THIS WEEK IN THE XENA NEWS.... TWXN #25 09/01/96 Brought to you by Xena: Media Review (XMR): http://www.teleport.com/~gater/IAXS.html 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. Excerpts from the following cites will appear in future issues of XMR. From the editor: I am still playing catch up which explains why the lion's share of annotations are from July. I will get to the last of August's news article sometime this month. If I am lucky. I am done with my rough draft of XMR #17 and I have got caught up on the subscription requests and letters to the editor. I am cooking. All I have to do is do a cursory proof-read and then the newsletter will be out. WARNING. XMR #17 will be sent out in 4 parts: each part will be over 1,000 lines long. It will take more than one sitting to read this baby. If you cannot handle this, warn me before hand. You can then pick it up at the website. I anticipate sending XMR #17 either later tonight or tomorrow. Once the curse of XMR #17 has been distinguished, I will then devote my wandering attentions to Whoosh. So, if you are an IAXS member, expect to be contacted by me in the near future. Also, the Carmen Carter Reading Group has just started. It's not too late to join. If you want a syllabus just send me an e-mail at ktaborn@lightspeed. net. September will be "Dreams of the Raven" month. RAVEN (TOS #38, Pocketbooks) is a rare Dr. McCoy novel; so if McCoy yanks your chain, I would strongly encourage you to join the discussion group. [ ] 06-04-96 FEMINIST SCIENCE FICTION, FANTASY & UTOPIA: II. D. NON-PRINT MULTIMEDIA FORMATS. http://www.uic.edu/ ~lauramd/sf/. COMMENTARY: XWP was mentioned on the web again in a review of television shows of interest to feminists. The review took that stance that although XWP was not their ideal of a feminist hero, she was at least leading in the proper direction. [ ] 06-14-96 MOGUL webpage (mogul@tols.co.nz). Telecom NZ Ltd. "Xena: Warrior Princess" REPRINT: Extended promo for the 06/19/96 New Zealand premiere of XWP which was exhibited on the Mogul webpage for Telecom NZ (TVNZ). Surprisingly enough, the narrative was the most detailed media release to date about Xena's past and expected future. The promoter called Xena "a breath of fresh air when it comes to super heroes." [ ] 06-29-96 NEW ZEALAND HERALD. Saturday. Weekend Magazine. Page 11. --- words. "Extra: Read All about it. The Darkly Beautiful Woman Twacks 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 set for the 2nd season Goliath episode of XWP. 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!'" [ ] 07-04-96 OVER THE HEDGE. Syndicated comic strip. Thursday. COMMENTARY: "Over the Hedge" was a comic strip featuring a hip raccoon and turtle who made coments on life in Suburbia. In a three panel strip, the turtle was showing the raccoon his concept for a new development, "Turtopia", where animals and humans would live in harmony. In the first panel, the raccoon said, "What makes you think people will GO for your Turtopian concept?". The turtle replied, "Look, they want to be close to nature, but not TOO close.". In the 2nd panel he continued, "We give them what THEY want" At which point the raccoon read from the brochure, "`Tasteful, regularly scheduled foraging with random displays of adorableness'" In the third panel, the turtle continued, "and WE get what WE want!" As the raccoon finished the Brochure: "`Free digital satellite access to the 24 hour `All Xena, All the Time' network." [ ] 07-13-96 MCA XENA NETFORUM. Post from Lucy Lawless; posted by Xenastaff (aka Tyldus) for Lucy Lawless. --- words. COMMENTARY: In her second post to internet XWP fandom, Lucy Lawless thanked her fans for their letters and gifts and singled out Jetthead for making sending them to her. Reference to a partner ("I do not often go on the net unless my partner forces me to sit down for 2 seconds, but I am often charmed when I do.") caused quite a bit of conjectural activity on the 'net, but for the most part the forces of respecting Ms. Lawless' privacy won out. She mentioned that she gave copies of the letters to Ms. O'Connor, who read them and gave her love. Ms. Lawless also mentioned that she was in the midst of filming the first installment of the eagerly awaited Callisto two parter for the second season. Ms. Lawless said that the conclusion of the two-parter would involve "mind transfer". She concluded the post by informing the reader that "In one month, I come to the States for one week's publicity, then off to Europe for a holiday. Yipee!" The post was charming, respectful to the fans, and irresistably engaging (especially how she drew in the reader with some insider info; it was more like sharing some secrets with an old friend than a strategic business move). Ms. Lawless either has good insinct herself in fan managament, or she was getting some very good advice. Either way, the post fanned the passions of Xena fandom and gave them a respite from the long, arid season of summer re-runs. [ ] 07-13-96 NEW ZEALAND HERALD. Page 22. --- words. "Networks Exchange Blows over 'Spoiling Tactics' Programming" Contributed by Linda Gaunt COMMENTARY: Announcement that TVNZ was dropping ST: Voyager and moving XWP to from Wednesdays to Fridays, after HTLJ, starting 07/24/96. [ ] 08-26-96 CAVE OF ECHOES. HTLJ episode no. 37. Second release. 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).