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Name: Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman

Biography

Ask many dedicated fans about Kurtzman and Orci and XENA and they will probably mutter darkly. They were brought in to fill the gap left by the departure of Steve Sears and RJ Stewart`s increased focus on Cleopatra 2525 at the start of XENA`s 5th season, however, the experiment did not seem to work. Kurtzman and Orci were not just writers, but part of the production team, and they took a lot of the criticism from fans about some of the low points of S5, chief of which was 'Married With Fishsticks'.

Hercules fans will remember their clever episode 'Yes Virginia, there IS a Hercules', in which they also appeared played by Ted Raimi and another actor. They were responsible for Porkules and One Fowl Day. On XENA, the only episode they got a full writing credit for was the very HERCULES-like, God Fearing Child.

Thankfully, they moved onto the new defunct Jack of All Trades, where they were writing for Bruce Campbell.

After leaving Pacific Renaissance, Kurtzman and Orci have achieved considerable success as writers and producers on the hit show Alias starring Jennifer Garner. The JJ Abrams link seems to work as they also wrote the screenplay for Tom Cruise's Mission Impossible III. They are also listed as producers for Abrams Star Trek project that is in development. Less successful, but also high profile was Michael Bay's The Island starring Ewan MacGregor, that was a critical and commercial flop, although I quite enjoyed it!

Kurtzman and Orci are undoubtedly hot property as writers. It's a long way from Married With Fishsticks...

Episodes

God Fearing Child

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