_____ ______ ._ `\`/>`\ /`/` /`__________,.'>___ _____ )~\ /<`\ `\ /`/` /``\ \./------> /|\./\ |\./| / | \ /< `\`\ `\ /`/` /` | | |----\ / | |\ \ | | |././^\ \ |\__{o}\--`\`\ `\/`/` /`-----| | |-----`------\`\`\--| | |----^ \ \----. [\\\\\\\{*}==`> <`=======| | ==============`\`\`\| | |=====\ \ \==--> |/~~{o}/-- /`/ /\ \ `\------| | |---------------`\`\\ | |------\ \ \--' \< /`/` /` `\`\ `\ | | |_____,.'>| | | `\`\| | /' \ \ \ \< /` /` `\`\ `\ ,/ /^\------> / |/^\| \ | |/ \/^\\. /`/\>/` `\`\ `\`~~~~~~~~~~~\ / ~~~~~ )^\,\, '~~~~~ `~~~~~` '~~~~~` ` ~~~~~~ ========================== XENA: THE MEDIA REVIEW #03 ========================== http://www.teleport.com/~gater/IAXS.html c/o RIF BBS P.O. Box 81181, Bakersfield, CA 93308 RIF BBS (805) 588-9349 91 subscribers and growing! This document has 860 lines. Xena Media Review (XMR) is an annotated review of mainstream media reports found in electronic form regarding the syndicated television show Xena: Warrior Princess (1995-), and the stars of the show, Lucy Lawless and Renee O'Connor. For a free e-mail subscription send "subscribe XMR" to ktaborn@lightspeed.net. Issue No. 03 Release date: April 12, 1996 2nd edition: 07/10/96 Covering 05/11/95 - 5/15/95 The Pre-production Month Annotations 018-019q **[018] NEWSDAY. 05/11/95. Hercules article discussing Xena [019a] CHICAGO SUN-TIMES. 05/11/95. RF:BID: some mention [019b] POST & COURIER. 05/12/95. RF:BID: Sparse [019c] INDIANAPOLIS STAR. 05/12/95. RF:BID: Sparse [019d] HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. 05/12/95. RF:BID: Sparse [019e] GANNETT NEWS SERVICE. 05/12/95. RF:BID: Sparse [019f] SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE. 05/12/95. RF:BID: Sparse **[019g] SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. 05/12/95. RF:BID: OK [019h] CHICAGO TRIBUNE. 05/12/95. RF:BID: Sparse [019i] CHARLESTON GAZETTE. 05/13/95. RF:BID: Sparse **[019j] BALTIMORE SUN. 05/13/95. RF: BID: Negative review **[019k] WASHINGTON POST. 05/14/95. RF:BID: Best review [019l] WASHINGTON POST. 05/14/95. RF:BID: Sparse **[019m] SEATTLE TIMES. 05/14/95. RF:BID: OK [019n] ORLANDO SENTINEL. 05/14/95. RF"BID: Sparse [019o] CINCINNATI ENQUIRER. 05/14/95. RF:BID: Sparse [019p] CALGARY HERALD. 05/14/95. Sparse [019q] PEOPLE. 05/15/95. Sparse ------------ Introduction: ------------ It's another ALMOST ALL RENEE issue! Lucy Lawless and Xena were covered in only one annotation which consisted of a couple of paragraphs in an article about Kevin Sorbo and Hercules. The rest (16!) concerned the media coverage of "Rockford Files: A Blessing in Disguise" (RF:BID). (But don't worry LL fans, in a few weeks it will become a non-stop Lawless-fest with a few table scraps from Texas that cover Ms. O'Connor...the plight of the second banana can be ugly). In RF:BID, Rene O'Connor played the significant role of Laura Sue Dean, an actress who procured the services of Jim Rockford (James Garner). The reviews ran the gamut: some thought she was the best thing since sliced bread, while others found it deeply offensive. In the next XMR, we will finish out the rest of May and boldly enter Xena: The Production Years. In XMR #01 I mentioned I would save my diatribe about the May 1996 "Sci-Fi Universe" for XMR #02. However, before releasing XMR #02, I emptied myself of my rant in my other newsletter "Resistance is Futile" which was released before XMR #02. Consequently, when XMR #02 came around, I forgot completely about it. The RIF rant was adequate to my needs. Life could have still been good except for several (alright eleven to be exact) readers of XMR who were personally offended that I did not keep my word. So, now follows, a NEW rant especially written for XMR. "Sci-Fi Universe" magazine, trying to be the bad-boy periodical on the science fiction periodical block, was created several years ago as the SF version of "Film Threat". "Film Threat" is an uneven but horribly fun attempt at movie criticism. What set Film Threat apart from the other film mags was the uncontrolled exuberance of the critics. You knew that these people loved every minute of what they were doing. They loved being social critics and taking the essence of some grade Z schlock and painfully extracting both the microcosm and microcosm of human existence from it. It was good stuff, especially if you were a college student, away from home, trying to create a cool environment for your life. Chris Gore was behind Film Threat at that time and he started to concentrate more and more on science fiction. Finally the publishers said, cut the SF stuff and put it in another magazine. Thus "Sci-Fi Universe" was born. SF Universe immediately carved itself out as the Anti-Starlog. In fact, if both magazines ever touch, they destroy each other. Good college fun. After awhile, Mark Altman took over the editorial control and Sci-Fi Universe changed. But that is another story...my story concerns the most recent issue May 1996. The "Play it Again PAM" cover with Ms. Pamela Lee nee Anderson busting out all over. On page 37, the article "Babes in Boyland" appears. It is a scathing (and I mean scathing for SF media) indictment of how SF TV and movies treat women. I can mention it here because they make a passing reference to XWP. On page 37, column one, Amanda Finch writes, "Compared with most sci-fi offerings, however, the women of Trek are dressed like spinster librarians. For every appropriately attired Agent Scully on The X-Files (who, lacking the traditional attributes of the TV sexpot, has watched as her co-star has gotten the lion's share of publicity), female science fiction fans face seven or eight leather-thonged 'warrior princesses' (Xena) or Pamela Anderson's cleavage fighting crime in black leather (Barb Wire)." I wish to make three comments. First, the writer has thrown XWP into the "bad" column. One of the problems of generalization is that it...um...generalizes. I have seen this complaint from other reviewers and writers. They categorically state that Xena is sexist and exploitive. Well, it is. But (there's always a but!) Xena is a satire of the genre. The "saving graces" of Xena are the twists that the producers and writers have added to Xena: the women are self-sufficient (no regular male character who rescues them; no regular love interest); Xena competes equally and usually wins against her foes, male or female, just as Gabrielle does in her more idealized intellectual way; relationships between women are explored; and so on. If XWP was meant to be a Mynacean Baywatch, they are not playing to the adolescent male. They may be getting his interest, but they are not focusing on it. Second, I was struck by the irony of finding this article in Sci-Fi Universe. A simple leaf through of any of the issues show that SF Universe strongly subscribes to exhibiting women in various stages of undress (usually concentrating on the bust area - thus giving us more insight into Mr. Altman's tastes? For some reason it reminds me of David Letterman...). However, this is an epidemic affliction with most popular media Science Fiction magazines. Compared to many others, Sci-Fi Universe is like a "spinster librarian" (but, whoa, watch out if she gets married and is exposed to the manly virtues). If we point the finger at one, we must point it to all. It would be facile to blame it on the fact that 99% of all publishers and editors are men. But would it be any more realistic to accept that this type of "journalism" sells magazines like hotcakes? That blames the consumer, who is merely buying what is offered...which is offered because that's what the consumer supposedly only will buy. Catch-22. Third, after venting my rant in RIF, I have come to the conclusion that any type of self-reflection is better than none at all. "Sci-Fi Universe" must be applauded for running the article. Social change fumbles along at a snail's pace. At some point a society reaches critical mass and suddenly can no longer accept what was done without question in the past. We see this happening today in respect to race relations, smoking, and the balance between men and women in society, to name a few. I like to think that XWP, mired with one foot in the old and one foot in the new, is merely one of many reflections of a society in transition. I like the show, so I think of it as an advancement, not a step backwards. Art reflects the society from which it was made, but art also can transcend the very same society. XWP promotes a world where a woman can successfully make her way in the world depending upon her skills and intellect and to compete without being subjected to sexual violence, archaic social limitations, and arbitrary social codes. If she has to walk around in leather and in next to nothing, well, I can live with that. For now. ---editor ----------- ANNOTATIONS ----------- [018] 05-11-95 NEWSDAY. Page B04. 1573 Words. "Kevin Sorbo Didn't Want to Play Hercules on TV. Now He's Glad He Reconsidered". By Diane Werts. COMMENTARY: Only 3 paragraphs about Xena, but I included this article because it's amusing. EXCERPTS: FORGET THE GIANTS, gladiators, half-horse centaurs, three-headed dogs and other mythological foes who beset actor Kevin Sorbo weekly in his TV journeys as Hercules. Now we know why Sorbo makes so much sense playing a superhuman half-god for the '90s: He survived a bedroom scene with Zsa Zsa Gabor. And you thought the mythic hero stuff was tough. See what kinds of torment actors have to suffer in a guest shot on "Cybill"? But Sorbo's April 10 appearance on the CBS sitcom - as a Cybill Shepherd co-star who falls for all his leading ladies (even if, like Zsa Zsa, they're old enough to have starred in the original '50s Hercules movies) - simply confirmed for other viewers what the fast-growing audience of his syndicated action hour, "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys," already knew. (The series airs Saturday nights at 8 on WPIX/11.) Sorbo isn't only large (he played football in his native Minnesota). And built (check those pecs). And cute (with classic, chiseled midwestern good looks). And warmly charismatic (would you look at anybody else if this hunk walked into the room?)... ...He's also got a cheery, casual sense of humor, suiting the self-deprecating Hercules envisioned by series producers and cult movie masters Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert - that fun-loving auteur team who invest even gore fests like "The Evil Dead" and "Army of Darkness" with winking panache. So if you thought you could never get into a show about Hercules - well, join the club. Neither did Sorbo. "I thought of Steve Reeves [star of 1959's 'Hercules'], I thought of Lou Ferrigno [1983's 'Hercules'], I thought of Arnold Schwarzenegger," 1970's "Hercules in New York," plus those Eighties "Conan" movies. "I thought of all those people that had done it before, and I wasn't interested," Sorbo said during a recent Manhattan visit, before heading back to New Zealand to shoot a new 22-episode season of the Universal Studios "Action Pack" series. "I'm a big guy [6-foot-3, 220 pounds], but I'm not that size of a big guy - not the big muscle-body thing - and I wasn't about to transform my body into something like that." Why should he? He was on the brink of stardom as A Normal Person... ...After years of doing ads and commercials (Budweiser, Diet Coke, Lexus) and dutifully attending acting classes, this homespun Fabio "had just come off of almost getting the pilot for 'Lois & Clark' - it was down to Dean Cain and [me] for that." He was getting "pilots and pilots, back to back to back." A Fox hour called "Aspen" that wasn't picked up. An NBC hour called "Condition Critical" in which he would've played a doctor, "but we were three years ahead of the 'ER' and 'Chicago Hope' thing." Even a CBS concept called "Gumshoes" with Peter Scolari and Ed Asner, "a sort of a 'Barney Miller' meets 'Police Academy' " where "my character was sort of a Ted Danson womanizing private eye but just a total goofball as well." So, Hercules? Nah. "But my agent said to read the script and worry about it later, and I read the script, and I liked it," says Sorbo, 36. "I just felt there was something here that, there was nothing like it on TV right now." You can say that again. When's the last time you saw a series that combined ancient myths with martial arts action, with babes in leather, chain mail and fur, with fire-throwing gods and she-demons who turn men to stone? When's the last time you saw so many lush locations on TV every week - verdant valleys, black-sand beaches, mountains, caves - all filled to the brim with hearty, glowing, pretty people... ...And when's the last time you heard a common man reject a royal woman with "I'd rather sleep in a dungeon with rats than share satin pillows with a viper"? (Certainly you haven't lately heard the retort she spat at him: "You insolent pig!") Yes, this Herc is a man for all seasons - uh, centuries. Sort of a regular-dude gentleman-farmer, who says he just wants to "curl up beside the fire with [wife] Deianeira and the kids." But just because he's the bastard son of god Zeus and therefore embodied with powers beyond that of other mortal men; and just because everybody's heard how his physical prowess once "dropped a giant like a bad habit" - just because of that, people keep coming around asking him to drop everything and save them from winged monsters, cackling slave masters or those capricious gods. Mythological fame is a bitch. And so would have been making this delirious stew palatable if Raimi and Tapert hadn't found a star with Sorbo's common-sense charm. "We were going against the typical vision of what a Hercules was," says executive producer Tapert. "We were looking for a Joe Montana type - Hercules as the star quarterback. And Kevin really filled it. He's got those wonderful blue eyes that come across onscreen. And he has what I call, being from Detroit, a wonderful midwestern accessibility factor. He's not a dark and brooding guy. He's somebody you could invite back into your living room week after week." He's also somebody who can keep a straight face spouting that dungeon-with-rats / satin-sheets-with-viper dialogue. Yet, the show's time-tripping attitude is too much even for him sometimes. Luckily, "they've given us a lot of creative control - rewriting on the spot, basically," to make that mad mix of ancient myths and insouciant '90s slang fly. "There are points where I'm like, 'Hey dudes' in the script, just a little too Nineties for me. I have my pen when I'm reading the script, and I circle stuff," asking the producers for changes. "Nine times out of ten, they will say, 'Yeah, that makes more sense.' " However, he argued over the dungeon line and lost, Sorbo reports with a chagrined grin. "I find downplaying those lines makes it work better than really trying to deliver it or get into it." His easygoing style impresses even Bruce Campbell, the longtime Raimi crony who faced similar challenges starring in last season's dry-wit Fox western "Brisco County." Campbell flew down across the dateline earlier this year to make his directing debut with the recent "Hercules" episode featuring competing brother and sister warlords... ...Sorbo enjoyed the camaraderie, especially when Campbell told him, "It's funny just watching you do these scenes, because I read this stuff and I'm goin' 'This is crap. I could never say this.' " Campbell also noted, " 'I look at you, and I feel like your voice is dubbed for some reason,' " Sorbo reports with a laugh, " 'like somebody else is saying those words.' " Which only adds to the loopy fun in this gleefully stylish genre-bender. Herc is a virile comic-book hero one second, a dutiful mama's boy the next, and a quipster after that. He was even a loving dad last season. Though Sorbo remains the only single sibling among five brothers and sisters (he does have an L.A. girlfriend who trooped to New Zealand 12 times in the last 18 months), he had a nice fatherly way about him in scenes with Herc's kids, during the five two-hour movies that launched the "Hercules" franchise in 1994. They introduced his peripatetic heroism, his marriage to Deianeira (Tawny Kitaen), their three children and his rocky relationship with dad Zeus (Anthony Quinn, of all people). The family warmth was a nice touch among the requisite fantasy fight scenes, flexing bods and special-effects monsters, but it was jettisoned when the show went to series in January. Before the premiere's first commercial break the wife and kids were torched by evil stepmom Hera, and deadbeat dad Zeus hasn't been seen since. (At 80, Quinn doesn't want to travel to New Zealand anymore, says Sorbo.) Hercules' sole companion this season has been hapless sidekick Iolaus (Michael Hurst), though he's always sure to visit mom once a month or so... ...While Sorbo says he understands the reasoning behind the producers' decision - "It would not look good for my character to be circumnavigating the globe and forgetting that I have a family back home" - he still wishes "they wouldn't have killed off the children, and I've told them that many times." After all, Herc could've parked 'em with grandma. Now he's footloose and family-free, but after that tragedy he's even more determined to defend the weak and the virtuous. "They're trying to keep the moral issue big with Hercules, and I'm all for that." They're also trying to juice up the sex appeal. Hercules has recently found himself first bedeviled and then bewitched by the warrior princess Xena (played by fulsome New Zealand actress Lucy Lawless, and yes, Sorbo says, that is her real name; he asked her, first thing). Xena showed up midseason as an evil enemy, then softened into an ally and love interest in the season-ending two-parter. (The conclusion airs Saturday at 8 on Ch. 11.) In fact, Xena gets her own hour series this fall to run in "Action Pack" tandem with "Hercules," which has zoomed from its original middling national Nielsens to recently toppling "Baywatch" as the most popular syndicated drama after the durable "Star Trek" franchise ("Deep Space Nine"). Xena's departure should free up Herc to really play the field, but Sorbo promises his character won't turn into "Captain Kirk, where every show he's doing some green woman from some planet somewhere. I would fight against that, and so far they haven't really brought that up." They haven't brought up having Zsa Zsa as a guest star, either. Kevin Sorbo must be relieved. GRAPHICS: (1) Sorbo, center, teams up with Michael Hurst, left, Robert Trebor and Lucy Lawless in 'Hercules,' Saturday at 8 on Ch. 11. (2) 'I wasn't about to transform my body,' Sorbo says, into something like earlier Herculeses: Steve Reeves, Lou Ferrigno or Arnold Schwarzenegger. (3) Kevin Sorbo [019] 05/11/95 to 05/15/95 NOTE: The next 17 annotations are about "Rockford Files: A Blessing in Disguise" [working title "Rockford Files; Little Ezekial"]. Rene O'Connor had a significant role, playing the actress who hired Jim Rockford. The reviews ran the gamut of mere cast listings to substantive criticism. This TV movie created the most press coverage outside of XWP in Renee O'Connor's career to date. Although it is slim, it is still better than just cast listings and a graphic here or there. [019a] 05/11/95 CHICAGO SUN-TIMES. Pg. 51. 523 Words. "It's Garner's Curmudgeon Against L.A.; Rockford Revival, Part II". By Ginny Holbert. COMMENTARY: This review not only dwelt upon Ms. O'Connor's character (Laura Dean, an actress), but quoted some of her lines. A good sign the reviewer didn't fall asleep during the screening. Also, Ms. O'Connor shared the graphic with James Garner. EXCERPTS: The Rockford Files: A Blessing in Disguise... ...In "A Blessing in Disguise," as in "I Love L.A.," the appeal of the movie is not in big guest stars (Chicago talk show host Morton Downey Jr. is as big as it gets here), an intricate plot or a mystery that keeps you guessing. It's in the tasty juxtaposition of greedy, weird L.A. with the insistently ordinary private eye who prefers life in the slow lane. Even 20 years ago, during the original 1974-80 run of "The Rockford Files" on NBC, James Garner played Rockford as a bit of a curmudgeon. He was an affable guy with an old car, a modest trailer on the beach and no greater ambition than to spend some time fishing with his father. Now "Jimbo" is older, creakier and even more bemused by the excesses that surround him... ...Rockford gets hooked up to cable for the first time. He is shocked by the graphic nature of what he sees, but he is even more shocked when he tunes in to his ex-con buddy Angel (Stuart Margolin) quoting Scripture and begging for money "to feed the starving children in Lapland." Angel, it seems, has found himself a gullible and generous audience in the "Holy Light" church. Soon enough, Rockford is embroiled a plot that involves murder, fraud and show biz when he agrees to protect a sweet but self-absorbed ingenue. Actress Laura Deane (Renee O'Connor), a target of overzealous Holy Light crazies who think her latest film is offensive to Christianity, adores the dadlike detective. "I'm gonna give your number to Shannen Doherty," she tells Rockford. The film is filled with this kind of pseudo-hip reference. There's a party at a druggy nightclub that resembles L.A.'s Viper Room, where actor River Phoenix overdosed. (Maybe it's a coincidence that this club is called "The Phoenix.") Even so, the satire is blunt and the movie never really lays claim to the inside Hollywood status it shoots for... ...GRAPHIC: James Garner and Renee O'Connor appear in "The Rockford Files: A Blessing in Disguise,"... [019b] 05-12-95 THE POST AND COURIER (Charleston, SC). TV, Pg. 4. 366 Words. "Angel's Blessing: Righteous Laughs". By Frank Wooten. COMMENTARY: More on RF:BID. This time the movie has the original title: "Rockford Files: Little Ezekial". Hmmmmm, looks like the reviewer didn't pay THAT much attention. Renee O'Connor got a one line mention. EXCERPTS: ...Garner is showing some age at 67 but retains his easy, breezy charm, carrying the movie well without showing any particular effort. Original foils Margolin and Joe Santos (as ever-bumbling police Lt. Dennis Becker) still hit the right notes. Renee O'Connor does a ditzy turn as young actress Laura Dean. Morton Downey Jr. is perfectly cast as himself... [019c] 05-12-95 THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR. Pg. D13; 683 Words. "'Vr.5' Finale Could Really Turn out to Be Final". By Steve Hall COMMENTARY: Ms. O'Connor once again got a one line mention. Instead of ditsy, she's now self-obsessed. EXCERPTS: ...The Rockford Files 3 1/2 STARS James Garner's smart, exasperated private eye returns again in The Rockford Files: Blessing in Disguise, a new TV movie as entertaining as it is improbable. It airs at 9 p.m. Sunday on WISH (Channel 8). Jim Rockford reluctantly gets tangled up with a self-obsessed actress (Renee O'Connor) and old friend Angel (Stuart Margolin) - now a rich televangelist, whose parishioners may be willing to murder to shut down a supposedly blasphemous movie. The show takes predictable but still amusing jabs at TV preachers, Hollywood types and talk shows. (Morton Downey Jr. plays himself). The witty dialogue, by Stephen J. Cannell, is vintage Rockford. [019d] 05-12-95 THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. 170 Words. "A Blessing in Disguise (CBS) 9 P.M. Sunday". By Irv Letofsky. COMMENTARY: Hollywood's turn. Again, Renee O'Connor got only a sentence, but this time she's "bubbling". REPRINT: THE ROCKFORD FILES: Creator Stephen Cannell is back blasting his way at the typewriter and sending Jim Rockford (James Garner) running around Los Angeles again in this latest private eye adventure -- "The Rockford Files: A Blessing in Disguise." This is the second of his two-hour movie missions for CBS, the first one last November delivering hearty ratings for that Rockford adventure. But in this project, Cannell, who brings a lot of quirky material to his scripts, is far too quirky for Rockford's own good. He expends more juice on creating crispy dialogue in the episode than on digestible plot. Jim connects with a bubbling young actress (Renee O'Connor) whose movie is being harassed by religious zanies who are getting deadly dangerous. They've been fired up by Rockford's buddy and veteran scammer Angel (Stuart Margolin), who now runs a righteous TV ministry. In the past, Angel has always been good for some silly but too much silly is too much of a good thing and we quickly lose interest. [019e] 05-12-95 GANNETT NEWS SERVICE. May 12, 1995, Friday. 1611 Words. Headline: Sweeps and More! By Mike Hughes. COMMENTARY: Can I stand the excitement??? USA Today gave Renee O'Connor TWO sentences. She may be "wide-eyed" but she leads with "wonderful excesses." EXCERPTS: Right now, two networks are cranking up the volume... ...And the winner is? Well ... I vote for "The Rockford Files: A Blessing in Disguise," at 9 p.m. Sunday on CBS. It's a delight... ...Cannell produced the original "Rockford" series, filling it with strong writing. Then he started doing way too many shows, from good shows to "A-Team." Now Cannell has written the ideal "Rockford" script. That starts with Jim Rockford's pal Angel (Stuart Margolin), a perpetual scam artist. He's suddenly prospering as a TV evangelist. The trouble is that he's stirred up a protest that endangers a movie and its wide-eyed young star (Renee O'Connor). There are odd people everywhere, led by the wonderful excesses of Margolin and O'Connor. All revolve around the rock-solid sense of Rockford (Jim Garner). This is a droll delight... [019f] 05-12-95 THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE. Pg. C1; 1114 Words. "Place Your Sunday Bets on 'Rockford Blessing'". By John Carman COMMENTARY: Renee O'Connor did not make the graphic this time. Ms. O'Connor got one sentence for herself and another sentence for her character. Her character was described as "cherubic". XMR 03:019o (Cincinnati Enquirer, see below) ran this article verbatim on May 14, 1995, but they included a graphic with Renee O'Connor and James Garner (even though they credited the story to the San Francisco Chronicle). EXCERPTS: On this third weekend of the May sweeps, the networks finally have their armor clanking in unison. It figures to be a big, bloody Sunday joust, the most combative night of the sweeps. ABC is counting on ''The Langoliers,'' another Stephen King miniseries. NBC goes country with ''Naomi & Wynonna: Love Can Build a Bridge,'' a miniseries about the singing Judds. CBS parries with James Garner and ''The Rockford Files: A Blessing in Disguise.'' It's not so hard. The best of the three is the new ''Rockford Files'' movie, with a sparkling script from Stephen Cannell and a chunky performance by Stuart Margolin as Angel Martin... ...Stephen Cannell made his name with ''The Rockford Files,'' and has gone on to produce half the police dramas on television since the 1970s. When you see a producer whip a sheet of paper out of a typewriter in the closing credits, that's Cannell. His script for Sunday's movie was chiefly for fun. Rockford takes his lumps as a bodyguard for a cherubic young actress (Renee O'Connor) -- and Garner is at an age where you can really feel the ''ouch'' -- but this time comedy prevails. Angel, who thinks he'd like to be called ''His Holiness'' and who rates himself ''up there with Elizabeth Taylor and Travis Tritt,'' is leading a raucous boycott of a movie called ''Little Ezekial.'' Rockford's client is the novice star of the movie, and Angel's boycott may be placing her in danger. It all leads to ''the miracle of the bowling balls,'' an East Indian mystic named Sara Lanka, a brawl on a TV show hosted by Morton Downey Jr., one offscreen murder, and maybe the most satisfying network movie I've seen in the last five years... [019g] 05-12-95 THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. Pg. E-9. 642 Words. "Rockford's Charisma Untarnished by Time". By John Freeman COMMENTARY: Rene O'Connor did not make the graphic but she did get some actual criticism on her performance (a first folks!) and not just wry comment upon her character. The reviewer called her "just about perfect." The sentences ran two for Ms. O'Connor and two for her character: an all time high of four! But then who's counting? EXCERPTS: Like Jessica Fletcher, Jim Rockford has been at this detective game for quite a while. Why, in Sunday night's latest revival of the 1970s-vintage character that once bored James Garner enough to quit, he finds himself with a young female client at a wild '90s-style "rave." His wry face wizened, the hopelessly square Rockford looks and feels desperately out of place. "I don't think my reputation can take much more of this," he tells the woman, a ditsy actress named Laura Sue Dean (Renee O'Connor)... ...As Rockford seeks to retrieve his coat, he's unwittingly snagged in a demonstration by religious zealots who, at Angel's urging, are protesting a "blasphemous" movie. Rockford's car windshield is smashed and he finds himself in a fistfight. Luckily, ol' Rockford can still throw a mean right hook as well as a wry riposte. What happens next is that Rockford turns from doubting detective to personal bodyguard for Laura Sue, the young actress who stars in the controversial movie. Her life is now threatened because the flick includes the "miracle" parting of the waters -- at a YMCA pool... ...Renee O'Connor is just about perfect as a cutsey-poo actress who totes a teddy bear. And, no surprise, Garner is perfectly cool, calm and suave as Rockford, a poor man's James Bond who still lives, after all these years, in a trailer... [019h] 05-12-95 CHICAGO TRIBUNE. Tempo; Pg. 1; 1051 Words. "Heavy Air Traffic; Stephen King, James Garner and the Judds Make for a Big Night of Television Sunday". By Steve Johnson. COMMENTARY: Strangely enough, no reference to Renee O'Connor was in the body--only a reference to her character; but she did get in the graphic! Are you spotting a pattern here? When she gets good copy, she gets no graphic. With lousy copy, she gets a good graphic. Go figure. EXCERPTS: ...CBS is showing "The Rockford Files: A Blessing in Disguise" (8 p.m., WBBM-Ch. 2), the second TV movie giving viewers a chance to hear James Garner's voice on the answering machine again. Unlike so many revisits to old series, the story of Rockford protecting a young actress from religious extremists is a delight, sharply satirical and peppered with fresh dialogue... ...GRAPHIC: (1) James Garner reprises his role as Jim Rockford Sunday night on CBS. Renee O'Connor portrays an actress Rockford protects from religious extremists... [019i] 05-13-95 THE CHARLESTON GAZETTE. Pg. P4b. 924 Words. "Better to Put on Judds' Tapes and Skip this Whiny Movie". By Faye Zuckerman. COMMENTARY: Short mention of Renee O'Connor in a weekend summary article. EXCERPTS: ..."The Rockford Files: A Blessing in Disguise" (1995), CBS Sunday at 9: The network's prayers that this "Rockford" tale will make a big ratings splash like last November's "The Rockford Files: I Still Love L.A." just might be answered. This movie has much of the flavor of the beloved series, including the same-old Rockford (James Garner) who has his car destroyed and gets attacked by thugs. All of Rockford's mishaps occur as he tries to protect a young actress (Renee O'Connor) whose life has been threatened. Stuart Margolin reprises his role as Angel Martin, now a successful televangelist. [019j] 05-13-95 THE BALTIMORE SUN. Pg. 3d. 293 Words. "'Rockford' Hasn't a Prayer". By David Zurawik COMMENTARY: A negative review of RF:BID. The reviewer found Renee O'Connor's role "sexist" and it made "Gidget look like Susan Sontag." I recently saw about 6 Gidget shows with Sally Fields (I saw them alone, but I viewed episodes with Ms. Fields playing Gidget), and I must admit that the reviewer was more correct about Gidget than she was about Ms. O'Connor. EXCERPTS: ..."A Blessing in Disguise," which airs at 9 tomorrow night on WJZ (Channel 13), is long on sophomoric satire and very short on plot. In fact, you could measure the amount of plot with an egg timer. In a script written by series producer Stephen Cannell, Angel Martin (Stuart Margolin) plays a bogus TV minister. When Rockford sees his old buddy on television wearing Rockford's missing sportscoat, he goes after the coat -- and Angel. Rockford winds up getting embroiled in a church boycotts -- this one over a movie that Angel's congregation finds blasphemous. The star of the movie, a bubble-headed blonde (Renee O'Connor), is getting death threats. See what I mean about the plot? It's such a sexist role of empty-headedness that it makes Gidget look like Susan Sontag. I'm a big fan of Garner and "Rockford," but, I hate this film. It's cartoonish in its broad, obvious swipes at TV evangelists, self-absorbed actresses and right-wing boycotts. And, in its pandering for younger demographics, it compromises the great Rockford character. The script has Rockford going to a rave (a techno music dance party, for the uninitiated). Please. The action sequences appear to have been done without a stunt coordinator and put together by an editor without any sense of timing, action or continuity. There are a few nice barbs exchanged between Rockford and Angel as they go down to the wire with the bad guys and Angel seems all too ready to sell out Rockford. But such moments of badinage are too few and too late in coming. This time it's not Angel who sells Rockford out but the awful script by a big-time writer who should know better. [019k] 05-14-95 THE WASHINGTON POST. Arts; Pg. G01. 813 Words. "Sweeps Showdown; Fan Fare for the Common Man: TV to Make You Laugh, Cry or Tremble in Terror: 'the Rockford Files'". By Tom Shales. COMMENTARY: This is the most significant review to date of any work of Renee O'Connor. The reviewer called her a "sexier version of Melissa Gilbert." He also went as far as to attribute words by the character Rockford to Laura Dean (that she's "special in a way that's so rare you only see it occasionally.") to Renee O'Connor herself. This was Tom Shales, people. A major national critic. EXCERPTS: ...Rockford hooks up with a dizzy, insecure young actress named Laura Sue Dean, played delightfully by Renee O'Connor (sort of a sexier version of Melissa Gilbert), and begrudgingly becomes her bodyguard. Dean is starring in a new movie called "Little Ezekial," which Angel's group, the Temple of Holy Light, has targeted for protests over its alleged sacrilegiousness. The group pickets the film and launches a boycott of it, so naturally when the movie opens after all that scandalous publicity, it's bound to be an instant smash hit... ...Of Angel's security force, most of them thuggish graduates of the penal system, Rockford scoffs that they "aren't winning any Mensa memberships" and "couldn't get a job scraping gum off theater seats." The actress tells Rockford he's done such a good job as bodyguard that "I'm going to give your name to Shannen Doherty," the trouble-prone TV star... ...O'Connor is magnificently adorable as Laura Sue Dean, and she brings out a rueful warmth in Garner and in Rockford too. Near the end he tells her she's "special in a way that's so rare you only see it occasionally." Yes, and he could also be talking about "The Rockford Files" and the Garner Files as well. GRAPHIC: (1) James Garner returns as Jim Rockford and Renee O'Connor is his fetching client in "The Rockford Files: Little Ezekial." [019l] 05-14-96 THE WASHINGTON POST. TV Week; Pg. Y03; 761 Words. "Trains and Songs and Science Fiction". COMMENTARY: She didn't make the graphic and just got a mention. EXCERPTS: ...ROCKFORD FILES Sunday at 9 on CBS James Garner returns as Jim Rockford in "A Blessing in Disguise,' a story about Angel Martin (Stuart Margolin), Rockford's ex-con friend, who has become a television evangelist with a mansion, bodyguards and chauffeur-driven limousine. When Angel launches a boycott of a movie titled "Little Ezekial,' claiming that it's immoral, the young star (Renee O'Connor) hires Rockford to protect her. Robert Desiderio plays her agent, Richard Romanus is the flashy private eye hired by the movie producers, and Morton Downey Jr. appears as a talk-show host. [019m] 05-14-95 THE SEATTLE TIMES. TV; Pg. 2. 1712 Words. "'The Langoliers' Suffers from Poor Script, Acting". By John Voorhees. COMMENTARY: Renee O'Connor missed out on the graphic, but she got some very good copy. A whole paragraph was devoted to Ms. O'Connor whose "lively performance" is a "delight". EXCERPTS: ...Stephen J. Cannell wrote the script which has a plum part for Stuart Margolin as the ever-devious Angel Martin. This time he's an unlikely TV evangelist involved in a scam that has his followers picketing movies in order to improve the grosses. But the plot, while workable, is mainly a peg upon which to hang a series of lively performances, especially Renee O'Connor as a naive young actress who has a starring role in "Little Ezekial," a character and a movie that both fascinate and astound Rockford who has never met anyone quite like her. O'Connor is a delight and it's also a delight that Cannell doesn't try to whip up some phony romance between the two... [019n] 05-14-95 THE ORLANDO SENTINEL. Pg. F1. 1265 Words. "'Rockford' Movie Is the Main Event; James Garner Is Solid as the Gruff but Likable Private Eye. Skip Stephen King's 'Langoliers' and the Judds' Life Story". By Hal Boedeker. COMMENTARY: No graphic, and only a one sentence mention. However, the mention got "bubbly Renee O'Connor" and "self- absorbed" in the same sentence. EXCERPTS: ...The clever script, by Stephen J. Cannell, allows The Rockford Files to take some well-aimed swipes at Hollywood, extremists, gutless agents, greedy producers, two-faced televangelists and pervasive talk shows (Morton Downey Jr. drops in). Private eye Rockford baby-sits a self-absorbed actress (the bubbly Renee O'Connor) and trades put-downs with Angel... [019o] 05-14-96 THE CINCINNATI ENQUIRER. Pg. F04. 811 Words. "It's No Mystery: 'Rockford' Best Tv Choice; 'Judds' Engrossing; 'Langoliers' Crashes". By John Carman. COMMENTARY: This was a reprint of XMR 03:019f (San Francisco Chronicle, see above), however THIS one had a graphic of Renee O'Connor with James Garner which was not run in the original. EXCERPT: ...GRAPHIC: James Garner is detective Jim Rockford and Renee O'Connor is an actress he's protecting in The Rockford Files: Little Ezekial. [019p] 05-14-95 CALGARY HERALD. Pg. E1. 656 Words. "Today's Best". By Bob Blakey, Nancy Tousley and David Plotnikoff COMMENTARY: Minor mention. EXCERPTS: ...* 9 p.m. -- James Garner is back again in The Rockford Files: A Blessing in Disguise (Ch. 3-4, and on Ch. 12 at 10 p.m.). Jim Rockford agrees to protect an actress (Renee O'Connor) after she receives death threats from religious fanatics. [019q] 05-15-95 PEOPLE. Picks & Pans; Pg. 15. 1001 Words. By David Hiltbrand. COMMENTARY: PEOPLE Magazine at last but NO GRAPHIC of Renee O'Connor! Nothing about her bubbly performance, either. Just a mention as a cast member. Her character doesn't get any copy. EXCERPTS: ...THE ROCKFORD FILES: A BLESSING IN DISGUISE CBS (Sun., May 14, 9 p.m. ET) For the second time, James Garner returns to the role of laid-back Los Angeles investigator Jim Rockford as if he were slipping on a favorite old bathrobe. Jimbo turns on the TV one day to see his old flimflam friend Angel (Stuart Margolin) raking it in as a TV evangelist. Angel's church is conducting a suspicious film boycott. Richard Romanus, Joe Santos, Renee O'Connor and Robert Desiderio provide support. Morton Downey Jr. (remember his turbulent 15 minutes in the national spotlight?) plays himself: a brawl-inducing talk show host. The movie is so whimsical, it's almost weightless. But if Rockford did an infomercial on furniture stripping, I'd probably watch it. Grade: B- ------------- THE BACK PAGE ------------- Issue #4 will contain annotations #20 through #24e, dated May 26, 1995 to July 15, 1995. It is scheduled to be released April 19, 1996. PREFERRED CITATION: When citing an annotated review, use the format: XMR:007. This example means Xena Media Review, annotation #007 (Issue #01) 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 Productions, Newsday, Chicago-Sun Times, Post & Courier, Indianapolis Star, Hollywood Reporter, Gannett News Service, San Francisco Chronicle, San Diego Union-Tribune, Chicago Tribune, Charleston Gazette, Baltimore Sun, Washington Post, Seattle Times, Orlando Sentinel, Cincinnati Enquirer, Calgary Herald, and People Magazine). 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. Only national/international major media released in electronic form are considered for inclusion. Banner graphic by Colleen Stephan. Copyright 1996 by Kym Masera Taborn. 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. Editor-in-Chief: Kym Masera Taborn Resistance is Futile BBS (805) 588-9349: Oxnardus Internet: ktaborn@lightspeed.net US Mail: RIF BBS, P.O. Box 81181, Bakersfield, CA I also edit a free netzine called "Resistance is Futile," a Star Trek parody and all things Borgish newsletter which is issued every 19 days and has been published since 1992 (the Borg jokes just keep on coming!). Request a free subscription at ktaborn@lightspeed.net. Check out the back issues at WEB SITE: http://www.startrek.in-trier.de/rif/