THIS WEEK IN XENA NEWS... TWXN 113 09/30/97 The advance sheet of XENA MEDIA REVIEW (XMR): http://xenafan.com/xmr Excerpts from the following cites will appear in future issues of XMR. From the editor: 1. Laura Sue Dean has a spanking new "News Gossip Rumor" up. Check it out at http://www.thirdstory.com/whoosh/ngr/ngr07.html and do not forget that WHOOSH #13 premieres tomorrow. It's the rather large first anniversary edition. Yup, WHOOSH has been around for over a year's worth of issues -- and THEY thought it would never fly (or fry or somehting like that). 2. All the recent positions adverstised for in recent TWXNs have been filled. Thanks to all those who applied. I appreciate it. 3. XMR #28 is in preparation. It should come out hopefully within a week or so. XMR #27 was released 09/23/97. If you missed it, I encourage you to check it out at http://xenafancom/xmr and either save it or read it on-line. The features include an essay pondering what we did before before we had XWP, and another one about Renee O'Connor. MEdia articles annotated included: the first Rosie O show; several LL interviews;andan interview with Liz Friedman. And now, the stuff! [ ] 05-11-97 THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER. Sunday. Page F06. 1110 words. "Prime-time TV still a boys club" by Kinney Littlefield, The Orange County Register COMMENTARY: This article is a tad schitzo-phrenic (but then who isn't?). First it asks sadly "where are the fledgling 'Xena' fans of tomorrow?" in context of the dearth of programming available for girls; and yet it turns around and accuses XENA of role modeling an "adult-appealing Fantasy Female". In a way, this dichotomy illustrates an important point of Ms. Littlefield's article. EXCERPT: Girls Not Welcome. That sign hangs over most of prime-time broadcast television these days and it's a shame. Check your weekly schedule and you'll see there are pitifully few peer characters in prime time for girls 12-17 to identify with, beyond magical Sabrina (Melissa Joan Hart) on "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch," strong-minded Moesha (Brandy Norwood) on "Moesha," and rather more wishy-washy Tia Landry and Tamera Campbell (twins Tia and Tamera Mowry) on "Sister, Sister. " And there are few changes in sight for fall. That's bad enough. More unsettling are the results of a recent media study called "Reflections of Girls in the Media," sponsored by Oakland-based policy and advocacy organization Children Now and the Kaiser Family Foundation. "Girls in the Media" shows that the image of women on television needs serious help. The salient finding: Female characters, although frequently shown as strong, intelligent, independent and honest, are far too likely to be motivated by romance, shopping and their appearance. And female characters are under-represented in prime time... ...It's good to see the guys are iconoclastic enough to appreciate bratty Bart and slobby Homer. But where are the fledgling "Xena" fans of tomorrow? FEW GIRL HEROES So kids are kids, teens are teens and little girls who legendarily mature earlier than boys soon become bigger girls with boys on their mind. But it's sad that teen-age girls don't have better examples to choose from, on TV anyway. Sure, you get occasional girl characters as fillers and joke fodder on sophisticated sitcoms such as NBC's "Something So Right. " There are the standard dad-with-rebellious-daughter complications on "High Incident," "Moloney" and "Nash Bridges" always serving the character development of Dad. And the industry does like cartoon girls Lisa Simpson on "The Simpsons" and Daria on edgy new "Beavis and Butt-Head" spinoff "Daria" on MTV. But mostly girls stay in the background or become adult-appealing Fantasy Females. Skimpily dressed, karate-kicking Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" taps the same fantasy vein that Lucy Lawless does on "Xena." Today there is no equivalent to searching, thoughtful 15-year-old character Angela Chase (Claire Danes) on late, lamented 1994-95 family drama "My So-Called Life. " "Roseanne's" wonderfully annoying teen-ager Darlene (Sara Gilbert) is now all grown up. And "Roseanne" airs its last episode May 20. Today when girls look for someone in prime time to emulate, their choices are mostly adult, usually sexually sophisticated and perhaps inappropriate. There are few comrades-in-hormones-and-homework to be seen.... [ ] 05-11-97 THE NEW YORK TIMES. Sunday. Section 2. Page 23. 1832 words. "Film. Now in a More Nuanced Role, Jason Alexander as Anti-George" By BRUCE NEWMAN COMMENTARY: A cultural reference regarding the lack of clothing in XWP! EXCERPT: IT WOULD BE EASIER, OF COURSE, if he were a lesbian. At the precise historic moment when lesbians have become the very definition of outre hip in Hollywood, Jason Alexander has chosen to out himself as a serious actor in the film "Love! Valour! Compassion!" Replacing the formidable Nathan Lane, who appeared on Broadway as the screaming musical comedy queen Buzz, Mr. Alexander is, however, one of America's most emphatically self- declared non-lesbian, not-even-gay-if-you-must-know actors. (He is also non-tall, non-thin and has a nonexistent hairline, violating some of Hollywood's truly sacred taboos.)... ...On television, Mr. Alexander has wielded his body like a comic foil, rarely making it through a season of "Seinfeld" without removing more of his clothing than Xena, Warrior Princess. "I would love to drop 25 pounds and buff up, though I don't know if that would help my career at this point," he said. "I have fun with the idea of being bald, being short and being chunky. I guess if I thought of myself as funny-looking, I might be more stigmatized by it. But I know where my sexuality is, and I know where my attractiveness is. So when I want to bend it toward the funny side, I have no problem with that."... [ ] 05-11-97 THE BOSTON HERALD. Sunday. Page 006. 892 words. "TV Plus. The look of prime time. How do TV's top stars rate on our experts' fashion meter?" By Mark A. Perigard COMMENTARY: It is May, so fashion news is supreme! EXCERPT: Trailblazer or dead-end? Fashion find or fashion victim? Which TV belong at the end of the runway -- and which ones look like they just got off the expressway? The Herald recently convened a crack team of Boston fashion, hair and make-up experts to rate the look of TV's top stars. The panel considered the styles of cop shows, teen dramas, nighttime soaps, sitcoms and adventure series. They examined dozens of pictures of leading ladies, heroic men and randy teens to determine who's worthy of a beauty sash and who needs to be rushed into the nearest operating room for corrective image surgery.... ...And in the battle of the mythic heroes, there could only be one winner: Lucy Lawless' "Xena: Warrior Princess" knocked Kevin Sorbo's "Hercules" right into fashion rehab. "Her heavy bangs bring out her checkbones," Hovermale said. "You can't wear bangs like that if you have an ounce of fat on you. They accentuate the angles of her face and her body." Sorbo, meanwhile, comes across as too soft for the half-god he was supposed to be playing -- a Fabio-wanna-be in tunic and leather trousers. Maybe, Connor commented, "he's getting in touch with his feminine side. He's the Hercules of the '90s." [ ] 05-12-97 ST. PETERSBURG TIMES. Monday. Page 1D. 489 words. "The Cat on the Hat" By Pamela Davis COMMENTARY: A prom dress from Hell. EXCERPT: ...Xena's warrior prom dress Who would be more proud of this one - Martha Stewart or Bob Vila? Elizabeth R. Frey, 17, of Red Lion, Pa., combined fashion sense with common sense when she created her prom dress. Instead of making a dress from fabric scraps, the high school junior welded together scrap metal to form a mighty attractive prom night armor. Looking a lot like Xena, TV's warrior princess, Frey might have had to pump a little iron before her prom; the dress weighs 5 pounds. Unlike most prom frocks, this one has endless recycling potential. She could play the Tin Man in her school's production of The Wizard of Oz. She could turn the dress into hundreds of earrings. Or, she could go back to the metal shop and fashion a bunch of cookie cutters. Martha Stewart would be so proud.... ...GRAPHIC:... ...Elizabeth R. Frey wears the prom dress she created by welding scrap metal together into a Zena-type armor.... [ h] 05-12-97 THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE. Page C6. 450 words. "Top of the Sixth" By Tom FitzGerald COMMENTARY: More on the Red Wings game. I am sure this will make YOUR day. EXCERPT: ...LAWLESS-NESS STEALS THE SHOW: Lucy Lawless, who portrays Xena, Warrior Princess, on the TV show, sang the national anthem at an NHL playoff game last week in Anaheim. She was wearing a tight bustier and when she finished singing, she threw her arms up in exuberance. Suddenly she was topless -- for one brief, shining moment -- in front of thousands of fans. Says Jay Leno: ''Even Eddie Murphy could tell she was a woman.'' NOTICES: All back issues of XMR and TWXN are available at (http://xenafan.com/xmr). We herein give praise and thanks to Tom Simpson for the space he has graciously donated from his spectacular, TOM'S XENA PAGE (http://xenafan.com). If you have never been there, you are **not** a xenafan! TWXN is the advance sheet for XMR, an annotated world press review of reports regarding the internationally syndicated television show XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS (1995 - 2000) and the castmembers, Lucy Lawless and Renee O'Connor. TWXN is not available for subscription, however it is posted regularly on the XenaVerse, Hercules-Xena, and Chakram Mailing Lists (thank you Lucia! I am greatly indebted to you), the MCA NetForum, the Xenite Message Center, and alt.tv.xena (thanks Tim Smith!). I also would like to thank sirvin@law.wfu.edu for assistance in collecting the newstories. For a free e-mail subscription to XMR subscribe by e-mail to ktaborn@lightspeed.net by stating somewhere in the subject or text "sub xmr".