Articles About Xena From New Zealand Newspapers


Xena, Hercules whip up new wave of gothic fantasy.

XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS, a syndicated TV series combining elements of mythology with martial arts action, along with Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, are inspiring a following reminiscent of the original Star Trek.
Few in the TV industry anticipated that Hercules would spark such interest when it made its debut in January 1995. Nine months later, the show had spawned a spin-off in Xena.
Each week, the syndicated dramas are viewed by millions in 20 countries, including Australia and the location where they are filmed, New Zealand (Kiwi actor Lucy Lawless stars as Xena).
Thousands of fans communicate on the World Wide Web, which includes MCA TV's two official show sites and an expanding array of privately produced home pages.
The popularity of Xena and Hercules is responsible for a new wave of gothic fantasy fare on American TV this season including Tarzan: The Epic Adventures, The Adventures of Sinbad, and The New Adventures of Robin Hood. Highlander, another action series in the genre, is in its fifth season. Season-to-date, Sinbad and Highlander rank in the top 10 among nationally syndicated dramas, drawing an average of about four million American viewers each. Tarzan is at No 21, with 2.4 million. Without the success of Hercules, there wouldn't be a Robin Hood, said Lisa Mateas, senior vice president of programming at the TNT cable company.
"You always need something to prove that people will watch~ Because Hercules has done so well, it allows for other shows type to come along." So far this season, Hercules and Xena rank second and third in ratings for;US households among syndicated dramas behind Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Hercules averages eight million viewers a week, with Xena drawing 7.8 million. Gothic fantasy shows such as Hercules and Xena owe their identity to classic literature and mythology: as well as the cartoonish fight scenes of Hong Kong movies. Although the characters are different, each show features a common thread of nonstop action, good-looking stars and a battle between good and evil. Advertisers like the shows be cause they attract a broad audience of men, women and children, an industry observer said.
"They do well across almost all demographics," said Donna Hathaway, a vice president with of the same.

The way StarTrek influenced pop culture, that's exactly what's happening with Hercules and Xena.
-- Bled Cerpenter --
Advanswers Media in St Louis, a company that sells TV time to advertisers. "They've done a fine job of promoting them."
Rob Tapert, co-executive producer of both shows with film maker Sam Raimi,. said the key is to create likeable characters.
Hercules and Xena also have vast marketing potential. Action figures and sound-effect swords inspired by the shows are moving briskly in;toy stores throughout the country, according to Toy Bit, the New York company that makes them.
Equally important, Xena and Hercules are earning a place in popular culture via the tube, said Bred Carpenter, merchandising and marketing director for Renaissance Pictures. Xena, for instance, is the favourite show of the fictional characters Kevin and Jamie (Ron Eldard, Rob Schneider) on NBC's Men Behaving Badly. A fantasy scene in Roseanne episode last season was a direct reference to a Xena story line. "It's a cultural thing now," Car penter said. "The way Star Trek in Auenced pop culture, that's exactly what's happening with Hercules and Xena."

PAEROA'S PETROL PUMP PRINCESS: stunt double Geraldine Jacobsen in her Xena costume

New act for Xena's double
Xena's stunt double Geraldine Jacobsen has become Paeroa's petrol pumping princess. ~ The xendo kai blackbelt, who grew up in Paeroa, does most of the stunt work for Lucy Lawless -- Xena in TV3's Xena: Warrior Princess.
But during a break from filming she has been filling in for a friend, who broke his arm, as a forecourt attendant. She says the work has been a change from staging fight scenes with barbarian warriors. She goes back to the set in Auckland this week.
Her work involves long hours, lots of waiting between scenes, and getting to do things that many people would pay to do -- such as bungy jumping.
She expects extra work while Lucy Lawless recovers in the US from a broken pelvis. Ms Jacobsen said she is barely recognised as Xena when she's not in costume. "We actually look nothing alike. I'm a lot shorter. She's got blue eyes, I've got brown.
Ms Jacobsen became Xena's double 18 months ago after she did a one-off stunt as Xena in an episode of Hercules. Now she spends nine months a year as a Lawless double.

The film and television industry earned a record 5119 million last financial year while pumping an estimated $670 million into the economy. The 28 per cent increase in foreign exchange earnings was driven by a massive boost in the amount of overseas investment, which now contributes nearly half of all funding for film and televi- sion in New Zealand. However, domestic investment has remained static over the same period, prompting the industry's export-promotions group, Project Blue Sky, to warn that the economic growth may not be The project chief executive, Jo Tyndall, said that if productions such as the drama series Hercules and Xena: Warrior Princess finished and were not re placed, the industry would suffer. Foreign productions dominating the industry might also have the effect of compromising New Zealanders ability to tell their own stories, she said. "[But] I think that the New Zealand industry is remarkable for what it has managed to achieve with very low levels of Government or public support compared to other English-speaking countries."
The Colmar-Brunton survey, which does not differentiate between New Zealand-originated film and television pro- New Zealand as a location, showed a 40 per cent increase in foreign investment. It climbed to $115 million compared with $69 million last financial year, with most of the overseas money spent on television dramas and feature films. Although $237 million was pumped into the economy through production costs, Jo Tyndall said this figure did not take into account other goods and services such as accommodation, equip ment hire and hospitality which added an estimated $434 million to the total. Auckland was by far the most popular filming location, with Wellington second and Dunedin third.
Project Blue Sky, which is behind the legal challenge to allow New Zealand programmes access to Australian quota on commercial networks, plans to establish next year a "one-stop financing shop" for New Zealand producers, said Jo Tyndall.
The "shop" would help to arrange bank financing and New Zealand or foreign investment in "tailored packages" for individual projects. She was confident growth in investment and foreign exchange earnings would continue at a similar rate next year, with projects such as Steven Spielberg's sequel to the blockbuster movie Jurassic Park due to be filmed in this country.
Australia's full bench of the Federal Court has reserved its decision on the television quota challenge.
Film and TV.
From The NZ Herald, Feb. 14...
 

Leathered wench of hits and myths

She's back -- in that adults-only show that the kids love -- Xena:
Warrior Princess (8.30 pm, TV3). Xena is a buxom person, a kind
of pastiche of Power Ranger, Ninja Turtle, Bruce Lee and Captain Planet,
who ululates fearsomely while shredding the foe -- and gosh,
aren't there a lot of them.
This impressive wench, clad rather scantily in a Leather harness
thingie that creates a Wonderbra effect. stars in a popular mix of
high action martial arts, amazing special effects and moron's mythology.
She was once a provocative and militant villainess bent on destruction,
'Now she is a heroine on a mission committed to fighting for
good and helping mankind.' But that may not allay the concerns
of parents of the shows young fans.

Makers Ron Talpert and Sam Raimi are keenly aware of the unfortunate
attraction of such lethal fighting skills as the two fingered
pinch to neck pressure points, the headlock using knees, the throat
punch, the maniacal headbutt and, of course, the chakram throw
where a razor-sharp discus-like weapon neatly removes the head.
-- Allison Stewart

The Sydney Morning Herald, previewing Xena, reports that the
series is made in New Zealand, referred to its production notes as "the
distant frontier of known civilisation'.

Cover of NZ TV Guide, Feb. 15-21click on image for full-size pic


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