"Really, when you think about it, television has changed my life," says the veteran film and TV producer who first hired Lucy
Lawless for the role of "Xena" -- and later married her. "I now have a beautiful wife and a beautiful son, two successful shows,
two more shows coming and unlimited possibilities." The success of the two programs has given Tapert and partner Sam Raimi's
Renaissance Pictures an entrance to TV stations around the country and around the world. The good name they have established
as producers of action films now helps sell shows, and in fact, was a big reason why many stations have decided to give their
upcoming "Back 2 Back Action" hour -- a coupling of two shows, 'Jack of All Trades" (starring longtime friend and frequent
"Xena" guest-star Bruce Campbell) and "Cleopatra: 2525" -- a chance to fill the rather large shoes vacated when production on
"Hercules" concluded earlier this year. Tapert is currently entrenched in putting those two new half-hour action shows together in
time for their premieres later this month.
"I love to produce movies, to produce entertainment, that I have had this opportunity to feel creatively in charge of something and to have brought something so good to the screen," he says. "It's all one can really hope for in this business." Tapert is involved in other projects too, he says, but not all of them on screen. He and Lawless split their time between homes in Los Angeles and New Zealand where the show is shot, and last year they added a bouncing baby boy to the family.
"Rob doesn't like doing movies. He loves TV," observes Lawless of her husband's career inclinations. 'The thing about movies is that you get one shot one opening weekend, and if you don't do good numbers your movie is toast. And you've worked on it for two years. Rob loves having that hole in the schedule to fill up every week He enjoys the challenge." "It's all a series of steps and I'm very grateful," Tapert says of the show's success as well as his own. "I've always liked television, and I'm glad we are able to do such good work in it."
"That's what interested Rob," says Stewart, looking back at the time five years ago when he hooked up with Tapert and
Renaissance Pictures. "This was my first full-scale plunge into the genre. Xena had appeared as a villain on 'Hercules,' and they
had put together a reel and sent it to me. I saw Lucy and thought, 'She's cool. Why not take a shot at the pilot?' It was difficult to
take this very dark character and add some light, but that was part of the challenge and it became a part of the richness."
Now, five years later, he still enjoys the experience tremendously.
"You know, you go on a show like this and you don't expect it to be such an astounding success, so it has been a very pleasant surprise," he says. "My favorite part of the show is the relationships, but when I talk to people out there they say they love the mythological aspects of the show. I enjoy using the mythology, too. And, to tell you the truth, after five seasons on the air, we even now sometimes create our own mythos. That's also very fun."
Stewart thinks the show has reached its 100th episode milestone because of the dedication and perseverance of the cast and crew, who are all willing to go that extra mile to make "Xena" sizzle.
"Everyone with the show since the beginning really loved it, and we still do. Lots of competitors love the idea of getting good ratings, but we love the show. We all love it and care about it, and think it's something special," Stewart insists. 'The fact of the matter is that we are all passionate about every detail and that, I think, is one of the reasons we are head and shoulders above the competition. Unlike on so many programs, we truly care about what we do."
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