Xena: Warrior Princess began as a spin-off of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, premiering as a series in 1995. By the show?s
second season, Xena was television's highest-rated, first-run syndicated drama. During its original run of six seasons, the series
aired over 130 episodes, creating a legion of straight and gay fans from all walks of life. The Xena fan phenomenon spawned
thousands of websites, never-ending reams of fan-fiction, and major conventions around the world.
Even though Xena went off the air in 2001, fans still maintain their love and passion for the originality, innovation and
women-power theme of the show. Co-stars Lucy Lawless and Renee O?Connor have become cult icons worldwide for their
portrayal of the adventurous warrior-princess Xena and battling bard Gabrielle.
The DVD release of the first season set of Xena: Warrior Princess was a rousing success as gay and straight fans alike
scrambled to secure their own personal collection of the series. Now the release of season two of Xena on DVD is finally at
hand!
The second season of Xena features some of the most dramatic and most comedic moments of the entire series. An entire queer
Xena fandom was launched into orbit during this season due to the gay ?subtext? in such episodes such as ?Girls Just Wanna
Have Fun,? ?The Quest,? and ?A Day In The Life.? With the release of the season two DVD boxed set, now fans can enjoy all of
those early glorious subtext-laden episodes to their heart?s content!
Personal interviews and audio and video commentaries from stars Renee O?Connor and Lucy Lawless are among the original
material included with the 22 episodes from the second season of the hit adventure series. Not to give away any secrets, but
GLBT Xena fans will be more than delighted with the attention they are given by the stars of the show during the commentaries.
The seven DVDs in the set contain all 22 episodes of Xena: Warrior Princess Season Two, plus a photo gallery and
commentaries from Lucy Lawless, Renee O?Connor and executive producer Rob Tapert. The last disc features series trivia,
Xena Chronicles and Season Two actor/director biographies.
In honor of the Season Two launch, Anchor Bay is donating a portion of the proceeds from each DVD sold to The Ovarian
Cancer Research Fund.
In celebration of the much-anticipated release of the second season of Xena: Warrior Princess now available on DVD, Renee
O?Connor chats with Lesbianation about the series that launched her as a cult icon, the show's gay fans, life after Xena, and her
upcoming film Diamonds and Guns.
Lesbianation: We?ll start off with something easy, how are you doing today?
Renee O?Connor: Fine, good, I?m alright, my throat is a little hoarse, so I hope you can hear me all right.
LN: I can imagine, doing all of these interviews all of the time.
R.O.C.: Oh, no actually, we had the horrible fires that came here, I?m here in Los Angeles.
LN: Oh, that?s right!
R.O.C.: So, there?s been a lot of ashes in the air, you know and a lot of allergies coming up from it.
LN: I hope you?ve been safe.
R.O.C.: Oh yeah, I was fortunate. The whole thing was bad, but I was fortunate.
LN: We're thrilled that the second season of Xena on DVD is finally out. This was the season that propelled the show into
becoming television's highest-rated, first-run syndicated drama.
R.O.C.: Yeah, thank god!
LN: What do you think was the strongest reason the second season was such a success?
R.O.C.: I think basically the characters sort of came into their own, you know. You started to understand the chemistry
between the two ladies and we finally found our niche.
LN: With episodes like A Day In The Life and The Quest, this season was a big hit with gay & lesbian fans. How much of a
contributing factor do you think those fans were to season two's success?
R.O.C.: Oh, I think they basically just discovered the show and supported it and created all the hype around the show. I think by
the time we got to Day In The Life, actually, even The Quest... The Quest was really showing the love of the characters, you
know, and that they were soul-mates and meant to be together. And then Day in the Life, you know, Lucy & I were just having
a good time!
LN: So it would seem! You, Lucy Lawless & Rob Tapert provided audio & video commentary on several episodes for the
DVDs. What's it like to do that kind of in-depth reviewing of your own work?
R.O.C.: You know, it?s really difficult. Most of the episodes I have only watched one time, maybe two. So I only remember my
experiences of filming them. But unfortunately I didn?t keep a journal at the time, so its been really hard for me to recall certain
aspects of it. I?m better if I watch the episode and somehow remember something, like what I was thinking even, very
specifically in a scene. But if we?re just on camera just talking about the episode, I find it very difficult because I usually
remember things visually.
LN: Well, you certainly seemed to have a lot of fun doing it.
R.O.C.: The commentary?
