In honor of the Xena: Warrior Princess episode that launched Wednesday, we take a quick look at the night Lucy Lawless tried and failed (comedically) to escape her on-screen character’s reputation. Check out our episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or whatever your preferred podcast app happens to be. We won’t judge you for your platform of choice, but we will judge you for not listening.
Lucy Lawless played Xena, and she played her better than anyone. That’s indisputable, as Xena was a completely fictional character that sprung out of Robert Tapert’s brain and onto the screen in 1995, and Lucy Lawless is the only person who ever depicted her. We’re willing to bet no else could have done it better anyway.
The rest is history, and it shot the New Zealand native into small screen stardom. Airing over six seasons from 1995-2001, Xena: Warrior Princess was a smash hit. It catapulted everyone’s favorite Kiwi Goddess to such heights that the long-time sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live pegged her to serve as the host somewhere near the middle of her show’s run. See for yourself below.
The date was October 17, 1998. What great references we have here! First of all, Lucy brings up the Yankees to stir up a New York audience. Good plan, as the Yankees were the toast of the town in this time period and had their sights set on a second World Series championship in three years. On this particular autumn evening, the home team had just taken the first game of the series in a 9-6 slugfest. The poor upstart Padres would not even manage one win in this battle.
Now how about this lesbian gag? It’s impossible to miss a young Jimmy Fallon getting that whole thing started, and it quickly turns into the dominant comedy theme of the opening scene. Naturally we covered this element at great length in our podcast episode, and if you haven’t listened already, you’d better correct that oversight posthaste!
One brief ominous note at the end: Lawless introduces Elliott Smith as the night’s musical performer, and here’s where the look back in time takes a bit of a dark turn. In somewhat mysterious circumstances, the talented-but-troubled singer-songwriter would be found dead (almost to the day) a mere five years later. Our very own Brian Vaughan was a big fan. Let’s pour one out in tribute.
