Gina Torres (Nebula)

Gina Torres strode bravely into her first convention appearance. "Wow, this isn't a bad place for a girl from the Bronx to end up!" she exclaimed as she checked out the size of the crowd cheering for her.

Gina auditioned for Hercules without ever having seen the show, then almost immediately afterward, turned on the television set and saw an episode go by. After getting one good look at Kevin Sorbo, she purred, "You and me... New Zealand... bet."

Nebula is set to be in at least two more episodes of Hercules.

Gina has done a lot of other work, including Broadway, and closed out her session by singing a song from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory in a gorgeous voice.

Paul Robert Coyle (producer/writer)

(Apologies: None of my pictures of Paul came out well, mostly thanks to a head in front of me.)

(Spoiler alert! Lots of episode tidbits ahead!)

Paul Robert Coyle didn't have such an easy time of it during his appearance. He started things out on a rough note by announcing that Hercules and Xena have been moved to less favorable timeslots in Los Angeles - I'm still not sure why he started things out on a downer like that.

Paul declared that this week's episode spelled the absolute end of the Dahak arc and that he was very glad for it, and said that Hercules would return now to a more adventure-oriented, less dramatic series.

Paul took a number of pointed questions about Iolaus from people who were unhappy about his death. Paul didn't have much to tell them except "Sorry 'bout that."

After that, Paul fielded (and volunteered) a ton of information and questions about upcoming episodes, mostly about who we'll be seeing in the weeks to come. News for upcoming episodes:

Hercules

A Stranger in a Strange World sequel is coming called Stranger and Stranger. Nebula will be an empress in the alternate universe, and Hercules will be impersonating the sovereign.

Ephiny will appear in Hercules next week as a semi-sidekick for Hercules.

Aphrodite gets to do battle with Discord in an upcoming episode.

There might be one more episode in the works for the "Yes Virginia, There is a Hercules"/modern day L.A./HercStaff series.

Morrigan will be in a couple more episodes.

Xena

Salmoneus will be in two upcoming episodes of Xena.

Caesar is already planned for another episode of Xena.

Xena might be planning another musical. (I'll believe that one when I see it.)

Melinda Clarke, the woman who played Velasca, was briefly available when her Soldiers of Fortune show was canceled, but has already moved on to another project. Paul said they'd love to bring back Velasca for more, but haven't had any chance to get Melinda.

No plot crossovers are being planned between Herc and Xena. Characters may make appearances in one or the other, but the plot lines are going to stay totally distinct for the time being.

Bruce Campbell is phasing out of acting in favor of directing - according to Paul, we won't be seeing Autolycus much at all any more.

Hudson Leick is making a couple of movies and doing great. The Renaissance folks would love to continue to work with her, but Paul said her stock's risen so high they probably couldn't afford her even if she had the time. Good news for Hudson, sad news for the shows.

The series pilot for Amazon High will be up for sale again at NAPTE next week - he says the project is still not dead.

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