[ LATEST NEWS ] 14 November, 2000 - To muddy the waters further, go to: http://www.sixsiders.com/radio/PastGuests.htm for a recent (and very excellent!) interview with Vicky Pratt. It's only available via Windows Media Player, but I think it's well worth downloading it, if you need to. But even though the interviewers seemed certain that Cleo was going to go for an hour, I thought Vicky was a little vague about Cleo's status. When quizzed about the indefinite hiatus and what month they got the news that Cleo was going for an hour, she laughed it off with a "I don't even know what month this is" line. There definitely has been some hour long eps shot (or two half-hour eps that could have been joined into one) but it seems to have most likely been shot after Jack was unofficially canned and before Cleo's hiatus was announced. I wrote to Sharon Delaney today, and asked if a second season has been signed. She said that she's gotten no update on Cleo other than it's still on indefinite hiatus. The production people I know in NZ haven't been called back to work either. Personally, I'd be expecting six or seven hour-long eps to come my way, come January. Other than that, I'm disbelieving anything until someone official comes out and say "this is definitely what's happening." But that's just me. By the way... congratulations and all the best to Vicky for her upcoming wedding. :) 11 November, 2000 - New hour long Cleo episodes! Straight from the horse's mouth... or rather, Vicky Pratt's (from her Maxim Online chat today) "Cleo is going to an hour in Jan... so far we've done six or seven of them." But more omniously, when asked whether or not we'll be seeing some of her writing efforts in the credits. "Well, that depends on Cleo's future I suppose..." I don't mean to be a pessimist, but CLEO hasn't been called back into production in NZ. These six or seven eps were most likely shot in the time that JACK was unofficially canned and before the CLEO hiatus was announced. The Maxim chat was obivously intended to be a little... racy and not much was asked about Cleo (that didn't involve threesomes and chafing.) Vicky's gonna be in some upcoming conventions - in Chicago, November 26 and Long Island, December 10 - so hopefully more will be covered then, if some other official news doesn't appear first. BTW, I didn't intend to stay for the whole chat but I couldn't tear myself away... hehe, that must be the first time that someone was accused of being a 'twisted pervert' on Maxim Online (you tell 'em. :) ) The transcript is a must-read when it appears. As for the petition, as long as names keep coming in, I'll keep sending them out. The next 500 batch of names went out earlier this week. We'll keep showing support for the show, as long as CLEO's future is uncertain (and some official announcement would be nice, Studios USA!) 21 October, 2000 - When the cancellation of 'Xena: Warrior Princess' was announced earlier this week, The Hollywood Reporter published this article (I've bolded the relevant parts concerning 'Cleopatra 2525.') As you can see, it's not much and very vague but the news has spread to all the news and major scifi sites that Cleo will be coming back with one hour episodes. The problem is that production has *not* began on new episodes of Cleo, from info that we have at the moment. Sharon Delaney from Creation (who is the president for the Official Xena Fanclub and first distributed the news online that X:WP had been cancelled) has said that there's still no word on Cleo being renewed for a second season. The NZ production crew still hasn't been called back to work, and many have already moved on to new projects. In NZ, they're treating the show as definitely being cancelled. Right now, it looks like what'll happen in January is that 'Jack of All Trades' will be scrapped and Cleo will return in back-to-back repeats. So keep supporting the show, and hopefully Cleo'll return to production sometime soon. I'll keep you updated with any other news that happens. As for the petition... we're over 1300 names. Even with the latest news, we'll keep sending everyones' comments to the relevant people, to show that we support the show. Thanks must go to Chrissys.com and scifi.ign.com for supporting the petition. Many thanks also to all the Cleo-related sites around that has linked to the petition. 15 October, 2000 - Just a quick update... the 'Save Cleopatra 2525' petition has topped 1000 names! Many (many!) thanks must go to RainaRose, who not only mailed off copies of the 35-page 1000-name petition to 4 different addresses but also took the trouble to decorate the envelopes with 'Save Cleo' stickers and graphics, and bound the pages of the petition to the most important address in a very professional looking folder. Thanks must also go to websites like Speculative Vision, ScifiWire (again!) and EON for posting petition newbites and alerting other fans to the fan campaign and the show's current status. No other news has yet been released on what is happening with Cleo for next season. We're now sitting on 1150 signatures, and will keep the names going out to TPTB as they keep coming in. So (repeat after me) please keep signing and spreading the word. Because I found this funny... this is a 'Slogans For The Cleo2525 Petition' posted by XenaBird and LMRS on the Studios USA msg boards: [by XenaBird] Top Ten Slogans For The Cleo2525 Petition 10. 'Sign The Petition or Cleo Will Scream In Your Ear.' 9. 'And What Would You Replace It With? Xena And Gabrielle's Greatest Hits?' 8. 'You'll Sign It If You Know What's Good For You.' 7. Cleo saying, 'Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease?' 6. 'There is no number 6 in the Xenaverse. And, because I'm boss, that applies here, too' 5. 'Do You Really Want To Be Forced To Watch Baywatch: Hawaii Instead?' 4. 'Two Words: Death Threats' 3. 'If We Sent A Troop Of Betrayers Over To Your House To Shove Their Gun Thingies In Your Face, Would Ya Sign It? Huh? Huh?' 2. 'If You Don't Sign The Petition, Come 2525, You'll Regret It.' 1. Sarge and Hel saying, 'Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease?' [by LMRS] Please sign it, Zagar and Evans need the royalty checks. You got something against well endowed chicks with bare midriffs? Cleo's mom saying, "Please sign it, Sweetie." There are poor struggling Bailies out there who need the employment. We'll all be forced to work for a program with Gene Roddenberry's name tacked on to the title. Cleo will never do a strip tease again. Do you really want that? 3 October, 2000 - Thanks to everyone who signed the petition so far. The first lot of signatures went out last week, and the next batch should be going out in the next few days. Thanks a lot also to RainaRose for helping to post the petition to the relevant people. At last count, we're nearly on 600 names - please keep signing and spreading the word around! In the news, there's another mention of the petition by scifi media, this time by ScifiWire: Fandom. The petition also usually makes PetitionOnline.com's list of 25 Most Popular petitions. A bewildering article appeared about the 'Back2Back Action Hour' in the Hollywood Reporter last week... Studio USA claims that they're still 'committed' to Back2Back, yet JoaT is as-good-as officially dead and Cleo's survival looks to be hanging on a thread. But I guess this is official confirmation that RenPics still has the second hour from the stations - whether they replace the Back2Back Action Hour with 1 hour of Cleo, or with entirely different shows, remains to be seen. You can read the rest of the article by clicking here. But if we need notice that people involved with Cleo *do* appreciate everyone's efforts... Carl Ellsworth (an episode writer for Cleo, and also for Xena and Buffy... that's impeccable pedigree right there :) ) posted the following message on the Studio USA msg boards: I'm not really a power that is, but just wanted to let you know that we DO APPRECIATE the fans, especially all you guys working so hard to save Cleo. All I can tell you is, keep watching the show, tell everyone you know to check out the new episodes because they're all great, and maybe, just maybe, we'll get enough boost in the numbers to make the real PTB's reconsider their decision to put Cleo on "indefinite hiatus". Thanks again, and keep the boards hot! Carl Ellsworth 25 September, 2000 - At last count, the petition is topping 150 signatures. I'll be sending the first batch of names out to Studios USA and RenPics this week. We also scored a mention on Cinescape Insider News This is general news on Cleo, from an article in the NZ Herald dated the 26th of September: "American production company Pacific Renaissance, which makes Xena: Warrior Princess in West Auckland, recently announced an indefinite hiatus on shooting the fantasy series Cleopatra 2525. It is widely expected the company will pull out of New Zealand next March when Xena completes its current series." 23 September, 2000 - The petition to "Save Cleopatra 2525" was started up. Please sign and spread the word! It's time to get that "Save Cleo" campaign into high gear. A message via Bruce Campbell's official website states that "Jack of All Trades" has been cancelled. A moment of silence for Cleo's fallen brother. :( 14 September, 2000 - Official word is released about Cleo's "indefinite hiatus" and de facto cancellation. [ CREDIT AND NOTABLE MENTIONS ] Aida has a 'Save Cleo' page up at her site: www.xenawp.com RainaRose also has a 'Save Cleo' page up at her site. Most fan movement about the axing of Cleopatra 2525 seems to be taking place at the official message boards at the Studios USA site. Thanks to Eradicator of the Underground Movement for the "Let's Take Back the Surface" motto.