_____ ______ ._ `\`/>`\ /`/` /`__________,.'>___ _____ )~\ /<`\ `\ /`/` /``\ \./------> /|\./\ |\./| / | \ /< `\`\ `\ /`/` /` | | |----\ / | |\ \ | | |././^\ \ |\__{o}\--`\`\ `\/`/` /`-----| | |-----`------\`\`\--| | |----^ \ \----. [\\\\\\\{*}==`> <`=======| | ==============`\`\`\| | |=====\ \ \==--> |/~~{o}/-- /`/ /\ \ `\------| | |---------------`\`\\ | |------\ \ \--' \< /`/` /` `\`\ `\ | | |_____,.'>| | | `\`\| | /' \ \ \ \< /` /` `\`\ `\ ,/ /^\------> / |/^\| \ | |/ \/^\\. /`/\>/` `\`\ `\`~~~~~~~~~~~\ / ~~~~~ )^\,\, '~~~~~ `~~~~~` '~~~~~` ` ~~~~~~ ========================== XENA: THE MEDIA REVIEW #18 Part 2 of 3 ========================== An All Talk No Action Publication http://www.teleport.com/~gater/IAXS/IAXS.html c/o RIF BBS, P.O. Box 81181, Bakersfield, CA 93308 RIF BBS (805) 588-9349 [24hrs, 14.4bps, free] 373 subscribers and growing! This document has 3148 lines (in three parts) PART 2 of 3 [073.5] 11-06-95 20/20. New Zealand TV show. COMMENTARY: This extended interview/documentary on the production of HTLJ and XWP was produced as promotion of the release of the Hercules 1994 Action Pack movies on video in New Zealand. The emphasis was on Kiwi matters and interviews were primarily with production crew members. In the portion about XWP, Xena was described as "one h*** of a scary woman." The interviewer also mentioned that Ms. Lawless had the "biggest break a New Zealand actor has ever had into American TV." Ms. Lawless quotes were: "I don't think that there has been a better role for a woman in decades in a series -- in a syndicated series -- certainly in America. She's got the devil on her shoulder. That's why you watch her because you don't know which way she'll jump, necessarily." "Success is just the reward of keeping up your own identity and trying to be consistent." "I will go wherever the work is. You want to work on the best projects with the best possible people." The other people interviewed were: Eric Grundemann, HTLJ producer, discussed the several reasons why New Zealand was chosen as the shooting locale; how shooting in New Zealand had affected the show; and his personal pride in showing that an American show produced in New Zealand could be a critical and financial success. Michael Hurst, HTLJ "Iolaus", discussed his willingness to do stuntwork and his action figure. Kevin Sorbo, HTLJ "Hercules", discussed his new found fame; his action figure; and his respect and admiration for the crew. Johnny Duncan, XWP director of photography, discussed how he filmed Lucy Lawless and centaurs; how the shows would be different if they had been filmed in America instead of New Zealand; and his appreciation of the New Zealander crews. Diane Rowan, HTLJ & XWP casting director, discussed how the shows had stimulated the employment of actors in New Zealand; how both shows recycled actors; and how she used her casting couch to the advantage of the shows. Rob Gillies, HTLJ & XWP Set Designer, discussed the challenge of making the sets and props for the episodes; and where he derived his inspiration. Nila Dickson, HTLJ & XWP costume designer, discussed her creative work with Rob Gillies; and how she designed bras. David Bell, HTLJ & XWP Stunt Coordinator, discussed the types of stunts used; how costumes were designed with stuntwork in mind; and what a successful stunt looked like. Charlie Haskal, an HTLJ director, discussed the differences between regular New Zealand dramas and HTLJ. COMMENTARY: This extended interview/documentary on the production of HTLJ and XWP was produced as promotion of the release of the Hercules 1994 Action Pack movies on video in New Zealand. The emphasis was on Kiwi matters and interviews were primarily with production crew members. In the portion about XWP, Xena was described as "one h*** of a scary woman." The interviewer also mentioned that Ms. Lawless had the "biggest break a New Zealand actor has ever had into American TV." Ms. Lawless quotes were: "I don't think that there has been a better role for a woman in decades in a series -- in a syndicated series -- certainly in America. She's got the devil on her shoulder. That's why you watch her because you don't know which way she'll jump, necessarily." "Success is just the reward of keeping up your own identity and trying to be consistent." "I will go wherever the work is. You want to work on the best projects with the best possible people." The other people interviewed were: Eric Grundemann, HTLJ producer, discussed the several reasons why New Zealand was chosen as the shooting locale; how shooting in New Zealand had affected the show; and his personal pride in showing that an American show produced in New Zealand could be a critical and financial success. Michael Hurst, HTLJ "Iolaus", discussed his willingness to do stuntwork and his action figure. Kevin Sorbo, HTLJ "Hercules", discussed his new found fame; his action figure; and his respect and admiration for the crew. Johnny Duncan, XWP director of photography, discussed how he filmed Lucy Lawless and centaurs; how the shows would be different if they had been filmed in America instead of New Zealand; and his appreciation of the New Zealander crews. Diane Rowan, HTLJ & XWP casting director, discussed how the shows had stimulated the employment of actors in New Zealand; how both shows recycled actors; and how she used her casting couch to the advantage of the shows. Rob Gillies, HTLJ & XWP Set Designer, discussed the challenge of making the sets and props for the episodes; and where he derived his inspiration. Nila Dickson, HTLJ & XWP costume designer, discussed her creative work with Rob Gillies; and how she designed bras. David Bell, HTLJ & XWP Stunt Coordinator, discussed the types of stunts used; how costumes were designed with stuntwork in mind; and what a successful stunt looked like. Charlie Haskal, an HTLJ director, discussed the differences between regular New Zealand dramas and HTLJ. COMMENTARY: This extended interview/documentary on the production of HTLJ and XWP was produced as promotion of the release of the Hercules 1994 Action Pack movies on video in New Zealand. The emphasis was on Kiwi matters and interviews were primarily with production crew members. In the portion about XWP, Xena was described as "one h*** of a scary woman." The interviewer also mentioned that Ms. Lawless had the "biggest break a New Zealand actor has ever had into American TV." Ms. Lawless quotes were: "I don't think that there has been a better role for a woman in decades in a series -- in a syndicated series -- certainly in America. She's got the devil on her shoulder. That's why you watch her because you don't know which way she'll jump, necessarily." "Success is just the reward of keeping up your own identity and trying to be consistent." "I will go wherever the work is. You want to work on the best projects with the best possible people." The other people interviewed were: Eric Grundemann, HTLJ producer, discussed the several reasons why New Zealand was chosen as the shooting locale; how shooting in New Zealand had affected the show; and his personal pride in showing that an American show produced in New Zealand could be a critical and financial success. Michael Hurst, HTLJ "Iolaus", discussed his willingness to do stuntwork and his action figure. Kevin Sorbo, HTLJ "Hercules", discussed his new found fame; his action figure; and his respect and admiration for the crew. Johnny Duncan, XWP director of photography, discussed how he filmed Lucy Lawless and centaurs; how the shows would be different if they had been filmed in America instead of New Zealand; and his appreciation of the New Zealander crews. Diane Rowan, HTLJ & XWP casting director, discussed how the shows had stimulated the employment of actors in New Zealand; how both shows recycled actors; and how she used her casting couch to the advantage of the shows. Rob Gillies, HTLJ & XWP Set Designer, discussed the challenge of making the sets and props for the episodes; and where he derived his inspiration. Nila Dickson, HTLJ & XWP costume designer, discussed her creative work with Rob Gillies; and how she designed bras. David Bell, HTLJ & XWP Stunt Coordinator, discussed the types of stunts used; how costumes were designed with stuntwork in mind; and what a successful stunt looked like. Charlie Haskal, an HTLJ director, discussed the differences between regular New Zealand dramas and HTLJ. Transcription by Julia Medina TRANSCRIPTION: REPORTER: New Zealand has a growing reputation worldwide for quality films and for being a great film location. Now there's a new production: a TV series watched by millions of Americans every week. It may not be an intellectual giant, but it's huge in every other way. Characters larger than life, monsters, breasts and biceps, and for it's makers, most important, ratings. It's made in the heart of Auckland, yet most Kiwis have never heard of it. But tonight Hercules goes public revealing it's secrets to an intimate north. REPORTER: And this is the story about a TV series made in New Zealand that's turned into a huge hit in America. It's the "Lord of the Rings" with muscles; an ancient Greece with a nineties twist. It's "Star Trek" with chariots. It's out-racing "Baywatch" and it's shot in Auckland. ERIC: We wanted to do something very different with the Hercules theme. REPORTER: Eric Grundemann is the producer. He had a new slant on an ancient Greece myth. MR. GRUNDEMANN: It's normally done in a sword-and-sandal manner and which means arid landscapes. We wanted to turn that completely on it's ear and go lush primordial. This country has an amazing array of distinctive beautiful locations that we've been utilizing. That combined with the fact that it's more financially advantageous at this time to shoot down here because of the (---) trades and tax ramifications and also I found there was an amazing pool of talent not only in cast, but crew. REPORTER: This show is the talk of American syndicated television. Aside from a few producers and directors, it's almost all New Zealand made. The sets, the crews, the cast. Leading New Zealand actor Michael Hurst plays Iolaus, Hercules' sidekick. REPORTER: What do you think of the show. MICHAEL: HERCULES? I think it's a drag. I got to say -- and I got to say -- and I think it's gets better and better. I say before we're getting better at it as we get more -- you know, sometimes it's cheesy, but the thing is it's all done with, "Hey, look how cheesy this is." I need to look no further for swords, acrobatics, fights, you know, American accents, heroes -- I don't, you know, it's all happening. I can do most of my stunts and I can learn the fights real quick and have the kind of intensity to do it. REPORTER: And you're respected for that? MICHAEL: Um, yeah. REPORTER: That you can bring that? MICHAEL: Yeah. It's funny and some things -- I think it might be a Kiwi thing that, we don't think about that. We did one episode where I had to dive off a little jettie and wrestle with a sort of foam rubber eel and it was really exhausting with all the -- on, and I got a call back from the States saying, "My God, that's actually you in there." And I think we just don't even think twice about it. With "Hey yeah, I've got do this. All right. Oh, yeah, I can jump that" and doing it. And it's a different ball game. In the States they were quite -- and I think they actually like it. I think they like it that we just jump in and do it. REPORTER: Recognize the face? American Kevin Sorbo swapped his denims for leather and won the role of HERCULES. He acquired a Kiwi visa and a gym pass and a fake tan to became the superhero of antiquity. He knew the show was taking off but the hype floored him when he popped over to the States a few months back. KEVIN: I pull up to an intersection on Sunset Boulevard and a bus pulled up next to me all along the bus, "Hercules", "Xena". And you know it was just the whole thing, and I was like, "Hey, wow, that's me." It's kind of weird. I don't know how to react to it. You know we have dolls coming out in November. REPORTER: But the dolls haven't turned out entirely as expected. KEVIN: I think the dolls kind of suck, okay. Next time put our real bodies on the doll. MICHAEL: They put them on kind of stock bodies is what they did -- KEVIN: They put us on "Masters of the Universe" bodies. Seven inch chest and a 25 inch waste. REPORTER: So what's the problem with that? MICHAEL: It's totally unrealistic. I mean our show is about reality, let's face it. REPORTER: Meet "Xena: Warrior Princess". The American studios liked "Hercules" so much, they asked for a spin-off series back. In New Zealand, what the producers came up with is one hell of a scary woman. It's double the size of the production here in Auckland and the lead role of Xena is played by Kiwi actress Lucy Lawless. It's the biggest break a New Zealand actor has ever had into American TV. From obscurity to stardom almost overnight. This is the ultimate employment equity. The girls get to don leather and pick fights too. LUCY: I don't think that there has been a better role for a woman in decades in a series -- in a syndicated series -- certainly in America. She's got the devil on her shoulder. That's why you watch her because you don't know which way she'll jump, necessarily. REPORTER: Lucy Lawless is fast becoming a big name in the States, but she seems ambivalent about the fuss. LUCY: Success is just the reward of keeping up your own identity and trying to be consistent. REPORTER: But it's a role that potentially could make you big in the states. LUCY: Um-hum, yeah. REPORTER: Thoughts in that direction? LUCY: I will go wherever the work is. You want to work on the best projects with the best possible people. REPORTER: And right at this moment in New Zealand, the best people are working on "Xena" and "Hercules". Johnny Duncan is director of photography on "Xena". MR. DUNCAN: It's the one thing I don't compromise on is making Lucy and her co-star Renee look fantastic. And that would be my, you know, secret to success, and I keep my job. The minute I relax that guard, then I think, you know, I'm history, because the show has got to have a star and that's Lucy. And so far, she's got a great face, it's easy to light. There's a few simple rules: The light has to come from a certain direction and just give it shape and let it go dark on one side and it can look fantastic. And her eyes respond beautifully to a big light and put it out to one side, they just come totally alive. REPORTER: It's a far cry from nurses' uniforms for ex -- Danielle Cormac -- "Hercules" and"Xena" are giving the New Zealand acting profession more work than they've had in years. So far there have been 800 roles, 350 of them with dialog, and that's not counting the extras. DIANE: Well every week I have to find 40 actors for "Xena" and"Hercules", 40 American-speaking actors -- REPORTER: Diane Rowen is casting director for both shows. DIANE: For every episode I think, "We're not going to make it. This isn't going to happen this time. This is it. The last episode being made." And somehow we pull through and then we sort of take the next script which usually comes about seven days before we get to shoot it, so we have roughly six or seven days to cast each episode. So every seven days I'm casting one Hercules and one"Xena". REPORTER: So you're drawing a lot of the fresh talent? DIANE: Yeah. We also reuse. We're not ashamed of recycling. You know, the odd eye patch and fake nose. REPORTER: Interesting facts: The two shows have to date worked their way through 2,500 Wonder Bras. It gives a whole new meaning to supporting role. DIANE: All the women have to be -- the America expression is "Babericious" and the blokes have to be hunks, so I get all the guys to take their shirts off and my casting couch is wearing out quite a lot now. REPORTER: Then there are some things they never taught you at drama school, like how to act the part of a Centaur; half man, half horse. And you want to have a casting add read for this job: "Wanted: Persons to twitch horse's tail. Nervous disposition would help." REPORTER: Using the imagery of monsters and mythical creatures that appear in each episode, you need imagination and ingenuity to make it real. MR. DUNCAN: It's a small detail that tends to make it work. You can sit back and see a big wide shot of the film crew working and it sort of looks ridiculous; it will never sell. But when you get that microcosmic view, right inside of what the camera is seeing, everything is working. For example on the prosthetic horses on the Centaurs, it's the tails that really sell it. They've got a really wonderful flicking motion. And as the camera comes down and as they leave frame, they come past the tails then that really sells it in the mind -- sells it in the brain. REPORTER: If you were wondering, they film the legs of real horses later on and computer animators do the rest back in the States. Technology works some miracles in post production, but everyone agrees the magic ingredient is the Kiwi sense of humor. MR. DUNCAN: "Xena" and "Hercules" wouldn't be the same shows if they were shot in America. There's theories when they first started "Hercules" that they started all quite serious and scripts were taken seriously, and the Kiwis, actors and the crews, are sitting around going, "You guys are taking this seriously? You know, this is cheesy." And everyone started spoofing it up and that caught on and then they started seeing the rushes and going, "Hey, this is working. Let's build on this, make more of it. ERIC: I think there's a certain humor that has come about by being down here. I think the Kiwis have a wonderful sense of humor and a wonderful way of laughing in the face of adversity. And certainly a lot of that has been transposed into the scripts. REPORTER: And that's giving a the real freshness in the United States? MR. GRUNDEMANN: I think so. I think that's a very big part of why the show does look fresh and does feel fresh to American television audiences. It's different. REPORTER: It's not just different, it's big. Hidden away in suburban Auckland is a 70 acre movie ranch. This is where you find the primeval settlements with all the necessities of village life, down to the last polystyrene detail. The Kiwis' production of "Hercules", and more recently, "Xena", has pumped more than fifty million dollars into Auckland. But most remarkable of all, they've managed to keep it a secret. Few people outside the film business realize the scale of the production. More than 500 crafts people work full-time on the productions making the props, costumes, and sets. They're encouraged to give their imagination free reign. Everyone has an input. No idea too outlandish. The detail is amazing. Bizarre, nightmarish, sometimes just plain weird. Is there a lunatic fringe working on the production? REPORTER: What did they say they wanted from you when they hired you for the job? ROB: They wanted a lot of soul. REPORTER: You could say former Split Enz member Rob Gillies has a dream job. ROB: Yeah, I have great fun on the show. REPORTER: He dreams up and designs the sets and props on "Hercules" and Xena. ROB: They're constantly falling through trap doors and plunging into pits with vipers and things like that, yeah. The scripts are written like -- everyone is little bit like "The Temple of Doom", but we have a week to get it ready. REPORTER: Where do you get your inspiration from? ROB: Everywhere. Comics, magazines, books, other TV shows, old TV shows, nature, you know, like natural skull shapes and whatever. Just mix it all up. NILA: I had these discussions with Rob Gillies and he just decided for example a week ago we were into like Vikings, and you're constantly looking for new ideas that will be exciting and fun to do. REPORTER: Nila Dickson is the costume designer. REPORTER: There are some quaint, bizarre stuff here for a bra. When they gave you this job, what did they say? What did they ask you to do? What was your breach? NILA: Well, the most open breach. A totally creative situation. I can do anything within the bounds -- within the tiny bounds. I can do anything, you know, demons and monsters and damsels in distress. We do them all. REPORTER: So this would be one of the nightmares, would it? DAVID: Yeah. This is a mystic warrior. A very bad person indeed. REPORTER: What's it made out of? DAVID: A lot of glue, leather, leather with shellac over the top of it. REPORTER: Leather fasteners there. DAVID: Yeah, a lot of fastenings to make it safe, because they're quite heavy, and they use them in a lot of stunt actions. REPORTER: And action is what the two shows are built on. This is a second unit filming action scenes for "Hercules", and in yet another anonymous warehouse in the suburbs. The lead actors here are stunt doubles. A crew of up to 30 stunt men and women work on the two shows, putting together four major fight scenes a week. DAVID: Nothing is impossible. REPORTER: David Bell is the stunt coordinator. He plans the fights and designs the rigs and harnesses. His job is a suspension of your disbelief. REPORTER: Do you have everything in this in country to make these things convincing? DAVID: Well, we have virtually everything. REPORTER: There they go again. Where did you find these guys? MR. BELL: These guys? They've been with me -- REPORTER: Big these mean guys. DAVID: They look good, don't they? They look the part. REPORTER: What does it take to make a good stunt for something like this? MR. BELL: Basically for a show like this you got to be a good fall person. You see people taking a lot of falls, not just falling over. It's your feet wide up in the air, falling flat on your back or doing spiral falls or doing back flips and landing on your stomach. That's what makes a good fight scene. It's actually seeing a good hit, the person flying through the air and, whack, hitting the ground hard. That's what people -- when you see that and you see the whole lot and people hitting the ground people go "Oww". People really feel it. REPORTER: This is Charlie Haskal's first chance at directing. He worked on a lot of productions in New Zealand, but nothing like this. CHARLIE: We don't do a lot of shows in New Zealand with such a major action component. The action, the special effects, a lot of the computer effects, the monsters and a lot of the animation, which is not -- also we don't do much in New Zealand shows, and it's great to learn all the camera tricks a lot of the things that we haven't done before, and I haven't done before in New Zealand drama. REPORTER: While behind the scenes imaginations can run riot, the filming schedule is tight. It was sunny and warm when they shot the first scenes on board the boat. Filming can't stop just because the temperatures drop. JOHNNY: I think Americans are continually impressed when they come down to this part of the world, especially directors that may have shot in New York for most of their lives. The ingenuity of Kiwi crews -- also something that's really interesting there's no great lines of demarcation; everyone helps each other and goes and everyone scrambles about and helps each other. KEVIN: The crews down here are fantastic. I mean this show, I think, is second to none in production value. It's filmed like a major motion picture. You know, they came down here to save money; they didn't come down here to save production value. The production value down here is fantastic. I know we got the best people in the country. REPORTER: The decision to make the shows in New Zealand has paid off and producer Eric Grundemann has proved the studio executives wrong. ERIC: You know the nay-sayers said, "You shouldn't come down to New Zealand; it's so far away from the studio. Do they really know about America television? Can you really make this kind of show for the money? Can you -- you shouldn't try to do two action shows at once, especially in such a remote location. You'll never pull it off." And you know now that it's rating well, and I think it's become a critical success, as well as a financial success, I think it's, you know, it's great to sit back and realize that, you know, what we originally envisioned actually came true. REPORTER: And if that isn't a fairy tale ending, what is? REPORTER: New Zealand can get it's first taste of "Hercules" later this week when the first telemovie is released on video. [149.5] 01/26/96 KTLA. Morning Show. COMMENTARY: Interview with Lucy Lawless on local Los Angeles WB station channel 5. Ms. Lawless conducted the interview holding a small cut-out of Bobby Darrin. The show consisted of mainly the male hosts trying to get a fight between the female host and Ms. Lawless. Ms. Lawless even had to remind them that she was not Xena. Ms. Lawless referred to "Warrior...Princess" where she was allowed to show her comedic skills. Transcription by Julia Medina TRANSCRIPTION: BARBARA: In show business news this morning, she's here, and she's packing. Xena rocks the morning news. And Sam Rubin has reunited with his Kiwi pal. Plus we have major chin news. SAM: Yes we do. Isn't Xena beautiful? Lucy is as lovely as can be. And she says she is going to take Barbara in less than -- it won't take long. Did you hear that the gong? LUCY: Yes, let's go. SAM: Let's go. Oh, she's ready. Did you see Barbara she kind of just jumped cautiously. LUCY: I want to make something absolutely clear that a Kiwi is not a fruit. You know that, don't you? BARBARA: Yeah, it grows on a vine. LUCY: No, no, no, no. A Kiwi is our national bird. CARLOS: The trouble is starting already. LUCY: Barbara, excuse me? Excuse me? BARBARA: A Kiwi is a fruit and a Kiwi is a bird. I'm just saying I'm just saying both. There's a difference. There's a Kiwi fruit and there's a Kiwi bird. CARLOS: Get her, Xena! Get her, Xena! LUCY: She's dead. SAM: We're going to get to that battle in just a moment. WWF here on the morning news. But first we start this morning with a focus on an important but variable part of the body, that depending on some factors, some of your friends on the morning news find we often more -- have more -- I'm not making any sense. I'm nervous. I'm nervous because Xena's about to deck Barbara. CARLOS: I can't understand a word he said. BARBARA: Xena and Pat Boone. Match her up. SAM: We have major chin news this morning. Chin news involving the chins. Can we show that? Involving the chins that may be more distinct. Put it on the full screen. The only picture they had to alter was mine... ...And as you may have seen here yesterday the big TV convention in Las Vegas people were lining up to meet the very lovely Lucy Lawless, who is here both to put Barbara down and talk to us about her show. Good morning. Thanks for coming in. LUCY: Thank you for having me. SAM: You were saying -- she keeps saying, "Kiwi." BARBARA: A Kiwi is a bird. A Kiwi is a bird. CARLOS: Xena's scrawny. SAM: She did say that. BARBARA: Uh-oh, she's putting her hair up in a ponytail. LUCY: You're toast. SAM: You're toast! BARBARA: A Kiwi's a bird, Xena, did you know that? LUCY: No, no? Really? SAM: Would somebody like Barbara be considered a formidable opponent or not really a big deal? LUCY: No, you got to have a strong foot. I think Barbara would be -- SAM: Pretty good? LUCY: Yeah. SAM: People love the action scenes. They must be carefully choreographed, aren't they? LUCY: Yeah, they are. Every now and again you'll have a slight mishap and, you know, some poor sucker will buy it, usually a stunt man, but I love them because -- because they don't cry and they don't complain. SAM: Fans of the show talk about one of the great things about it is how -- what a moral character Xena is, trying to make up for what happened before. Is that -- LUCY: Yeah. She's a bad girl, and she's trying to retrace her steps and, um, and all the rest. But moral? I don't know. I don't know. She's an instinctive animal, I think. SAM: Let's take a look at Lucy Lawless hard at work. This is one of the highest rated shows on KTLA. Xena: Warrior Princess. (Shows the infamous baby scene from CRADLE OF HOPE) (Sam and Lucy arm wrestle.) SAM: She's not so tough. She wins. LUCY: She wins. SAM: Whoah, she wins. LUCY: I'm not Xena. I am not Xena. SAM: Is that problematic that people may think Lucy -- the two are indistinct? LUCY: Yes, they do, they do. SAM: Um-hum. LUCY: But, um, there's an episode coming up where I also play a ditzy princess, and it's very slapstick, and I enjoyed that immensely [ed. note WARRIOR... PRINCESS]. But it even surprised the writers to find that I'm not strictly Xena, except when I'm tired. SAM: And you were telling me in Las Vegas, of course, you film the show in New Zealand, and then it really almost comes as this big surprise to you that you get to town -- you get to the States, and you discover what an enormous success this is. LUCY: Yeah. I still -- I don't believe it -- unless you get firsthand feedback, you know, it's totally academic whether the shows doing well but we're thrilled and thank you very much for watching and long may it continue. SAM: Very good. It was good to have you here this morning. I know you have a gift for Barbara. LUCY: Yes. You can have a hat. BARBARA: I like this. This is one of the nicest hats I've ever seen too. Not everyone knows the truth of fuchsia on black when is the last time -- Xena very good taste. LUCY: And we have here a dollie. We have a dollie here. SAM: This is the Xena doll. LUCY: This is the last one off the rack at NAPTE and it's worth $50 if you don't open it and, you know, two if you do. SAM: That's good. Is that very gratifying to you when you see -- LUCY: I love it. I love it. They've captured the hinges in my knees perfectly. And this is actually a good one. And the clothes come off, don't tell anyone, but the clothes come off. She's got a little bikini underneath. BARBARA: Carlos was just asking me, "Ask her if the clothes come off." CARLOS: Mark finally -- he finally perked up over there. Now why do you have Bobby Darrin here? LUCY: Because I saw this in the dressing room, and I love Bobby Darrin. And it's my very first award, thank you. SAM: You can take that. I'll give it to you. BARBARA: Xena receiving the one and only Bobby Darrin award, right here on the morning news. SAM: Lucy is on the cover of TV Guide and I bet she will be on the cover of a bunch of other magazines. Thank you very much. LUCY: Thank you very much. CARLOS: Go kick Barbara now! Go get her go! Get her. Oh, look out! [160] 02-09-96 ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT. TV Show. COMMENTARY: Short feature on Lucy Lawless and Kevin Sorbo at the NATPE convention in Las Vegas. It consisted essentially of Mr. Sorbo and Ms. Lawless frollicking around. Transcription by Julia Medina TRANSCRIPTION: MARY HART: They're strong, they're sexy, they're Hercules and Xena, and they jump to the top of the ratings heap with their shot-in-New Zealand shows. KEVIN: Viva Las Vegas. MARY HART: And when stars Kevin Sorbo and Lucy Lawless visited Las Vegas, they learned just how many fans they have. KEVIN: We are in a bubble down there. We don't get the chance to see fan reaction and response to the show. LUCY: Yeah. LUCY: And now we see it when we walk around places like this and it's -- LUCY: Kind of thrilling. MARY HART: Besides drawing crowds in Vegas, Lucy and Kevin were also hot at the gambling tables. Kevin claims he walked away from the dice game with a wad of cash and gave Lucy the credit for the for bringing him luck. [169] 02-15-96 AMERICAN JOURNAL. TV Show. Syndicated. COMMENTARY: Short feature on Lucy Lawless in a slightly toned down sensational tabloid form. The feature included the infamous shot of Garth Lawless (LL's ex-husband) being stalked while he was picking up their daughter, Daisy (included perhaps to remind us we were watching tabloid tv). Heavily dependent upon promos shot at the NATPE convention, the feature mostly consisted of talking heads discussing why XWP was popular and some narrative on Ms. Lawless' past. Transcribed by Julia Medina TRANSCRIPTION: NANCY: She's sexier than Pam Anderson, as tough as Arnold Schwartzenegger, and she is steaming up TV screens as Xena: The Warrior Princess. Well, Lucy Lawless came from practically nowhere to become TV's latest superstar and Jim Paymar found out how she did it. LUCY: (on tape at NAPTE) I was on a roll. JIM: She's on a roll. A flip and a kick as the world's most famous warrior princess, Xena. LUCY: (on tape from NAPTE) I'm having a fabulous time, yeah. JIM: At 28 years old, Lucy Lawless, the six foot, dark haired, blue eyed beauty has become an international star. Lucy got her break two years ago when she debuted in three episodes of the television movies "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" as the nemesis of Hercules played by Kevin Sorbo. LUCY: (on tape at NAPTE) Xena says, "Walk this way." KEVIN: : (on tape) Xena says, "I gotta walk away." LUCY: (on tape) We got business. JIM: Her sex appeal was so strong says entertainment reporter, Alan Carter, that she jumped into her own action series where she too slays mythological villains. MR. CARTER: This is escapism, it's easy to watch, it's camp, there's a sense of humor in it. JIM: Lucy's beauty is equally matched by the gorgeous surroundings of her hometown of Auckland, New Zealand. It's this majestic city and the countryside that serve as a backdrop to Xena's mythical world. "Xena" is filmed entirely on this lush location known it's for it's brilliant green hillsides, sheep ranching and spectacular waterfalls. Lucy grew up in the modest town of Mount Albert where her father was mayor. Then after studying languages at the University, she mined gold in Australia. But a few appearances on New Zealand TV and her athletic prowess were the spark she needed to ignite a career on screen. Director Peter Sharp [ed. note: Peter Sharp did not direct any first season XWP episodes] says Xena is perfectly capable of doing her own stunts. MR. SHARP: It's certainly not that she's mad and wants to kill herself, um, it's just that she'll look at the odds and say, "I can do this." JIM: What she couldn't do is save her marriage. Lucy recently divorced her husband Garth Lawless and together they share in the upbringing of their seven year old daughter Daisy. But it's fame that now has most of Lucy's attention. LUCY: (on tape at NAPTE) I love it. JIM: And now this warrior princess is willing to do battle with another beast called stardom. LUCY: (on tape at NAPTE) It's very flattering and it's indicative of how well the show is doing, so yeah -- NANCY: Well, Lucy Lawless wasn't always so athletic, she used to be so clumsy that her friends called her "Unco" it stands for "uncoordinated". She hired a martial arts instructor to help her with the with the challenging stunt work on the show. She really makes it look convincing. [215.7] 03-29-96 XENA MEDIA REVIEW. No. 1. 11 pages. 4427 words. Edited by and annotations by Kym Masera Taborn. COMMENTARY: The first world press review of coverage on XWP, Renee O'Connor, or Lucy Lawless. First issue was released on March 29, 1996, in commemoration of Lucy Lawless' birthday. Issue no. 1 covered the dates 04/01/91 to 04/21/95 and the annotations XMR001-OO7. It comprised of the Pre-Xena years for both Renee O'Connor and Lucy Lawless. The editorial covered the Action Pack Movies which HTLJ evolved from and conjecture into when the decisions were made to make HTLJ and XWP series. Yes, this may seem a bit egotistical but since it's my project, I can put in whatever media reports I want! [221] 04-04-96 PHILADELPHIA FORUM. Vol. 1. No. 9. Page 7. "Greeks vs. Hollywood" By Robert Shayon. Contributor: M. Gessner COMMENTARY: Struck by the irony of two popular shows about ancient Greece and the Olympics being scheduled for Atlanta in the same summer, Mr. Shayon decided to watch HTLJ and XWP with his nine-year-old grandson. He described Lucy Lawless (actually he confused her with Xena) as "a sexy acrobatic Amazon who wields a powerful sword from a scabbard on her back, sometimes backward through her legs into the sensitive groin of an astonished enemy." Mr. Shayon seemed to have hit that nail on the head (as to Xena, not Lucy Lawless). He was not going into this as a dyed in the wool mythological hardliner. Mr. Shayon also did his homework. He mentioned that whereas Hercules was a real mythological character, Xena was a pure fabrication; however, he reported on the Xena Scrolls, "which can be found on MCA Universal's home page on the Internet, where her secret (sic) history is voluminously supplied in mail pouches exchanged by crusty archaeologists digging into the riddle of her mysterious origin." Apparently, the existence of the scrolls to Xena's fictional mythology made up for her fundamental 'fictionalness' in Mr. Shayon's opinion. Mr. Shayon viewed the XWP episode The Royal Couple of Thieves (with Bruce Campbell, released 03-07-96, episode number 17). He described the plot as Xena and a "prestidigitating King of Thieves [having] recaptured a purloined treasure chest, which upon being opened, popped up with a copy of the Ten Commandments, complete with horrifying, holy flames and lightning bolts flashing through the air, destroying pagan villains a la Raiders of the Lost Ark, inadvertently perhaps implying that Moses of the Burning Bush was a contemporary of the Guys and Dolls atop Mount Olympus. Brawls and bouts of swordplay and mayhem abounded through both episodes, with Hercules lifting men in the air and knocking their heads together and Xena kicking butt with female ferocity and feminine glee." These two sentences strongly imply that Mr. Shayon was impressed by the entertainment value of the show if not the educational potential. He also appeared amused by the show's humor and over-the-top presentation. Then Mr. Shayon asked the question, "But what has all this to do with the glory that was Greece?" After eloquently reminding the reader that the "storytellers of all cultures have long watered down and even bowdlerized great narratives to make them accessible to wider audiences," Mr. Shayon then stated: "To bridge the gap between Pericles and Hollywood is impossible, but let's see how the two television series, Hercules and Xena, stimulate our present generation to thought and action. The answer is readily available on the Internet. Click on to MCA Universal's home page and you'll find a News Forum for Herc and Xena's fans. To what memorable thought and action have they been stimulated? Most of the messages I found were about Kevin Sorbo and Lucy Lawless, the stars of their respective shows--exchanges of comments on their bodies and their sex appeal. Fan club gossip. Not a whit about the great hero and invented heroine." In defense of Xena fandom, the author of the article obviously was not aware of the various mailing lists where, in fact, the heroic nature of Xena was and still is discussed extensively and did and still does stimulate at least some viewers to thought and action. In concluding, though, Mr. Shayon wrote: "Oh yes, let's not forget...the invention of Xena--a representation of the mighty woman to balance the warrior male. In our times and circumstances, this is an achievement not to be sneezed at. Two cheers for MCA Universal." So, after pointing out that the creators of XWP play fast and loose with genre, chronology, and culture, Mr. Shayon concluded that the value of XWP lied in it's "representation of the mighty woman to balance the warrior male." Transcribed by Sylvia Varela TRANSCRIPTION: In the year of the 24th Olympiad in Atlanta, American television, by a curious coincidence, is exhibiting two television shows set in ancient Greece-Hercules, the Legendary Journeys, and Xena, Warrior Princess. I viewed them on Channel 57 on a recent Saturday night with my nine-year-old grandson, Keith. These productions of MCA Universal, the giant Hollywood entertainment corporation, star Kevin Sorbo, an amiable hulk with a muscular torso, as Hercules, and Lucy Lawless, a sexy acrobatic Amazon who wields a powerful sword from a scabbard on her back, sometimes backward through her legs into the sensitive groin of an astonished enemy. It was my first exposure to these pseudo-Attic heroes-hero, I should say, for while strong-armed Herakles, half-man and half-god, is universally familiar in European literature and art, Xena is wholly a modern fabrication, a creation entirely of MCA Universal's Hollywood dream machine. True, she is buttressed by the equally fictitious, esoteric "Xena Scrolls," which can be found on MCA Universal's home page on the Internet, where her secret (sic) history is voluminously supplied in mail pouches exchanged by crusty archaeologists digging into the riddle of her mysterious origins. Herc, the night I caught his episode, was a guest at a royal wedding, where the bride was repetitively enchanted by a Greek goddess into a passion for someone other than her groom, and eluded Herc's efforts to straighten her out. In the course of these events, like the mythical Paris, passes judgment on Hera, Athena and Aphrodite, and throws the golden apple to the latter (I think), except the apple isn't golden, it's silver, and keeps changing metal, and he throws it into the sea, and Aphrodite gets mad at him, etc. etc...(it was all very confusing and lacked Greek clarity). But the goddesses were all sexy in their diaphanous semi-nudity and threw their long tresses about like models in shampoo commercials. They appeared and vanished miraculously reappearing with admirable digital virtuosity perfectly attuned to the powers of ancient Greek deities or at least to Star Trek's "Beam me up again, Scotty!" (There I go, mixing my myths.) Xena's episode, immediately following that of Hercules, told the story of how she and a prestidigitating King of Thieves recaptured a purloined treasure chest, which upon being opened, popped up with a copy of the Ten Commandments, complete with horrifying, holy flames and lightning bolts flashing through the air, destroying pagan villagers a la Raiders of the Lost Ark, inadvertently perhaps implying that Moses of the Burning Bush was a contemporary of the Guys and Dolls atop Mount Olympus. Brawls and bouts of swordplay and mayhem abounded through both episodes, with Hercules lifting men in the air and knocking their heads together and Xena kicking butt with female ferocity and feminine glee. But what has all this to do with the glory of Greece? Storytellers of all cultures have long watered down and even bowdlerized great narratives to make them accessible to wider audiences. One hundred and fifty years ago, Thomas Bulfinch dedicated his classic, The Age of Fable, to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, "The Poet Alike Of The Many And Of the Few, This Attempt to Popularize Mythology, and Extend The Enjoyment Of Elegant Literature, Is Respectfully Inscribed." "Our book," Bulfinch went on to write, "tells the stories of mythology in such a manner as to make them a source of amusement...We trust our young readers... and those more advanced will find it a useful companion in their reading (of English poets who make allusions occasionally to Greek heroes). Those in advanced life may take pleasure in retracing a path of literature which leads them back to the days of childhood, and revives at every step the associations of the morning of life." Bully for you, Bulfinch! "To devote study to a species of learning which relates wholly to false marvels and obsolete faiths, is not to be expected of the general reader in a practical age like this," he wrote in the 19th Century. "The time, even of the young, is claimed by so many sciences of facts and things, that little can be spared for set treatises on science of mere fancy." Hollywood specializes in reviving at every step the morning of life. But every day, every culture has its noon, its afternoon and its evening. Beyond that amiable bastard Hercules, Greece had its Homer, its Odyssey and Iliad, its Prometheus, Plato, Aristotle and Socrates, and a host of other political and literary giants. A culture which ignores the essence of other cultures, past or present, denigrates its own culture. No reasonable observer would ask Herc to carry the burden of Atlas-although he did do his compatriot that heavy favor in one of his legendary journeys. We only look for a mere lick and a taste, even a smell of the real Greece-something more than adolescent preoccupation with sexy males, luscious dames and arrows in the prat. One thinks of the talk that Pericles delivered in Athens as the highest point of Greek history, his famous Funeral oration, honoring the Athenian soldiers who had died in the war with Sparta: "By giving their lives they have won for themselves glory that shall never fade, and the greatest of all memorials, not that in which their bodies are laid to rest, but memory in the minds of men, to stimulate future generations in other lands to thought and action." To bridge the gap between Pericles and Hollywood is impossible, but let's see how the two television series, Hercules and Xena, stimulate our present generation to thought and action. The answer is readily available on the Internet. Click on to MCA Universal's home page and you'll find a News Forum for Herc and Xena's fans. To what memorable thought and action have they been stimulated? Most of the messages I found were about Kevin Sorbo and Lucy Lawless, the stars of their respective shows-exchanges of comments on their bodies and their sex appeal. Fan club gossip. Not a whit about the great hero and invented heroine. Oh yes, let's not forget...the invention of Xena-a representation of the mighty woman to balance to warrior male. In our times and circumstances, this is an achievement not to be sneezed at. Two cheers for MCA Universal. [222.5] 04-05-96 XENA MEDIA REVIEW. No. 2. 10 pages. 4133 words. Edited by and annotations by Kym Masera Taborn. COMMENTARY: A world press review of coverage on XWP, Renee O'Connor, or Lucy Lawless. Covered the dates 03/05/95 to 05/10/95 and the annotations XMR008-017. Contained first announcements and reports on the Pre-Production Xena: Warrior Princess. The editorial covered more conjecture on when it was decided that XWP would be a series. [227] 04-09-96 CBS. The David Letterman Show. 11:35pm. TV Show. COMMENTARY: Lucy Lawless interviewed by David Letterman. Ms. Lawless was nervous and Mr. Letterman talked over most of her responses while being obsessed with a section of Ms. Lawless' anatomy. Mr. Letterman missed most of Ms. Lawless' jokes. It appeared Mr. Letterman had not even seen the show or did any homework. The interview basically consisted of small talk. Ms. Lawless mentioned that she told people she was an exotic dancer when she once had to go to the bank in costume; and she informed Mr. Letterman that you could not walk to Australia from New Zealand when the tide was out (best joke). Transcription by Julia Medina TRANSCRIPTION: DAVE: Welcome to the show. Welcome to the United States. And is that your Xena outfit there? Is that your little Xena suit? LUCY: I'm wearing that costume secretly, discreetly -- DAVE: Well, you're just barely wearing it, let me tell you. LUCY: I wanted to cheer you up. You know, I saw the show the other night and I thought you needed some spring because you've all have -- it's been a hard winter -- DAVE: It's been such a miserably winter here. Yes, it's been nasty and everything. Let's talk about many, many things. First of all, you're from New Zealand, you're a Kiwi, is that what we call New Zealanders? LUCY: Yes. But a Kiwi is not a fruit. You know that don't you? DAVE: Um-hum. It's a bird, a flightless bird; is that right? LUCY: It is. It's an adorable little bird. DAVE: But it has no wings, is that what it is? LUCY: Very small. They've sort of the atrophied. DAVE: The wings have -- evolution. It doesn't need the wings? LUCY: That's right. DAVE: So what does it do? Does it hop? Does the little bird hop? LUCY: It just crawls around in the night, but -- DAVE: Now, do they have kangaroos in New Zealand or just Australia? LUCY: No. Completely different country. Four hours flight away. You can't walk there when the tide's out. DAVE: Uh-huh. But it seems to me they're in the same part of the world, roughly speaking, aren't they? LUCY: Yes, but by accident. I think New Zealand geographically comes from like up by Hawaii. DAVE: Yeah. So they would not have the kangaroos there? LUCY: No marsupials at all. DAVE: That's too damn bad, you ought to take some back with you if you get the chance. Lucy Lawless, that's your actual name? It's a great name for a super hero. LUCY: That's my real name for a warrior princess. DAVE: Uh-huh. And you play Xena: The Warrior Princess. Now tell us what Xena is, what she does, and how things go there. LUCY: Well for the benefit of people that haven't seen it before, Xena is a badass, kickass girl from sort of a pre-Mycenaean gal who traverses the timelines -- oh, you've seen it? DAVE: Traverses the timelines. LUCY: Yeah, she -- only because we have absolutely no respect for chronology or mythology or anything. DAVE: Do you have super powers? Can you fly? Do you do anything like that? LUCY: No, she's kind of a slight superhuman, but she can't do magic. But she can, by benefit of Eastern accupressure learning, she has learned how to extract information from chaps by chu-chu-chu their neck, and she can shut off the flow of blood to your brain. DAVE: Really? LUCY: Yes. DAVE: So she has some medical training is what you're saying? LUCY: What do you need help with David? DAVE: You film this show in New Zealand; right? LUCY: Yeah. DAVE: But I'm told it's actually not broadcast in New Zealand -- LUCY: Nope. DAVE: So your family and friends, do they even know that you're Xena? LUCY: Oh, it's -- it's kind of -- I hint but nobody's very interested. DAVE: Yeah. LUCY: At lunch times, I'll sneak out of work and go off to -- go to the bank, pay the mortgage or whatever, and I just flip a T-shirt over any costume and walk out and people ask me, "What do you do for a living?" And I tell them I'm an exotic dancer. DAVE: Now that's pretty cool. LUCY: Yeah. DAVE: What is life in New Zealand -- it must be charming. I know physically the country is very, very beautiful. Do you think you'll make your home in New Zealand for the rest of your life or do you want it move? LUCY: I will always have a home there. DAVE: Always a home? LUCY: Yeah. You can't get it out of your bones, like Australians can't get Australia out of their bones, and I love it. DAVE: How many times you been to New York? LUCY: Three times now. DAVE: So -- and it must be very exciting for you to come to New York and see all of this lousy snow in the middle of springtime. LUCY: I love New York. I love snow, because I live at sea level -- sorry -- but I was really excited when I looked out the window this morning saw smog -- DAVE: Yeah, you're the one. LUCY: Yeah, I brought it. It's from me. DAVE: Listen, here's your little Lucy Lawless doll right there. LUCY: Oh, you've got it? DAVE: Yeah. You got your little outfit there. Sure, yeah, it's pretty cool. LUCY: Have you noticed -- DAVE: Stick around. We got surf and turf coming. LUCY: Whoa, that's mobster's moll food isn't it? DAVE: I don't know what that is. Nice to see you. Thank you for being here, I appreciate it. LUCY: Thank you. DAVE: Lucy Lawless, ladies and gentlemen, Xena. [233.5] 04-12-96 XENA MEDIA REVIEW. No. 3. 16 pages. 7128 words. Edited by and annotations by Kym Masera Taborn. COMMENTARY: A world press review of coverage on XWP, Renee O'Connor, or Lucy Lawless. Covered the dates 05/11/95 - 5/15/95 and the annotations XMR018-019q. Contained Further pre-filming events in the career of Renee O'Connor and an amusing article about Hercules: The Legendary Journeys which ran between the Hercules' Xena episodes of "The Gauntlet" and "Unchained Heart". The editorial discussed the article "Babes in Boyland" which appeared in the May 1996 issue of SCI-FI UNIVERSE. [247.5] 04-20-96 XENA MEDIA REVIEW. No. 4. 12 pages. 4996 words. Edited by and annotations by Kym Masera Taborn. COMMENTARY: A world press review of coverage on XWP, Renee O'Connor, or Lucy Lawless. Covered the dates 05/26/95 - 07/15/95 and the annotations XMR020 through 025e. Contained the initial month's production, toy announcements, HTLJ references, and more O'Connor reviews outside of XWP. The editorial discussed the first month of XMR's distribution; and included a short biography and resume of Kym Taborn and an explanation why she published XMR. CONTINUED IN PART 3 of 3...