Cinescape Magazine
September/October 2000
Season Six Spoilers Below
Sci-Fi
Invasion Resistance is futile, television viewers. This autumn, science fiction and
fantasy are finally taking over the airwaves.
A millennia or so ago, a couple boatloads of drunken Vikings was all you needed for a reputable invasion. Times have certainly changed since then. D-Day, Kuwait, Independence Day--now those were invasions. These days, Lief the Hammer-Fist and his bloodthirsty crew would hardly rate an episode of COPS. But despite these amped-up expectations, it can't be denied: Science fiction and fantasy have launched a full-scale invasion of our television sets. There were a few early infiltrators, like The X-Files and Xena: Warrior Princess.
They came ashore quietly, under cover of darkness, and established a beachhead. They were joined by a few brave comrades--shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and 7 Days that were able to survive the bloody Nielsen battles. And now they've sent the signal to the throngs waiting offshore: "The coast is clear. Begin the assault!" So it is that we find ourselves presenting Cinescape's biggest Fall TV Preview ever, a roundup overview of 22 sci-fi and fantasy shows. Yes, you read that right. Twenty-two shows.
There were some years we could barely crack double-digits. But that doesn't mean the battle's over. Network snipers will be watching the lines closely, their trigger fingers itching to pick off the weak and the wounded. This invasion could be repelled. That's where you come in--John and Jane Q. Viewer. If sci-fi and fantasy's going to survive on TV, you've got to do your part. Watch. So, grab that remote control, citizen. Don't you know there's a war on.
Fall TV Preview Xena-TV Syndicated Last year, as fans anxiously awaited the premiere of Xena: Warrior Princess' fifth season, the burning question on everyone's mind was how star Lucy Lawless' pregnancy would affect the series. Now that the season has come and gone, it's high ratings attesting to the popularity of leather maternity wear, the concern no longer surrounds Lawless' baby, but rather Xena's. "We wanted to have Xena's child have an important significance in the universe," explains executive producer R.J. Stewart. "Our Xena doesn't have just a baby, she has an important baby. And, of course, (her baby) Eve heralded the twilight of the gods. The adventure of the end of the Olympian gods was just something we thought was fun and exciting and made mythological sense given the birth of a new child that heralded a new era. And so we went with it."
Actually, they ran with it. When all was said and done, Eve's birth did a lot more than just spell the end of the Greek pantheon. By the end of the season, Xena and her sidekick Gabrielle had slept for 25 years while Eve grew up to be a merciless Roman conqueror, Ares had given up his immortality and Joxer was dead. Where does the show go from there? Well, one thing's for sure--Joxer fans need not despair.
"I'm not dead," actor Ted Raimi promises. "Technically, my contract had run out, and (executive producer) Rob Tapert had a great idea that they'd kill me off, but I would come back as a ghost. But I'll be working a lot less on the show because I wanted to do other projects. In the meantime, I'm gonna get a Sam's Club and a Costco card and buy all my bananas in bulk." Joxer may no longer tag along for comic relief, but Xena and Gabrielle still have Eve and Joxer's son Virgil to fill the role of third (or fourth) wheel on their adventures. Plus, a new Amazon warrior character will be introduced.
Yet despite those changes, the series' backbone will remain the same. "We're certainly committed to sticking to the core of the series, which is Xena and Gabrielle and what they mean to each other and their adventures," Stewart explains. "Ultimately, the most important theme of the series is Xena's constant quest for redemption that she could never allow herself because of all the terrible things she did in the past. That is still the driving theme of the show."--Chandra Palermo
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