Xena: Warrior Princess (season 1)
The first season of the television series Xena: Warrior Princess commenced airing in the United States and Canada on September 4, 1995, concluded on 29 July, 1996, and contained 24 episodes. It introduces Gabrielle (Renee O'Connor), the series co-star, beside Xena (Lucy Lawless), previously a secondary character in the TV series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. Gabrielle becomes Xena's greatest ally; her initial naiveté helps to balance Xena and assists her in recognizing and pursuing the "greater good."
The first season aired at United States in USA Network. The season was released on DVD as a seven disc boxed set under the title of Xena: Warrior Princess: The Complete First Season on April 23, 2003 by Anchor Bay Entertainment.
Production
Crew
The season was produced by Pacific Renaissance Pictures in parcery with Universal Studios and was aired on the USA Network in the U.S. The executive producers were Robert Tapert (series creator), with Sam Raimi and R. J. Stewart. The main staff writers were Tapert, Stewart and many others, as Steven L. Sears (co-executive producers), Terence Winter, Peter Allan Fields and Roy Thomas. Some of the first season's episodes were written or co-written by writers on a freelance basis. The regular directors throughout the season were Doug Lefler, Michael Levine, Charles Siebert, Jace Alexander, Josh Becker, John Cameron and Gary Jones. The theme music and opening sequence was composed by Joseph LoDuca.
Cast
The initial season used many New Zealand natives in the cast, as Jay Laga'aia. Willa O'Neill played the sister of Gabrielle, Lila. Only the name of Lucy Lawless appears in the opening sequence although Renée O'Connor also stars.
Danielle Cormack played Ephiny, an amazon warrior, and Alison Bruce played Queen Melosa, the queen of Ephiny. The main actor of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Kevin Sorbo and Michael Hurst, appeared during the season. Robert Trebor played Salmoneus, a thief and Hercules best friend. Kevin Tod Smith portrayed Ares in two episodes and in later seasons. The American actor Bruce Campbell portrayed Autolycus, the king of thieves, him is a main character in Hercules. Tim Thomerson played Meleager, a Gabrielle friend and reformer drunk. Karl Urban played the biblic Mael, Karl also played Cupid and Julius Caesar in later seasons. Ted Raimi played Joxer and Hudson Leick played Callisto, both are idols of the series Fandom.
Numerous supporting characters have been given expansive and recurring appearances in the progressive storyline, including: Scott Garrison as Perdicas, Darien Takle as Cyrene, Tom Atkins as Atrius and Leslie Wing as Karis.
Reception
The pilot episode garnered 4.5 million viewers, ranked in #44 in U.S. syndicated rank, behind Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Star Trek:Deep Space Nine. Based on its strong opening, Robert Tapert produced another 23 episodes of the same style and duration. Season episode #12 garnered 6.3 millions of viewers, and was ranked in #13 in U.S. syndicated rank, only behind of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. The season lost viewers in last episode, that garnered 3.9 million viewers, again behind Hercules and Star Trek.
The first season was released in another 27 countries between 1995 to 1996, and 105 countries in total until today.
DVD release
The DVD release of season one was released by Anchor Bay Entertainment in the U.S. on 23 September 2003 after it had completed broadcast on television. As well as every episode from the season, the DVD release features bonus material including deleted scenes, bloopers and behind-the-scenes featurettes.
Translation of "Xena: Warrior Princess (season 1)"
Italian: Episodi di Xena: Principessa Guerriera (prima stagione), Portuguese: Xena: Warrior Princess (Temporada 1).
|
