Xena: Warrior Princess
The Play's the Thing
TV Flash files “The Play's the Thing” as hour 85 of 134 in the TV Flash guide — Xena: Warrior Princess (1995–2001) on Syndication, season 4, episode 17, aired 1999-03-20, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S04E17: listed hour 85 of 134 in the Xena: Warrior Princess guide, hour 17 of 22 in season 4. It aired 1999-03-20 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “The Way” (S04E16). Next is “The Convert” (S04E18).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Gabrielle unwittingly becomes a pawn in a theater scam when one of her scrolls falls into the hands of Zehra, the Queen of Cons.
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Play's the Thing sit in the Xena: Warrior Princess guide?
S04E17 is listed hour 85 of 134 — hour 17 of 22 in season 4, season 4 episode 17.
When did Xena: Warrior Princess S04E17 air?
The Play's the Thing aired 1999-03-20 and is listed at 60 minutes.
Is it a spinoff?
Yes — it spun from the Hercules: The Legendary Journeys universe, then became the bigger international fan engine.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Reformed warrior, sidekick bard, chakrams, and subtext heard around the world. Lucy Lawless and Renée O'Connor turn syndicated pulp into a feminist fan army with leather, camp, and moral rehab. Spun from the Hercules universe; villains return like soap; friendship is the real mythic bond. Global first-run swagger prestige TV still forgets how to mix.
The first useful thing *Xena: Warrior Princess* does is take pulp seriously without sanding the camp off. Reformed warrior Xena travels the ancient world righting wrongs with companion Gabrielle — combat, leather, moral rehab, and a friendship that is the real mythic bond. Lucy Lawless and Renée O'Connor turned first-run syndication (premiere September 4, 1995; six seasons through 2001) into a feminist fan army. John Schulian and Robert Tapert developed it from the *Hercules: The Legendary Journeys* universe. Ted…
Filed against
- Lucy Lawless as Xena
Lucy Lawless spun a chakram as Xena on Xena: Warrior Princess — reformed warrior, sidekick bard, subtext heard around the world, syndicated pulp turned feminist fan army. Leather, camp, moral rehab. TV Flash files her as 1990s genre…
- Renee O'Connor as Gabrielle
Renee O’Connor played Gabrielle on Xena: Warrior Princess, 1990s syndicated pulp that turned a reformed warrior, a sidekick bard, chakrams, and subtext into a feminist fan army — leather, camp, moral rehab, villains returning like soap.…
- Ted Raimi as Joxer
Ted Raimi stumbled through Xena: Warrior Princess as Joxer — reformed warrior, sidekick bard energy, chakrams and subtext heard around the world. Syndicated pulp as a feminist fan army with leather, camp, and moral rehab. TV Flash files…
- Hudson Leick as Callisto
Hudson Leick's Callisto hunted Xena: Warrior Princess as syndicated pulp's meanest return engagement — reformed warrior, sidekick bard, chakrams, subtext heard around the world. Leather, camp, moral rehab, villains who come back like…