A sweet story about Lucy I almost didn’t believe when I got to “She remembered exact episodes and scenes…” 😂
Posted by SakuraTacos@reddit | xena | View on Reddit | 27 comments
FakeKiwi-@reddit
Lucy cannot remember anything for the life of her
let_them_fly_away@reddit
This seems sketchy. I could be wrong but I thought that Lucy didn't generally remember details and episodes. Also, it seems odd that this person calls her "Xena" when referring to Lucy.
Hour_Dog_4781@reddit
She may not remember specific names of episodes, but she seems to remember a LOT about the filming. When you watch the videos of her watching the show with Rob and Renee, she has a lot to say about particular scenes and the show in general.
Cruise1313@reddit
I agree with you that Lucy did not remember the details and episodes back when the show was on. I was at a convention back when the show was on and she was having a hard time remembering things and ROC had to refresh her memory. 😂
If they said this about ROC I would totally believe it. 😉
However, maybe she has watched the show since then and remembers.
SakuraTacos@reddit (OP)
Haha that’s what made me laugh and post this here. Not that they called her Xena, she gets that all the time, but I was like “Aw that’s so nic– hold on, she remembered stuff and it was exact?”
But they seem like an average person with the normal amount of Xena knowledge from watching back in the day so I thought “😂 Lucy probably could’ve said anything and it would’ve sounded correct”
Of course, anyone could be lying on the internet lol!
StyraxCarillon@reddit
I distinctly remember reading a Ms Magazine interview with Lucy when Xena was airing, where they asked her if she was a feminist. I was really disappointed when she said no.
I hope she's changed her mind.
IseQween@reddit
She's also mentioned growing up in a culture where women she knew were strong figures -- prime minister, her mother, the nuns who taught her. She didn't "get" feminism as the catch word it was among a segment of women in some countries like the U.S. Plus, she resisted the notion of being fit into a mold as a representative or role model, especially for a concept foreign to her experiences. She doesn't willingly embrace labels for herself -- even "activist" or "eco warrior." I think it took her awhile to accept herself as a "star" who might jeopardize the fortunes of those at all levels of the show by being "real" and saying the "wrong" thing.
SakuraTacos@reddit (OP)
I’ve read that quote before too and was also bummed. I think that because most people conflated “feminist” with “man-hater” for a very long time (and many still do), she either genuinely didn’t see herself as one or was worried about backlash if she did
I feel like she must’ve changed her mind since then. She had to have. After this many years championing for marginalized communities, I can’t imagine she hasn’t seen the full picture of what feminism entails and doesn’t identify with it
StyraxCarillon@reddit
I certainly hope so. I was crushed at the time.
seventy912@reddit
Pretty sure she has. To be honest, I doubt she was ever ‘not a feminist’, more likely she avoided that label because it had such negative connotations in the 90s and 2000s. Obviously there were a few celebrities that stuck with it regardless but it doesn’t shock me that she wouldn’t.
I distinctly remember another interview where she was talking (not positively) about how decades of feminism had ended in the ‘girl power’ Spice Girls type stuff. Weird contradiction.
Agent8699@reddit
Very cute story!
But, it sounds so unlike Flawless Lawless who normally has no idea about the series (especially exact episodes and scenes) and is not one to … talk herself up or to … brag about the progressiveness and groundbreaking nature of the show (which I think mostly went over her head, except for the fact that Xena and Gabrielle could be interpreted as lovers).
Spokker@reddit
Revisionist history in action.
Everybody today falling over themselves to talk about how progressive they were, when, at least for the first two seasons, they just wanted to create a Saturday afternoon syndicated action show that didn't piss off the focus groups that wanted Xena and Gabrielle to have boyfriends.
The rise of subtext followed a gradual decline in the ratings. Let's not forget that season 2 was the ratings peak for the series, when it was the highest rating syndicated series in the U.S.
No, I don't think they were pioneers. In a 2001 interview, Tapert said he didn't want to lose his show by doing a lesbian storyline with his A and B characters, at least initially.
https://whoosh.org/issue52/itapert1b.html
Agent8699@reddit
I mean … yes and no.
Xena’s first onscreen male love interests Draco and Marcus were both POC. Helen of Troy was a POC. Yes, that was a reality of filming and casting in New Zealand, but it was still progressive for the time, even if unintentionally.
Then there is Karen Dior as Miss Artiphys which was very deliberate. Can anyone really imagine a family friendly action fantasy show casting a HIV positive former porn star these days?! Let alone having them kiss the star!
And The Quest was very intentionally written and filmed as a kiss (or as close as possible / deniable) between Xena and Gabrielle.
That’s all season 1 and 2.
A lot of the time TPTB were just having fun and pushing boundaries because they could or because they had limited options. And obviously different writers had different intentions, favourite ships, etc.
They only got away with it because they were outside of the day to day control of Universal, given they filmed in New Zealand and communication by fax wasn’t exactly quick and easy.
I don’t know why we can’t laud the positives of the show, even if some of them were accidental, unintentional or not originally intended to be taken seriously.
IseQween@reddit
I agree with much of what you say. I absolutely credit them with pushing boundaries more than other shows I'd seen. I believe it was a combination of intentional, being able to get away with what network productions couldn't, and also skirting the edges sufficiently to appeal to as wide an audience as possible. There could be nothing accidental about casting Karen Dior, let alone doing an ep like that and having the kiss with Lucy, when AIDS was such a controversial subject in the U.S.
TaniksHasNoCorn@reddit
Entertainment was what they were after.
Both HTLJ and Xena were the fantasy equivalent of Star Trek (90s version), though they leaned significantly more into the action side of things than Star Trek. They would occasionally have the anti-racism or moral dilemma episode, but that wasn't the primary part of the shows.
Some of the decline in viewership's could also be due people just wanting a new thing to watch, but I still agree with your general assessment as they would get feedback from people (fan mail etc.). 90% of shows always lose viewers over time. By the second season of Xena, Hercules had done 5 movies, and was on it's 3rd season. If one counts the movies as season 0, it was effectively on season 4.
Also networks are sometimes notorious for shifting shows into death slots or not marketing stuff enough. Why promote a syndicated show when you could promote your 700th Cop show, sitcom, or lawyer show.
As a side note, it always bothers me that Buffy gets mentioned as the show that pioneered musicals in TV, but Xena is almost NEVER mentioned even though their musical came out 3 years prior (Feb 1998). Hell, HTLJ did a dance episode in late 1997.
I imagine if both HTLJ and Xena were able to get awards they would be more popular than they were. I guess they didn't have a Harvey Weinstein wealthy type to bribe the hell out of the voters...
Why on Earth would Xena or HTLJ receive awards for costumes when a lawyer/cop show would for putting on every day attire. The soundtracks in both shows were amazing as well! Another glaring oversight. Grr...
Agent8699@reddit
Xena was a syndicated show as opposed to a network show. To my general understanding, syndicated shows were always overlooked because they didn’t have a network heralding / supporting them.
seventy912@reddit
People try to do this with 90s Star Trek as well and it’s even less true in their case. I’d say it was dishonest to describe Buffy like that as well.
There are many things to love about Xena but ‘progressive’/‘ahead of its time’ are such empty descriptors they just irritate me.
Spokker@reddit
I don't even blame them. It's like with Mr. Rogers. With the civil rights thing, he felt he could take that on and survive. And he did.
With the gay thing, he knew that if he went into that he would lose his show. And he was probably right, even if he personally didn't have a problem with that side of Officer Clemmons.
SakuraTacos@reddit (OP)
I think, if true, the most likely scenario was the other person mentioned they were a fan and Lucy gave a few key phrases she’s keeps in her back pocket from doing this for so long:
“Aw yeah, that’s so nice! It means a lot the show meant so much to people.”, “No we really didn’t set out to do that but after episode 3 [there’s your “exact episode” reference lol 😜] there was an article that came out in the Village Voice etc etc”, “Yeah, that scene was great, I remember that one!” [Narrator: She did not.]
motionlessn2k@reddit
She was really into it.
Physical_Ad_4693@reddit
Lucy lawless and I have the same birthday just years apart
Evilbuffy14@reddit
I mean, it could be a little 'padding the truth'. Or maybe, Lucy figures the show is still drawing people in and maybe she should brush up on it a bit. Or maybe a little of both. Or maybe neither. Lol.
LaurelinTheGolden9@reddit
I’d be curious to know what scenes Lucy talked about, especially since she didn’t remember kissing Renee O’Connor like right on the mouth in Return of Callisto 😂
SakuraTacos@reddit (OP)
Hahah! I know! And there’s this other \~fun fact\~ Lucy shared several times where she was like “People weren’t allowed to point swords at Xena’s throat anymore after this, someone didn’t like it” And even Renee even laughed and remarked once “Really? Cuz they let them do it to Gabrielle all the time!”
Then one day I was watching/listening/reading (I genuinely can’t remember the exact source) something with Rob who said that he didn’t ever want Xena to hold a sword to someone else’s throat because it looked really bad for her image and he was mad when they did that once cuz that’s what the pinch was for
Omg I laughed and laughed because I’d heard Lucy tell that story repeatedly and every time I’m like “That can’t be right. Livia has this whole big moment where she’s holding a blade to Xena’s throat.”
motleyman1981@reddit
Lucky you 😊 love some Xena
SakuraTacos@reddit (OP)
Oh no, just realized the username I included in the screenshot gets cut off in the preview. Sadly, I’m not the lucky one
This is the lucky MUA who shared this story 😊
motleyman1981@reddit
Oh ok lucky them then... Lol