THIS WEEK IN XENA NEWS... TWXN 100 08/18/97 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: I did not go to the Leno Show taping so the exciting 100th issue of TWXN goes out on Monday. Since I am in town this Monday, that means XMR #25 will go out Monday as well. And while I am plugging myself, we are only two weeks away from the All-Amazon issue of WHOOSH! And here's the news: [ ] 04-06-97 THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL (Memphis, TN). Sunday. Page B8. 454 words. "Young Musicians Play to Be Ranked" By Michael Donahue (The Commercial Appeal) COMMENTARY: Great french horn music! Now XWP is being used as a musical example as well. EXCERPT: Budding musicians mixed Mozart with Handel at the West Tennessee School Band and Orchestra Association Solo and Ensemble Festival Saturday at Kingsbury High School.... ...Jimi Hayes, 42, a judge in the festival and a French horn player in the Germantown Symphony Orchestra, said a lot of the students had the jitters.... ...He also tried to make students comfortable by asking about their schools and what positions they play in the band. He asked them if they watch Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess on TV because they feature great French horn music.... [ ] 04-06-97 ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE. Sunday. Page 4E. 738 words. "Deli food shore tastes good to Jersey girl" By Lynn Chard-petrinjak, Arkansas Democrat-gazette (petrinjak@adg.ardemgaz.com) EXCERPT: ...Networking Getting into techno babble, I've recently joined the Internet at the office. In the name of research and on request, I've explored some sites. If you're bored, wandering the Net can absorb hours before you even realize it. Some things I've learned so far: Don't let your co-workers check out the Internet from your desk if you've got a deadline to meet. Xena: Warrior Princess is more than just the top syndicated TV show, she's also a hot Web topic. And she's inappropriately named: according to one site offering definitions of various names, Xena means "welcoming, hospitable."... [ ] 04-09-97 THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT (Norfolk, VA). Wednesday. Page E1. 988 words. "10 Favorite Shows That Give Me Guilty Pleasure" by Larry Bonko EXCERPT: WITH THE arrival of ''Buffy, the Vampire Slayer'' on the Warner Brothers network comes a change at the top of my list of television's 10 best (or is it worst?) guilty pleasures. Buffy is in, Xena is out. ''Buffy, the Vampire Slayer'' has replaced ''Xena, Warrior Princess'' as my No. 1 TV guilty pleasure. Buffy is not only cooler and cuter than Xena, and just as fearless, but she's also still in high school. Who wouldn't want a daughter just like Buffy? My parade of guilty pleasures: 1. ''Buffy, the Vampire Slayer,'' Monday night at 9, WVBT - How's a girl to get her homework done when a coven of vampires, a giant praying mantis and other monsters charging through the gates of Hades threaten her schoolmates? No time for term papers. Buffy has beasts to vanquish, hence the wooden stakes in her knapsack. Valley Girl Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy hits the right note - serious about her mission but never letting it get in the way of shopping at the Gap. 2. ''Xena, Warrior Princess,'' Saturday at 7 p.m. WTVZ; Sunday at 1:30 a.m., WGN - Here's a series with plenty to keep you from channel surfing: butt-kicking action, fantasy, sensational stunts, beautiful babes in leather, hunky guys, snappy one-liners and a little blood lust. Is it any wonder ''Xena'' is the No. 1 syndicated drama?... [ ] 04-09-97 THE TIMES-PICAYUNE. Wednesday. Page E1. 927 words. "Stars and Stripes. Celebrity Crowd Checks out Mixed Messages in Fall. Collections" By Chris Bynum Fashion writer EXCERPT: ...Donatella Versace's Xena-does-New-York version of fall was all about black leather, short skirts and black, white and chrome yellow. Shoes had stainless steel pointed toes and stiletto heels, and boot-like fronts with cut-out backs for ankle straps. Slip dresses were boudoir bold in black leather, and there were more leather lingerie looks, such as bandeau-style bras worn under cut-out dresses. Leather harnesses worn like bandoliers accessorized tailored pantsuits. The women outfitted in Versus would never need, nor would they read, "The Rules."... [ ] 04-10-97 THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. 629 words. "Digital expansion, No. 1" EXCERPT: Flat Earth Productions Inc., a digital-effects house best known for work on TV shows such as "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" and "Xena: Warrior Princess," has added three digital artists and opened a second facility offering quadrupled computer-rendering capabilities. Newly aboard at Flat Earth are effects artists Everett Burrell, Bryan Blevins and John Gibbons. Burrell, an Emmy winner along with former creative and business partner John Vulich for effects on sci-fi drama "Babylon 5," will serve as 3-D supervisor at Flat Earth. The company's new Burbank facility adds a second production site to its continuing base at Universal City Studios.... [ ] 04-10-97 THE DETROIT NEWS. Thursday. Page D8. 363 words. "TV Briefs: ABC's 'Soul Man' creators pray Detroit will equal success again" By Tom Kiska EXCERPT: ...Honors: Birmingham composer/producer Joseph LoDuca, who scores his work from his home and sends it electronically to Hollywood, will be honored this month by the American Society of Composers and Publishers for his work on the TV series Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys... [ ] 04-11-97 DAILY VARIETY. Friday. Page 2. 227 words. "U bowing online chat site" By Katharine Stalter REPRINT: Universal Studios, one of the holdouts among the majors when it comes to original-content Internet initiatives, is launching a Hollywood chat program featuring film and TV industry professionals who will answer online questions. The chat program will feature moderated and unmoderated programming every evening Monday through Friday. The series debuts this week with live discussions with Tom Arnold, Carl Reiner and others. Universal Chat also will incorporate open rooms where online users can discuss Universal properties such as "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys," "Xena: Warrior Princess," "Law & Order," "New York Undercover," "Feds," "Sliders" and "The Burning Zone," among others. Another area is the Backlot Cafe, where users can visit forums such as Getting to Know the Hollywood Business and Writer's Workshop. Industry insiders called Universal's move shrewd. Rather than jumping onto the "Websodic" bandwagon --- which appears to have crashed --- or devising less-than-challenging games to promote individual films, the studio waited while the Internet market shook out. To many observers, that appears to have been a wise move. Universal Studios Online is a division of Universal Studios New Media Group, which develops original Internet content. Universal Chat is located on the Universal Studios Web site (www.universalstudios.com). [ ] 04-11-97 ANCHORAGE DAILY NEWS. Friday. Page 11H. 516 words. "Using the Force of Arthurian Legend. Kid Play" By Donna Freedman (Daily News) COMMENTARY: EXCERPT: Picture a wise, wizardly man counseling a callow youth. ''Fear can destroy the strongest man,'' he says somberly. Then comes a dream sequence in which the young man is forced to take up a sword to defend himself against a faceless warrior. When Alaska Theatre of Youth took a workshop production of ''The Sword in the Stone'' to local schools, kids made an immediate connection: They thought it sounded a lot like ''Star Wars.'' ''But actually, 'Star Wars' sounds like Arthurian legend,'' says Sarah Barker, who's directing the piece for ATY... ...Another kid-friendly touch is ATY's trademark physical humor. The young Arthur (also played by Rider) and his stepbrother, Kay (Rian Brooks as the youth), have a scene of make-believe jousting that's just like modern kids playing ''Power Rangers'' or ''Xena: Warrior Princess.''... [ ] 04-12-97 REUTERS NORTH AMERICAN WIRE. Saturday. 944 words. "Kevin Costner On Oregon Movie Set" COMMENTARY: Coverage of Friedman quote in ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY (03-07-97) article on XWP. Took them over a month for it to sink in! EXCERPT: ...Sexual Ambiguity The sexual ambiguity of the lead character "Xena: Warrior Princess" appears to play a role in the popularity of the television series. Entertainment Weekly Online reports that while Xena, as portrayed by Lucy Lawless, frequently is shown in the intimate company of men, producer Liz Friedman acknowledges that sexual ambiguity is a mainstay. Friedman tells Entertainment Weekly, "I don't have any interest in saying they're heterosexuals," referring to Xena and her sidekick, Gabrielle, played by Renee O'Connor.... 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 Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on the XenaVerse, Hercules-Xena, and Chakram Mailing Lists (thank you Lucia! I am greatly indebt to you), the MCA NetForum, the Xenite Message Center, and alt.tv.xena. I also would like to thank sirvin@law.wfu.edu for assitance 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".