XMR #20 Part 1 of 4 ============= CUT HERE ====================== _____ ______ ._ `\`/>`\ /`/` /`__________,.'>___ _____ )~\ /<`\ `\ /`/` /``\ \./------> /|\./\ |\./| / | \ /< `\`\ `\ /`/` /` | | |----\ / | |\ \ | | |././^\ \ |\__{o}\--`\`\ `\/`/` /`-----| | |-----`------\`\`\--| | |----^ \ \----. [\\\\\\\{*}==`> <`=======| | ==============`\`\`\| | |=====\ \ \==--> |/~~{o}/-- /`/ /\ \ `\------| | |---------------`\`\\ | |------\ \ \--' \< /`/` /` `\`\ `\ | | |_____,.'>| | | `\`\| | /' \ \ \ \< /` /` `\`\ `\ ,/ /^\------> / |/^\| \ | |/ \/^\\. /`/\>/` `\`\ `\`~~~~~~~~~~~\ / ~~~~~ )^\,\, '~~~~~ `~~~~~` '~~~~~` ` ~~~~~~ ========================== XENA: THE MEDIA REVIEW #20 ========================== An All Talk No Action Publication http://xenafan.com/xmr c/o RIF BBS, P.O. Box 81181, Bakersfield, CA 93308 RIF BBS (805) 588-9349 [24hrs, 14.4bps, free] 503 subscribers and growing! This document has 2236 lines. 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. 20 Release date: December 29, 1996 Covering 05/02/96 - 05/15/96 Annotations 266 to 287 INTRODUCTION DISPATCHES FROM THE FRONT: The Netherlands TIMELINE AMENDED ANNOTATIONS [090.5] 11-30-96 THE EVENING POST (Wellington) HTLJ [090.6] 12-02-95 THE DOMINION (Wellington) mention [099.5a] 12-13-95 THE EVENING POST (Wellington) racist [099.5b] 12-15-95 THE DOMINION (Wellington) drivel [100.5] 12-14-95 THE DOMINION (Wellington) Rhodes [122.5] 12-31-95 THE SUNDAY NEWS (Auckland) XWP #1 [144.5] 01-27-96 THE DOMINION (Wellington) HTLJ on TV [149.5] 01-28-96 THE SUNDAY NEWS (Auckland) HTLJ on TV [149.6] 01-28-96 THE SUNDAY NEWS (Auckland) foam pltic [149.7] 01-28-96 THE SUNDAY STAR-TIMES Grant Bridger [219.8] 04-01-96 TELEVISION BUSINESS INTERNATIONAL. ANNOTATIONS [266] 05-02-96. THE TAMPA TRIBUNE. Nat'l TV Turnoff Wk [267] 05-02-96. THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. world market [268a] 05-02-96. DAILY VARIETY.Product'n Chart forMay [268b] 05-09-96. DAILY VARIETY. " [268c] 05-16-96. DAILY VARIETY. " [268d] 05-23-96. DAILY VARIETY. " [269] 05-03-96. THE COURIER-JOURNAL. local promotion [270] 05-04-96. THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER. mention [271a] 05-05-96. PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE. B. Campbell [271b] 05-05-96. THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS. " [271c] 05-05-96. CHICAGO TRIBUNE. " [272] 05-05-96. THE ORLANDO SENTINEL. Q&A [273a] 05-06-96. VARIETY. BEWARE OF GREEKS, 2nd rel. [274] 05-06-96. THE GREATER GOOD. Ep. no. 21. 1st rel. [275] 05-07-96. THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR. Q&A [276a] 05-07-96. AP ONLINE. Top Ten Who's Beautiful [276b] 05-07-96. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. " [277] 05-10-96. THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR. Q&A [278] 05-10-96. THE FRESNO BEE. passing mention [279] 05-10-96. THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER. Sndtrack [280] 05-10-96. XENA MEDIA REVIEW. No. 6. [281] 05-10-96. THE EVENING POST (Wellington). [282] 05-11-96. THE INDIANAPOLIS NEWS. local promo [283] 05-12-96. ANCHORAGE DAILY NEWS. mom to Xena [284] 05-12-96. THE TORONTO SUN. Q&A [285] 05-13-96. CALLISTO. Episode no. 22. 1st release. [286] 05-14-96. THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. Baywatch [287] 05-14-96. NEWS TRIBUNE. poll for real people THE BACK PAGE ------------- INTRODUCTION ------------- INTENSE XENA EXPERIENCES COMING UP IN JANUARY During this winter of our discontent, we find ourselves in the midst of the first re-run spell of the 2nd season. We have to wait until mid-January for the new rush of episodes: THE XENA SCROLLS (Gabrielle & Xena's descendents during the 1930s; highlight: Gabrielle dressed in Indiana Jones garb -- can you say POSTER MATERIAL???); WHY & WHERE or DESTINY (rumors have a young Julius Caesar hanging out at the mall with the gals); THE QUEST (more Autolycus hi-jinks and -- please, say it ain't so, Joe -- more mind transference?); and A NECESSARY EVIL (where Callisto returns with back-up and a mind to getting things set straight once and for all). BUT...before all of us receive our Xenafix, we will have experienced (or heard about other people's experiences with) the first major convention for XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS. In FOURTEEN DAYS the largest gathering of Xenafans to date will converge in Burbank, California. January 12th will be a watershed day for all of Xena fandom. The internet and non-internet fans will be allowed at last to cross-fertilize unfettered. DO YOU REALIZE WHAT THIS MAY CAUSE???? A grand explosion of fan activity; new friendships forged in the heat of conventioning; and a true sense of fan sisterhood and brotherhood the likes of which only have seen before in select institutions...yes!!! This convention will change not only the way others view the fans of Xena but how the hardcore fans view themselves. I plan to attend the convention and relate some of my experiences in this fine publication; however, the most part of the reporting will appear in the February '97 issue of WHOOSH (http://www.thirdstory.com/whoosh). We are hoping to have enough material in order to devote the entire issue to the convention. We've got a scanner, some cameras, and have deputized a cadre of cub reporters. Yes, this is going to be a job too big even for a Kym enhanced by bottomless Dr. Peppers and M&Ms. THE SEASON THUS FAR.... We have already been blessed with nine new episodes. The tenure of the season thus far has been somewhat haphazard, but considering the lead actress was put out of action for a couple of months, we should be grateful that we still have a television show to be obsessive about. Callisto (and the ghost of Callisto) has dominated the season. She has appeared in or has been referenced in four 2nd season episodes (RETURN OF CALLISTO #29, WARRIOR...PRINCESS...TRAMP #30, INTIMATE STRANGER #31, and TEN LITTLE WARLORDS #32). That's a WHOLE MONTH of Callisto. No wonder the character has inspired her own mailing list, web pages, and fan following. Some people are actually getting confused as to who's show XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS is! (Yes, we know...it's Argo's, but I don't want to get into it right now.) And there is more Callisto to come. The upcoming episode A NECESSARY EVIL, scheduled to be released 02/03/97, features Callisto along with a 'friend' to help her out. Maybe she got a penpal in Tartarus? There have been three pure fluff pieces, two of which were geared towards the calendar. GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN (#28) was the Halloween show which displayed the ladies as vampiristic followers of Bacchus. WARRIOR...PRINCESS...TRAMP (#30) was a generic fluff piece which allowed Lucy Lawless to showcase her acting skills. She expanded on the themes of last season's WARRIOR...PRINCESS (#15) by adding yet another lookalike, Meg, to the plot. Can we look forward to Lyla from AS DARKNESS FALLS (HLTJ #06) and THE OUTCAST (HTLJ #18) or Lysia from HERCULES AND THE AMAZON WOMEN, both of whom are spitting images of Xena, to pop up on the 3rd season's WARRIOR...PRINCESS...TRAMP...AMAZON and the 4th season's WARRIOR...PRINCESS...TRAMP... AMAZON...CENTAUR MOLL? On second thought, let's hope not. The final fluff piece of the season thus aired was A SOLSTICE CAROL. Clearly a Christmas show, the episode was a homage to Dickens' Christmas Carol. Talking about homages, REMEMBER NOTHING (#26), was a homage to Frank Capra's perennial Christmas classic IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE. The final show I have not mentioned yet was GIANT KILLER, a stand alone which allowed the gals to visit ancient Israel and take on Goliath and the Philistines, thus continuing their grand tradition of showing us the true story of how Xena influenced great legends (see also PROMETHEUS #08; BEWARE OF GREEKS BEARING GIFTS #12; and ALTARED STATES #19). The biggest news this season, perhaps, is how XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS has gained a whole point in the ratings compared to last year and is consistently averaging the number 2 spot in the syndicated action hours. XWP has placed #1 two times (GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN, 1st release; TEN LITTLE WARLORDS, 1st release), and has reached it's personal best of 6.3 rating twice in a row (INTIMATE STRANGER, 1st release; TEN LITTLE WARLORDS, 1st release). Before INTIMATE STRANGER, the only time XWP earned in the 6's was BEWARE OF GREEKS BEARING GIFTS back in January 1996. For GREEKS, XWP earned a 6.1; the only 6 until INTIMATE STRANGER. ORPHAN OF WAR started the season, and placed 3rd with a 5.3. REMEMBER NOTHING followed at 2nd with a 5.4. GIANT KILLER returned to 3rd with a 5.4. GIRLS took 1st with a 5.5. I haven't been able to confirm RETURN OF CALLISTO's rank, but it did earn a 5.2. This was the lowest of the season thus far. WARRIOR... PRINCESS...TRAMP took 3rd with a 5.7. I haven't been able to confirm INTIMATE STRANGER's rank, but it earned a 6.3. TEN LITTLE WARLORDS took 1st with a continuing 6.3. This all adds up to an average rating of 5.6375 and an average rank of 2.16 for the first 8 episodes of the 2nd season of XWP. How does that compare to the first 8 episodes of season one? Glad you asked!!! The average rating for season one was 4.8875 and the average rank was 3.375. THE TIME ANOMALY KNOWN AS XENA: MEDIA REVIEW I want to apologize as to my brief insanity when I stated in XMR #19 that I wanted to start releasing the XMRs fortnightly and that XMR #20 would come out 12/13/96. I have no idea what came over me. I will be lucky to get these out monthly! Nevertheless, I thank everyone for their patience and support of my Xena condition which compels me to send these things out. I want to continue to release the XMRs covering half a month each. Thus, #20 will cover 05/01-05/15/96 and #21 05/16-05/31/96. Any even numbered XMR after #20 will cover the first part of the month, and the odd numbered ones henceforth will cover the last half. That means not only order and harmony has been brought to my life but that I can now anticipate which XMR the THIS WEEK IN XENA NEWS (TWXN) cites will appear. This excites me...greatly. So, expect XMR #50 to cover 08/01-15/1997 and to be released no sooner than 2/1/98. 500TH SUBSCRIBER AND BEYOND! XMR enthusiastically welcomes our 500th subscriber: Sylvia from New Zealand! And kudos to the others who have made the great list of XMR Random Supporters: 1st subscriber: Jill Dybka 03/23/96 100th subscriber: Sandi Jepsen 05/09/96 200th subscriber: Lois Price 06/25/96 300th subscriber: Xanth 09/21/96 400th subscriber: Nicole 11/01/96 500th subscriber: Sylvia 12/28/96 That's all I want to say for this issue, other than thanks again for your loyalty and patience and good humor. I will be taking a list of subscribers to XMR and WHOOSH so I'll be sure to give credit where credit is due. And don't forget the boffo 4th issue of WHOOSH! The Journal of the International Association of Xena Studies will be released January 1st 1997 at http://www.thirdstory.com/whoosh. Until next time, battle on! --- Kym -------------------------- DISPATCHES FROM THE FRONT -------------------------- Report on XWP Activities in the Netherlands by correspondent: Petra de Jong (p.j.dejong@stud.frw.ruu.nl) Xena Fandom in the Netherlands: The Undiscovered Country. I could be really short here and state that Xena fandom is non-existing in this small country but I won't do that. Instead I will go over the how and why of Xena not being known here. This is followed by a look at the potential of Xena in the Netherlands. XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS can only be seen on a German satellite network called RTL+. This little fact cuts the potential audience down to the viewers that can receive this satellite network, either through their own satellite dish or through their cable company. Since the group of dish owners is very small there won't be many Xena fans among them. The cable network is another story; almost every family is connected to the Dutch TV cable network. Here, the cable companies decide whether or not to pass the signal of RTL+. Because of a surge in Dutch TV networks, cable companies have to divide the space on the cable between all the available networks. This means that foreign networks like RTL+ are often thrown off the cable to make room for Dutch networks. For example, my cable company decided to keep RTL+ and dump a French network to create room for a new Dutch sports network. My parent's company chose to dump RTL+. So this leaves only a small group of potential Xena viewers. This small group of viewers (almost) all share one thing in common: they detest German dubbed shows. As a multi-cultural society, which is the Dutch society, we like to watch TV shows and movies in their original language, be it English, French or whatever. For translation we use subtitles so we can hear the original voices of the actors. We wouldn't want it any other way. We're probably the only country where Disney movies are shown in three different versions: the plain English version, the English version with Dutch subtitles, and finally the Dutch dubbed version for the kids. Then there's also the fact that there are many Dutch who just don't like Germans (call this the war syndrome or little brother syndrome (depends on your point of view)) and they don't even want to watch a German network. And of course there are many people who just don't understand German. German and Dutch are two entirely different languages. Finally, let's take a look at the potential of Xena in the Netherlands. At the moment we're experiencing a trend towards an acceptance of science-fiction/fantasy shows. There's been a long period of time of sci-fi being thought of as second-rate and 'only for nerds/dysfunctional people'. I think this has something to do with the down-to-earth attitude of the Dutch. A Dutch saying says it all: 'Just be yourself, that way you're already acting crazy enough'. But lately, through a surge of Dutch networks, we get confronted with many different sci-fi/fantasy shows and suddenly the media turns its attention towards the fans of the shows. And it turns out: they are not all nerds! Now it is accepted that you're a Trekker or an X-philer or a Babylon 5 fan. This acceptance provides an excellent base for a series like HERCULES: THE LEGENDARY JOURNEYS or XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS, so I personally think that the shows will soon arrive on Dutch TV (I just hope that this isn't merely hopeful thinking). The acceptance also brings some other advantages: the English novels appear in the stores, the soundtracks are available, American and English science-fiction magazines are available, and so on. Especially the magazines give Dutch fans insight into other existing series, that aren't shown yet on Dutch television. That is how I first 'met' Xena. This brings me back to the series. What elements will be appealing to the Dutch viewer? There are of course the obvious reasons: two beautiful women, funny story lines, lots of humor and action and so on. But there are other elements (or so I think): First, there's the characters of Xena and Gabrielle. We are used to seeing female warriors; our armed forces have lots of them (even F-16 and Apache pilots) and they are also put into combat situations, just like their male counterparts. So Dutch viewers won't be put off by the characters; on the contrary, they would love it. Also part of the characters is their relationship, be it gay or otherwise. This isn't an issue in my country, where the 'gays in the army' issue was solved back in the seventies with not much of a fuss. The show will be considered a normal show and won't attract nor lose more viewers because of this relationship. The humor is a big plus. Especially the dry humor of Xena is what the Dutch will appreciate. The slapstick (the 'unbelievable' acrobatics) on the contrary is something we can do without (remember the saying). The scenery: New Zealand. The wilderness attracts us. In a country where every plant and tree is planned (we have to; we're the most densely populated industrialized country in the world) and where everything is flat as a dime we like to dream about rough terrain, mountains and so on; the untamed land. And of course, it doesn't hurt that the show is shot in New Zealand, a country discovered by a Dutchman and named after one of our provinces, Zealand. These three points show a few elements why I think that Xena will attract a large audience once it is aired on Dutch television. So Xena fandom in the Netherlands may be non-existent at the moment but I feel that won't last long. As for now, Xena is an undiscovered country to the Netherlands. Or to state it in Xena terms: Xena hasn't conquered this small part of the world yet, but she's knocking at the gates. ADDENDUM: Since writing the above, things have been changing rapidly over here. In the article I mentioned the sports channel that had driven RTL+ off the cable in many cities. Now the sports channel has stopped broadcasting due to financial problems. This will probably mean that RTL+ will return on the cable. Also, a Dutch network, RTL4 (the most popular network) is going to air HERCULES: THE LEGENDARY JOURNEYS as of January 5, 1997. This means that XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS is soon to follow (or so I assume). -------- TIMELINE -------- 05/06/96 21 The Greater Good 05/13/96 22 Callisto ============= CUT HERE ====================== Continued in part 2