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Approximate shooting dates: October 1996
Production number: V0220
Ted Raimi (Joxer)
Mandie Gillette (Ileandra)
Craig Parker (Sarpedon)
Karl Urban (Cupid)
Alexandra Tydings (Aphrodite)
Ross Jolly (Barus)
Craig Walsh-Wrightson (Lynaeus)
Rachale Davies (Aria)
Written by Adam Armus and Nora Kay Foster
Edited by Jim Prior
Directed by Josh Becker
First line:
Gabrielle: "You sure about this?"
Last line:
Joxer: [Sings] "Joxer the Mighty; he's very tidy. Everyone admires him. He's so handsome, it's a sin. If you're in jeopardy, don't call the cavalry. There's a better remedy. (Although he doesn't work for free!) He's every man's trustee; he's every woman's fantasy. Plus, he's good with company. It's Joxer-- I'm Joxer the Mighty! Hah-hah!" "Blood-- valor-- and victory! Hah-hah! Joxer the Mighty; he's very tidy. Everyone admires him. He's so handsome, it's a sin. When things get grim, he'll take it on the chin. If you're in jeopardy, caused by the enemy, don't call the cavalary. There's a better remedy. Although he doesn't work for free. He's every man's trustee; he's every woman's fantasy. Plus he's good with company. Look out! He's Joxer, Joxer the Mighty. Joxer, Joxer the Mighty!
* The producers wish to acknowledge the inspiration of Danny Kaye and pay tribute to the classic motion picture "Court Jester"
- Ted Raimi at DragonCon 2000 in Atlanta on the wekeend of July 1, 2000, stated that FOR HIM THE BELL TOLLS was his favorite XENA episode.
- Ted Raimi did an interview with IGN.COM's Sarah Kuhn on April 14, 2000. An excerpt from the interview follows: IGN Sci-Fi: Now I heard you were trying to think of a new song. Any luck with that? Ted: Yeah, I did a couple versions. But you know, the problem is that that joke is unfortunately so stale in our heads. I know fans watch it, and it's not stale in their heads, because they watch it once a week, and so th at's OK. But for us, every single day on the set, it's like "OK, we got this joke a few years ago!" There's new Joxer gags and recurring stuff, but it's amazing how much that song has frigging got the public attention. It was a little thing I made up on the set one day. And it was like, "OK, this is kind of funny, let's have him sing a stupid ****in' song. And Renee [O'Connor] thought it was funny and I thought it was funny, so we went ah ead and did it, and you know, darned if the writers went, "Oh, there's a funny gag!" and put it in every single episode. And then I had to sort of put my foot down, and go "I'm not doing this song. There will be no more versions of this song, ever again." It was fun to do, I loved doing it, I thought it was a good bit, but it's sort of past its prime now. Time for new jokes! IGN Sci-Fi: Well, it did seem like it would be fun the first million times or so... Ted: [laughing] Yeah! The first million was good. After that, it's all downhill.
- On August 19, 1998, at his website, director Josh Becker gave his version of how the "Joxer the Mighty" song was created. "I directed the Xena episode starring Joxer called FOR HIM THE BELL TOLLS, which is where the Joxer theme first appears. As I was planning my shots, it occured to me that Joxer ought to have a song to sing, so I wrote the first verse. I gave this to Ted Raimi and he added several more verses. Then I asked the show's composer, Joe LoDuca, to use the song over the end titles and he added even more verses. Somehow in the credits, the song was then attributed to Joe and Ted and not me. C'est la vie. I've added yet another verse in the episode I'm directing now, which is called IN SICKNESS AND IN HELL."
- At the Creation Valley Forge Con (10-04-97), a little girl asked Ted Raimi to sing the Joxer the Mighty theme song. He couldn't remember the words but someone from the audience provided him with a lyrics sheet. Being a good sport, he did sing the song, complete with audience participation. He confirmed that he was in fact the composer of that tune. At the time, Josh Becker, director of FOR HIM THE BELL TOLLS, told him "We need something that's going to annoy Gabrielle." While they were thinking of what to do 15 minutes before the scene was shot, Ted started humming a nonsense tune. Josh Becker said "Stop humming that stupid song!" Ted's eyes lit up and he said "Hey!", recognizing that was just what they needed. He said it was his favourite Joxer episode, too.
- At the Creation Detroit Con (08-17-97), a young woman asked Ted to sing the "Joxer the Mighty" song, and he enlisted the audience to sing along with him. He told how the song came about and that there was even a song in the first place. The director, Josh Becker, said they needed to come up with something that would really annoy Gabby, so Ted went to his trailer and wrote the thing in about 10 minutes.
COMING SOON!!