Any Xena:WP fans on the boards?

[Greg Cox]

FYI: it was just announced that we're getting a new XENA novel trilogy from Harper Collins.

https://twitter.com/JeffMariotte/status/663127196010082304/photo/1

Are you familiar with their work, Greg?

https://www.library.pima.gov/blogs/post/inside-summermania-meet-jeff-mariotte/

Are they a good choice for a Xena trilogy?

Full disclosure: I don't know Marsheila, but Jeff is a friend and colleague whom I'm currently working with on a project for Tor Books. Among other things, he's a veteran tie-in writer who has written for Star Trek, CSI, and other franchises.

And I recently edited his upcoming DEADLANDS novel, based on the "Weird Western" role-playing game, which is a really good book, so I'm sure XENA is in good hands.

 

[JanewayRulz!]

FYI: it was just announced that we're getting a new XENA novel trilogy from Harper Collins.

https://twitter.com/JeffMariotte/status/663127196010082304/photo/1

Are you familiar with their work, Greg?

https://www.library.pima.gov/blogs/post/inside-summermania-meet-jeff-mariotte/

Are they a good choice for a Xena trilogy?

Full disclosure: I don't know Marsheila, but Jeff is a friend and colleague whom I'm currently working with on a project for Tor Books. Among other things, he's a veteran tie-in writer who has written for Star Trek, CSI, and other franchises.

And I recently edited his upcoming DEADLANDS novel, based on the "Weird Western" role-playing game, which is a really good book, so I'm sure XENA is in good hands.

Excellent!

For Lawless fans who AREN'T reading the Ash vs Evil dead thread ...

http://www.hngn.com/articles/145886...ppreciation-strong-female-roles-exclusive.htm

she and Bruce Campbell (Autolycus) will be on Stephen Colbert tonight.


http://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwtv/...EN-COLBERT-on-CBS-November-5-13-2015-20151105

 

[JanewayRulz!]

Although posted 11/13, this interview was conducted at the NYC Comic con.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articl...evival-and-no-trump-for-president-please.html

She talks AvED and politics, but its mostly about Xena and the possible reboot.

ETA: A whole LOT of Lucy.

http://www.apimages.com/Search?query=Lucy+Lawless&ss=10&st=es&entitysearch=P%7CLucy+Lawless%7CE9AD084B51E44173AED9A0376F8F4F7D&toItem=18&orderBy=Newest

 

[Keith1701]

I loved Xena more so than Herc, although the crossover episodes were a blast. I made a list of my favourite 60 or so episodes and plan to watch them all next year.

Yes. I have a season of Xena on DVD too!!!

 

[Forbin]

I loved Xena more so than Herc, although the crossover episodes were a blast. I made a list of my favourite 60 or so episodes and plan to watch them all next year.

Yes. I have a season of Xena on DVD too!!!

I have all of Xena on DVD, plus the Herc epsiodes involving the Hope and Callisto arcs. I ripped those episodes (20 in all) to a thumbdrive so I can watch the Callisto/Hope story anywhere and any time.

 

[Sparkle Fabulosa]

I also have all the seasons on DVD and I've seen the Warrior Princess trilogy from Hercules but I have no interest in watching all the episodes. I had planned on it but Kevin Sorbo changed my mind in a red hot minute. I decided to read up on him as I knew nothing about him. I came across an interview where he pretty much bashed Lucy and Xena, and I thought "Sorry buddy. You just lost a potential fan."

 

[kirk55555]

I have five seasons of Xena and 4 of Hercules of DVD. Even though Sorbo is an ass, I still like Hercules fairly well. Its best episodes aren't as good as Xena's best, and Xena's good episodes are better than Hercules's good episodes. But Hercules had a more consistent run, with less outright atrocious episodes then Xena, and its worst episodes weren't nearly as bad as Xena's worst episodes.

 

[Sparkle Fabulosa]

Yeah I'm sure it's good, I just don't feel like watching it. It's not just because of the bashing, I prefer the Xena/Gabrielle/Joxer dynamic over the Hercules/Iolaus dynamic. Also I find a heroine a bit more appealing than a hero. You know, female empowerment and all that jazz.

 

[kirk55555]

Yeah I'm sure it's good, I just don't feel like watching it. It's not just because of the bashing, I prefer the Xena/Gabrielle/Joxer dynamic over the Hercules/Iolaus dynamic. Also I find a heroine a bit more appealing than a hero. You know, female empowerment and all that jazz.

Oh, yeah, I can totally understand why Hercules is not for everyone, and why Xena almost certainly has more fans than Hercules. Honestly, I think Xena is a better show in general, especially when it comes to characters. If I could only watch one of the two shows, I'd pick Xena without hesitation. Hercules, to me, is good for some fun mythological adventures with characters I like. But Xena/Gabrielle/Joxer are much, much better as characters, and when they're in something that's even just good, it beats out most of Hercules anyway. Xena as a show has its problems, some huge, but when its good its great and when its great its amazing.

 

[Sparkle Fabulosa]

See that's my biggest draw to a series: the characters. I can put up with crappy storylines/episodes if the characters are great. The few times Herc and Iolaus made guest appearances or when I watched the trilogy, I didn't warm to either of them.

 

[kirk55555]

See that's my biggest draw to a series: the characters. I can put up with crappy storylines/episodes if the characters are great. The few times Herc and Iolaus made guest appearances or when I watched the trilogy, I didn't warm to either of them.

That's understandable. I'd never defend Hercules as some kind of well written character piece I mean, I like hercules and Iolaus fairly well, but they're not very complicated. On the other hand, Xena and gabrielle being great characters didn't stop me from loathing about 18 of the 22 episodes of Xena Season 4

I generally believe that strong characters can carry a bad story, but there isn't a force on this Earth that could make me watch, say, Paradise Found again, even though I like the characters of Xena and Gabrielle a lot. That's the one advantage Hercules had, it never had episodes as bad as Xena's worst. But, like I've said before, it never had anything as good as Xena's good or great episodes, and it didn't have nearly as good a main cast, so Xena is still the better show to me by far. Its easy to see why so many people want new Xena, but no one seems to be clamoring for more Hercules. I just happen to like them both, for different reasons, but Hercules is definitely a weaker show thats biggest success was probably being the place where Xena began.

 

[Sparkle Fabulosa]

Paradise Found is your worst episode? It's FIN for me. Once was too much. When I watch season 6 I stop at Soul Posession. Xena, Gabby, and Joxer all together again in the future, happy times. My only dislike of season 4 was the Way Of Love storyline. It was nauseating!

My biggest issue of the entire series of the Eve/Livia storyline. I hated it. I hated her. I understand why they made Xena pregnant but the wardrobe people did such a good job at covering Lucy's baby bump that they could have done something else. Maybe Xena was poisoned and unable to fight so she and Gabrielle had to travel to find a cure? It's just that we already had the "evil child" with Hope. And we lost great characters: Autolycus, Minya, Joxer (poor Joxer!). Along with that I hated the 25 year jump.

Yeah. People still talk about Xena. It was a groundbreaking show. The last convention was earlier this year. When was the last Hercules convention?

 

[kirk55555]

Paradise Found is your worst episode? It's FIN for me. Once was too much. When I watch season 6 I stop at Soul Posession. Xena, Gabby, and Joxer all together again in the future, happy times. My only dislike of season 4 was the Way Of Love storyline. It was nauseating!

My biggest issue of the entire series of the Eve/Livia storyline. I hated it. I hated her. I understand why they made Xena pregnant but the wardrobe people did such a good job at covering Lucy's baby bump that they could have done something else. Maybe Xena was poisoned and unable to fight so she and Gabrielle had to travel to find a cure? It's just that we already had the "evil child" with Hope. And we lost great characters: Autolycus, Minya, Joxer (poor Joxer!). Along with that I hated the 25 year jump.

I stopped watching Xena with Anthony and Cleopatra, the last pre-time jump episode. I won't watch the time jump. I got spoilered enough to know that the jump eliminates Joxer, who I consider as essential to the show as the others, and not only does he age, he gets killed by Eve, who is then basically instantly forgiven by Xena. It didn't help that the show also killed off so many greek gods (the greek mythology is why the Herc/Xena franchise really came to my attention in the first place, and I really hate their crappy pseudo-christianity Way of Love/Eli garbage).

So, I stopped there, read up on the finale, and didn't feel like going on. I don't regret watching the show at all, when its good I love it, but man it certainly went down hill in the second half of the series. Still, I enjoy rewatching the good stuff. I rewatched Been There, Done That a few days ago, and its still awesome. I always get a chuckle out of Xena just getting frustrated and killing Joxer, leaving Gabrielle shocked

 

[Sparkle Fabulosa]

Oh I'm sorry! I didn't mean to get all spoilery. Sorry. I wrongfully assumed that you had watched the whole series.

Yes, it did go downhill but I still love it. Seasons 5 and 6 are still better than most tv shows on nowadays. If you ever feel like seeing it all, stop at Soul Posession. I implore you. Do not watch the finale. Even though you've read up on it, it's a lot worse to view it. I personally think that it's the most horrible ending to a show ever.

That is such a funny scene! What are your thoughts on Married With Fishsticks? It's regarded as the worst episode but I actually like it.

 

[kirk55555]

Oh I'm sorry! I didn't mean to get all spoilery. Sorry. I wrongfully assumed that you had watched the whole series.

That's ok. Once I had found out that they were going to kill joxer, I read a lot of spoilers. You didn't post anything I hadn't already read.

Yes, it did go downhill but I still love it. Seasons 5 and 6 are still better than most tv shows on nowadays. If you ever feel like seeing it all, stop at Soul Posession. I implore you. Do not watch the finale. Even though you've read up on it, it's a lot worse to view it. I personally think that it's the most horrible ending to a show ever.

Yeah, even if I ever do decide to watch the time skip and later, that finale definitely doesn't sound appealing. A random enemy from Xena's past that we never heard about lures her to a country we never knew she went to, and it all ends...badly.

That is such a funny scene! What are your thoughts on Married With Fishsticks? It's regarded as the worst episode but I actually like it.

I remember I had skipped it on my first go through of Xena when I was posting in my Xena watch thread on this forum (I had heard of it beforehand and it sounded horrible), but I ended up watching it a while later just to say I'd seen it. It was...horrifying I wouldn't put it on my personal worst list because I didn't really feel hatred, it was more of a constant "WTF" feeling. It definitely wasn't good, and I think it was basically a waste, but I can think of a bunch of episodes I outight hated and wouldn't choose to watch over MwFS.

 

[Sparkle Fabulosa]

I guess I have poor taste because while I didn't love it, I didn't hate it either. I prefer to think of it as an AU where Gabrielle and Joxer are married, which it kind of is anyway.

There are definitely some good episodes in season 6 but I can understand you not wanting to watch it. Though the one episode you might be missing out on is "Old Ares Had A Farm." It's a great comedic episode that briefly makes you forget about the bad stuff.

Sorry. I could talk about Xena all day long. I have a problem.

 

[JanewayRulz!]

Not a fan of MWFS but loved OAHaF.

As for comedies, "You are There" is very good, but it doesn't make sense without watching the Rheingold Trilogy. And the trilogy is an excellent reason in its own right to watch anything from season 6.

Of course, the one season 6 ep that should not be missed is "When Fates Collide".

 

[Sparkle Fabulosa]

All good ones! I also like The Haunting Of Amphipolis/Heart Of Darkness two-parter.

 

[JanewayRulz!]

All good ones! I also like The Haunting Of Amphipolis/Heart Of Darkness two-parter.

Not sure that everyone can stand the dressing scene (not my fav) in the former, or the dancing scene (YOWZA!) in the latter ep.



ETA: Bolding YOWZA! to make it easier for Jg to see it.

 

[Sparkle Fabulosa]

Hey the dancing scene makes the whole season worth it!