Xena: La princesa guerrera

Xena was one of televison's greatest shows. Encompassing in it, action, drama, humor, love, relationships, and life lessons. Xena had it all, even had sexy costumes for the 'lower class' viewer. But, this was more than beautiful women running around in 'appealing' costumes. This was a show about the strength of women, the power of friendship, and that even the smallest of us can become something great. Skilled actresses and actors took us all over history bringing the past alive. For many, Xena was an escape from our everyday 'normal' life. The main characters Xena and Gabrielle were easy to identify with. Over the course of six seasons, you see them grow as they learn what their truly made of and what their morals and beliefs are. Ultimately, it was a show about good triumphing over evil, but more than that, it was a show of groundbreaking themes and memorable characters. Take some time to watch a Xena episode, you'll be glad you did.

Here's the thing, see, about XENA - the fantasy action show telling the tale of the formerly evil Xena, now a force for good, and Gabrielle the Amazon Queen, her warrior/bard partner.

You have two really beautiful women dressed in impractical leather goods flitting about the Ancient World wielding shiny weapons with great skill and nary a thought to chronology or historical accuracy. You have the relentless modern American speech. You have the over-discussed, over-analysed and highly subjective element of "lesbian subtext". You have campy humour, sly winks at the audience, over-the-top fight sequences, and more dialogue limited to the screaming of each other's names than the second half of Titanic.

You have re-used extras, recycled sets, a bikini-clad Aphrodite spouting Valley-girl speech, a penchant for killing off popular guest stars, TWO man-free pregnancies, high angst levels, a range of episodes that swing madly from dark violence to Andrew Lloyd-Webber style musicals and from intense drama to slapstick comedy.

You have strong female leads who accept responsibility for their choices and their actions, good and bad. You have really beautiful scenery in the form of New Zealand. You have great chemistry between the two stars, and you have enough smarts to know how to combine all of these things into a show that succeeds more than it fails.

Give it a chance. I promise, ten episodes and you'll be hooked. In short, XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS is smart TV pretending that it's dumb. Which is just fine by me, thanks.

This was an amazing show that switched from comedy to high drama to tragedy to sword-fighting action and mayhem. All of this usually happened in the same episode. A great show for students of mythology, although the writers did incorporate their own ideas (into the mythological settings and characters) to give the show more texture and layers. The best part of the show was Xena and Gabrielle's intense affection, friendship and respect for one another. They are truly partners in everything they do and always willing to sacrifice for one another. However, there's plenty of comedy as well to keep the show from getting too serious. The more episodes you watch, the more you'll like and understand the concept of the show, and how it works on different levels simultaneously. Very highly recommended.

Just like Hercules it was really good-corny show.

Sure some effects were bad. That didn't matter to me because the show was able to carry itself and become an iCONIC show. It had great characters and a mystical story

Verdict: in 2021 people are still complaining about females not getting lead roles....umm...this "female" crushed the 90s. It was better than Hercules.

I love this show. Lucy Lawless and Renee O'Connor are fabulous as Xena and Gabrielle. Xena is a former warlord trying to atone for her past by traveling the world doing good. Gabrielle is her sidekick, a bard writing the stories of Xena's adventures. The show is packed (usually) with action, realistically, and breath-takingly, performed by Lawless and O'Connor. And when the show ventures into comedy, it is capable of being the funniest show on television. Did I mention that I LOVE THIS SHOW!