XENA MEDIA REVIEW (XMR) #21 Part 4 of 4 ============ CUT HERE ================== [304a] 05-27-96 VARIETY. Page 43. 1090 words. "Wanted: Quirky, Witty, Quixotic; Foreign Buyers Sneak a Peek at Fall Offerings" By Elizabeth Guider COMMENTARY: In an article about the "L.A. Screening", where foreign TV buyers got their first chance to see what the US was peddling that year, MCA's president of worldwide distribution, James McNamara stated that he anticipated HERCULES and XENA to be big sale items. EXCERPT: Can they unearth the next "E.R.,""X-Files" or "Murder One"-- and can they manage not to pay through the teeth for it? That's the trick foreign TV buyers will try to perform when they pour into L.A. over Memorial Day weekend for the most low-key but crucial trade show on the calendar for the U.S. TV distribution biz. The so-called L.A. Screenings, which run through June 7, is the first chance foreign buyers have to sift through the new shows ordered by the U.S. networks for the fall season. Some 800 to 900 execs from Europe, Asia and Latin America will be scouring for whatever is quirky, campy, quick-witted or quixotic enough to entice audiences back home. U.S. hourlong dramas are once again being sought after for primetime by most foreign buyers after a decade of disdain. Sitcoms and reality shows rarely if ever nowadays make it into primetime skeds abroad.... ...James McNamara, who was appointed president of worldwide distribution for MCA TV in April, points to several of his company's shows he expects to be hot-ticket items -- not only "Burning Zone" and the police series "EZ Street," but also the syndicated duo, "Hercules" and "Xena," which are finding enthusiasts abroad.... [304b] 06-03-96 ELECTRONIC MEDIA. Pg. 37. 667 words. "At L.A. Screenings, Hustle and Bustle, but Few Deals So Far" By Wayne Walley and Greg Spring COMMENTARY: Passing mention in regard to how XWP was even more popular to international distributors because of the v-chip, etc. controversies in the US. It was interesting that the interviewee only mentioned XWP and not HTLJ. The shows are usually found in the same breath together in these types of passing references. A sign of the future? EXCERPT: International program buyers flocked to the L.A. Screenings last week but did more tire-kicking than purchasing. While distributors reported a smattering of deals, most didn't expect the real business to begin until this week when program buyers have had a chance to see everything and make decisions. "If you see something like 'X-Files' a couple of years ago or a 'NYPD Blue,' you try to make an agreement on the spot. But these days that is the exception, not the rule," said John McCready, vice president of programming for the SBS Group, a U.S.-backed owner of TV and radio stations in Scandinavia and the Benelux countries. "There was hard bidding last year, but people are a bit more cautious this year and are making more careful choices." Mr. McCready said the quality of the shows he screened last week was very good, but he said he feels the anti-violence movement had had an impact on the shows picked up by the U.S. broadcast networks for fall. "The dramas are soft. They are quite intelligent and well-scripted, but it depends which country you buy for. Australia and New Zealand can handle it. But if you're buying for Belgium or Holland, more direct action is better. That's why some syndicated programs like 'Xena' or 'Viper' might be of more interest."... [305] 05-27-96 THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT (Norfolk, VA). Page E1. 1540 words. "TV'S Tops and Flops from a Towering Adaption of "GULLIVER'S TRAVELS" to FOX'S; Abrupt "PROFIT" Loss, Here's Television Critic Larry Bonko's Look at the Best; and Worst of the 1995-96 Prime-time Season." By Larry Bonko. COMMENTARY: In his summation of the best and worst of the season, Larry Bonko cited Xena as "Worst impression of Wonder Woman". EXCERPT: ...Summing up, here are 50 examples of the best, worst, least and most of the past season.... ...28. Worst impression of Wonder Woman: Xena, the Warrior Princess.... [306] 05-27-96 WARRIOR...PRINCESS. Episode no. 15. Second release. Guest stars: Iain Rea, Norman Forsey, and Latham Gaines. Written by Brenda Lilly. Directed by Michael Levine. COMMENTARY: See XMR158.3 for synopsis and commentary. [307] 05-28-96 CHICAGO TRIBUNE. Tuesday. Kidnews. Page 7. "What a (Side) Kick! For Xena's Warrior Pal, Staying out of Trouble Is Half the Battle" COMMENTARY: In an article geared towards children, the author characterized the relationship between Xena and Gabrielle as that of a big and little sibling. Renee O'Connor was interviewed regarding her perspective on Gabrielle in this context. First, Ms. O'Connor discussed her relationship with her older brother Chris: "We were always playing and I was trying to get involved in everything (he and his friends) were ever doing...We would even have mock play fights with Indians and the whole bit, all the action sequences. So it's kind of funny, because sometimes when I'm playing this (show) with Lucy, it reminds me of when my brother and I were playing our simulated battles." Second, Ms. O'Connor discussed how Gabrielle started out constantly being rescued and helped out of jams by Xena, but has slowly worked through the season becomnig more of an equal partner with Xena. Ms. O'Connor is quoted at saying "We wanted to show that she could be stronger, a little spunkier." Finally, Ms. O'Connor discussed her relationship with Kevin Sorbo: "He's like a big brother to me...I can call him any time and just touch base with him and see how he's doing." She mentioned they share a bond because neither of them are from New Zealand, where their shows are filmed. The article also announced a new Xena schedule for WGN now that the baseball season had started. Graphics included one of Ms. Lawless and Ms. O'Connor, and another of just Ms. O'Connor. REPRINT: There was once this touching scene during an episode of the TV action series "Xena: Warrior Princess." Xena, a one-woman fighting machine in the ancient days of Greek mythology, told her traveling companion Gabrielle she felt they were like sisters. Oh, that Gabrielle is like a sibling, all right: the younger one who's always getting in your way. Sometimes when Xena gets into a fight, she has to make sure Gabrielle doesn't get hurt. When Xena goes off on one of her adventures, she may tell Gabrielle to stay out of harm's way. Does Gabby listen? Nooooo! There are even times when Xena has to walk alongside her horse, because Gabrielle has a thing against riding. That's just like a kid sibling, always making things tough for you! "Especially at the beginning of the series, Gabrielle wanted to be like Xena," says Renee O'Connor, who plays Gabby (Lucy Lawless plays Xena). "She was always trying to imitate her, journey with her on the different stories, write about it and tell about it," The Houston native has some experience at being the kid sister. She admits that "most likely" she bugged older brother Chris more than once when they were kids. "Probably more than I would like to say," laughs Renee, 25. "We were always playing and I was trying to get involved in everything (he and his friends) were ever doing... "We would even have mock play fights with Indians and the whole bit, all the action sequences. So it's kind of funny, because sometimes when I'm playing this (show) with Lucy, it reminds me of when my brother and I were playing our simulated battles." If you saw earlier episodes of "Xena," you noticed Gabrielle always got in some type of jam, and it was up to the Warrior Princess to get her out. But now Gabrielle is taking care of herself more. She's even blasting baddies away with a fighting staff of her own. "She started to be around Xena a bit more and learn and become more independent," Renee explains. "We wanted to show that she could be stronger, a little spunkier." By having Gabrielle stand on her own feet more, Renee and the producers of "Xena" also want to show a side of females that usually isn'ts." STRONG FRIENDSHIP Renee is something of a kid sister to another hero: Hercules. "He's like a big brother to me," she says about Kevin Sorbo, who stars in "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys." His show is filmed in New Zealand, just like "Xena." "I can call him any time and just touch base with him and see how he's doing." Even though both have become good friends with the people who work on their shows, Kev and Renee, who is from Houston, are still far from home. Renee says: "It's nice to have someone that's (also) away from their friends and family, that you can call and talk to." "Xena: Warrior Princess" used to air Fridays at 8 p.m. Central Time on WGN, but it's bouncing around because of the station's baseball coverage; check local listings for times and days. "Xena" does repeat episodes at 11:30 p.m. on Sundays. GRAPHIC: (3) Renee O'Connor (right) with Lucy Lawless; Kevin Sorbo.; Renee O'Connor [308] 05-31-96 XENA MEDIA REVIEW. No. 9. 20 pages. 8556 words. Annotations XMR069a-083c. Edited by and annotations by Kym Masera Taborn. COMMENTARY: A world press review of coverage on XWP, Renee O'Connor, or Lucy Lawless. Covered 10/29/95 through 11/24/95. Renee O'Connor interview, Nick Kokotakis, Ted Raimi, mythology, The Reckoning, The Gauntlet, Unchained Heart, Sinbad, Beastmaster, and more. Editorial covered the announcement of IAXS: The International Association of Xena Studies. [309] 05-31-96 LA WEEKLY. Vol.18 No.27. Pg. 41. "Atlas, Shrugged; Xena, Hercules, Barbie and Ken" By Arion Berger. COMMENTARY: A negative review of XWP presented as a commentary on our disintegrating popular culture. The reviewer offered HTLJ (though with an apology), asking us to forgive its "faults". The reviewer also made enough many factual errors that a knowledgeable reader would be inclined to think that the reviewer only saw a single show, if not merely portions. Up to this time, the published criticism of XWP tended to be of three camps: (1) that it was excessively violent; (2) that it was based upon "stupid history"; or (3) that it was a form of Baywatch, i.e, a sexually exploitative show. The violence spin was heard primarily in connection with the introduction of the V-Chip and the voluntary ratings that television producers were expected to offer in their near future. XWP was the posterchild of many articles which asked, 'Would it block out Xena?' 'How would a show like Xena be rated?'. Thus far this school of thought has not discussed the Hong Kong/Kung Fu film antecedents of XWP and HTLJ (actually moreso with XWP than HTLJ), nor have they adequately discussed the relative lack of graphic violence in the shows in regard to their violence arguments. The stupid history camp bemoaned that XWP and HTLJ were not chronologically or traditionally correct. This position was eloquently expressed in the notorious NPR "ALL THINGS CONSIDERED" discussion on 04/23/96 (XMR254). Their arguments included concern that younger children would not get the show and expressed alarm that they did not see on the screen what they read in their dog-eared copies of Edith Hamilton or Robert Graves mythology books. The Baywatch crowd deemed both shows degrading to humankind and beneath the dignity of any good upstanding citizen. Basically all they saw was a woman barely in leather riding around beating up men. That she only traveled with a young woman was merely stoking the flames of the fire. Arion Berger has achieved what was no doubt inevitable. He has fused all the camps into a new hybrid which chaarcterizes XWP and HTLJ as ugly but completely understandable results of this culture. Because these shows jumped out of our society's head, they cannot be expected but to use stupid history, be violent, and to be a Baywatch clone. Berger takes the previous negative criticisms and creates almost a Unified Field Theory of why XWP is not nutritious to the soul. His arguments, though, would have been better served had he actually paid attention to the show and had discussed the preceding artistic traditions of which XWP and HTLJ sprang. REPRINT: In the world of period entertainment, there's ignorant anachronism, ironic anachronism and a third category - the heedless, utterly unconcerned oh-that's-an-anachronism? of Xena: Warrior Princess and her lesser fledgling-net sibling, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. "The guy was trying ta kill me," explains an ancillary character found in possession of a bloody sword. Xena nods understandingly. The universal language of excuses works it's magic again. Xena (Lucy Lawless) doesn't need an interpreter across the chasm of time because she is all-wise and a beloved heroine of many lands and peoples, and also because such niceties are beyond the scope of this show's interest. Xena is dungeons-and-dragons T&A for the kiddie set, invested as much in it's blatant moral lessons and Catskillian laugh lines as in it's lingering shots of strong, tanned thighs and pointy metal breastplates. Like Wonder Woman, Xena is of hybrid mythical origin - - mythical to American culture, but tied in with the old Greek belief system by way of benevolent protection and heroic gifts bestowed. But no "forsooths" or even W.W.'s "By Zeus"es for our Xena: she's a goddess straight outta the mall by way of North Beach Leather and tae kwon do class. And if a character occasionally looks at his watch - okay, that hasn't happened - it's only to speed the story along to it's next action sequence/laugh line/moral lesson. Also like Wonder Woman, Xena enjoys something of a cult success thanks to he familywide appeal. Aided by '70's culture, the deathless Wonder Woman theme song positioned Lynda Carter's curvaceous superheroine with a pinpoint brevity James Merrill would not have been ashamed of: "In your satin tights/ fighting for your rights/ change your mind/ and change the world." The modern bare-legged variant, Xena, is a powerful feminist heroine tricked out like a go-go dancer on the Beastmaster set who indulges in plenty of teeth gritting, "hi-ya!" - punctuated, wee-whacker karate and the kind of sword fights that involve manipulating the thing like a champion baton twirler before actually menacing an opponent with it. ("Billy! Suzy! Get your mom! XENA'S starting!! On second thought, don't get your mom!") And hipsters are watching because it may be camp - it IS camp, but it's also sort of good - - and we're suspicious that they're putting one over on us, so we want to keep an eye on it. Sam Raimi is an executive producer, but what does that MEAN? The premise, if you must, goes something like this: Xena is a warrior princess who has been called to do battle against the forces of yuck and unfairness in an evil-ravaged time and place that is vaguely pre-Christian and vaguely European. She has a sidekick, a spunky but slightly doughy blonde named Gabrielle, and an errant father who's shown up only once and doesn't appear to be much of a kind for a guy who's daughter is a princess. Anyway, Xena is looked after by a hand-fluttering worry wart in flowing robes with the general demeanor of the Druid equivalent of an opera queen. It's best not to ask too many questions. Every week Xena rides forth to battle against . . . stuff, it all begins to melt together. Thighs flash, swords gleam and wisecracks on the level of a very cheap cop show fly - "If you want something done right, you gotta buy the right people" sort of thing. Lovely Lucy Lawless, deep of tan and white of teeth, with bright blue eyes and serious black hair, looks every inch the warrior princess, whatever that is, and leather fringe, of course, gives any headstrong girl that "Don't mess with me, imagine how high I can kick in this thing" look that's so valuable in heading off those messy fights. Lawless' only drawback is absolute humorlessness, so profound it's like an absence as entity - a humor black hole, if you will, that sucks up and vaporizes any potential for unwitting camp, or indeed a stance of any kind. Lawless is without stance. She is Xena, warrior princess, and if her reaction to the hearty eye-twinkling repartee of her underlings seems a tad automated, well, this is a woman with bigger things on her mind. One of those things is not sex, but it appears to be first on the list for everyone else. Perfectly aware that there's a beautiful young woman riding around the country with only a redhead and a Maria Callas fan for protection, the mustache twirlers of the ancient world regularly get hot under their leather collars. Of course, Xena's physical strength and sassy lone-wolf status only add to her seductive powers, but where the series veers away from the classic romance-novel plot is that Xena never does get bagged by that one big brute of a man willing to tame the wild, hair tossing filly. In Xena's dangerous world, sex really does equal death, and the baddies use ambiguous language to describe their dealings with her. In an episode in which she lies at the brink of death, the villain introduces himself thusly: "I'm the man who killed Xena." Later, someone asks him incredulously, "Did you get her?" And when she wakes from her coma, he pounds his fist in frustration, barking, "I HAD her! I HAD her!" Correction pal. Hercules, on the other hand, is a sort of Captain Kirk of the ancient world. Played with game effort by Kevin Sorbo, who is probably not as dumb as he looks, Hercules falls like a sack of gravel for various haughty princesses, spitfire rebel chicks and other visitors to the toga party that is his weekly series. He can afford to fall in and out of love so easily since it appears that the golden rules of olden tymmes aren't so different from our own: Herc will never be tied down by one of these frequent trivial liaisons, that lonesome highway's always calling, but a warrior princess with such a short memory and susceptible heart . . . what's the Greek word for "tramp" ? Hercules has other problems, though, and their doozies. First, his look is not so Herculean. It isn't Sorbo's fault, but a sinewy BLOND Hercules with a surfer's tan? This Herc is a boy, so far from the manly, lion-pelt-brandishing demi-god on display at the Getty museum - now THAT'S Hercules - you wonder if the creators were deliberately going for a non-Classic Greek look on top of clearly trying to appeal to kids with a hero closer in age to it's target audience. Second, the whole premise carries the faint whiff of the dubious; not only does the legend of Hercules offer 12 thrilling tasks, but his life was nonstop action adventure all the way up to the suicide by fire/ascension to Olympus that freed him from the agony of the hydra-poisoned centaur blood. He even had cool stuff to do on Mount Olympus - he's a strongman with a full dance card. But while the rather unimaginative series speckles it's landscape with gods and goddesses, it doesn't bring to life truly Herculean adventures like the time he brought faithful Alcestis back from the realm of the underworld to live with the selfish kind Admetus, or when he rescued Deianira from the centaur Nessus. Instead, he's given Xena-like field work to do under the amorphous guise of more tasks: "Wrestle Antaeus, and while you're at it, Herc, can you stop by the forest and rid it of kleptomaniac satyrs? I'll owe you one." The stories aren't bad, just more generic than they need to be, since history has provided a rich trove of Hercules tales that 1) don't need to be made up and 2) could pass for sneakily educational. Even so, kids watching may need to be told who Aphrodite is, and that small amount of education has it's uses. If you squint, Xena and Hercules are like history in a thick coat of bronzer. [310] 05-31-96 through 06-03-96 NOTE: Ratings for THE GREATER GOOD (#21), 1st release, 05/06/96. Ranked 2nd action hour with 5.1 rating. Comparison with other action hours: (1) ST: DEEP SPACE 9 at 7th with 5.6; (2) XWP at 13th with 5.1; (3) HTLJ at 14th with 4.7. [310a] 05-31-96 THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. 293 words. "Trek' at Warp Speed; 'Xena' Pins 'Hercules'" By Jonathan Davies COMMENTARY: Ratings for THE GREATER GOOD, where Gabrielle walks a few miles in Xena's moccasins and other attire. XWP earned a 5.1 and was rated 2nd action hour. HTLJ was 3rd, and ST:DS9 was 1st. EXCERPT: A handful of active action hours livened up an otherwise lackluster week in the ratings for May 13-19, a period that overlaps the fourth week of the May sweeps. In a week when the benefit of larger audiences because of the end of the college year was largely canceled out by programming interruptions due to Bob Dole's exit from the Senate, Paramount's "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" was among the few upwardly mobile action hours. The sci-fi series rose from a 5.3 rating to a 5.6 for the week, according to Nielsen Media Research data. The gain widened "Star Trek's" lead over its closest competitor, which this week was MCA's "Xena: Warrior Princess" at 5.1. "Xena" was up 9% from its previous showing to leapfrog its companion show, "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys." That show was down 6% to a 4.7, a low for the season. All American's "Baywatch" and Warner Bros.' "Babylon 5" were among other gainers for the week, with a 4.1 and a 3.3, respectively. MGM's "The Outer Limits" lost ground for the week, falling from a 3.6 to a season-to-date low of 3.2. The trio of "Highlander," "Renegade" and "Baywatch Nights" also slipped by varying degrees to tie for a 2.7 rating. Among the other shows to exhibit erosion were "Land's End" and "Tales From the Crypt," tied at a 2.4; "The Lazarus Man," at a 2.2; and "Flipper," at a 1.7. "Kung Fu: The Legend Continues" gained 5% to a 2.2, but it exhibited signs of the across-the-board depression that has afflicted much of syndication this season. "Kung Fu," for example, was 37% below last year's mark of 3.5 at this time. Even top-flier "Star Trek" is tracking 16% behind last year's 6.7. [310b] 05-31-96 DAILY VARIETY. Page 3. 460 words. "Off-nets Mow Syndie Vets; Frosh Sitcoms Brighten Grim Week as Talkers Take a Tumble" By Jenny Hontz. COMMENTARY: THE GREATER GOOD, 1st release EXCERPT: Nearly all the syndication veterans lost ground in May from last season, as ratings for freshman off-net sitcoms continued to soar. Nielsen Syndication Service ratings for the week ending May 19, which overlapped with the final week of May sweeps, held few surprises.... ...Paramount's "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" led the weekly action-hour gang with a 5.8, down 16% from a year ago. Coming in second place was MCA TV's "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys," with a 5 rating, a dip of 2%. MCA TV's freshman hour "Xena: Warrior Princess" placed third, 4.7, but in the fourth week of sweeps managed to edge out "Hercules" for the second time in the last three airings... [310c] 06-03-96 VARIETY. Page 37. 184 words. "Nielsen Syndication Ratings". COMMENTARY: The numbers for THE GREATER GOOD, episode no. 21. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine tied for 7th in rank with 5.6, and placed first in the action hours. XWP ranked 13th with 5.1, and placed 2nd. HTLJ tied for 14th with 4.7, and placed 3rd. No other action hours made it to the top twenty. REPRINT: For week ended May 19, 1996 Stations/ Rank Program %coverage AA% GAA% 1 Wheel of Fortune 226/99 11.2 -- 2 Jeopardy! 221/99 9.6 -- 3 Oprah Winfrey Show 235/99 7.9 8.0 4 Home Improvement 224/98 7.7 8.3 5 Seinfeld 223/96 6.8 -- 6 Entertainment Tonight 178/95 5.9 6.0 7 Inside Edition 166/91 5.6 5.7 7 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 235/98 5.6 6.0 9 Wheel of Fortune -- Wknd. 183/84 5.4 -- 10 Simpsons 192/96 5.3 5.6 11 Fresh Prince of Bel-Air 171/93 5.2 5.7 11 WCW Wrestling 183/93 5.2 7.6 13 Xena 204/97 5.1 5.5 14 Journey of Hercules 231/98 4.7 5.0 14 World Wrestling Fed. PR 163/90 4.7 6.1 16 Hard Copy 181/92 4.4 4.4 17 Home Improvement -- Wknd. 213/95 4.3 -- 17 Live w/Regis & Kathie Lee 234/99 4.3 -- 17 Roseanne 173/91 4.3 4.6 20 Jenny Jones 214/96 4.2 4.4 AA average refers to nonduplicated viewing for multiple airings of the same show. GAA average encompasses duplicated viewing. GAA average does not apply when there is only one run of a show [310d] 06-03-96 VARIETY. Page 37. 370 words. "Off-net Freshmen Bright amid Syndie Rating Blues" By Jenny Hontz COMMENTARY: THE GREATER GOOD, 1st release. EXCERPT: Nearly all the syndication veterans lost ground in May from last season, as ratings for freshman off-net sitcoms continued to soar. Nielsen Syndication Service ratings for the week ending May 19, which overlapped with the final week of May sweeps, held few surprises.... ...Par's "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" led the weekly action-hour gang with a 5.8, down 16% from a year ago. Coming in second place was MCA TV's "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys," with a 5 rating, a dip of 2%. ------------- THE BACK PAGE ------------- NEXT ISSUE Issue #22 will begin at annotation 311 and end tentatively at 330, dated from June 1, 1996 to June 14, 1996. It is scheduled to be released whenever I get around to it! PREFERRED CITATION When citing an annotated review, use the format: XMR:007. This example means Xena Media Review [issue #01], annotation #007. BACK ISSUES Back issues of XMR are available at the XMR Archive on the XMR web page: http://xenafan.com/xmr. 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. 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 Pictures, and any other rightful and legal copyright holder). 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. This is an All Talk No Action Publication. Copyright 1996,1997 by Kym Masera Taborn. Check out the free netzine called "Resistance is Futile," a Star Trek parody and all things Borgish newsletter which is issued at my leisure 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/ ============ CUT HERE ================== Finis