XPost: rec.arts.tv, rec.arts.sf.tv   
   From: daviderl31@yahoo.com   
      
   "Ubiquitous"  wrote in message news:phnvck$fii$4@dont-email.me...   
      
      
   There’s still a way to make Xena: Warrior Princess work, but those   
   “creative differences” have to stop being used to hold it back.   
   Whether or not the exploration of a relationship between Xena and   
   Gabrielle will be explored or not is still up for grabs, but right   
   now shifting the focus entirely to that would only stymie the   
   production simply because it’s the wrong thing to focus on. Getting   
   the show to come back and showing that while Xena is still awesome   
   but not infallible would be a big step forward. A leap would include   
   the fact that while Lucy Lawless will forever be remembered as the   
   first, she is not bound to be the last if the show wants any shot at   
   coming back.   
      
   That probably sounds like sacrilege to anyone that’s ever watched   
   the show and it’s understandable since it would be like making any   
   other beloved show from the past and rewriting it so that the main   
   character had to be played by someone else. It wouldn’t be the first   
   time but in various cases it would certainly be the last since fans   
   don’t often stand for this unless the replacement is just that good.   
   Even then the success rate is low since so many people are firmly   
   against this kind of thing that trying to pull a fast one on them   
   would be anything but a good idea. Xena was the type of hero that   
   everyone knows and whether you like her or not it can be agreed that   
   playing fast and loose with someone’s favorite is never a something   
   that should be considered worth the effort. But there’s more to why   
   Xena would work in this era, and it has almost nothing to do with   
   the fact that she and Gabrielle would probably hook up at some   
   point.   
      
   This is the time for strong female characters that can lead their   
   own show, and it’s the time to show them off and let them forge   
   ahead when it comes to taking charge. People use Wonder Woman as a   
   big example for a lot of things and while it’s not wrong she can’t   
   shoulder the push for more women to take control all on her own.   
   There’s not a lot of chance that women will ever take full control   
   of the movie and TV from male characters but they’re coming out in a   
   big way now and more and more people are loving it to the point that   
   they want to see female-driven TV shows and movies. They want to see   
   that women are being represented as much as the men and Xena can   
   give them this. She’s every bit as tough as the men and in some   
   cases is even tougher. Allowing her to make her way back to the   
   small screen would likely cause a huge spike in the ratings simply   
   because the fans would go nuts to know that she’s coming back.   
      
   However, the one thing that could derail it, besides ‘creative   
   differences’ would be the reaction of the fans when they figure out   
   that Lucy Lawless and Renee O’Connor are in their late 40’s,   
   possibly early 50’s when it comes to Lawless. New actors would have   
   to be found, and that might put a dent in peoples’ enthusiasm.   
   Hopefully it would blow over but it would certainly cause a few   
   gasps of surprise.   
      
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           I keep trying to think of a way for there to be a new Xena and   
   Gabrielle (since both Lucy and Renee are too old to be kicking butts), and   
   for the original X&G to show up, at least for a cameo appearance as the   
   Original two.   
           Maybe a show about X&G reincarnated in a future time (maybe one or   
   two hundred years after they died -  still using swords, sais, the Chakram).   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)