by Tom Goodman
The calls kept coming. With each successive one, the caller would try to
disguise his voice. But Karen Provenza was on
to this trick. No matter how hard he tried to lie and weasel, he wasn’t
getting any more Xena posters.
Provenza, of KOFY Channel 20, the WB network affiliate in the Bay Area,
says that the fantasy show "Xena: Warrior Princess" is out of control.
The station gets calls all the time. Before Halloween, three or four
people would call a day just
asking how to make a Xena costume. But by far the biggest indicator came
at the annual Gay Freedom Day parade.
"We had a cardboard stand-up of Xena," Provenza says. "People were
trying to steal it. They wanted to buy it. We
had to protect it like you wouldn’t believe."
"Xena" Warrior Princess" is the highest-rated show on KOFY. It has had
similar success around the country, where it appears on roughly 200
stations and is seen in 99 percent of the country – rare for independent
programming.
The show is only in its second year but has been extended through 1998
and licensed to 15 foreign countries. The series and its star, Lucy
Lawless, have been featured in People, Entertainment Weekly, TV Guide
and "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno."
"Xena: Warrior Princess" may ultimately be hurt by the Leno stint
because Lawless fractured her pelvis while taping a stunt in the parking
lot. Lawless may have to cut back on her stunts or skip some episodes,
says Rob Tapert, executives producer of the series.
But at this point it would be hard to stop the cult of Xena.
She’s got her own web site. She has countless Internet news groups
bowing at her feet. Her rabid fan base resembles the
much bigger "Start Trek" juggernaut and that of "The X-Files" – which is
a network show.
"It’s just phenomenal," Provenza says. "It’s straight men. Gay men.
Women. Children. Everybody loves Xena. It’s crazy.
I’ve worked here eight years and I’ve never seen a reaction like this."
Nobody predicted this. The character who should have captured the
imagination of people everywhere was a familiar muscleman. "Hercules:
The Legendary Journeys" was the show that was supposed to fill a vacant
niche on television – fantasy hero.
It is also the show that spawned Xena. She first appeared as a vicious
warrior hell-bent on destroying Hercules. But an act of kindness made
her see the error of her ways and now she's a do-gooder. She's assisted
by her sprightly young protégé, Gabrielle. And she gets the job done by
being an acrobatic phenom, a martial arts killer and one highly skilled
at using weapons.
Hercules can’t measure up, mostly because he can’t do the Hong
Kong-style action sequences. Xena had a fling with
Hercules. He should count his blessing and cling to that, since he’s
been left behind as a pop icon.
Call any toy store and you can have your choice of three or so Hercules
dolls. Ask for Xena and all you’ll get are laughs.
Toy stores say it is one of the most sought-after action figures going.
You can’t find them on the shelves anywhere.
"People want to buy stuff from the show, but all you can buy is the doll
– and you can’t find it," Provenza says. "That doll is going out the
back door of stores."
"Xena: Warrior Princess" is set in the mythical "Golden Age," well
before Greece or Rome. In the words of the show itself:
"Surrounded by enemies, barbaric tribes, slave traders and a host of
other evils, Xena is on a mission to help people free
themselves from tyranny and injustice."
Does that sound like a recipe for success? Not exactly. But add this:
Lucy Lawless is a babe, the show is kitschy enough to be cool, it uses
contemporary dialogue and the producers have cleverly tapped into a
variety of elements that have attracted a diverse crowd.
"I think there’s a whole slew of things," says Tapert, co-creator of
both "Xena" and "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys."
He joined Sam Raimi ("Darkman," "The Evil Dead" movies) in filling a
void they saw on television.
"I think (Xena’s popularity) has something to do with the fact there
hasn’t been a woman superhero on TV like this. It’s
found a niche," Tapert says. "Lucy brings a lot to that role."
But Tapert says the main reasons behind
the success of "Xena" are easy to spot. "I like two things – playing
with the relationship between the two leads, from comedy to drama to
casting doubts in the audience’s minds, and the action."
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