Hercules: The Legendary Journeys -- 3 Season
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Mercenary

 

   

The episode bears a strong resemblance to movie "Tremors" (1990, working title "Land Sharks") in which small desert town become a dinner table for the 4 Graboids. Underground worm-like creatures that measure 30 foot long can 'pop up' without warning, reacting on any sound. Trapped in their town, the town-folk are eaten up one by one. The only obstacle for the Graboids happens to be hard boulders and rock. Before people can get to mountain range they have to learn to act jointly in order to survive.

 
   
Kevin Sorbo: My favorite episode, that is tough. One would be "Mercenary", I enjoy that darker side. ((07).97 On-line Chat AOL Live Olds Celebrity Circle)  
   
Robert Tapert (producer): We also want to do more dramatic stories so Kevin has the chance to do a few more things, because he's really a fine actor. We also must utilize Michael's talents more. They both have tremendous range, and Michael will direct an episode, where in battling a really tough foe, Hercules gets hurt. (09.96 SFX #1)  
   

This season Hurst struts his stuff by directing the series' premiere episode, an unusually dark story called "The Mercenary." In it, a severely wounded and weakened Herc is stranded on a sandy island with a cutthroat criminal Derk for his companion as they're chased by ghoulish pirates and giant flesh-eating sand rays. Hurst does not appear but does voice the ferocious tones of the bald-headed pirate. Listen for the epic line, "Tracks, fresh tracks!" Michael Hurst: "I had hoped to do an Alfred Hitchcock (brief cameo appearance) in this, but there was no time." (05.10.96 Orange County Register)

 
   
Sandrays are stingray-like creatures. They slither underneath a desert area that our hero wanders with a mercenary he's towing in to face a murder charge in this episode, which is more somber than most of the fun-loving segments that mark this mostly cheery, sometimes cheesy syndicated hit. (08.10.96 Chicago Tribune)  
   
 
   
Q: Have there been any really funny bloopers? -- Kevin Sorbo: Oh, there's bloopers all the time. Michael just finished directing his first show. It's called "Mercenary". I have this shell filled with fat from an animal that I had to kill because I was hungry and I had to eat. I let the fat drip into the shell. I'm smearing the fat on tree limbs. The bad guy has this ability, like Xena, to pop around and land on trees and be very acrobatic. I'm trying to protect myself. I'm trying to set up booby traps around my campsite so I can at least hear him coming. I come upon a tree that comes out of the ground in a "V". I walk in there with this oil and I started rubbing it between the V shape. I'm doing this and my mind starts thinking about it and I just lost it and the whole crew cracked up. Everybody kept a straight face until I lost it. It looked like I was getting ready for some sexual position at a mazola margarine convention. I'm wondering if they could put it on bloopers. It was funny. They printed it. I went back three more times and couldn't do it. (06.96 Sorbo answering for H:TLJ's Forum)  
   

Michael Hurst (director): It wasn't so much a learning curve for me as a learning perpendicular. It's a darker, more serious episode, and I was very comfortable getting performances out of people. I really had to put my money where my mouth was and trust that my vision would work on-screen. I was delighted that the action sequences especially worked out really well. This show can bear a lot of extreme, slapstick, over-the-top comedy, but it can also bear the more tragic or serious aspects. In fact, 'Mercenary', has almost no humour in it at all. It's a really serious episode... Hercules gets his arm smashed up right at the start, so he's carrying a major injury the whole episode. That was another highlight for me, not just from the directing point of view, but seeing Kevin move into an area where I saw the kind of real action star in him. (12.96 SFX #19)

 
   
Kevin Sorbo: It was gritty and it was dirty. And I had scenes with Jeremy Roberts, the wonderful actor who played Derk. I would like to work with more actors like him, and more storylines like this. I think that the humor in the show is fun. <...> But, man, do I like something to sink my teeth into! And Michael is a great director. We know each other well, so it was very comfortable working with him. (Episodeguides.com)  
   
Michael Hurst: It was a dream directing Kevin. <...> I said to Kevin right at the beginning, I don't want the usual flip tone. I want to get some really gutsy stuff happening. And those guys all worked hard. I was in their faces a lot, you know, and Kevin loved it, and responded really well. (Episodeguides.com)  
   
Q: Herc steals a boat and leaves two bad guys to die on an island with no potable water. Do you think that this behaviour was out of character or was it just a manifestation of Herc's new "darker" side? -- Kevin Sorbo: Michael [Hurst] and I both asked that question, that is something you should ask the writers. We bring that up all the time, some of these that don't make sense, but we are basically told to say the words. We do what we can do. I think the writers are great for our shows but in plotlines... but it is the nature of the beast. ((07).97 On-line Chat AOL Live Olds Celebrity Circle)
 
   

Robert Bielak (writer): Its a ballsy episode, like the movie "Hell in the Pacific", but with a Herculean twist to it, including the monsters and the pirates, but basically it's about these two enemies who realize they're not going to get off this island alive unless they help each other. (12.97 Legendary Heroes - Starlog special)

 
   

Kevin Sorbo: It's not my absolute favorite, but I'd put it in my top ten. It's probably my favorite episode of this season. The writing was great and it was fun to do a darker episode from an actor's standpoint. It was fun to play a tortured character, he's fun and heroic, but he's also doing the right thing. It was Michael Hurst's directorial debut and it's a different type of episode. (03.04 dvd/authority online article)

 
   

Kevin Sorbo: It was a grueling shoot. It was very physical. It was pretty much myself and one other actor, Jeremy Roberts, and we played this chain-gang type of thing where he was a mercenary and we were basically tied up to each other. I remember how exhausting was shooting it. It was a hot summer day, I think we shot it in January or February, which is summertime down in New Zealand. I could taste the sand in my mouth. I really loved that episode, I loved the way Michael directed it. (30.03.04 TheManRoom online)

 
   
Episode disclaimer: No flesh-eating sandrays were harmed during the production of this motion picture.
 
 
Doomsday

 

   
Kevin Sorbo: My favorite episode, that is tough. One would be "Doomsday", I don't know why. ((07).97 On-line Chat AOL Live Olds Celebrity Circle)  
   
There is very funny blooper of Kevin seeing this huge, clumsy metal warrior-machine slowly clumping along and turning back to the camera with a hysterical "I'm SOOOO afraid!" gesture.
 
   
Episode disclaimer: No Silly Nutty was harmed during the production of this motion picture. However, quite a few filberts and cashews sacrificed their lives in the name of progress.
 
 
Love Takes a Holiday

 

Working title - "Beauty and the Beast"
 
   

Michael Hurst: Kevin isn't in the episode we've just finished shooting - "Beauty and the Beast" - at all. It's been great to explore that action hero thing, but, of course, because I'm Iolaus, I can't do the things Hercules does, so it's a little more quirky. (12.96 SFX #19)

 
   
Alexandra Tydings: "Love Takes a Holiday" was a blast because I got to do different stuff - to sort of use my kick boxing. (08.98 Starlog #253)  
   
Alexandra Tydings: I got to have an archery lesson, because I got to shoot those arrows when I was trying to take over Artemis's job. I love that kind of thing. It's my ideal job because it's where I can do the one thing I'm able to do, and do as many things as possible that are different! It is so much fun to do Aphrodite and failing miserably!" She laughs at the memory of the 'hot-pants' version of Kevin Sorbo's costume. "Those guys in the costume department are just so great. I really wanted them - I don't know if they did it or not - I really wanted them to take my little Kevin outfit and hang it in his trailer, so when he came in to work in the morning, he'd have this to try and wear! "That's a little small..." (07.99 Xpose #36)  
   
Episode disclaimer: No metal panthers were tarnished during the production of this motion picture. When polishing your metal animals, remember to use salt and lemon.
 
 
Mummy Dearest

 

Originally broadcast just in time for Halloween
 
   

Robert Trebor: I'm in the Halloween special called "Mummy Dearest", where Salmoneus creates a house of horrors. (02.97 Starlog #235)

 
   
Episode disclaimer: Any similarity beween our Mummy and the foot-draging classic we all know and love is purely intentional.
 
 
Not Fade Away

 

   
Karen Sheperd (Enforcer): I wanted to make it apparent to the audience that The Enforcer was going through a transition, as opposed to all of a sudden having her be a good guy for no apparent reason. I wanted the episode to show a sort of discovery and learning period for her so that she truly understands what good is and redeems herself before she dies (again). After reading the script, I realized that the death scene was coming up flat. It was written that The Enforcer just died in the battle against Enforcer II. I truly loved this character and had such fun playing her that I wanted her to go out in a blaze of glory. I wanted her death to mean something relative to the story and to Hercules. My husband came up with the idea of tying in the scene where The Enforcer discovers tears (Hercules' mother crying) with the death scene by finally understanding that "sometimes people cry when they are happy". My husband, Joe, mostly wrote the scene. <...> I think it added more meaning to the story throughout. The way Kevin played it made the scene very touching and served to flatter his character as well. (03.02 "Lucy In The Sky" magazine, Sweden)
   
By the second episode [with Enforcer], ''Not Fade Away", the director T.J. Scott was writing in a variety of extra things based upon Karen's movements and what she had created. Karen Sheperd (Enforcer): "Then the people in the sound department put this cool sound effect in. Every time I would move my head that would make this water sloshing kind of noise. It was fun to be involved with something like that from the ground floor and the producers of the show are so great, so open minded about anybody bringing great ideas to the show as a team. There were no attitudes and in fact my husband wrote my death scene and they loved it!<...> That's what was part of the success of the show and everybody was that way on that crew including Kevin Sorbo. Very open minded, very easy to work with." (before 09.00 Behind The Scenes)  
   

Although Hurst enjoys the comedic moments of H:TLJ, he says the more intense the drama, the better. "We recently did a sequel to 'The Enforcer', where Iolaus is killed and Hercules has to deal with it, and I think there's a move now to create more of these dramatic situations." (12.96 SFX #19)

   
Episode disclaimer: No bootie-kicking, chop-socking she-monsters from Tartarus were harmed during the production of this motion picture. If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the temple!
 
 
Monster-Child in the Promised Land

 

   
Vance Hartwell (specialist in makeup effects): "We'd get between 2-4 weeks to make the stuff and then we'd fly up and shoot it. <…> One day I was on the set, puppeteering Obie, which was a little, squid-like creature. It was supposed to be play wrestling with Kevin. He was laying on the ground on his back. I was laying between his legs with my arm up under his shirt. My hand came out the top of his shirt and into the puppet. He was holding the puppet, pretending to wrestle it while I wrestled back and made it lick his face. He couldn't believe the position we were in. Neither could I." (Latex Mask Central)  
   
 
   
Episode disclaimer: Out of respect for baby Obie, no calamari was served to the cast and crew during the production of this motion picture.
 
 
The Green-Eyed Monster

 

   

The title of the episode (as well as the part of the plot) has roots in the famous passage from Shakespeare's "Othello". Act 3, scene 3. Iago: "O, beware, my lord, of jealousy; It is the green-eyed monster which does mock The meat it feeds on."

 
   
Susan Ward (Psyche): I really enjoyed working with Kevin Sorbo. He's an incredible person. He was very kind and generous to me and made me feel welcome. (08.09.97 Chat)  
   
Episode disclaimer: No goats were harmed during the production of this motion picture.
 
 
Prince Hercules

 

   

Bit of information which has nothing to do with the episode: Prince Hercules I (1562-1604) ruled the Lordship of Monaco in the House of Grimaldi.

 
   

TTV: Is Hercules going to get some new clothes this season? -- Kevin Sorbo: (laughs) Hey, I get new clothes. Actually I get amnesia and I think I'm a prince. I get to wear some pretty fine duds, let me tell ya. I'm pretty happy about it. ((12).11.96 Total TV mag)

 
   

Robert Bielak (writer): We're always trying to find a good reason to dress Kevin up differently, let him do different character stuff than he's doing every week. It's such a black-and-white show, and he plays such a hero without any foibles or faults that whenever we get a chance to get him out of that mode, he likes it, we like it and the audience likes it too. (12.97 Legendary Heroes - Starlog special)

 
   
Kevin Sorbo: Sam Jenkins is the actress. -- TVG: And this is your real-life girlfriend? -- KS: (coyly) Isn't that interesting? I met her on episode, in which I get amnesia. She played a princess. (01.02.97 TV Guide)  
   

Sam [Jenkins]-Sorbo: I played a princess. -- Kevin: I played a prince. Herc had amnesia in that episode, so… -- Q: And did you treat her like a princess? -- Kevin: I sure did. -- Sam: Absolutely! (09.01.01 WarnerBrothers.com)

 
   

"Hercules Unchained" (1959, aka "Hercules and the Queen of Lydia") = While plying between the two armed camps of Polynices and Eteocles, Hercules incautiously drinks from a spelled spring and is deprived of his memory. The Lydian queen Omphale, who is accustomed to take amnesiac males as lovers, only to have them killed later, takes Hercules. Now it comes to his friend Ulysses to figure out how to keep himself alive, to revive Hercules' memory and get them out of Omphale's palace.

   
Sitcom "I Love Lucy" -- Episode "Lucy's Italian Movie" (1956) has the classic scene of grape-stomping Lucy. = Making stay in Italy, Lucy is offered a role in Italian movie. She decides to learn how to crush grapes in the traditional Italian fashion - with her feet. She has a messy fight with a local woman inside the large vat of pressed berries and juice. Lucy returns to Rome all coloured purple...
   
Episode disclaimer: Iolaus was not harmed or permanently stained in the production of this motion picture. In fact, thanks to the miracle of sandblasting, his skin was restored to its original color and lustrous sheen.
 
 
A Star to Guide Them

 

   

Three Wise Men (Hercules does not count) had a star to guide them... on the eve of the Winter Solstice.

 
   

Robert Tapert (producer): "Hercules" is going to do very special Christmas story... I don't think we'll actually have a Christ character. <...> Think of it as three guys, who are kind of nutballs, following some star - ancient motorcycle riders on their camels - following a star and some special message they have. (09.96 SFX)

 
   
John Schulian (writer): It's our version of getting Mary and Joseph a room in the stable, as much as we can do without people calling us sacrilegious. (12.96 SFX #19)  
   
Episode disclaimer: No unnamed baby of any biblical and mythological importance was harmed during the production of this motion picture.
 
 
Lady and the Dragon

 

   
"Flat Earth Top 10 Special Effects" -- "The design of Braxis was one of those rare moments when enough time was allocated to come up with a solid design that had all of the bugs worked out," explains Paul Herndon. "All departments - from full scene prosthetics to CGI - did a really great job in interpreting the design. Also, the writers gave the character a major part in the story." Adds Bryan Blevins: "The most complex creature we've ever done... too bad the voice sucked." (Winter 1998 Herc/Xena Yearbook)  
   
Both Kevin and Michael expressed concern over, but they were ignored. The savage creature, who has killed warrior and after warrior, speaks in the voice of a cute little kid. It just seemed totally incongruous. (Based on "Hercules, the Legendary Journeys: The Offical Companion", 1998)
 
   
 
Measuring off distance (left) and light (right)
Click to open little video (no sound, sorry) - zipped
 
         
 
 
 
 
Working and behind-the-scenes moments
 
   
Episode disclaimer: No Fire-breathing, Pre-pubescent, Slightly Sinister dragons were harmed during the production of this motion picture.
 
 
Long Live the King

 

   

Michael Hurst: We're doing a sequel to "King for a Day", so I'm going to be playing two characters again, which I'm looking forward to immensely. We're calling it 'Hercules Lite', because Kevin is only in two or three scenes. I've enjoyed it a lot, although I miss Kevin, I must say. (12.96 SFX #19)

 
   
Episode disclaimer: No stags were bagged during the production of this motion picture.
 
 
Surprise

 

   

Callisto: Nice pants.

Q: Is Hercules going to get some new clothes this season? -- Kevin Sorbo: This is a question people ask all the time, fans ask all the time. And, really, what it comes down to is that it's product recognition. You see Superman in his cape. And this is my cape in a way. An episode we're doing right now is a surprise birthday party for Hercules and one of the presents he gets (laughs) is a new pair of pants. It's very funny. He opens it up and says, "Oh, nice pants." It's a very funny bit to play. I think the audience will really get a kick out of it. ((12).11.96 Total TV mag)

 
   

Q: When you're fighting have you ever actually hit someone? -- Hudson Leick (Callisto): Yeah, I hit Kevin Sorbo a lot. And he didn't even feel it. I swear. He didn't feel anything, nothing. And it hurt me so much. And I'd be kicking him and he's like a brick wall. (05.97 Sacramento convention)

 
   
Hudson Leick (Callisto) said that it was her idea to kiss Hercules before she struck him in middle section. She asked Kevin "Can I kiss you?" He answered "With tongue?" She said "No, not with the tongue." (10.97 Valley Forge Convention)  
   

Hudson Leick (Callisto): With Kevin, I felt like I didn't know what I could do to get his attention. Everything I did, as Callisto, I wanted a reaction from him. It was really frustrating, because he didn't give me that. It's funny, because when I watch the show, I'm really "out there". I yell a lot and hiss. <...> My character was written so sassy that I think Kevin felt it took away from the hero. There's a point where I'm supposed to whack him, and he wouldn't let me do it. He said "Oh, come on, I'd catch her." I don't know, I think it would be far more interesting if he had let that go. There would be more interaction. Not that I don't think Hercules could stop her from bapping him, but just for the drama. I don't think Kevin wanted an opponent too equal to him. (11.97 Whoosh!)

 
   
Information for those who want to correlate story with "Xena: Warrior Princess" -- at the beginning of this episode Callisto escapes from Tartarus (where she was in X:WP), and by the end Hercules traps her in the labyrinth of the gods (from which Xena releases her later in X:WP).  
   
Episode disclaimer: Herc's party pants were not harmed during the production of this motion picture.
 
 
Encounter

 

   

Kevin Sorbo: She's a golden hind. (Laughs) It's such a funny name for it. We've done centaurs before, the half-horses, but this particular makeup and prosthetics job looks much more real than those. (01.02.97 TV Guide)

 
   
Kevin Smith: Technically, whereas Mars is the god of war, Ares is the god of the battle lust of mankind. It's subtly different. He instills people with the will, the need, and the love of fighting. It might seem a question of semantics, but there is a difference. He can play people, which is nice. -- Q: Watching you and Strife - actor Joel Tobeck - together is just hilarious. Ares' patience really wears thin! -- Kevin Smith: It's kind of funny, because he's one of my best mates. He's quite a bit younger than me, so there's this similar kind of dynamic. Not that he's an idiot like Strife. (06.01 Spectrum #26)
 
   
Episode disclaimer: The Golden Hind was not harmed during the production of this motion picture. To order a Hind of your own call 1-800-555-HIND.
 
 
When a Man Loves Woman

 

   
The episode's title seems to come from a song by Percy Sledge "When A Man Loves Woman": "When a man loves a woman, can't keep his mind on nothing else. He'd change the world for the good thing he's found."  
   
 
Between the shots
 
   
Q: After all Hercules' protestations of love beyond the grave to Deianeira - how did you feel about the scene where Herc informs her that he has another love? Did you mean for him to seem a little guilty and cold? -- Kevin Sorbo: I had a tough time with that scene because in all honesty, I didn't feel it was necessary to shoot it. That statement will get me in trouble with the writers and producers probably, but I felt the whole issue of Deianeira should have been done, gone and over with. So, I don't think we were able to work the scene in a proper way because I don't think it was addressed properly. That scene didn't work for me and if it came across cold then that is my fault, I apologize for that because it certainly wasn't meant to be played that way. ((07).97 On-line Chat Olds Celebrity Circle)
 
   
Episode disclaimer: Hercules' strength was not harmed during the production of this motion picture. In fact, Ares is storing it in a cryogenic freezer bag in the Olympian meat locker.
 
 
Judgement Day

 

   
Kevin Sorbo: My favorite episode, that is tough. One would be "Judgement Day". ((07).97 On-line Chat AOL Live Olds Celebrity Circle)  
   

Robert Bielak (writer): It's an interesting dilemma. If he really loves her, he has to give up his powers, and now he's just like everybody else and must deal with that. He still has his heart, which gets him in trouble because he doesn't have the powers to back him up. He's a big guy and can take care of himself, but without that extra power, he runs into harm's way without realizing it. We had some fun with that, and again, it gives Kevin something different to deal with. (12.97 Legendary Heroes - Starlog special)

 
   
Kevin Sorbo: It's a three-part show, so we fall in love, get married, and… stuff happens. All's not going to be well. The gods say, number one, we're going to make her 100 percent mortal. And number two, you lose your powers. And Herc becomes a mere mortal. He doesn't have the strength of a thousand men anymore, just the strength of a guy who's 6'3", 215 pounds. (01.02.97 TV Guide)  
   

"Triumph Of Hercules" (1964, aka "Hercules and the Ten Avengers") = The super-strong demigod has serious trouble defeating sorceress and her giant bronze warriors as Zeus stripped Hercules of his powers.

 
   
Xena's dirge was composed (and performed) by Lucy Lawless herself. It was meant to sound like Hebrew, but is in fact nonsenses.  
   

"Judgment Day" -- an important point in the life of everyone's favourite god-hunk. A superb performance from Kevin Sorbo shows the pain and loss Hercules feels once again, more so considering he is being led to believe he murdered Serena and can't cope with the guilt.
A brilliant example of the kind of man Hercules is, even going up against Ares with no powers, this is a powerful emotional drama featuring guest appearances from Xena and Gabrielle and some sterling support from Michael Hurst as Iolaus, trying to help his friend as best he can. (06.00 Cult Times #57)

 
   
Episode disclaimer: No family values were harmed during the production of this Blood Lite Motion Picture.
 
 
Lost City

 

   
Episode disclaimer: No Hippy-dippy, Substance abusing, 60's Reject Love Children were harmed during the production of this motion picture.
 
 
Les Contempibles

 

   

There is a lot of, ahem, inspirations for this episode: classical novel "Les Miserables" by Victor Hugo, multiple stories about black-masked caballero Zorro, sworn enemy of all oppressors, whose name in Spanish means "fox", and movie "The Black Tulip" with Alain Delon.

 
   
Q: Have you had any training for the show? -- Robert Trebor: Yeah, for the French episode. I had two weeks of swordfighting and it turned out pretty well. A bit of my fighting is left in the episode. The Peter Bell team - New Zealand Martial arts group - worked with me and in college I had some training. (20.10.98 Real Hollywood chat)  
   
Danielle Cormack (Marie DeValle--Chartreuse Fox): It was great fun to work with Michael Hurst and Kevin Sorbo. It was the first time I had worked with Kevin and Michael, and I just wreaked havoc on the set. I got to be so over the top! I really liked how my accent on the first day we shot (keeping in mind we shoot out of sequence) sounded really German and then I manage to morph into French. I was actually very multi-lingual that day. (05.06.97 Whoosh!)  
   

Robert: One for all, and all for Marie! <...> -- Jean-Pierre: So, what are we going to call ourselves? -- <...> -- Francois: The four muskrats!

"The Three musketeeres" by Alexandre Dumas. A sure shot.

 
   
Q: What was your favorite character? -- Kevin Sorbo: There was a flashback episode, where Michael and I both played bumbling French thiefs. That was my all time favorite episode. That character. I had a blast doing it. (21.04.01 Denver convention)  
   

Kevin Sorbo: "Les Contempibles" was set in 18th century France, and it was just goofball (laughs) but it was so much fun. (30.03.04 TheManRoom online article)

 
   
Kevin Sorbo: We had all bad French accents and we were all in the future for that show, so we had a flashback of what Hercules really was. Cormack guest starred on it, she played The Chartreuse Fox. It was fun. (03.04 Phone Call Conversation, formerly on Apollo's Temple site)  
   
Episode disclaimer: The french accents depicted in this motion picture are entirely fictitious. Any similarity to actual accents, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Vive La Revolution!
 
 
Reign of Terror

 

   

"Reign of Terror" is usual name for the specific period of the French Revolution (1793–94), characterized by a wave of executions of presumed enemies of the state. 'Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite' quickly descended...

 
   

Robert Trebor: Salmoneus was actually a mythical character. He was one of the biggest jerks in all of mythology - thought he was more important than Zeus. And, "The Reign of Terror" is the Salmoneus story, rode around in a chariot and threw bricks at people, so Zeus sent him to the lowest section of hell. (20.10.98 Real Hollywood chat)

 
   
Episode disclaimer: The Sheep's political and cultural indepedence was restored after the production of this motion picture. Run Free Ewe Wildebeast!
 
 
End of the Beginning

 

   
Paul Robert Coyle (writer): Originally I had the [Cronus] stone fall into the hands of a villain who used it to bring weapons from the future back to use against Hercules. He brought back a machine gun, even a tank. I did a full draft of that story, which was much more sci-fi since although it didn't involve Herc going to the future, it involved weapons from the future. The executives at Universal said, "We don't want to cross that line with "Hercules". We don't want guns on the show." Then I went from slapstick comedy with the two Autolycii to a dramatic story involving Hercules, the woman he loved, and Ares. I had fun with it and was very happy with the results there too. (19.02.99 Whoosh!)  
   
Kevin Smith: We were watching it -- Kev [Kevin Sorbo] and I -- and the fight at the end was suddenly very interesting because Herc and Ares are sort of an even match in powers and so there was a risk element for Hercules in this fight. Essentially, he's smacking guys all around the place. But there was an actual dramatic tension to it. There were stakes. Something was at stake which made it that much more riveting. (07.97 Whoosh!)
 
   
Episode disclaimer: Neither the time-space continuum nor any previous storylines were harmed during the production of this motion picture.
 
 
War Bride

 

   

Kevin Sorbo: It's an interesting story. I'm leading this princess across the country, and she's supposed to get married to this king, but she doesn't want to. And basically the show goes from Disneyland to "Blade Runner" in a hurry! It turns into a war between these two kingdoms, and there's a lot of people that want to keep the war going. So there's a lot of things that are done to undermine the wedding: there's a kidnapping, there's a new weapon that's introduced that's pretty violent in terms of the destruction it can cause on villages. And Herc has to come in and save the day. The first half is a lot of fun; there's a lot of good comedy. The second half turns into a full-on war.

Q: How did you get involved in directing?
KS: I hinted at it a couple times. And I may not be qualified to direct; actually, I'm probably not qualified to direct! But I know this show, and I think I'm qualified to direct it. I know the show, I know the beats of the show, I know the characters, I know my crew, my crew knows me, and they help me out tremendously. They give me an extra twenty percent when I'm at the director's helm. "The Apple" was an easier episode to direct than "War Bride" because I had time to get into it. This last episode I was trying to prep while shooting another Hercules, and it was tough. This was a grueling last two weeks, and I'm just beat right now! ((04).97 Net article-MrShowbiz)

 
   
 
Kevin Sorbo directing the episode
 
   
Episode disclaimer: No leather-clad, pointing-breasted, bouffant-wearing, pillow-smothering, two-faced sisters were harmed during the production of this motion picture.
 
 
A Rock and a Hard Place

 

   
The title comes from an English idiom "Stuck between a rock and a hard place".  
   
Kevin Sorbo: Robert Trebor directed this and he did a wonderful job. He should be proud of his work, because eighty-five percent of the episode is set in a cave and yet he did original things with the camera that make it really interesting to watch. I like episodes like this that feature a little more drama. Lindsay Ginter, who played the bad guy under the rock, did some amazing work. He kept his emotional level during the scene where he dies. We had to shoot so many different angles, and this guy just had tears coming out of his face all day long! (Episodeguides.com)  
   
Episode disclaimer: No convicts were squashed like a bug during the making of this motion picture.
 
 
Atlantis

 

Working title - "The Prophecy"
 
   
The episode's plotline has nothing to do with movie "Stargate" (1994), but some stuff seem to be in pooled resources - like experimental versions of Force Lance :).  
   

Film-makers have sent Hercules to Atlantis at least twice.

"Hercules Conquers Atlantis" (1961) = Hercules in Atlantis was fighting dragons, an army of identical men, and an evil Queen Antinea, who kidnapped his son Hibus.

"Conqueror of Atlantis" (1965) = Hercules sets off to find a kidnapped princess tracing her abductors to a strange castle which turn out to be Atlantis - with gold painted reanimated dead guys, evil queen and her sorcerer-scientist.
 
   
Episode disclaimer: WARNING: Crystal-waves were used during the production of this motion picture. Pregnant women should leave the room immediately.
 

 

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