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Xena: Warrior Princess
In the episode _"Xena: Warrior Princess: The Bitter Suite (#3.12)" (1998)_, the scenes, settings and costumes are based on pictures from the Tarot cards. Callisto is dressed as the Fool, and one scene had Joxer as the hanged man.
I don't take business seriously, I take acting seriously. I take my job really seriously, but a lot of the job is not about acting, but I don't take business seriously.
~ Lucy Lawless
15 September 1995
18 June 2001
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In ancient Greece, a time of mythical legends. Xena was a mighty female warrior, Xena once left her village and led a army of outlaws that terrorized the lands, and was a former enemy of the legendary hero Hercules. Xena began to regret what she had done and embarked on a quest for redemption. Joined by a young woman named Gabrille, Xena travels across the lands as she battles forces of evil, and would often do battle with her evil foes, the ruthless and charming Ares and Callisto, a warrior woman out to get her revenge on Xena for the death of her family and burning her village when she was a child. And Xena and Gabrille were on occasions joined by trusted friends wannabe warrior, Joxer and thief Autolycus. Seeking adventure and helping people, Xena's courage will change the world... Written by Daniel Williamson
Xena and her bard friend Gabrielle travel helping people in need and fighting for good. Over the past 5 years their friendship has grown into love, and we have the memories of a lot of very adoring characters to keep this legendary show alive in our hearts when it ends in 2001.
In 1996 while rehearsing a skit for "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" (1992). Lucy Lawless fractured her pelvis when she was thrown clear from her horse. As a result, several episodes of Season 2 had to be edited to accommodate her recovery: some of them were changed so Lucy could have a very slight appearance (in one episode she only appear as archive footage), and they created some brand new episodes.
The Livia/Eve story arc was created to accommodate Lucy Lawless' pregnancy.
Before her own series, Xena made her debut in a three-episode arc of "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" (1995). Vanessa Angel was the original choice to play her, but when the actress became too ill to fly to New Zealand to film, Lucy Lawless was cast instead.
Most of the fighting scenes take place on dirt ground, to hide the place mats for the actors.
Ranked #9 in TV Guide's list of the "25 Top Cult Shows Ever!" (30 May 2004 issue).
Ranked #10 in TV Guide's thirty "Top Cult Shows Ever" (Friday, June 29, 2007).
In the end titles of almost every episode there are a few funny lines, known as "disclaimer", which usually end with "the production of this motion picture". They're related to the content of the episode. Several episodes in Season 1 have no disclaimer; from Season 2 onwards every episode gets one.
The opening credits remained the same for the first five seasons, but they were changed for the sixth and last season.
Sunny Doench was originally meant to play Gabrielle, but she didn't want to leave her boyfriend in California so Renée O'Connor was chosen.
Gabrielle had a total of 7 regular outfits over the course of the series. Starting off with a Greek Farmgirl's dress in Season 1, Gabrielle would upgrade to 3 different Amazon outfits, a yellow two-piece Indian garment and two warrior bikini costumes.
Melinda Clarke, who played the amazon Velasca in Season 2, was originally up for the role of Xena but dropped out.
Gabrielle's fighting style was a mix of martial arts, kickboxing and acrobatics. Her two trademark weapons - the fighting staff and the sais - are both part of a Japanese fighting style known as Okinawan Kobudo.
Karl Urban was originally intended to reprise his role as Cupid during the "Twilight of the Gods" storyarc in Season 5, but was unable to return due to filming "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy as the character Eomer. Karl Urban eventually returned in Season 6 as his equally popular character Julias Caesar. When asked about the fate of Cupid at a convention, Karl replied that he remained at Mount Olympus with Aphrodite and Ares - the only two surviving Greek Gods.
The majority of Gabrielle's stunts and fight scenes was performed by Renee O'Connor herself, including the backflip from "The Abyss" where Gabrielle kicks a cannibal in the face mid-flight, which was done without any wirework.
The show was originally set in Greece, but by the third season the show began to take place in Rome, Egypt, China, Japan, Siberia, Norway, North Africa and India. In addition to the Greek mythology, Hinduism and Christianity were also introduced through several story arcs.
Several episodes from Season 4 were broadcast in a wrong order by the Spanish public national television.
'Lucy Lawless ' was not the original choice to play the Warrior Princess. The part was originally offered to Vanessa Angel, who turned it down after she got ill. (1994)_.
Robert G. Tapert on why and how he picked Xena's weapon: "I had a book of ancient weapons and I saw this weird discus called the Chakram and I said let's give her this because it can return and we'll never have another character use it. John Schulian [series writer] said he hated it and said we should cut around it. I told him 'that weapon is the coolest thing I'd ever seen' - it's her signature piece".
While she was auditioning for the role of Gabrielle, 'Renee O'Conner' was standing on a chair reading the lines for Robert Tapert. Renee fell off the chair, which made Tapert remember her while he was casting.
Much debate surrounded the possible lesbian relationship between Xena and Gabrielle, which the writers deliberately kept ambiguous. Since the demise of the show however, Lucy Lawless has stated that she believes the characters were romantically involved.
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