XENA MEDIA REVIEW #25 (08-18-97) Part 1 of 4 =================== CUT HERE =============== _____ ______ ._ `\`/>`\ /`/` /`__________,.'>___ _____ )~\ /<`\ `\ /`/` /``\ \./------> /|\./\ |\./| / | \ /< `\`\ `\ /`/` /` | | |----\ / | |\ \ | | |././^\ \ |\__{o}\--`\`\ `\/`/` /`-----| | |-----`------\`\`\--| | |----^ \ \----. [\\\\\\\{*}==`> <`=======| | ==============`\`\`\| | |=====\ \ \==--> |/~~{o}/-- /`/ /\ \ `\------| | |---------------`\`\\ | |------\ \ \--' \< /`/` /` `\`\ `\ | | |_____,.'>| | | `\`\| | /' \ \ \ \< /` /` `\`\ `\ ,/ /^\------> / |/^\| \ | |/ \/^\\. /`/\>/` `\`\ `\`~~~~~~~~~~~\ / ~~~~~ )^\,\, '~~~~~ `~~~~~` '~~~~~` ` ~~~~~~ ========================== XENA: THE MEDIA REVIEW #25 ========================== An Obessive But Benign Publication http://xenafan.com/xmr P.O. Box 81181, Bakersfield, CA 93308 Xena Media Review (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. Copyright, legal, and editorial notices are found at the end of this newsletter. Issue No. 25 Release date: 08/18/97 Covering 07/16/96 - 07/31/96 Annotations 376 to 396 FROM THE EDITOR: The Courage to Cut My Hair FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Yeah, Cut Mine Too "Why XWP Didn't take a Summer Vacation" "Bruce Campbell at Origins Con 07/97" LETTERS TO XMR ANNOTATIONS [390] 07-17-96. THE EVENING POST. XWP moved in NZ [391] 07-17-96. BOSTON PHOENIX. Clueless in Boston [392] 07-19-96 to 07-23-96. Peach! [393] 07-19-96 to 07-22-96. Rat g PATH NOT TAKEN, 3rd [394] 07-20-96. XENA MEDIA REVIEW. No. 16. [395] 07-21-96. INDIANAPOLIS STAR. mention [396] 07-22-96. ELECTRONIC MEDIA. cult TV websites [397] 07-22-96. PUBLISHERS WEEKLY. Books release [398] 07-22-96. PUBLISHERS WEEKLY. More on books [399] 07-22-96. DRUG TOPICS. cultural reference [400] 07-22-97. Airing. THE TITANS (#07), 3rd rel. [401] 07-23-96 to 08-11-96. USA to strip XWP [402] 07-25-96. HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. passing mention [403] 07-26-96. MS. Magazine promos. [404] 07-26-96. STAR TRIBUNE. Inside Nielsen ratings [405] 07-29-96. VARIETY. Ratings MORTAL BELOVED, 2nd [406] 07-29-96. ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH. media ref. [407] 07-29-96. SALON MAGAZINE. Creepy stuff! [408] 07-29-96. Airing IS THERE A DOCTOR (#24), 1st [409] 07-31-96 to 08/27/96. German RTL/MCA deal. [410] 07-31-96. CAPITAL TIMES. Kids shows! THE BACK PAGE Errata Xena Media Review Staff Back Issues This Week in Xena News Reprint Policy Solicitations for Future Newsletters Disclaimer =============== FROM THE EDITOR =============== The Courage to Cut My Hair -------------------------- In XMR#23 I rattled on about my Xena-inspired wardrobe changes and sudden affinity for leather, but the Warrior Princess' influence has penetrated much deeper into my life than mere surface affects would indicate. Xena has bored her way to the very core of my femininity. Yep, she's given me the courage to cut my hair. Not to brag (ok, not to brag a whole lot), but my hair was really nice. Thick, dark, kind of wavy, I'd worn it long ever since I'd left home for college. It was a badge of womanhood to me, as good as a driver's license, ID card or anything that said "REAL WOMAN, RIGHT HERE. BELIEVE IT". Not only that, but men seemed to like it an awful lot. Not *just* men, but me, too. I liked the way it felt on my naked shoulder in the morning, I even liked brushing it and flinging it back when I finished like every girl from Marcia Brady to that chick in Clueless does at least once an episode. It was something that positively identified me as female, as feminine, and as very status quo. But all those multiple viewings of XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS episodes do take a toll sooner or later and I found myself (for the first time!!!) complaining in the hot, humid weather that only the northeast can produce about the weight on my neck. I imagined myself in exile from tangles. But mostly, I wondered if I had the guts to part with this emblem of establishment and risk throwing myself onto shaky terrain. My hair packed a lot of info into its malleable fibers and made it easy to set the terms of interaction with others. Men could tell that I was married (well, the diamond ring on my finger kind of gives it away), women that I was straight, and anyone else who might be paying attention could probably discern that I *really* liked Martha Stewart a lot. I just wasn't sure I wanted to put any effort into having to explain all that stuff. I waffled on the idea, even sitting in the chair at the hairdresser's, thumbing frantically through *Spin* and *Rolling Stone* in search of something that caught my eye. Finally I said, "You have some clippers, don't you?" And that was it, the floor filled with that silky dark stuff of which I had been so fond and I felt something like blood running out of my veins. Admittedly, my new haircut hasn't been the transformational catalyst I thought it would be. I don't really feel any different. I kind of miss having something to put in my rather extensive collection of scrunchies . Add to it the fact that not many people even noticed that I got my hair cut and I've got to wonder if I should've pierced my eyebrow instead. Hmmmmmm ......maybe a tattoo. This month's XMR feature is brought to you by Beth Gaynor of RATE-A-XENA fame (http://arcane.eng.ohio- state.edu / bgaynor / xenarate.htm ) . Beth and I have been online pals for several months now, sharing tales of bizarro email (I had a long streak of "Dear Xena, I'm your biggest fan......" notes while Beth was getting compliments for her work on the XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS script writing team. We both wondered how we had time for our more pedestrian pursuits like going to our jobs and working on our Web sites while holding down such illustrious positions.) Since then, we're broadened our topics of discussion to include Dungeons and Dragons, bad haircuts, religion, and Sarah McLachlan . I just found out Beth is a closet dramat (a triple threat: singing, dancing, *and* acting) who is also heavily into Gaming and joined Bruce Campbell at a recent Game-fest in MN. Maria E. Erb Co-editor maria @ erb.mv.com http:// www.mv.com / ipusers / erb / xena / New Hampshire 08/05/97 ======================== FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ======================== Yeah, Cut Mine Too ------------------ It must have been in the air. I got about 18-20 inches lopped off in one sitting on July 20, 1997. I can't say I blame Xena. Okay, maybe Gabrielle. No, just kidding. I refuse to let my life choices be dictated by a television show. And if you believe that, I have some prime Mississippi River property I want to sell to YOU! Hair and Xena do go together, though. I am going to die known as that woman who wrote that hair color article about Lucy Lawless. It is by far one of the most popular articles on WHOOSH. Although it appeared in issue number one, hidden way behind many other articles, it still receives enough hits to make it into the top twenty articles every month. Do you have any idea how embarrassing that is? It was the first issue. We were scrambling for articles. I was BEGGING people for submissions. We desperately needed material. So I dusted off my old XMR essay, re-tooled it, and blissfully thought that would be the last I would ever hear of it. Ha! So what is the nature of this hair - Xena connection? My first thoughts about Xena's hair came in UNCHAINED HEART (# H13 ). Wow. I wonder if Hercules has that affect on all warrior princesses? I hope not. Since then she has done nothing really as spectacular with it. It was the frizz to end all frizzes after all. Maybe after they have explored Gabrielle's Year of Hell ( tm ), the fourth season will challenge viewers with a change in Xena's braid! Maria and I would like to take this opportunity to invite all readers to send us their personal stories on how Xena has affected their hair or the hair of someone close to them. We will collect them and then reprint the best of the hair stories in XMR #27. Now, be honest and don't old back! Kym Taborn Editor-on-chief ktaborn @ lightspeed.net California 08/10/97 ===================================== WHY XWP DIDN'T TAKE A SUMMER VACATION ===================================== By Beth Gaynor (bgaynor@compuserve.com) http://arcane.eng.ohio-state.edu/bgaynor/xenarate.htm Imagine you're a studio executive for a moment. To your great surprise, you have some medieval, warrior woman, b* tt -kicking show that's sizzling through the ratings. Problem is, those darned actors and producers and writers need a break every once in a while, and just as the ratings are really starting to make you see mega-dollar signs, it's time for summer reruns. What can you do to keep the ball rolling until the new season begins? If you're smart, you have already planned to keep your shows in front of the media during the summer doldrums. And MCA/Universal has smart studio execs . They've plotted for a very long time to keep Xena (and Hercules) in the public eye even while there's nothing new going on in the show, and Xena's hang-ten on the syndicated ratings has just made their job that much easier. For their summer vacation, Xena and Hercules are releasing the Hercules TV movies in June (and sneaking a little limelight from some Disney flick with a familiar name and delusions of grandeur), opening a huge attraction in their name at Universal Studios in July, and releasing an animated movie in August. There's no coincidence anywhere in that timing. Once a month, a major media event is going on to attract the attention of the press, hopefully put stories about Xena and its stars on the airwaves and in the papers, and keep Xena firmly in the public awareness. Their job is to make it impossible to forget that the show exists, and with any luck, Xena will even manage to pick up a few more viewers in time for the season premieres. Smart, smart studios. And the public relations folks are probably waiting in line to kiss the feet of that nutty lead actress who up and decided to go on Broadway for the summer - a bonus event to add to their schedule! Every show tries to do this - MCA/Universal isn't on to any great secret. But they've hit some incredible luck, especially with the Warrior Princess who is suddenly a household name. Public relations feeds on itself; if no one is interested in a TV show, no stories are going to run on Entertainment Tonight/E! TV/People Magazine about it, and therefore no one is interested. On the other hand, as most of us Xena fans have witnessed, this cycle can also work in favor of a show, to frenzied proportions. Xena is popular, eye-catching, and has snatched people's attention. Therefore, entertainment and news reporters are more than happy to run stories about the show. Therefore, more people hear about it, and Xena becomes more popular, more eye-catching, and has more people's attention. Runaway trains have their dangers; the temptation to take advantage of the hype to put the show's name *everywhere* gets tough to fight, but in that way lies madness - or at least, early flameout. It should be interesting to see where things go from here; will MCA and Universal manage to keep a tight enough rein on their medieval megahits to enjoy a good, long ride? So far, they seem to be playing things pretty cool - for those of us hoping for a long ride, maybe the Powers That Be can bank the coals and keep the fire burning for a nice long time. So the next time you see Xena on the news or in a magazine, play the studio executive game and think about the planning that went on behind the event. Nothing in those appearances is left to fate, least of all their timing. Did you see, when CNN Showbiz reported at Universal Studios, the reporters in the background who were running like frenzied Beanie Baby shoppers to catch photos of Lucy and Kevin? Sights like that are gold to studios. And to those executives; if you really were that executive you pretended to be at the beginning of this story, you'd probably be enjoying a bonus right now that's bigger than most of our annual paychecks. Tough life those guys have. =================================== BRUCE CAMPBELL AT ORIGINS CON 07/97 =================================== by Beth Gaynor (bgaynor@compuserve.com) http://arcane.eng.ohio-state.edu/bgaynor/xenarate.htm Bruce Campbell spent the weekend of July 19th at Origins, an international game convention that, by happy coincidence, was held in my hometown of Columbus, Ohio. He appeared for three Q&A sessions, introduced and answered questions about a showing of ARMY OF DARKNESS, and sat through a couple of autograph sessions. He talked about a lot of his projects past, present, and future, but I'll just pass along the important stuff he talked about -- the stuff about XENA. Bruce Campbell is a very funny, very sarcastic guy. He's great fun to listen to and seems to really enjoy talking with the fans, but you better be prepared to dodge his wit if you want to ask a question. (I got nailed by him on mine, although I made him laugh.) Person-to-person, in the autograph line, he's nice as can be. The line crawled slowly because so many people had so many (and such weird!) things for him to autograph, pictures to take, and words to say, but he took time for all of them, and none of us in the line (well, none that I know of) begrudged a moment of it. I'm going to take liberties and call the man Bruce in this report, per his own request. When one shy fan stood to ask her question, she had some problems getting through the beginning of it: "M-Mister Campbell, when-" "Call me Bruce." "OK, well, when you and Mister Raimi -" "Call him Sam." THE CREATION AND FUTURE OF AUTOLYCUS The character of Autolycus was created by Doug Leffel , the writer of the HERCULES: THE LEGENDARY JOURNEY's episode PRINCE OF THIEVES, without Bruce in mind. But Robert Tapert [executive producer of HTLJ] called him up for the part, saying he thought it was a good match. A couple of people asked whether Autolycus might ever get a spinoff series of his own. One of the comments Bruce dropped sounded to me as if it has been considered, but Bruce said he doesn't have any interest in making Autolycus into a series hero. The character would have to become too boring, he says, and made into a Robin Hood-ish guy with noble intentions who only steals from the rich. He said Autolycus is much more interesting as just a recurring character who, according to him, lives for tormenting Hercules and "trying to get into Xena's pants." WORKING IN NEW ZEALAND One of the audience members made the mistake of expressing little sympathy for Bruce when he talked about spending the past few weeks in New Zealand. In response, Bruce offered to review some geography with us: "Let's see ... northern hemisphere, summer, southern hemisphere ... winter! Oh, yeah!" He said it rained every single day he was down there. I still don't think he earned much sympathy, though. Relations between the Yanks and the Kiwis are very good on the set of XENA, although there are definite cultural differences. Every afternoon includes a 20 minute break for tea time, which apparently involves kicking a hackeysack around. Americans aren't quite allowed to forget that they're a guest in another country, though. Bruce compared overtime on the set between The United States and New Zealand. In the States, if overtime is required, the director just tells everyone that they're going to pull some more hours that day, gives them their overtime pay, and there's no debate. On the XENA and HERCULES sets, though, directors (or at least Bruce, when he directs) must request overtime from the crew managers, who then discuss it together and decide how much more time they'll give him. When they come back and tell Bruce that they'll give him an extra half an hour, Bruce has to do make quick decisions about which shots he can fit into that time and which he'll have to drop. ("I didn't really need that close-up of Lucy..." he muttered.) WHAT ABOUT LUCY? Someone asked whether getting kissed by Lucy Lawless was as good as it looks. Bruce immediately replied that it was better, and REALLY hammed up his fake sorrow at having to do take after take after take -- "Oh! Messed up again! Darn!" Bruce said that directing Lucy Lawless was a strange and sometimes frightening experience; she could have a line as simple as "Hi, how are you," and he gave his imitation of two takes she'd do of it -- one perfectly nice and normal, the next as if she's going to rip your throat out. He said he never knew what she was going to do next. Lucy is, of course, planning to do GREASE on Broadway this fall, and Bruce suggested that everyone "run out to New York and support Lucy." One person jokingly asked Bruce for Lucy's phone number. Bruce's equally joking response: "484-DROP-DEAD." BRUCE'S LATEST PROJECT (AND THE XENA CONNECTION) Bruce's latest movie, titled RUNNING TIME, is currently seeking distribution. It's a black-and-white 16-millimeter film that covers 70 minutes in the life of a convict who just got out of prison and immediately tries to pull off a new heist. Campbell is the ex-con, the movie is written and directed by Josh Becker, who has directed A FISTFUL OF DINARS, WARRIOR...PRINCESS...TRAMP, FOR HIM THE BELL TOLLS, and BLIND FAITH. Jeremy Roberts, who played the assassin Thersites in FISTFUL OF DINARS, costars . Bruce loves doing a mixed bag of acting, directing, and producing, and plans to continue all three. THE GENESIS OF THE WARCRY I got to ask the question that's been bothering me for months: In the midst of the climactic battle in ARMY OF DARKNESS, Bruce's Evil Ash character lets out with a warcry that sounds very familiar to us nowadays, an observation that made Bruce laugh. I asked him whose idea the battle cry originally was, and added the question of whether Evil Ash would be peeved that his warcry was stolen by a Warrior Princess. He had a good time poking fun at that, but said that the middle-eastern whoop is one of Sam Raimi's pet ideas, that he was the one who suggested it both to Bruce and to Lucy. And yes, Bruce figures that Evil Ash is very, very upset. COMING UP ON HERCULES Bruce's next HERCULES episode is called BEANSTALKS AND BAD EGGS, a Jack and the Beanstalk-style episode where Autolycus steals a magical bean that ends up leading to a giant's castle. And coming soon: an episode called STRICTLY HERCULES, which will include a long dance number. Kevin Sorbo is practicing his dance moves every Saturday. COMING UP ON XENA (SPOILERS) Bruce's next XENA episode, titled THE KING OF ASSASSINS, was also his directing debut on XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS. KING OF ASSASSINS is a "Lucy-lite" episode -- Lucy Lawless only had to shoot three days. The episode features Joxer and Joxer's evil twin brother Jed (the King of Assassins?). According to Bruce, "You ain't lived until you've seen Ted in black leather." Autolycus gets a little action with Cleopatra in the episode (which Bruce was quite proud of). Cleopatra also apparently invites Xena to come visit her in Egypt sometime. Bruce made a crack about shooting a line a la SPARTACUS, where Xena and Cleopatra discuss whether snails or oysters will be served. I'm 95% sure he wasn't serious. A third Joxer brother, Jace ( Jayce ? Short for Jason?), is hinted at in the episode, but not seen. Also coming soon: an all-musical Xena episode [BITTER SUITE]. Bruce promised it would be good for many, many laughs. ============== LETTERS TO XMR ============== Subject: XMR #24 Date: Monday, August 11, 1997 About the article [383] by Anne Scott in the Boston Phoenix: Why, oh why, do some writers insist on referring to Lucy Lawless as busty ? Maybe this is just a little peculiarity of mine, but it annoys me when people distort the obvious facts. Yes, Xena looks busty , because they put her in one of those push-up things, but LL is just about average. I guess considering the way the media distorts things, LL's done very well in all of her interviews. I haven't seen her saying anything stupid yet, unlike someone else we know. I know this is a minor point, but it really bugs me. I appreciate all the work you do -- I learn something new every time I read XMR! Thanks! Laine R Lawless rlawless @ sj.bigger.net +++++++++ Subject: Your editorial - another perspective Date: Tue, 12 Aug 1997 Kym >So far 12 first season shows -- THAT IS HALF OF THE >SEASON, PLATO -- have been aired only twice ... >The ETERNAL QUESTION is why air an episode for the >fourth time when you have such a tremendous backlog of >excellent first season episodes that haven't appeared >even for the third time? DUH ???????? (Hopefully) Simple! To make sure that people out there are ready and willing to buy them when they come out on video! You show some to remind people how much they liked them even back then, but you keep some back so that when they come out on video they have a well-known/unknown pairing which is most likely to be bought. Curiosity about the one the customer doesn't remember, coupled with pleasant memories of one they do is usually enough to guarantee a sale. As far as I'm concerned the only issues are: a) how much longer will we have to wait - I desperately hope we'll see the first Xena videos this autumn, or fall as you people say. b) praying that they'll release them on LaserDisc as well as VHS . After what broadcasters here did to Xena, watching each new episode from the US is like watching a new extended special edition of an old favourite. Regards, Bevis R W King B.King@ee.surrey.ac.uk EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Commercial videos of XWP are planned for next year. They will be packaged in special sets (e.g. The HERCULES trilogy, Callisto, etc.) in order to buffer any competition with USA Channel's re-broadcast of the show starting in September 1998. =========== ANNOTATIONS =========== [390] 07-17-96 THE EVENING POST (Wellington). Page 10. 415 words. "Xena moves to keep Hercules company" By Phil Wakefield COMMENTARY: The kiwis try to figure out if XWP should air after Hercules, kind of like a one-two punch to really knock the audience out. They reason that since Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place were such a killer combo, the Herc and Xee linkup should be mighty fine. Hey, I want to see Buffy: The Vampire Slayer and Xena: Warrior Princess back to back (or, um , front to front....). As long as a show has got a kick-b* tt femme in the lead and a colon in the title, I'm there. [ MBE ] EXCERPT: XENA: Warrior Princess has been ordered out of prime time. The Hercules spin-off screens 8.30pm Wednesday for the last time tonight; from next week, it will air after Hercules at 9.30pm on Fridays. Also being pulled is Star Trek: Voyager. It goes into a scheduling black hole after tonight but may be revived for a prime-time summer run (another series is being bought). Both Xena and Voyager are being replaced by movies but only for the short term - watch for new series programming to be launched on the back of Beverly Hills 90210. The changes mark TV3's third Wednesday night overhaul this year. But TV3 programming chief Gary Brown rejects suggestions the shake-up reflects the kind of knee-jerk scheduling that has characterised TV2 . "We did keep Xena on for more than a week," he says, in reference to TV2 this month pulling Human Nature after only one episode. He believes Xena is better suited to Fridays and will perform to its potential with Hercules as the lead-in. The two play back-to-back in the United States, and Brown says those who think it's an overkill should remember how well Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place rated when they were a double-act on TV3.... =================== CUT HERE =============== XENA MEDIA REVIEW #25 (08-18-97) Part 1 of 4