60 "Beanstalks and Bad Eggs": "Jack And the Beanstalk" homage. Hercules and Autolycus team up to rescue the caretaker of golden Harpy eggs from the clutches of a giant living in the clouds.
Starring:
Bruce Campbell as Autolycus, King of Thieves.
61 "Hero's Heart": After suffering a severe emotional trauma, Iolaus' memory is blanked by Fortune, Goddess of Luck. He reverts to the thieving ways of his youth and runs afoul of Hercules.
Starring:
Lori Dungey as Fortune.
62 "Regrets...I've Had A Few": Featuring Young Hercules and Celesta (the embodiment of Death). When Hercules learns that his friend, Jaris, is about to die, he remembers an unfortunate incident from his youth, when a young bully he was fighting accidentally kills himself (falls on his own knife). Hercules had to return the boy's body to his father and younger brother (Jaris) and explain what happened.
Now, Jaris is Hercules' friend, and he has only one day to live. He decides to go on a bad-guy killing spree, which puts him in danger of going to Tartarus. Hercules convinces Jaris to give up revenge, and spend his last hours with his son.
NOTES: Special guest stars
Ian Bohen as Young Hercules
Dean O'Gorman as Young Iolaus
Belinda Waymouth as Celesta
63 "Web of Desire" {a.k.a. "Kiss Me Deadly"): Hercules and the crew of his ship are stranded on a strange island--with Arachne! Introducing Gina Torres as the pirate captain Nebula (you will see this material again!), and Josephine Davison as Arachne.
64 "Stranger In A Strange World": Hercules and Iolaus encounter a parallel dimension where everything is the opposite of their world...including copies of themselves!
There, Hercules is known as the Sovereign, and rules over all with an iron fist. Xena is his consort, Ares is the God of Love, and Aphrodite is the prim and proper Queen of the Gods.
Herc and Iolaus manage to trap the Sovereign in an interdimensional Limbo, along with his pendant, which contains Hinds' blood; the only thing that can kill a god. You will see this material again.
NOTES: Special guest stars:
Lucy Lawless as Xena
Alexandra Tydings as Aphrodite
Kevin Smith as Ares
and Renee O'Connor in a brief cameo as the Executioner
65 "Two Men and A Baby": Nemesis, stripped of her immortality and powers for her defiance of the gods, comes to Hercules with startling news; she is the mother of his child! But all is not what it seems; in fact, Evander is the son of Ares, God of War! Hercules is caught in the middle, and must fight his way out. NOTES: Special guest stars Kevin Smith as Ares, Meighan Desmond as Discord, and Kimberley Joseph as Nemesis.
66 "Prodigal Sister": Hercules fights members of a renegade Amazon clan to reunite Ruun (Dean O'Gorman), a blind teenager, with his sister Siri (Katrina Browne), who is now a member of the female warriors' tribe.
Special guest stars:
Danielle Cormack as Ephiny
Reece Rocewyk as Xenan, her centaur son
67 "...And Fancy Free": Hercules enters a dance contest with Althea (Willa O'Neill), a klutzy young woman in this amusing adaptaion of "Strictly Ballroom". Edith Sidebottom (a.k.a. Michael Hurst!) co-stars (in drag!) as the Widow Twanky, who teaches Herc & the girl how to dance.
NOTES: Willa O'Neill has played Lila, Gabrielle's sister, in several episodes of XWP.
68 "If I Had A Hammer": Atalanta fashions a metal statue of Hercules, pining for his love. Discord, handmaiden of Ares, brings the statue to life-- and creates several major problems.
NOTES: Atalanta has had problems with her love life, mostly stemming from her amazing musculature and stunning good looks; most guys are either intimidated or try to take advantage of her.
Special guest stars:
Cory Everson as Atalanta
Meighan Desmond as Discord.
69 "Hercules On Trial": Hercules is tried for murder when a man, inspired by Hercules, loses his life in a heroic act. The prosecution makes a compelling case, but the defense makes an amazing comeback at the end...
NOTES: "I am Hercules."
"I am Hercules!"
"I am Hercules!"
This episode assumes that most of its' viewers have seen the movie "Spartacus", in which a similar scene is staged at the end. To sum up: the gladiator-slave Spartacus, outraged by the excesses of the Roman Empire, leads a revolt against Rome. In the end, his army is defeated--but the Romans aren't sure what he looks like, so they ask him to come forward. Spartacus' soldiers respond by saying "I am Spartacus!". They are all crucified, but Spartacus' wife and son escape; they are free, and so is Hercules.
70 "Medea Culpa": Teenaged Hercules, Iolaus and Jason set out to slay the monstrous Ghidra. Along the way, they are joined by a young woman named Medea, which makes for a very interesting (and hormonal) journey. This episode is mostly flashbacks.
Starring:
Ian Bohen as Young Hercules
Dean O'Gorman as Young Iolaus
Chris Conrad as Young Jason
Jacinda Barret as Medea
71 "Men In Pink": On the run from trumped-up murder charges, Autolycus and Salmoneus disguise themselves as women and join the Widow Twanky's ("...And Fancy Free", HTLJ #67) dance troupe. In his free time, Autolycus romances Cupcake (disguising himself as a rich pastry mogul; Cupcake has quite sweet tooth), but is eventually forced to break up with her.
NOTES: Special guest stars:
Bruce Campbell as Autolycus, King of Thieves
Robert Trebor as Salmoneus
Michael Hurst as the Widow Twanky
Lacey Kohl as Cupcake.
NOTES: Autolycus: "Let's make like Zeus and bolt!"...The "hanky-panky-jiggle- wiggle"; nude dancing!...Sorry, no Hercules or Iolaus in this episode.
72 "Armageddon Now" (Part 1): Callisto's back, and Herc's got her! Special guest star Hudson Leick as Callisto. Callisto and Ares team up to free the Sovereign ("Stranger In A Strange World", HTLJ #64) from his interdimensional prison, and take his container of Hind's blood--the only thing that can kill a god. Then, they trap Hercules and the Sovereign in that prison. Then Callisto betrays Ares and joins forces with the newly reincarnated Hope (as you may recall, she was poisoned and cremated in "Maternal Instincts", XWP #57), undead daughter of Dahak and Gabrielle.
Acting on instructions from Hope, Callisto travels back in time to kill Alcmene before Hercules is born. Ares is afraid to confront her since she has the Hind's blood. Iolaus convinces Ares to send him back in time to stop Callisto.
73 "Armageddon Now" (Part 2): More Callisto! Iolaus and Alcmene race desperately to stay one step ahead of Callisto, but it ain't easy. Iolaus must take incredible risks to keep Alcmene alive.
NOTES: The Kronos Stone appears again in an alternate present ruled by "Xena the Conqueror". However, it is destroyed when Iolaus gets back to his present... Iolaus' dagger is now coated with Hind's blood, making it potentially the deadliest weapon in the world; the only one that can kill a god. Hercules has secured it--but not for long (SEE: "Sacrifice II" [XWP #68])... Callisto is now stuck in the same interdimensional prison as the Sovereign. But she'll get out eventually...
74 "Yes Virginia, There Is A Hercules": Hollywood, 1998. There's trouble on the set of "Hercules: the Legendary Journeys" when, after a devastating earthquake, Kevin Sorbo goes missing! The creative team behind "HTLJ" struggles--and I do mean struggles--to cope with this crisis.
Starring:
Robert Trebor as B.S. Hollinsfoffer, head of Renaissance Pictures
Bruce Campbell as Executive Producer Robert Tapert
Hudson Leick as Liz Friedman, producer
Willy DeWit as Eric Grundeman, on-set producer
Michael Hurst as Paul Robert Coyle, a writer
Kevin Smith as Jerry Patrick Brown, Head Writer/Ares
Ted Raimi as Alex Kurtzman, a writer
Paul Glover as Robert Orci, a writer
Lisa Chappell as Melissa Blake, Tapert's assistant
Gina Torres as Beth Hymson, casting director
Joel Tobeck as David Scott Pollison, an office assistant/Strife
Charles Mesure as Johnny Pinko, an auditioner ("What's my motivation?")
and, of course,
Kevin Sorbo as himself/Hercules
NOTES: Undoubtedly a reference to a famous editorial that ran in the New York Sun; "Yes Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus"...hilarious guest shot by "Xena" veteran Charles Mesure as a "Hercules" wannabe...bwahahahahaha "Chimpules" heeheehee*snort*hahahahaha... "I always knew The Powers That Be were on crack, and this episode proves it."--Liz Sheppard of Whoosh!.
75 "Porkules": Hercules is transformed into a pig! Wotta revoltin' development...
Autolycus, King of Thieves, steals Artemis' bow and sells it to Discord, handmaiden of Ares (he didn't know who Discord was, at the time). She uses the bow's magical arrows to transform Hercules into a pig. Now, Iolaus and Autolycus are forced into a reluctant partnership to retrieve the bow and restore Hercules.
NOTES: Special guest stars Bruce Campbell as Autolycus, King of Thieves, Kevin Smith as Ares and Meighan Desmond as Discord...One would think that Artemis would be very angry at Autolycus for stealing her bow. However, since Auto showed up to help Xena & Gabrielle in "The Quest" (XWP #37), I suppose it all evens out. And he did get the bow back for her.
76 "One Fowl Day": Katherine, the female pig Hercules met last episode, tries being human for a day, and discovers that Humanity is not all it's cracked up to be. Meanwhile, Iolaus and Autolycus are chained together by Ares, and only Hercules can free them. As they try to reach him, they are continually harassed and humiliated by the vengeful God of War.
NOTES: Special guest stars:
Alexandra Tydings as Aphrodite and
Katherine. Also starring Bruce Campbell as Autolycus, King of Thieves,
and Kevin Smith as Ares.
77 "My Fair Cupcake": Autolycus, King of Thieves, reunites with exotic dancer Cupcake (SEE: "Men In Pink", HTLJ #71), and makes her a business proposition; learn to act like a lady and impersonate a princess in hopes of marrying a prince. Of course, he has an ulterior motive, as Hercules soon discovers...
NOTES: Homage to (read: shamelessly steals the premise of) "My Fair Lady", only without Audrey Hepburn to pull it off. Still, a very entertaining episode...Special guest stars Bruce Campbell as Autolycus and Lacey Kohl as Cupcake.
78 "War Wounds": Iphicles, Hercules' human half-brother and King of Corinth (SEE: "The Wedding of Alcmene", HTLJ #34) is in trouble, and needs Hercules' help.
Ajax, a veteran soldier who has served with Hercules and Iolaus, wants to build a memorial to their fallen comrades-in-arms. However, King Iphicles opposes the idea, and their argument escalates into a full-scale mutiny.
NOTES: Special guest stars Kevin Smith as Iphicles, Gina Torres as Nebula, and Peter McCauley as Ajax.
79 "Twilight": As Alcmene lies dying (of natural causes--no conspiracy theories here!), Hercules recalls his first experience in war. He learned--as all young soldiers do--that war is Hell.
NOTES: Special guest stars Ian Bohen as Young Hercules, Dean O' Gorman as Young Iolaus, and Chris Conrad as Young Jason.
80 "Top God": After Hercules buries his mother, Zeus returns and makes him a startling offer; come to Olympus, and rule the gods at his side. Thinking it over carefully, Hercules recalls his first encounter with an Olympian god.
NOTES: Special guest stars Roy Dotrice as Zeus, Ian Bohen as Young Hercules, Scott Michaelson as Young Apollo, and Chris Conrad as Young Jason.
NOTES: Ian Bohen will not be in the live-action "Young Hercules" series (5 days a week, 1/2 hour per day, Fox network). Ryan Gossling gets that role, and Chris Conrad and Dean O'Gorman will co-star.
81 "Reunion" Season Finale!: Hercules accepts Zeus' offer to become a full god and rule Olympus at his side. However, there's trouble a- brewin'; Zeus (Roy Dotrice) needs Hercules to fend off the other gods-- Ares and Hera, mainly--who are bent on taking his power. Hera--with Ares' help-- succeeds in blackmailing Zeus into giving up his Godhood. Hercules must fight his wicked stepmother to set things right.
Hercules manages to defeat Hera by throwing her into the Abyss of Tartarus. Nobody, not even a god, can get out of *that* place (we hope)!
NOTES: Zeus conceals his motivations from his son at first (big surprise, yes?)...We see Hera (Meg Foster) in person for the first--and probably the last--time...Unlike "Xena", HTLJ managed to end this season with a certain amount of closure, which brings us to...
Hercules! Hercules! He's our man! If he can't do it, no one can!
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