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Is There a Doctor in the House? Script

Hey all, it’s been a while but I thought I would have a look at another production script and see what details I could find! So lucky dip off the shelf was… *drumroll* ...Is There a Doctor in the House!

So, this is production #76925 and was probably filmed around March 1996. It first aired in July 1996 and interestingly enough, Altared States was production #76926 meaning it was intended to be the finale. I don’t know about you guys, but I think that would have been a let down compared to ITADITH as the finale. Glad it happened as it did.

The first thing I wanted to point out was that this episode happens over 2 days and 1 night. I don’t know why- I just found that interesting.

So minor detail difference when the first find Ephiny- in the script she is sitting against a tree whereas in the episode, she is lying flat under scrub. The episode also has an extra line that isn’t in the script where Xena acknowledges the wound.

Our first description of Marmax- apparently ‘think General Patton’. I had no idea who this was but google tells me a US army officer from WWI and WWII? Maybe someone with more American military history can fill in any relevance around this?

Also interesting to note- in the episode, after Marmax disperses his troops he sees a Thessalian foot soldier and begins chasing him shouting “Thessalian scum!”. Xena knocks him off his horse with her chakram sharing a nod to the Thessalian. She then draws her sword and wounds him as the teaser fades. This is not quite what is in the script…

I will share a snippet of the first time Xena saves a life in the hospital. There are a few differences in dialogue compared to what was eventually filmed and aired. A few standout points is that in the episode, Gabrielle gets involved in the procedure a lot sooner than was originally scripted. Also, it was scripted a lot more ‘bloody’ with Galen being sprayed with blood. In the episode, Galen does jump back but we don’t see blood everywhere. _90s TV censorship_

We also have a small deleted scene interaction between Democritus, Hippocrates and Galen right after…

Now here is an interesting one! The man’s son that Gabrielle goes to find was originally scripted to be an adult friend. There were also a few extra lines where Gabrielle promises Democritus that she will be careful. This isn’t in the final cut.

This description of Gabrielle’s wounds 😫

Another deleted scene…

Okay I don’t know what to say here… I am glad Xena didn’t hold the baby up by its legs and give its ‘rump a slap’…

Aaand I will just leave this excerpt here…

What script next?

[jenxwp]

Xena: Warrior Princess…the Season Six Spaghetti Order

One day a while back, I came across an online post that offered a new idea for watching the Marvel movies – what that author called the “Spaghetti Order.” Why Spaghetti Order, you ask? Because the guy really loves spaghetti, and I guess that makes as much sense as anything. Other people have recommended watching the movies in the order in which they were released or watching them in chronological order, but this fellow thought about it differently. He sequenced the movies in a way that better supported the overall storytelling, with each movie and closing credits scene leading into the next as the series built up to the climax of Endgame…in his opinion, of course. I watched the movies through in that order and had to admit that it made for a great experience, seeming more like one large, planned arc rather than individual stories pieced together by different directors and writers.

So how does this relate to Xena: Warrior Princess? Well, few things are more controversial among Xena fans than the ending of the series, the two-part episode (6x21 and 6x22) “A Friend in Need.” While some think it’s an amazing ending, others hate it with a passion. I’ve heard from people who watched it once and have vowed to never see it again, and I even know of fans who, having heard what happens, have never watched the episodes and never plan to. While I understand the emotional trauma that the episodes can generate, I also think it’s a shame, because while I am not a fan of the episodes in their entirety, there are aspects of the finale that I find incredibly beautiful and powerful, things I would hope every Xenite could appreciate. I started wondering if there were some way to present the final season that could make it more palatable to fans who find the last episode so upsetting.

For years, many fans have used the alternative order that shifts episode 6x18 (“When Fates Collide”) into the final spot, providing a coda of sorts that allows anyone to imagine their own version of what happens next with Xena and Gabrielle. This has been my preference as well, and I think it’s a brilliant ending from a dramatic perspective. But I started wondering if more could be done. “A Friend in Need” has such power partly because it is the official ending, and moving it one spot backward in the order does allow for a new conclusion, but it’s still an emotional wallop being so near the end. I began to play around with the idea of it being more like a midseason cliffhanger…“How will they get out of this one?” Anything that could make it a bit less weighty and easier for fans to watch. That’s when I remembered this concept of the “Spaghetti Order,” and I thought about the other issues that can come up when discussing Season 6…the issues with stories based around vengeance, the regression of Xena and Gabrielle’s partnership at times, Xena’s need (or not) for redemption, Gabrielle’s shifting attitude toward violence, etc. Personally, I’ve also always felt that too many of my favorite episodes were placed in the first half of the season, throwing the second half out of balance (not helping to alleviate the disappointment of the eventual ending).

Keep reading

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#damnit, gabrielle, gravity isn't real and neither is oxygen! @jenxwp made me do it 😆

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[jenxwp]

Rittenhouse Xena Warrior Princess Season 6 Trading Card Set (2001).

‘From the Archives’ costume card R10 featuring authentic costume worn by Timothy Omundson as Eli. 1575 cards produced in total. 

1. 'All green’ variant. 2. HTF ‘embroidering’ variant. 3. Unreleased 2000 wrapper reward only ‘silk screen’ variant (patterning on green).

[jenxwp]

Join us!

Monday 18 October 2:30am US Central @jenxwp will be livestreaming the season 2 finale of My Life is Murder that will feature Renee 'O Connor and is directed by Michael Hurst. This is the time that it will air in NZ for the first time. Anyone is welcome to join the watch party in our Xena Discord! We also stream Xena, Hercules and Spartacus weekly, next to all sorts of random streams!

[jenxwp]

More mosaics! Who next? 

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[jenxwp]

Beauty & Brawn Progressive Proof Set

So you guys know I have a soft spot for trading cards and this is a really cool trading card thing I want to share! In 2002, Rittenhouse produced the Xena trading card set ‘Beauty & Brawn’. It a nice set that features cards for many of the characters. In fact, this is the official description given at the time:

Xena is known for its beautiful and powerful women and the men who love or hate them. Now Rittenhouse Archives showcases these memorable characters in their all new Xena: Beauty and Brawn card set.

As usual, it is made up of a base set and several chase sets of varying rarities and insertion rates. But here, what I want to share is a progressive proof set. Whoaaaa...

When trading cards are printed, they are run through 4 different printing plates which colour the cards. Much like a home printer, the colours are black, yellow, magenta and cyan. Often as an incentive for dealers to buy multiple cases of cards or as a special limited edition purchase, trading card manufacturers produce what are called ‘progressive proof’ or ‘printing plate’ sets. These sets contain 4 copies of each base card with each card only run through a single printing plate. So for the Beauty & Brawn set, what is a normal 72 base card set becomes a 288 card progressive proof set. These progressive proof sets are really cool! A couple of the Xena sets had them- but they only made 25 or 30 of each set. They are really rare to see for sale as they usually sit in private collections.

Here is a snippet from the wayback archives for when the progressive proof set for Beauty & Brawn was available for sale:

Recently I was lucky enough to obtain one of these sets and I was so excited! Only 30 sets ever made. So without further ado...

Now of course, these cards don’t have an official binder and because there are so many cards I need two binders to hold them. I could get some more Beauty & Brawn binders, but where is the fun in that? So instead…

TA-DA!! decorated in complete high-school style with amazing stickers.

shhhtiiiickerssss 🤩 ...I have a slightly unhealthy sticker obsession at the moment as some of you are aware.

I really love the way these binders turned out. I ordered these stickers from @aphroditexwp​‘s Redbubble store (along with shirts, blankets, pillow cases- I CANT HELP IT! So many cool designs!) you totally need to check it out… https://www.redbubble.com/people/CharXena/shop

Well, that’s it for today. Hope you like the cards! x

[jenxwp]

gone a tad mosaic crazy... Xena and Gabrielle made up of lots of little Xena scenes! 😂

[jenxwp]

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Mosaic

Been playing around on the internet tonight and created this... 1500 Xena images. 

Gabrielle... do it 

[jenxwp]

Rittenhouse Beauty and Brawn - Footsteps of a Warrior

Hey all! I want to share this trading card subset with you... it’s not a rare set, but I just love the theme of it and how colourful it is.

It is called ‘Footsteps of a Warrior’ and is from the Rittenhouse trading card set ‘Xena: Warrior Princess Beauty and Brawn’. This set was released in 2002 and 10,000 numbered boxes were distributed. This Footsteps of a Warrior subset (titled FW1-9) was the most common subset within the Beauty and Brawn set- it had an insertion rate of 1 card in every 4 packs. 

To put it in context, this was the first Xena trading card set that wasn’t based around a season. It was released a year after the show finished so it had to take a different direction to keep interest in Xena trading cards. Personally, I think it delivered. This set is packed with costume cards, and autograph cards, and really thoughtful subsets. Even though Footsteps of a Warrior is the most basic subset- this is a really wholesome 9-card set that always makes me think how lucky we were that our heroine travelled to all these places and the wonderful stories that we got. 

I suppose my only query with this is that the words ‘China’ and ‘Japan’ are used as opposed to ‘Chin’ and ‘Jappa’. However the vibe I get from this set is that it is taking a step outside of the show and reflecting a modern day perspective. It is depicting Xena through narrative rather than an internal view of the show. So from that viewer perspective- I don’t have a problem... We did see her travel to China and Japan- they just renamed the locations for the show. I just find it a really interesting choice that Rittenhouse made.

But wait! There’s more!

When we flip these cards over and assemble them, it creates this really cute simplified map that highlights the locations referred to and shows the episodes that are set in those locations. 

I do have questions...

The God You Know as the highlight of Rome? SURELY its Ides of March.. Or When In Rome... However, I think I can forgive this because they used a picture of Xena as Saba and that’s sexy AF. 😍

Purity?? …as the highlight of China? ITS THE DEBT. ALWAYS THE DEBT. 

AND HOW COULD I HAVE MISSED THIS! @xebecatt2002 pointed out that there is no Britannia!! 😱 just HOW? It was a FUNDAMENTAL PLOT POINT!! 

Aside from these faux pas... I really love this cute little map. 🤗

Anyway, that’s about it from me today. Stay tuned, I have another really cool Beauty and Brawn set to show and I will get back to doing a few more scripts. 

xx

[jenxwp]

😂 Yasssss queen! 💪 [bleep-bleep]

For @jenxwp lol!

[jenxwp]

2002 April Premiere Photograph Club Set

The photo club set for April in 2002 was titled “Visiting Hercules” and it contained 8 gorgeous images demonstrating the chronology of Lucy and Renee’s appearances in the Hercules franchise.

First up? This stunning (and slightly risqué) image of Renee’s first appearance as Deianeira in Hercules’ second telemovie - ‘Hercules & the Lost Kingdom’ (1994). She was only 23 when this aired.

Next up? Lucy in her first appearance as Lyla in the Hercules episode ‘As Darkness Falls’ (1x06) which aired in 1995. Lyla wasn’t Lucy’s first character in the Hercules verse- she did play the Amazon Lysia in the first telemovie ‘Hercules & the Amazon Women’ (1994). I absolutely adore the hair crimp in this image. It is perfection 😍

Finally, image 3- we get Lucy in her first appearance as Xena in the Hercules episode ‘The Warrior Princess’ (1x09), airing only a few weeks after her appearance as Lyla. The hair is dyed, and she has taken on the ass-kicking, peanut-stomping attitude we love!! Sadly.. no more 80s hair crimp 😟 …probably for the best in the long run. 

Image 4. Here we go. Xena and Gabrielle in their appearance in the Hercules episode ‘Judgement Day’ (3x15) in 1997. Interestingly, this is the only Hercules episode where Xena and Gabrielle pop in as their mainstream characters to help out Hercules. All the other appearances are either Xena’s origin story in Season One or as AU characters further on. I find this an odd thing- Xena very quickly surpassed Hercules in viewers and ratings. Why wouldn’t you have them pop in more often to help pull some viewers back to Hercules? Maybe they were just too busy with their own show... or... Sorbo issues? (cough cough).

Speaking of AU characters! Photo 5. Lucy as AU Xena in Hercules’ ‘Stranger in a Strange World’ (4x05) in 1997. And I am not complaining. It looked like she had so much fun with this character and pair it with her cake fight with Aphrodite and then Ares, God of Love popping in- 100% makes this worth watching. 

Photo 6. Of course we cannot have AU Xena without AU Gabrielle in ‘Stranger in a Strange World’ (4x05). 

“Where is that Trojan elephant that stopped me!?”

😂 ...kills me every time!

Photo 7 portrays another fantastic AU character that Renee played. This is AU Gabrielle in ‘Armageddon Now: Part II’ (4x14) in 1998. 

...which of course is the teaser to... drumroll.....

Photo 8! The last photo in the April set! Essentially the 60 second clip in ‘Armageddon Now: Part II’ that launched an entire genre of fanfic. The hair crimper is back! 🤩 Xena has a GIANT golden winged head piece! 😍😍 Its just all levels of gorgeousness. 

Well, thanks for reading my rambles. Hope you enjoyed the pretty pics. Have a good one! xo

[jenxwp]

Bethell’s Beach

So today I want to talk about sand. Yep. Sand. I know, I know- “how is sand interesting?” you ask. “How is it related to Xena?”... Well. I will cover all of this.

I know I have hyped up the sand-talk and we will get to it, but I really want to start this at the beginning. Back in 2006 when I was a teen, I visited New Zealand with my family. It really was an incredible trip. We flew into Auckland, hired a car and toured through both the North and South islands before flying home to Australia. Of course, living in Australia means that flying anywhere ‘overseas’ is a big thing- even if it’s only the 3hr flight to New Zealand. Unfortunately, this is the only time I have visited New Zealand, but it is a place I desperately want to visit again when post-covid travel resumes.

After being told about this family holiday, as an avid Xena fan, I spent a lot of time on my old-school brick computer (you know the one – big white monitor with a tower and corded keyboard and mouse) scouring the internet for anything ‘Xena’ I could visit or do. My family saw it as a holiday to go see the Maori culture- I saw it as going to Xena-land. My family was very supportive and told me that if there were some filming sites we could go to that were close to places we stayed at we could of course visit them. I ended up finding two places I was desperate to visit just outside of Auckland – Hunua Falls and Bethell’s Beach.

Bethell’s Beach is the location I want to talk about today. It was a staple set location that was used many, many times throughout the series. Almost any beach scene was filmed at Bethell’s Beach. From the incredible chariot race in Return of Callisto, to the  beginning of the beauty pageant in Here She Comes… Miss Amphipolis. It was also used when Xena was crucified in Destiny, when Gabrielle and Joxer arrive at the island in Ten Little Warlords, when Xena first faced off with the gods in Motherhood, and  when the Vikings are gathering in Return of the Valkyrie. Not to mention, when Xena and Gabrielle lay down in the ocean at the end of The Bitter Suite. I could go on and rattle off many more scenes but you get the idea.

…cue pictures of course 😄

So of course, this was a place I was desperate to visit. The beach was amazing. It was a trek to get to (we got lost), but once we got there, it was complete with ‘Poseidon’s Rock’ and ‘Callisto’s Cave’. I also remember there being a sheep and a donkey in a paddock adjacent to the carpark for some reason. Memories huh? Strange things.

I was in heaven. While I was there, I collected a jar of sand. Yes, my family thought I was strange- but it was very special to me. And this little jar of black sand has stayed with me ever since. Any time I have had a Xena table or display anywhere, the jar of sand has lived front and centre.

When it first came back with me, I brought it back in those small plastic hotel shampoo bottles that I had painstakingly rinsed and dried to carry my most precious souvenir. It then went through many iterations in the form of glass moccona coffee jars before finding a home in its current jar.

As an adult now with a science degree- this sand itself is fascinating. Unlike sand elsewhere, it is a finely coarse sand known for being ‘black’. The black colouring comes from the high titanomagetite (iron and titanium compound) content that is formed from the volcanic activity around the New Zealand islands and carried to this beach by the Tasman currents. Because of this, the sand is very heavy, and very hot when the sun hits it.

Funny story- when leaving New Zealand I carried the sand in my hand luggage. My mother was stopped because from the x-ray machine, the 5 tube bottles of black powder resembled TNT. So of course we had to explain ourselves to New Zealand airport staff. After that, I wasn’t quite sure if I had to declare it to customs when I brought it back to Australia, so I distinctly remember telling the customs officer that it was sand from the Xena beach. He had never had an instance of someone bringing sand back, but because living organisms didn’t generally live in sand, he couldn’t see why there was an issue so he let me through.

I am sad that I didn’t visit the adjoining sand dunes and river where many scenes were filmed (like in Mortal Beloved etc), but it really is a reason to go back and visit as soon as I am able.

I don’t have any digital images of my holiday, but here is a photo of the obligatory 00’s scrap-book page that I made for that day. Not too sure what the ‘quicksand’ sign is, but I must have taken a photo of it and cut it out for my scrap-book. Very much Callisto in Return of Callisto vibes. PS- loving the picture I took of a random dude- then proceeded to cut out and stick at the bottom of the page. Because why not? 00′s. Was a crazy time. 😂

“You have to enjoy the peaceful moments in life. You know, everything can’t be an adventure all the time. Like right now. I want you to close your eyes and just listen.”

“To what?”

“To nature speaking to us. It’ll give you a wonderful sense of peace. Close your eyes.”

-Gabrielle and Xena in ‘Ulysses’

[jenxwp]

Hey all! There has been so much Lucy/Ren hype these last couple of days (with good reason! 🤩), but I just want to expand on the Renee love right now.

Can we take a moment to just appreciate how amazing this human being is? Aside from being an incredible actress, mother, inspirational figure and just overall incredible HUMAN BEING, she is a fabulous artist.

Some of her work is currently up for auction at the AUSXIP Charity Auction (and you should totally check that out), but did you know that back in 2004 she was one of the artists featured in the Rittenhouse Art and Images Trading Card set?

Yes! The one and only Renee O'Connor drew 9 of our beloved characters to be a part of the trading card set. These had an insertion rate of 1 card in every 20 packs.

Is there any limit to just how amazing this woman is? 💜💜💜

That's my fan-girling for today. Just UGH she's amazing.

[jenxwp]

Screen-used Autolycus ‘Grandma’ Disguise

I have a lot of things in my collections, but nothing quite like this. I want to talk a little bit about Autolycus’ ‘grandma’ disguise from the Season 3 episode Vanishing Act. This is the outfit that Autolycus uses to disguise himself after it is discovered that the Pax statue has been stolen. Of course, Xena sees right through him.

I have never been one to collect ‘clothing’. I have a myriad of set used weapons and armour- hell yes I love it! Bring them on! But not clothing. I am not sure why- maybe because they are hard to display? Or maybe it just feels weird to have someone’s clothes. I am not sure.

All of that went out the window when I saw this for sale not that long ago. What drew me to this piece is that it is a bridge between my two greatest collecting loves – set used props and Xena trading cards. And this item of clothing has such trading card history!

If you read this blog, you will know that the very first thing I ever collected was Xena trading cards and it is still something that I collect 15+ years later. It truly is my first collecting love and I will continue to pick up cards I don’t have whenever I can. Even back when they were in production they were very hard to find in Australia. The odd tobacconist would have some but that was about it. Maybe you could have got them from dealers? I am not sure, but if you could I didn’t know at the time. My dream is that one day I hope to have master sets (complete with all variants) for each set.

How does this relate back to this Autolycus grandma disguise costume? WELL. 

This costume was given by the Xena set to the Rittenhouse trading card company for use during the production of subsequent trading card sets. They eventually used it when they manufactured their 2003 trading card set ‘The Quotable Xena: Warrior Princess’. This Quotable set featured a 6 card subset of autographed costume cards, one of which, was ‘Bruce Campbell as Autolycus in Vanishing Act’.

See where I am going with this!!

The shirt is the only part of the costume that was used to create the trading cards, and in 2021, an American trading card dealer obtained the rest of the costume. They decided to sell it on, and that’s where I was lucky enough to get my hands on it. 😈 Honestly, what are the odds of this thing sitting in a store-room and then after nearly 20 years finally resurfacing? 💜💜

The remainder of the costume has three parts- there is the skirt (with both an under-layer and an outer-layer), a sash belt and a shawl. It is heavier than you would expect! The image of the complete outfit is from the Rittenhouse company used for advertising the trading card set.

The skirt has a concealed zip and clasp at the back. It is heavier than you would expect! The skirt is made from a woven cotton and the sash is wool. The shawl is a printed fabric. To be honest, it is really well made for something that only gets a few minutes of screen time.

So that is it for me today guys. Take care! x