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Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
In College, Kevin Sorbo played on the baseball, basketball, football and hockey teams and also appeared in several plays. Prior to starring as Hercules, he spent three years travelling worldwide as a model and doing more than 150 commercials. He also worked as a bouncer for a while. He barely lost the role of "Clark Kent/Superman" on the show "Lois And Clark (1993)" by coming in at second choice after Dean Cain and was seriously considered for David Duchovney's lead male role on "The X-Files (1993)".
Of course I care about the needs of the people...
I happen to be one of them.
~ Bruce Campbell (Autolycus)
16 January 1995
20 November 1999
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Hercules: The Legendary Journeys is a television series, filmed in New Zealand and the United States. It was produced from 1995, and was very loosely based on the tales of the classical Greek culture hero Heracles (Hercules was his Roman analogue). It ran for six seasons, producing action figures and other memorabilia as it became one of the highest rated syndicated shows in television history.[citation needed]
It was preceded by several TV movies with the same major characters in 1994 as part of Universal Media Studios's Action Pack: in order, Hercules and the Amazon Women, Hercules and the Lost Kingdom, Hercules and the Circle of Fire, Hercules in the Underworld, and Hercules in the Maze of the Minotaur, the last of which served mostly as a "clip show" of the previous movies as a lead up to the series.
The series is set in a fantasy version of ancient Greece not precisely located in historical time. Although set in ancient Greece, the show also has a mixture of Oriental, Egyptian and Medieval elements in various episodes. The show stars Kevin Sorbo as Hercules and regularly features Michael Hurst as his sidekick Iolaus.
Typical plot lines involve Hercules and Iolaus saving rustic villagers from monsters, evil warlords or the often selfish whims of the gods. There was also comedy and episodes often had "in-jokes" about modern themes. In a Come Dancing style contest (episode And Fancy Free), Michael Hurst wore drag throughout to play "The Widow Twanky" and was billed as Edith Sidebottom in the credits. In the episode Beanstalks and Bad Eggs, which is a Jack and the Beanstalk parody, three baby harpies who look like Gremlins do a Three Stooges routine. In the earlier episodes, as mentioned in the show's opening title, Hercules' main nemesis is his evil stepmother Hera, the powerful queen of the gods, who seeks to destroy Hercules using various monsters, because he is a reminder of her husband Zeus' infidelity. As the series progressed, a wider range of enemies was used; notably Hercules' half-brother, the malicious god of war Ares, replaced Hera as the show's primary antagonist. Towards the end of the series Ares is himself replaced by the evil god, Dahak, who is the main villain in the show's fifth season and sets off a story arc that has Hercules traveling to Sumeria, Norseland and Éire. Although Zeus, Hercules' father, is frequently cited by Hercules as a neglectful father, Zeus' love for Hercules is well-documented in the show (In one episode, Hercules explains to a friend that he looked to father figures because Zeus was never around when he was younger. When confronted about this by Hercules, Zeus revealed that he specifically chose Alcmene to be Hercules' mother because he, unfortunately, knew that he could not be there for his son and knew that she would provide him with the love, strength, and support he deserved, thus revealing he had put more thought into Hercules' birth than any other child he ever had). Indeed, Hercules is often referred to as "the favorite son of Zeus". Zeus makes several appearances on the show, even saving his son's life and restoring his superhuman strength on one occasion when he needs it the most. Hercules, for his own part, is always there for Zeus when his father needs him, and in the end, Hercules reconciles with his father and buries whatever issues he has with the father he has come to understand and love. This, however, is changed in Hercules's last appearance on Xena: Warrior Princess, when he is forced to kill Zeus with the rib of Cronus to protect Xena's baby, however, Zeus uses his last breath to say he is proud of Hercules.
The show had a successful spin-off, Xena: Warrior Princess, with which it shared recurring characters such as Ares (Kevin Smith), Autolycus (Bruce Campbell), aforementioned Salmoneus (Robert Trebor), Aphrodite (Alexandra Tydings) and Callisto (Hudson Leick). Both shows, although produced in New Zealand using mostly local actors who strove for American accents, were syndicated worldwide. The success of the show also saw a number of similar ancient-set series being commissioned, such as The Adventures of Sinbad, Conan the Adventurer, The New Adventures of Robin Hood, BeastMaster, Tarzan: The Epic Adventures, and Jack of All Trades.
This series inspired the "spin-off" of three others. They were, "Xena: Warrior Princess", "Young Hercules" and an animated series titled, "Disney's Hercules".
The character "Autolycus" was also known as the "King of Thieves". He mostly stole from the rich and often gave to the poor. It is possible that he was the basis for another mythical character, "Robin Hood".
In May of 1998, Hercules mother died and Hercules decided to go to Olympus and help his father Zeus rule over the other gods. He quickly changed his mind, however, and returned to Earth.
Iolaus was Hercules best friend since childhood. In late 1998, Iolaus' body was taken over by "Dahak" an evil spirit. Hercules spent several episodes trying to "exorcise" Dahak's spirit from Iolaus' body and finally suceeded in January of 1999. Iolaus' spirit was released to heaven. A few weeks later, another Iolaus appeared (commonly referred to as Iolaus II) from another dimension and took the original's place as Hercules friend. In May of 1999 Iolaus II, after being transformed into a "Merman" went off to live in the ocean with his beloved "Nautica", a mermaid and daughter of Triton, god of the sea. The very next week the gods decided to bring Iolaus I back to life so he could return to Earth and to Hercules.
If you would like to share your thoughts about the Hercules: The Legendary Journeys TV show with other fans or just see what others are saying, you're welcome to join in at our Hercules: The Legendary Journeys Forum!
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