There's this perpetuated misconception/misunderstanding/non-fact that Xena got her own series because the character proved so popular to audiences in those three Hercules episodes, and as explained by Xena's creator here, that was not the case. Audiences didn't see Xena's character in Hercules until well after the character got her own series greenlit.
Well, what is written in the books is that Dan Fille was the Universal rep that had the idea to do a spinoff before anything aired. (which is what I think what he means in the video when he says "the studio"). So they were planning it which is why they spared Xena from death. But it still hadn't gotten the ok by studio execs yet. There was a lot of positive audience reaction when The Gauntlet aired. And that was a factor in convincing the execs, the syndication market, and the distributer to greenlight the series.
![Lucy Lawless: Communal Baths and Same Sex Relationships [05/01/2015]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/dQwg1kVT1lc/mqdefault.jpg)
There's this perpetuated misconception/misunderstanding/non-fact that Xena got her own series because the character proved so popular to audiences in those three Hercules episodes, and as explained by Xena's creator here, that was not the case. Audiences didn't see Xena's character in Hercules until well after the character got her own series greenlit.
Well, what is written in the books is that Dan Fille was the Universal rep that had the idea to do a spinoff before anything aired. (which is what I think what he means in the video when he says "the studio"). So they were planning it which is why they spared Xena from death. But it still hadn't gotten the ok by studio execs yet. There was a lot of positive audience reaction when The Gauntlet aired. And that was a factor in convincing the execs, the syndication market, and the distributer to greenlight the series.