Hercules and Xena...thoughts?

[stj]

I saw Hercules in trousers. That's pants to anyone who is interested in Greek history and mythology. Sorry, couldn't get past it.

Didn't see Xena till late in its run. A lot of it was centered on a mythology I didn't know (quite like Buffy in the late first season episode I saw.) The characters appears to be about Lesbian titillation, which wasn't quite as appealing as the producers hoped. But I did catch a couple of standalones which were quite amusing, especially one where the characters went into modern dress. It seemed all right, just not my cup of tea.

 

[Christopher]

Spartacus: Blood and Sand is supposed to start soon on Starz starring Lucy Lawless and I've heard there will be nekkid females in it, including a merkin-clad Lucy Lawless (!!) who may have a few topless scenes.

That's a definite. Her topless scene is already available online, or at least it was a couple of weeks ago. She's mostly in a see-through dress, but then the dress comes off and there's a pretty good look at her right breast. And let's just say she exceeds my expectations.

I saw Hercules in trousers. That's pants to anyone who is interested in Greek history and mythology. Sorry, couldn't get past it.

Yeah, and the real ancient Greece didn't look a thing like New Zealand. But what of it? It's a myth anyway. It's the nature of myths to be reinvented.

Didn't see Xena till late in its run.... The characters appears to be about Lesbian titillation, which wasn't quite as appealing as the producers hoped.

Other way around. There was no lesbian subtext originally, but lesbian viewers read a lot into it anyway, and then the producers started folding it in because it was what much of the audience wanted to see.

 

[Greg Cox]

Other way around. There was no lesbian subtext originally, but lesbian viewers read a lot into it anyway, and then the producers started folding it in because it was what much of the audience wanted to see.

I don't know. I would argue that the producers started deliberately fanning the subtext flames as early as the first season. Check out "Altared States" again and tell me they weren't teasing the slash fans on purpose . . . .

 

[QuasarVM]

I liked both shows but they ran on too long...like TNG.

I now return you to your regularly scheduled ignoring or loathing of QuasarVM.

MWAHAHAHA!!!

 

[coolghoul]

Spartacus: Blood and Sand is supposed to start soon on Starz starring Lucy Lawless and I've heard there will be nekkid females in it, including a merkin-clad Lucy Lawless (!!) who may have a few topless scenes.

That's a definite. Her topless scene is already available online, or at least it was a couple of weeks ago. She's mostly in a see-through dress, but then the dress comes off and there's a pretty good look at her right breast. And let's just say she exceeds my expectations.

I had thought better of you Christopher . I would've thought that you would have started a thread at least about it since she ummm... exceeded expectations!

I thought we forum members shared goodies among the community.



Somebody needs to wake up Aragorn, Agent Richard07 and other esteemed connoisseurs and point out their responsibility towards the trekbbs newbies like me.

 

[OmahaStar]

tvshowsondvd.com announced last night that the first season each of Hercules and Xena will be rereleased this year with an MSRP of just 26.98. I wasn't aware of it, but the entirety of both shows? Yeah, completely out of print. Who knew? No idea whether they're going to be rereleasing the rest of the seasons, the movies, or the Young Hercules series.

 

[Forbin]

I got all the Xena seasons for $30 each when somebody (DeepDiscount?) had a big clearance sale a few years ago.

Considerably better price than when I bought the first season on VHS for 175 fucking bucks!

 

[Servo]

RoJoHen - did you carry on watching Hercules? Did it hook you in any more than the last time you posted here?

I only ask because I have the opportunity to start watching it myself. I passed on Hercules and Xena first time out because they didn't really interest me at the time, but I'm looking at giving it a go now.

I've read the thread, and it has pretty much convinced me to start watching, but I just wanted to see if you stuck with it, and what your impressions of it are a few months down the line.

 

[RoJoHen]

Honestly, I didn't stick with it at all. I still want to continue, but there were other things I ended up wanting to watch first. I'm maybe halfway through the first season, and I'll get back to it at some point, but I'm so tired of the whole "The first season is crap, but it gets way better" mantra that a lot shows seem to have these days. I got bored waiting for it to get better, so I took a break.

 

[Servo]

I just watched the first episode. I liked some parts of it, wheras some parts were a bit shit. The main thing I took from it was that it should have been a 2-part opener. Everything seemed to get resolved too quickly. I'd have liked to have seen a bit more of "pissed off" Hercules going after Hera's temples, before coming to the realisation that revenge was not the best option. And it seemed a bit off that a rescued slave girl who'd known him for five minutes, managed to talk him down, after his mother and best friend had failed. Some of the comedy felt forced, but i can forgive it for being the first episode.

I'll probably keep watching though. Hell, I'll have the time now, what with all the shows that are ending this year (or aren't being renewed).

 

[RoJoHen]

Yeah. I mean, it wasn't bad by any means. It just didn't really leave me wanting more.

And then Netflix added every season of the X-Files, and I decided to rewatch that instead since I haven't seen it since its initial run...and I already know I like it!

 

[Servo]

And then Netflix added every season of the X-Files, and I decided to rewatch that instead since I haven't seen it since its initial run...and I already know I like it!

See, on a similar note, it's gonna have to get good fast, or it's gonna get swept aside by the big Lost re-watch I have planned. Once that season finale is over, I'm itching to go back to the pilot episode, and watch the whole thing from start to finish.

 

[RoJoHen]

My best friend is moving in with me in a couple weeks, and he hasn't seen Lost. He made the smart decision of waiting until it's completely over before he delves in. So that will be my big summer project as well: re-watching Lost and introducing it to my friend. All other shows will have to take a backseat.

 

[Daneel]

Honestly, as much as I enjoyed watching these shows in the 90s, I can understand why someone watching them today for the first time might not find them so engaging. I think the television landscape has changed so much since then; more recent shows tend to be more complex (or at least attempt to be more complex -- they don't always succeed, I'll admit), with lengthy, overarching storylines and multi-faceted characters. Hercules and Xena, like a lot of other syndicated shows of the time, were more episodic in nature... from a narrative point of view, it could be argued that they're much simpler than the shows you'll find today (especially with the preponderance of cable networks out there).

I'm not trying to take away what these shows accomplished -- I found both highly entertaining, and I think they actually managed to create a fair amount of compelling drama on occasion, but it's likely they just don't challenge viewers in the way that current programs do. Of course, some might prefer it that way, so to each their own.

Oh yeah, and for some, it may simply not be their cup of tea, naturally.

 

[Pauln6]

Hercules was mostly fluff with a few decent episodes. Xena was a bit better with perhaps 40% of the stories being pretty good, particularly as they weaved in her history and changing conflict with characters like Callisto. In fact the best Hercules stories were ones that intersected with Xena plotlines. Some of the comedy episodes worked but most were cringeworthy.

I think Buffy was more consistently good but Xena had a certain something...

 

[saturn5]

Xena was fantastic! My favourite show until Buffy came along, the first show where I started to go to conventionsm collect the DVDs etc

Hercules was ok but I only ever really watched it when Xena characters appeared

 

[Jimmy Bob]

I just watched the first episode. I liked some parts of it, wheras some parts were a bit shit.

I'll probably keep watching though. Hell, I'll have the time now, what with all the shows that are ending this year (or aren't being renewed).

Or you could do like I said couple of pages ago - skip the first three seasons and go immediately for season 4.

It's not like seasons 1-3 don't have good episodes (The Golden Hind trilogy for example), it's just that Hercules works best when it's completely crazy like in season 4.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyCxEnyITu4

Two of those guys in the bathroom are Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzmann. Well not real Orci and Kurtzmann, but as characters in that story, which was about the writers of that show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEz9T9Lewig

And who can forget Widow Twanky.

Edit: How to embed youtube videos here? I've seen other people do it, but when I copy that embed code in youtube, it doesn't do anything for me.

 

[Servo]

Or you could do like I said couple of pages ago - skip the first three seasons and go immediately for season 4.

As good an idea as that will probably turn out to be, I can't do that. If I'm going to watch a show at all, I have to watch all of it. Skipping seasons, or even just a few episodes is inconceivable to me. I don't see the point of watching a show if you're going to skip parts of it.

 

[Forbin]

Something I would love to see is a DVD boxed set of the whole overlapping Calisto/Hope saga. Episodes from both Xena and Herc in order.

 

[Pauln6]

Something I would love to see is a DVD boxed set of the whole overlapping Calisto/Hope saga. Episodes from both Xena and Herc in order.

Yeah I taped them off tv at the time and it was a real pain to stitch the story together. Worth it though - I think 3 Hercules episodes intersect (4 if you count the episode that first introduces the alternate dimension?)