ 55
for one.
   "I get $ 15 for mowing people's lawns," shrugs
Kilian, who lives with his mom in Ann Arbor, Mich.  "So
I'll mow a few more lawns. " 
   Barger has a wide reputation  and an eclectic
clientele. 
   During the Power Ranger drought, he sold scarce
versions of the drop-kicking avengers for about $ 120
apiece to film stars Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon,
who gave them to their children for Christmas. 
Specialty shops paid plenty for his Earring Magic Kens,
which had become a novelty item among homosexuals. 
   There is nothing illegal about what Barger does, but
that doesn't make kids any happier when they can't find
their favorites. 
   "The adults beat us to the store every time," says
Jon Iwata, 10, combing shelves for Star Wars and
Hercules figures at a Caldor store in Braintree, Mass. 
"It's like little kids racing against these big adults
in a 100-yard dash or something. " 
   Barger says he doesn't feel guilty, reasoning that
he deals mostly with adult collectors and owners of
small toy stores.  He blames toy makers for shortages,
saying they don't make enough toys to go around.  He
adds that he makes donations to Toys for Tots and other
children's charities as "a way of saying to kids: 'I'm
sorry for buying up all your toys. ' "
   A stocky figure with a penchant for black T-shirts
and baseball caps worn backward, Barger graduated from
Eastern Michigan University this month with a major in
marketing.  He declines to discuss his income, but says
he paid for college with scalping profits. 
   "I almost never sell my stuff for less than a 100
percent markup," he says.  "What stock on any of the
exchanges offers that kind of return in just a few
weeks? " Industry estimates are that a good scalper can
make upward of $ 50,000 a year.
   Barger's biggest concern at the moment is moving his
bulging inventory  which he values at $ 200,000 in
street prices  to a larger home.  Except for the
Victorian architecture, his three-bedroom apartment
might be mistaken for a toy store. 
   Customers may, by appointment only, stop in to
peruse thousands of action figures that hang five to 10
deep on foot-long metal spikes, just like the ones seen
at check-out counters.  Thousands more are stacked to
the rafters in his garage.
   During visits to stores, Barger introduces himself
to back-room crews and hands out business cards.  On
one outing, he beckons a stockroom clerk at a Toys 'R'
Us outside Detroit to a quiet corner. 
   "I'm a toy dealer," he whispers.  "I buy and sell
toys, lots of toys.  I was wondering if you could,
like, give me a call, you know, when something hot
comes in.  I could make it worthwhile for you. " 
   The clerk listens carefully, nods, and after a
moment's hesitation, says, "No problem, man, I'll let
you know."


[351b]  06-25-96
   THE NEWS AND OBSERVER (RALEIGH, NC). Page D1. 1428
words. "Toy market is booming for scalpers" by Joseph
Pereira, The Wall Street Journal.
   COMMENTARY:  Same as xmr351a


[352] 06-25-96 to 06-27-96
   NOTE: In an interview of William Davis, the
Cigarette-Smoking Man in X-Files, it is revealed that
Davis teaches acting and one of is students was Lucy
Lawless. Mr. Davis has a framed under glass handwritten
note by Ms. Lawless which stated, "Providence brought
me to the William Davis Centre and I'll thank God to my
dying day for it." [KT]


[352a] 06-25-96
   CALGARY HERALD. Page D11. 690 words. "Cigarette
turns Davis into villain" By Ian Bailey.
   COMMENTARY: First appearance of article.
   EXCERPT:
   A suit helps. So does a script. But William Davis
needs a cigarette to play the key villain of The
X-Files. 
   It's an acting thing, Davis explains as he sits in
his office at the acting school he runs when not on the
Vancouver set of the spooky TV hit.   
   Toying with a butt -- actually herbal-made smokes --
puts the Toronto native in the mood to play a character
known on the show only as the Cigarette-Smoking Man....
   ...For three years, X-Files has been a high-profile
example of British Columbia's success attracting film
and TV production. Last year, the industry pumped about
$ 430 million into the economy -- up $ 30 million from
1994. 
   Davis has had his cut, even before X-Files. He
appeared in locally shot films like Look Who's Talking,
and TV shows such as Airwolf and MacGyver.  
   While working in these productions, Davis was
teaching acting. He founded his own school in 1989.
Graduates include Lucy Lawless, who plays Xena, Warrior
Princess in the cheesy syndicated TV show of the same
name.  
   "Providence brought me to the William Davis Centre
and I'll thank God to my dying day for it," Lawless
says in a handwritten note, framed under glass on the
wall in Davis' school.


[352b] 06-27-96
   THE TORONTO STAR. Page D23. 550 words. 'Toronto
actor's career is smokin' William Davis the dark man on
The X-Files" By Ian Bailey.
   COMMENTARY: Same as XMR352a.


[353] 06-26-96
   THE EVENING POST (WELLINGTON). Page 12. 401 words.
"Poor-quality US Shows Spell Gloom Locally." by Phil
Wakefield.
   COMMENTARY: More chatter about the sad state of New
Zealand TV and how they rely on "3rd Rock from the Sun"
and XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS to keep things jazzy. I just
want to know what a "younger-skewing" program
is...sounds particularly violent to me. [MBE]
   EXCERPT:
   TV3 PROGRAMMING chief Gary Brown is pessimistic
about next year's US TV prospects.
   He predicts only a handful of the 90 new shows the
networks will launch from September will survive the
season with decent ratings.
   Brown and TV2 rival Andrew Shaw previewed the pilots
in Los Angeles earlier this month.
   Shaw was circumspect in his comments on the quality
but Brown readily acknowledges it was "a disappointing
year" and says the US networks are out of touch with
what mass audiences want.
   "You would expect a lot of the shows we saw to
screen on cable networks, not mainstream," he says. 
   "They won't travel that well, and I'm not just
talking about ethnic comedies, either." 
   He believes some of the mid-season entries - those
shows being kept in reserve until January - offer more
hope but he thinks that the outlook generally is grim.
   "I think it would be fair to say both TV3 and TVNZ
would conclude that it's been a very lacklustre year
for American product."
   Brown says other buyers he's spoken to feel the
same, and despite a Hollywood Reporter story that
quoted British and Canadian contemporaries as saying US
network fare had improved.
   If Brown's instincts are right, the news is worse
for his channel than TV2. 
   While heavily reliant on programmes produced in the
US, TV2 also has a pool of New Zealand and Australian
dramas, and has started screening more British fare,
such as re-runs of Prime Suspect, the Lady Chatterly
mini-series and the new comedies, The Thin Blue Line
and Father Ted.
   TV3 also is targeting more British shows. Brown says
once they would have been unacceptable for his
channel's profile but the British market is starting to
produce younger-skewing programmes like Bugs, a TV3
acquisition that sounds like a cross between The
Professionals and The Avengers.
   However, what truly will be TV3's salvation are
further runs of hits like 3rd Rock From the Sun and
Xena: Warrior Princess.
   "We have enormous strength in our renewals," Brown
says. 
   "We haven't lost one single programme that is going
to hurt us.
   "The shows that have done a good job for us will be
back," Brown says....


[354] 06-27-96 to 07-01-96
   NOTES: Repeat of "The Prodigal" brought in a 4.7
rating. HTLJ was rated 5.0, and ST:DS9 was at 4.3. XWP
ranked 2nd in action hours. "The Prodigal" earned a 4.8
in it's first showing.

[354a] 06-27-96
   DAILY VARIETY. Page 3. 454 words. "First national
ratings cloud 'Rosie' picture" By Jenny Hontz.
   COMMENTARY:  The Prodigal, 2nd release
   EXCERPT:
   ...Nielsen numbers for the week ending June 16....
   ...MCA TV's action hours bumped Par's "Star Trek:
Deep Space 9" out of the top spot for the first time in
nine weeks. "Hercules" scored a 5, up 2%. "Xena"
finished second with a 4.7, down 6%. "Star Trek" fell
20% to 4.3...


[354b] 07-01-96
   VARIETY. Page 25. 184 words. "Nielsen Syndication
Ratings"
   COMMENTARY: The Prodigal, 2nd release
   REPRINT:
   For week ended June 16, 1996  
                            Stations/
Rank Program              % coverage    AA%       GAA%
 1  Wheel of Fortune          226/99    10.1       --
 2  Jeopardy!                 215/97    8.5        --
 3  Home Improvement          227/98    7.1        7.6
 4  Oprah Winfrey Show        228/98    6.9        6.9
 5  Seinfeld                  222/98    6.4        --
 6  WCW Wrestling             180/93    6.0        9.9
 7  Entertainment Tonight     180/95    5.2        5.2
 8  Journeys of Hercules      222/97    5.0        5.3
 9  Simpsons                  192/96    4.8        5.0
10  Xena                      198/96    4.7        5.0
11  Inside Edition            161/89    4.6        4.6
12  Wheel of Fortune--Wknd.   158/80    4.5        --
13  Imagination II            169/96    4.3        4.4
13  Star Trek: DSN            233/98    4.3        4.6
15  Live w/Regis & Kathie Lee 233/99    4.2        --
15  Montel Williams           163/91    4.2        4.3
15  World Wrestling Fed.      153/90    4.2        5.0
18  Fresh Prince of Bel-Air   156/88    4.1        4.5
18  Jenny Jones               202/94    4.1        4.2
20  Married W/Children        178/91    4.0        4.5
   AA average refers to nonduplicated viewing for
multiple airings of the same show. GAA average
encompasses duplicated viewing. GAA average does not
apply when there is only one run of a show. 


[355] 06-28-96
   XENA MEDIA REVIEW. No. 13. Edited by and annotations
by Kym Masera Taborn.
   COMMENTARY: A world press review of coverage on XWP,
Renee O'Connor, or Lucy Lawless. Covered 01/18/96
through 02/08/96.  Lucy Lawless interview (Weiner);
NATPE convention; Gregory Meidel interview; and more.


[356] 06-28-96
   DAILY VARIETY. Page 3. 196 words. "Kraus ankles MCA
post" By Jenny Hontz.
   COMMENTARY: More problems for MCA. Less than a month
after the departure of key-man Shelly Schwab, now Jim
Kraus, the executive VP-director of sales and marketing
at MCA TV is leaving too. MCA is in the midst of a
massive re-structuring, no doubt impelled by MCA's
dismal batting record. HTLJ and XWP is mentioned in
passing as the only two current successes of MCA TV.
[KT]
   EXCERPT:
   Less than a month after the retirement of MCA TV
president Shelly Schwab, No. 2 syndication sales man
Jim Kraus also is leaving the company. 
   Kraus, the executive VP-director of sales and
marketing at MCA TV, joined the company in 1982 as
Northeast division sales manager.   
   He rose to his current post in 1990, overseeing the
syndie division's sales and marketing efforts for
firstrun, off-network, feature film and basic cable. 
   Massive restructuring
   MCA's TV group has undergone a massive restructuring
since the company was purchased last year by the
Seagram Co. About 90 employees were laid off earlier
this month (Daily Variety, June 7).
   Greg Meidel, MCA TV Group chairman, and Jim
McNamara, president of worldwide TV distribution, have
yet to hire a new head of syndication sales, and it
does not appear an announcement is imminent.
   While MCA is having success with its two action
hours, "Hercules" and "Xena," the studio has struggled
in recent years to launch other successful firstrun
shows.
   Aside from the domestic syndie sales jobs, MCA TV
also has yet to fill the international sales post
vacated by Colin Davis, former president of MCA
Television Intl.


[357] 06-28-96
   THE PHOENIX GAZETTE. Page B14. 235 words. "With Whom
In History Would You Like To Chat?" by James Hill, Mark
Genrich, John Kolbe, Richard de Uriarte, Kim Crockett
and Maureen West.
   COMMENTARY: Some yahoo decided to ask a bunch of
PHOENIX GAZETTE staffers that perennial party question
"Who would you dig hanging out with if, like, you could
hang with someone from any time period?" That, and,
"Where's the bathroom?" are THE two great party
questions. Anyway, the responses are typical cerebral
fare...Madison, Lincoln, Ghandi, Jefferson, Franklin,
Xena etc. etc. Hey, just watch enough XENA: WARRIOR
PRINCESS and you'll run into ALL those geezers sooner
or later!!!!   
   REPRINT:
   I'm not sure I'd want to chat with anyone, being as
how it would be a one-sided conversation, but I do find
inspiration from reading biographies and memoirs of
historical figures. And if Mrs. Clinton wants to chat
with Mrs. Roosevelt, well, she sure picked a pretty
good role model. 
   Alexander the Great, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin
Franklin, Ambrose Bierce, Robert Burns, Mary Magdalene,
Plato, Benito Juarez and Xena, warrior princess.  
Richard de Uriarte, Editorial writer, 271-8912
   Eleanor Roosevelt and Mahatma Gandhi. I'd like to
know if Hillary told them where her billing records
have been for the last two years.  
   The mothers of Albert Einstein, Martin Luther King
Jr. And Abraham Lincoln. Kimberly Crockett, Editorial
writer, 271-8461 James Madison, to see what he thinks
of how we've screwed up his political invention. And
Mark Twain, because great stories and fine cigars are
always good for the soul.  
   John Kolbe, Political columnist, 271-8143
   I'd ask Amelia Earhart, "What really happened?" Or,
"Are you living in Sun City?" And to Emily Dickinson,
"If you lived today, in times that encourage women to
get out of their own gardens more, what would you
choose to write about?"  


[358] 06-29-96
   THE ETHNIC NEWSWATCH NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS. Page
26. 1679 words. Media Watch: "Females need to empower
themselves now" By Abiola Sinclair.
   COMMENTARY: So Xena looks like a tramp and acts like
one, hmmmm? This heavy article starts out with a
description of rape and goes on from there to say that
our culture is permeated with images of violence
against women. Xena is mentioned as an empowering
example that contradicts this onslaught.
   REPRINT
   A female neighbor of mine insisted upon telling me
this story about her best friend being raped, to the
point that I suspected her of trying to be a wise ass,
or spooky, or just plain gruesome.
   She said the young woman was walking up the hill on
Broadway and 124th Street when a man, a Black man,
stuck a gun into her side. She told him her money was
in her side pocket but he said he was not after the
money. She knew she was going to die. She began to cry. 
   The man strong-armed her up the hill; people saw her
and the gun and cast their eyes away. She even met the
eyes of several people; they saw and they knew and they
did nothing.
   The woman was walked all the way from 124th and
Broadway to Riverside Park and was badly raped. She
required stitches and the gun was used to invade her.
The entire thing annoyed me. I didn't want to hear it.
First of all, if the man is going to kill, he could
just as well kill her right there on 124th Street as in
the park. Death is not the worst thing that can happen.
I wouldn't have gone anywhere. If he was going to shoot
he'd have to shoot right there. 
   But then I began to think. This man is a
professional predator. And predators know who to pick.
They know who will fight, who will scream, who might
have a gun of their own, and who will be walked into a
dark park to be brutally raped. This young woman was in
therapy for three years, my neighbor told me. She
shaved her head, started taking drugs, and blames
herself for being raped. I felt sad for her. 
   I told my neighbor, who is Amerasian, that therapy
for three years is too long. The therapist is ripping
her off too. She's got to forget it as best she can.
But my neighbor told me her friend had trouble with
relationships. When men made a move she freaked.
   A lot of women are walking around damaged in one way
or another. When men wonder what in the hell is wrong
with this woman, often there's a secret. Be it incest,
rape, sexual abuse, being made to feel ugly, something. 
   There's a lot of talk about the Black man being
under attack, and so he is. But women are under attack
also. As this society turns more predatory, more
Darwinian, you have monsters who roam around looking
for scraps, something to steal, or to rob someone, or
rape. And of all crimes rape is the least excusable.
There is no need, no justification for it and the
punishments do not nearly fit the crime.
   The apartment that John J. Royster shared with his
friend was filled with pornographic material. But not
the ordinary sex and girlie magazines most men have
stashed somewhere. These were hard-core violence/sex
videos. The kind that show men hurting women. Royster
has that in common with other sex attackers also.
   Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy both maintained they
were spurned on by this type of pornography.
   Much of this material has crept out into the
mainstream, sometimes with some humor. The film "True
Lies" for example.
   But the bulk of modern drama has taken the damsel in
distress and turned it evil. All we see on TV and in
films is some woman screaming, running for her life,
being raped, murdered, beaten, in stages of undress,
tied up, gagged, clothes torn. It's so common we see it
and don't see it. But it sinks in. 
   Consider "Silk Stalkings," a stylish thriller cop
show with a penchant for porn. Perhaps that is also why
people often do nothing when confronted with situations
like a woman being abducted. They think they're
watching TV, they respond by recoiling, followed by an
urge for popcorn.
   What is more subtle is the portrayal of women
overall. Especially young women. The micro mini has
been force fed to young women. We fought against it,
and we lost. Every single young woman on TV who is
supposed to be desirable has her butt out and acts like
a bitch.
   The only TV show where women are empowered is "Xena:
Warrior Princess" and a few other off-beat shows. She's
partially clad too. Interestingly enough, being an
empowered woman on TV means being bad. Being a tramp.
Looking like one and acting like one. Guess whose idea
this is. Yeah, the same guy who designs women's shoes!
   Women are also encouraged to be smaller than they
need to be. So they can be beaten easier. The current
greyhound look in models is similar to binding women's
feet.
   There was even a shameful and stupid article in
Newsweek a few weeks ago, "The Biology of Beauty,"
about standards of beauty. Natural selection, chins,
and body fat. Some Nordic model with the query under
her head, "Would you want your child to carry this
woman's genes?" I have a better question, Are White men
that shallow, or is Newsweek run by teenage boys?
   The woman could be an axe murderer! She looks mean
as a snake! It's a total imposition in the name of
fashion and is designed to constrain.
   It may not be fair to blame the media for all of
this. After all, these types  of impositions have been
placed on women for thousands of years.
   The fact that a judge (Blackman) could release a man
who beat a women and threw her down a fight of stairs
after she had an order of protection against him, only
to have him come back and finally kill her; and another
judge (Walpner) could write letters to women who wanted
to get away from him, telling her he would harm her
daughter. Or a judge in Florida who is even now trying
to return a daughter to a mother who allowed her
boyfriend to rape both her daughters and kill one of
them. (The boyfriend is on death row where he belongs.
But where would the judge be?) His actions as well as
those of his many of his colleagues bespeaks of a
legitimized hostility toward women that denies them
their civil rights.
   What the media can be blamed for is highlighting
Black crimes while minimizing white crimes and indeed
crimes of other peoples. There is no way to convince
the average white person that most crimes and the most
heinous crimes are not committed by Blacks.
   The media has been relentless in this regard and the
formula etched in stone. Black pathology, sex,
violence, degradation. Only I've been collecting a
steady file of white crimes that would make your socks
roll up and down. 
   If they get a day's play, that's the whole of it.
The exception is when a said group is set up to be
vilified for whatever reason.
   Currently, Africa is being set up for vilification.
So horror stories are coming out of there to the point
that Blacks who were hoping to resettle in Africa have
now changed their minds.
   The fact that abuse of women is far worse in parts
of Asia and the Middle East, including child
prostitution, kidnapping and extortion, is of little
comfort. So the cycle is complete. 
   But while women's empowerment may be tied up in
politics, it is not necessarily tied to it. It may be
vital at some point to separate women's empowerment
from male political considerations lest they take a
perpetual back seat.
   What we have come to believe as political liberation
is often little more than male noblesse oblige.
   The fact is that in this day and age a woman cannot
go to a municipal park and enjoy God's beautiful day.
Hear the birds, feed the squirrels, watch the ducks,
sit quietly and think or pray. This should be pondered,
and acted upon, perhaps by women themselves. How
terrible a tyranny, imprisoned in your own gender.
   Consider the poor woman in Queens who took her baby
for  stroll in the carriage and ending up being raped
at knifepoint in front of her child. Women continue to
take this crap. He should be a marked man. His prayer
should be that he's not made to suffer too long.
   A friend and myself were talking about a road tour
of the United States. We wanted to see the Grand
Canyon, travel Route 66. We've postponed it for
safety's sake. We'd be stupid to travel unarmed. But if
we were pulled over and a gun was found, we would be in
deep trouble. Now we're asked to go about with plain
nothing while rapists and murderers run amok, armed to
the teeth.
   I used to go down by the river at 96th Street alone
and fly my kite. The whole point was the solitude. Me,
my kite, and the sky. I don't go anymore. The underpass
is too isolated and men have taken up residence there.
The city has disenfranchised them and in turn they have
disenfranchised me.
   They say the only real freedom is the one you take.
If someone gives you your freedom they can take it
back. Perhaps women themselves should form militias; if
anyone has a right, we do.
   Women are never more severely punished as when they
move to protect themselves. We can't protect you and
you are forbidden to protect yourselves. Some male
judge somewhere always throws the book at such women.
There's always some reason why she didn't have to shoot
the bastard, whoever he is.
   Justifiable homicide
   Justifiable homicide should be a more valid defense.
"I was running in the park, Judge, your Honor, when
these four guys began to chase me. I ran until I got
tired and figured I couldn't run anymore, and they
weren't going to stop chasing me, so I turned and fired
my AK47, killing all of them. Sorry? Well, yes and no.
Better them than me." Case dismissed. Not! They'd
probably say she was hysterical and suffered from PMS.
   Of course this is when politics kicks in. If the
chasers were Black, it would be alright. If they were
white, it would not be alright. Or, sometimes, if they
were Black it would not be alright, because the
establishment doesn't want it said it was alright.
Right? 
   There was a true case about a woman who was put in
jail because she wasn't going to bend over for a legal
rape. Some arrogant pervert had raped her small son. He
was a white man. He was let off because of a legal
technicality, even though he admitted to the crime, by
some judge who was probably a pervert himself.
   So she got herself a rifle and went after the man
who raped her little boy. She shot him too. And the
same judge threw the book at her. They made a TV movie
out of her story. 
   Chaos, pandemonium? Maybe. Any worse than what's
going on right now, in Bosnia, Thailand, Liberia,
Queens, Central Park.


[359]  06-29-96
   NEW ZEALAND HERALD. Saturday. Weekend Magazine. Page
11. 575 words. "Extra: Read All about it. The Darkly
Beautiful Woman Thwacks His Plastic Shield. But Gary
Morley Smiles - He's Being Paid for It" By Gary Morley. 
   COMMENTARY: An article about the experiences of a
couple of extras on the shoot for the 2nd season
Goliath episode of XWP (Giant Killer).
   Lighthearted in nature, the article did reveal what
it was like to be on the set of XWP and the everyday
problems involved in producing such an action-adventure
hour long show. Fifteen extras were used for an army of
150 and it took two weeks to shoot. The writer wrote "I
grab tenaciously at my 15 nanoseconds of fame [which
took three days of his life] as, on camera, Xena
thwacks my plastic shield and huskily tells me to
'smarten up!'" [KT]
   Contributor: Linda Gaunt <lgaunt@ix.netcom.com>
   REPRINT:
   It all started on a very dark winter's morning. We
gather at Market Place in downtown Auckland, thick
coats emphasizing our burliness, the early hour
dampening our desire for social intercourse. 
   We shuffle into the rental van and begin our
clandestine journey into the darkest depths of
Henderson.
   Plunging down a metal driveway, we surface in a sea
of artificial light. We are herded into a wardrobe
where the much-put-upon assistants kit us out. Then we
are rubbed down with mysterious brown liquids for that
authentic Babylonian look.
   It is then a long wait before we are needed on set
so there is time to get some food and mingle with my
new-found comrades.
   Mark was between jobs, having been a frame-fitter
for just two weeks. Alex worked for a law firm but took
time off especially to "get paid for running around and
shouting."
   Along with James, a computer technician, there was a
personal fitness trainer, a nightclub bouncer and
various sports players.
   Introductions over, we are finally directed down a
muddy track to the set which is, surprisingly, a muddy
field upon which the bad guys (the Dragons) are
supposedly changing out ranks, and with some success.
   This is the power of television.
   What looks to us to be a budget set littered with
feeble props, choking smoke and extras fighting as if
their lives didn't depend on it is later rendered into
an exciting on-screen battleground.       
   There is much trickery involved. Goliath is turned
into a giant by standing on a raised table; the
'non-giants" are 20m away in the background. 
   Goliath's head steams because he had a smoke machine
under his helmet, much to our amusement. The crunching
of cornflakes accompanies his gigantic stride. Filming
is tortuously slow.
   It often takes more than an hour to shoot 10 seconds
of film; two weeks to make one hour-long episode.
   With 15 men representing an army of 150, the battle
scenes require us to be in at least one-and-a-half
places at once.
   We get a close-up view of Lucy Lawless, the Kiwi
who's now a huge pin-up in America thanks to her
bodice-busting role as Xena. Darkly beautiful, she has
the ranks standing to attention for on-screen
inspection. 
   I grab tenaciously at my 15 nanoseconds of fame as,
on camera, Xena thwacks my plastic shield and huskily
tells me to "smarten up!"
   A talented actress cast in a cheesy role, Lawless
holds her own in the physical fight scenes. But did
they really have kick-boxing in 500 BC?
   The director, whose all-in-black rock-star dress
code is only slightly offset by a nifty pair of
gumboots, knows everyone's parts and acts them out with
endless gusto. The sets are even more of an eye-opener. 
   From a distance, the castles are impressively
Gothic. Up close, you have to be careful where you
stand because polystyrene, no matter how dazzling the
paintwork, is to solidity what television is to
reality.
   These are three days of valuable experience; as an
extra you get to run about, you get to sit around and
you get to bump into famous people. 
   And what's more, you get paid for it.
   GRAPHICS: Lucy Lawless from Hercules and the Amazon
Women. Caption: Xena, the Babylonian beauty, in full
battle cry); Lucy Lawless from Warrior Princess.
Caption: Lawless dispensing her own form of order.


[360] 06-30-96
   THE SUNDAY STAR-TIMES (Auckland). Page 13. 644
words. "CoverStory cast is uncovered" by Linda Herrick  
   COMMENTARY: If I gave any commentary at all, it'd be
longer than this excerpt. [MBE]
   YOUNG HERCULES is a spin-off of the  Herca /Xenaverse
of Renaissance Pictures. It was filmed finally in the
winter of 96-97. We know Kevin Smith and Michael  Hurst 
are in it. Hurst is probably NOT playing Iolaus because
of age insurmountable differences but Smith may appear
as Ares. The movie is still as yet unreleased the date
of this XMR (July 1997!). This portends either that the
show is going to be real good because they are taking
their time with it, OR it is going to be  soooo  bad that
they are taking their time fixing it. Also the buzz is
that this is a two hour pilot for a pitched live-action
half-hour young adult/child show geared towards
Saturdays mornings. This, along with AMAZON HIGH,
represent the only authorized spin-offs of HERCULES
after XENA. [KT]
   EXCERPT:
   ... FIRST Hercules, then Xena. Now watch for the
" prequel ", Young Hercules, a two-hour  telemovie  by
Pacific Renaissance Pictures, which is in the early
stages of casting the production.  Prepubescents  who are
"built" should apply....


[361] 06-30-96
   THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE. Page 1. 1162 words. "A
Woman Warrior Against Crime". By Patricia Holt.
   COMMENTARY: In a book review of "Cause of Death" by
Patricia  Cornwell , reviewer Patricia Holt compared the
character Kay  Scarpetta  as a "modern-day Xena the
Warrior Queen." [KT]
   EXCERPT:
  "We have to smile at the way  Cornwell  has quietly but
steadfastly made Kay  Scarpetta  into a modern-day Xena
the Warrior Queen. Kay is licensed to practice medicine
in Virginia, Maryland and Florida; a criminal
investigative analyst for the FBI; a credentialed
advanced and rescue diver; an expert in radioactive
materials; a forensics specialist; an authority on guns
and weapons; and, much to the chagrin of the furious
police captain who insists she needs a waiver drafted
by an attorney just to step on the pier, a lawyer who
works on holidays." 


=============
THE BACK PAGE
=============

XENA MEDIA REVIEW STAFF: Serving Xena fandom since
March 1996!
   Kym Masera Taborn (KT), editor-in-chief
        ktaborn @ lightspeed.net 
   Diane Silver (DS), editor (even issues)
        dswriter @ idir.net 
   Maria Erb (MBE), editor (odd issues)
        maria @ erb.mv.com 
   Barbara Johnson, circulation 
        xenatwo @ aol.com 
   Lydia M. Woods, assistant to the editor-in-chief
        woodsl @ erol.com 
   Thomas Simpson, mascot
        thomas @ xenafan.com

ERRATA: XMR #22 anotation for XMR323 should have read:
     [323] 06-07-96 through 06-10-96
        NOTE: Ratings for CALLISTO (#22), 1st release
     (05/13/96). Illustrating how much viewership
     lessens in the summer, this weeks numbers show XWP
     ranking 10th while taking the 3rd place, with 5.1
     even though it is a first run episode. STAR TREK:
     DEEP SPACE NINE ranked 6th with a 6.0 share and
     took 1st place for action hours. HTLJ ranked 8th
     with a 5.4 and took 2nd. XWP did a three way tie
     for 10th with "Inside Edition" and "The Simpsons".
        Looking into the future, CALLISTO was
     re-released on 09/09/96, where it ranked 14th with
     a 4.3 taking 3rd place; and on 03/03/97, where it
     ranked 10th with a 5.8 taking 2nd place. [KT]

 BACK ISSUES: Back issues of XMR are available at the
XMR Archive on the XMR web page: http:// xenafan.com / xmr 

THIS WEEK IN XENA NEWS:  TWXN  is the advance sheet for
XMR. Since XMR offers in-depth analysis of media
coverage, the issues are distanced in order to gain
perspective and insight into how the media report
affected the future or was affected by its peers.  TWXN 
is a commentary-lite review of excerpts to be used in
future  XMRs  as they are processed for the XMR database.
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. 

REPRINT POLICY: Permission to use, copy and distribute
Xena Media Review (XMR), or parts thereof, by
electronic means for any non-profit purpose is hereby
granted, provided that both the above copyright notice
and this permission notice appear in all copies of the
newsletter itself, and that proper credit is given for
any excerpts. Any other format or purpose for
distribution requires permission of the author.
Reproducing XMR or parts thereof by any means implies
full agreement to the above non-profit-use clause.
   
SOLICITATIONS FOR FUTURE NEWSLETTERS: Send cites,
references, articles, annotations, and/or submissions
to ktaborn@lightspeed.net. XMR is a non-profit fan
publication. The editors retain editorial control and
reprint privileges over the submitted materials and
reserve the right to use the material in whatever way
they deem appropriate. Submitted materials will not be
returned to the sender.

DISCLAIMER: XMR (Xena Media Review) is a free non-
profit informational release. XMR in no way intends to
challenge, disregard or profit from any of the original
copyright holders of the material excerpted, reprinted,
or referred to (including but not limited to MCA,
Universal, Renaissance Pictures, and any other rightful
and legal copyright holder).  This newsletter is an
academic and educational pursuit to archive, annotate,
and study the media response to Xena: Warrior Princess
(a television production from MCA/Universal/
Renaissance) and the actresses Lucy Lawless and Renee
O'Connor, especially in the light of popular culture
and the influence of mass media.  XMR exercises its
right to quote, excerpt or reprint as allowed under the
law in order to review and discuss the media reports
cited and annotated herein. XMR is distributed free of
charge. Banner graphic by Colleen Stephan. This is a
Homicidal Insomniacs Publication. Copyright 1997 by Kym
Masera Taborn.

