THIS WEEK IN XENA NEWS.... TWXN 58 12/28/96 Brought to you by Xena: Media Review (XMR): http://xenafan.com/xmr 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: 1. XMR #20 is ready to send out! All I have to do is process the recent batch of subscription requests and it will be old news! Expect is in your mailbox sometime tomorrow. HIGHLIGHTS for XMR #20: A mini-review of the second season so far; a fan report from the Netherlands; amended annotations covering more of the NZ press: airing of HTLJ, Cameron Rhodes (Deiphobos in BEWARE OF GREEKS), more comparisons to Baywatch, a rare Eric Gruendemann interview, the foam plastic makers for the show, and Grant Bridger (Sinteres in ROYAL COUPLE); and annotations covering: local promos, Q&As, Bruce Campbell (Autolycus in ROYAL COUPLE), Nielsens for BEWARE OF GREEKS (2nd release), commentaries on THE GREATER GOOD and CALLISTO, even more comparisons to Baywatch, and MORE!!!!!! So, if you have not subscribed to XMR (Xena Media Review) yet, then how can you honestly call yourself a RABID XENA FAN????? To subscribe just send "sub xmr" to ktaborn@lightspeed.net and drive those Xena Withdrawal Symptoms away. 2. WHOOSH #4 will be on-line January 1, 1997 (http://www.thirdstory.com/whoosh). HIGHLIGHTS for WHOOSH #4: Alexander the Great and XWP; Ares in TEN LITTLE WARLORDS; Part 4 of the Battle of Corinth; cultural influences in XWP; a token Callisto article; X&G's relationship in CHARIOTS OF WAR, DREAMWORKER, and CRADLE OF HOPE; REMEMBER ME and IT'S WONDERFUL LIFE; the times Xena and Gabrielle have kissed; Xena's family; the XWP soundtrack cd; and the Gabberish Lexicon. It will be an action packed issue you will not want to miss! 3. I am still looking for cub reporters to help cover the Xena Convention on January 12th. Send me an e-mail ASAP if you are interested. 4. Thousand pardons for making this a long one, but it was either two small ones or one long one. The long one won out. And now...the news: [x058] 12-25-96 AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN. Page E5. 508 words. "Birth Announcements" COMMENTARY: Not a XWP reference, but it is always good news to hear of a new Xena out there. EXCERPT: ST. DAVID'S HOSPITAL... ...A daughter, Xena Alexandria Saunders, to Valerie and Vernon Saunders of Round Rock, Nov. 5.... [ ] 12-26-96 CHICAGO TRIBUNE. Thursday. Page D13. 437 words. "'Honey, I Shrunk the Kids' to Be a Series" By Kate O'Hare COMMENTARY: XWP is mentioned in passing as the competition for the Disney sponsored syndicated weekly one-hour TV show "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids". John Landis, the producer, stated, "One of the reasons we'll be successful, is we are counterprogramming. Almost all syndication is action or--because that's what sells--foreign. We are actually doing an hour family show. It flies in the fact of conventional wisdom." Ms. O'Hare wrote: "The series will be a weekly one-hour show, putting it up against such genre series as 'Xena: Warrior Princess,' 'Hercules: The Legendary Journeys,' 'Babylon 5' and 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine' in the heated competition for time slots." What struck me most about this article was the order in which the competition was listed: XWP was named first, HTLJ second, Babylon 5 third, and STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE last. This does not bode well with DEEP SPACE NINE. That BABYLON 5 was in the list at all tells me that Ms. O'Hare must be a SF/Fantasy action hour viewer herself. [ ] 12-27-96 THE WASHINGTON POST. Friday. Page N10. 1238 words. "Oh, What A Night Life" By Eric Brace COMMENTARY: In an article highlighting the nightlife available in the nation's capital, Mr. Brace wrote: "When people complain that there's nothing to do in Washington, I now know they're just being lazy. These are usually the same people who whine that Washington isn't as much fun as New York City. Oh, duh. But it's a lot more fun than, say, Richmond or Baltimore or Philadelphia. So I say, quit whining and go out. Turn off the TV (well, you can stay in for 'ER' and 'Xena') and head into the great American night." The author mentioned XWP and ER in the same sentence, and implied their equality in quality. ER is, of course, the top rated drama hour on US network television. [ ] 12-27-96 STAR TRIBUNE. Page 1E. 657 words. "On Tap" By Tom Surowicz COMMENTARY: Local promo for 3rd release of BEWARE OF GREEKS BEARING GIFTS (#12). Mr. Surowicz referred to Xena warmly as "our heroine". EXCERPT: ...Television... ...No small task for a Sunday night: Helen of Troy asks our heroine to help end the Trojan War on "Xena: Warrior Princess" (10 p.m., WFTC-Ch. 29).... [ ] 12-27-96 THE ORLANDO SENTINEL. Friday. Page 3. 394 words. "Xena, Xetu. Xetu, Xena" By Dan Smith COMMENTARY: In the preface to his article about his two New Years' resolutions (one of which concerns "Xetu" a show in Spanish on Univision), Mr. Smith wrote: "I've been so busy watching and rewatching the Xena: Warrior Princess Christmas Special video that I haven't finished writing my New Years' resolutions." This man should be more careful with what he writes. I have not heard of any commercially released Christmas special video for XWP. He must be referring to his own tape of A SOLSTICE CAROL (#33). However, I assume because of this unfortunate turn of phrase, Xena fandom now will become consumed by this rumor of a XMR Christmas Special video. [ ] 12-27-96 THE FRESNO BEE. Page E4. 702 words. "It's No Secret, Folks -- We Know What TV Shows You're Watching" By Lanny Larson COMMENTARY: An article about the Nielsen Media Research's assessment of California's Central Valley prime-time viewership in November wrote: "KAIL, Ch. 53, Fresno's UPN affiliate, may have found its prime-time niche with sci-fi, fantasy- and action-adventure. UPN's 'Star Trek: Voyager' and 'Sentinel' and the syndicated 'Xena: Warrior Princess' and 'Hercules: The Legendary Journeys' had nice numbers in November." [ ] 12-29-96 THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. Sunday. Page E-1. 939 words. "Putting the best fact on the year that was 1996" By Welton Jones (welton.jones@uniontrib.com) COMMENTARY: In a list of the good things for the past year, Mr. Welton ended it with the observation "And 'Xena: Warrior Princess' made television worth watching again." Mr. Jones' previous articles about or mentioning XWP were: 10-01-96. THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. Page E-1. "The Current Cosby Creation Leaves Him Cold". Mr. Jones, in an aside, equated the quality of XWP to that of NYPD BLUE, a top rated, critically acclaimed network drama. 10-15-96. THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. Page E-3. "Xena Allure Makes Her Legend in His Own Mind." Mr. Jones wrote one of the most eloquent and pro-XWP articles. After comparing the birth of Xena to the birth of Venus, he made the observation that Xena, as a character, was "the most likely new candidate since Mr. Spock and Darth Vader" to become a new folk hero. This article, perhaps, was one of the best examples of a trend I having been noting in news coverage of XWP into its second season. At last, professional TV-watchers are coming out of the closet to defend and extol XWP. They are not afraid to admit their bias towards the show and use an almost proselytizing demeanor in their writing. He also was one of the first reporters to compare XWP with HTLJ and to find HTLJ lacking. This article was easily the non-intellectual counterpart of the most seminal articles on XWP published to date. The "seminal" articles being, THE VILLAGE VOICE, (XMR115) 12-26-95, page 47, "Xenaphilia" by Stacey D'Erasmo; MS MAGAZINE, (XMR322), Vol 7, No. 1, July/August 1996, page 74, "Xena. She's Big, Tall, Strong--and Popular" by Donna Minkowitz; and THE WASHINGTON POST, (XMR pending) 09-21-96, page C01, "Woman of Steel; Television's Warrior Xena Is a Superheroine With Broad Appeal" by Elizabeth Kastor.