Xena: Warrior Princess
Xena: Warrior Princess is an American fantasy television series filmed on location in New Zealand, which aired in first-run syndication from September 4, 1995, to June 18, 2001. Critics have praised the series for its strong female protagonist, and it has acquired a strong cult following, attention in fandom, parody, and academia, and has influenced the direction of other television series.Writer-director-producer Robert Tapert created the series in 1995 under his production tag, Renaissance Pictures, with executive producers R. J. Stewart (who developed the series along with Tapert) and Sam Raimi. The series narrative follows Xena (played by Lucy Lawless), an infamous warrior looking to be redeemed for her past sins against the innocent by using her formidable fighting skills to aid those who are defenseless. Her companion Gabrielle (played by Renee O'Connor) grows from a simple farm girl into an Amazon warrior and Xena's soulmate and comrade-in-arms during the series; her initial naïveté helps to balance Xena and assists her in recognizing and pursuing the greater good. In 2012, star Lucy Lawless asserted that her character, Xena, was from "ancient Bulgaria, Thrace", when the character is stated in the series to come from the ancient Greek city of Amphipolis, which is located in the nearby region of Central Macedonia in modern Greece. However, at the time, Amphipolis was, in fact, a Thracian city which was inhabited by Greeks, so it is likely that she was Thracian by birth, and Greek by culture.
The show is a spin-off of the television series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys; the saga began with three episodes in Hercules in which Xena was a recurring character originally scheduled to die in her third appearance. Aware of the character's sudden popularity among the public, the producers of the series decided to launch a spin-off series based on her adventures. Xena became a successful show which has aired in more than 108 countries around the world since 1998. In 2004 and 2007, it ranked #9 and #10 on TV Guide's Top Cult Shows Ever and the title character ranked #100 on Bravo's 100 Greatest TV Characters. Xena's success has led to hundreds of tie-in products, including comics, books, video games and conventions, realized annually since 1998 in Pasadena, California and in London.The series overtook its predecessor in ratings and in popularity. In its second season it became the top-rated syndicated drama series on American television. For all six years, Xena remained in the top five. Cancellation of the series was announced in October 2000, and the series finale aired in the summer of 2001. On August 13, 2015 NBC Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt said a Xena reboot was in development, with Raimi and Tapert returning as executive producers, with the show's debut sometime in 2016. Javier Grillo-Marxuach was hired as writer and producer for the reboot, but left the project in April 2017 because of creative differences. In August 2017, NBC announced that it had cancelled its plans for the reboot for the foreseeable future.
