Hercules

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From 1995 to 1999 Lisa Chappell appeared in many different episodes of Hercules, The Legendary Journeys.

She played various different roles during that time, each as hilarious as the next! In one episode she even played two different roles!

Below you will find a list of the episodes Lisa appeared in, along with some galleries from a few episodes. We were also lucky enough to have a friend who did some reviews for us on a few episodes. 

A very big thanks goes to Crys for her episode summaries… THANK YOU!!

We would ask that visitors to the site please respect the time and effort it takes to do these summaries, we would ask that you not copy them for use elsewhere on the internet.

Episode List
~ Season 1: Episode 7 – Pride Comes Before A Brawl (as Lydia)
~ Season 2: Episode 14 – The King Of Thieves (as Dirce)
~ Season 2: Episode 34 – Wedding of Alcmene (as Dirce)
~ Season 3: Episode 57 – War Bride (as Melissa)
~ Season 4: Episode 69 – Hercules on Trial (as Dirce and Melissa)
~ Season 4: Episode 74 – Yes Virginia, There Is A Hercules (as Melissa Blake)
~ Season 5: Episode 90 – For Those Of You Just Joining Us (as Melissa Blake)
~ Hercules, The Legendary Journeys – Movie – Circle of Fire

Galleries

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Hercules – The Legendary Journeys – Season 1
Ep7 – Pride Comes Before a Brawl – (February 26, 1995)
Review by Crys – Aug. 3, 2005

Scene opens with Lydia (Lisa Chappell), an independent, spirited young woman clad in a very low cut top and long skirt complete with quiver and bow. She is running, frightened through frond-filled woods as a man like monster chases her. Lots of fleeing and screaming. Lisa gives a very convincing long, loud, frightfully terrifying scream accompanied with an extreme close-up as the monster closes in for the capture. She is tossed into a pit and realizes the monsters are just men in monster costumes.

Meanwhile, Iolaus (Michael Hurst), Hercules’s best mate and sidekick is walking through the woods and is captured by the monster-men and thrown into the pit with Lydia. The two introduce themselves, he asks why she’s there, and she admits, “Trying not to be scared”…. “I think they’re going to kill me”. He says, “Over my dead body”. Her comeback: “You’re probably right; they’re bound to kill us both”. Her statement amuses him. She tells him the men are bandits that have been terrorizing the roads, and that she volunteered on behalf of her village to seek out Hercules to clear the area of the men. Besides, she tells him, she has always wanted to meet Hercules. He tells her that he is his best friend but she does not believe him.

When the monster-men come to kill them, Iolaus has a plan. He tells Lydia to take off her dress…she says, “Couldn’t that wait till after you’ve rescued us?” Iolaus dresses in her clothes and awaits the approach of the men, tricking them into thinking he is Lydia. One of the men has had a lewd eye on Lydia since her capture and now wants her for himself! As he approaches, Iolaus knocks him out. Lydia, impressed with Iolaus‘s prowess, gives a cute sort of half smile, shrugs and glances downward with a wandering eye to his bare chest. He has caught her eye! They escape the pit and make a run for safety.

The monster-men search for them using dogs. Iolaus tells her to cover herself with mud (an old hunters trick) and to lie very still and the dogs will overlook them. Mud-covered with only her eyes and mouth visible and lying in a puddle, he atop her, he says, “Trust me”…and she comically blurts, “That’s what all the boys say!” The trick works as the men and dogs overlook their hiding place. She kisses him!

But…the monster-men pick up their trail and chase them to a large lake. Lydia says with a comical, whiny grimace, “Not the water” (sort of get the impression that evil lurks in the water)…they jump in and submerge, holding their breath for a very long time. The men see no evidence of them and leave. They re-surface and a serpent immediately attacks her! She emits several long, loud, terrifying and blood-curdling screams accompanied by more extreme close-ups! Iolaus kills the serpent and climbs onto the dock….once again the hero!

Now, they go on the offensive, setting traps and systematically taking out the men. Lydia has a scene where she is supposed to knock a guy out but does not hit him quite hard enough. She says, “Sorrrry” then clobbers the guy with a very hard punch to the face! What a gal!!

They scurry into a cave to once again, hide from their pursuers. A hydra (water dwelling serpent) rises from a pool within the cave and threatens them. Lydia lets out yet another ear-splitting, blood-curdling scream accompanied by more extreme close-ups! She starts a fire by striking flint rocks and makes a torch. Iolaus asks, “What are you doing?” And she replies…with determined, silly passion, “I’m lighting your fire!” The hydra, afraid of fire, slips below the surface of the pool. They escape the cave in a rush, tumbling head over heals down a long, steep hill. Laughing they fall into each other’s arms for a very nice kiss. Awww…..

Holding hands, they approach Lydia’s town and Iolaus spots Hercules. He introduces her to Hercules…she is thrilled to meet him, but realizes she is quite taken with Iolaus. She tells the tale of Iolaus’s heroic actions to all the townsfolk. He is her hero!

Cute, comedic, corny, humorous and somewhat romantic episode. She ends up falling for the much shorter Iolaus even though she began her journey with the hope of meeting and turning Hercules’s head. Lisa is a riot in this episode and plays the role of Lydia to the hilt! Lots of great facial expressions and funny lines!

Hercules – The Legendary Journeys – Season 2
Ep14 – King of Thieves – (September 3, 1995)
Review by Crys – Aug. 15, 2005

Hercules’s sidekick Iolaus (Michael Hurst) comes to the aid of another man who is fighting with a group of men. The two win the fight chasing the men off. Iolaus learns the man is a thief known as Autolycus…he calls himself, “King of Thieves.” The men return with reinforcements. Autolycus thrusts a small box of gems into Iolaus’s hand and runs away. The men seeing the box mistake Iolaus as the thief and take him to jail for the theft of the Kings jewels.

Dirce (Lisa Chappell) is Iolaus’s attorney. Unfortunately, the King has decided to execute Iolaus rather than go through a lengthy trial. Iolaus explains to Dirce that he is not the thief, and that Hercules could bring the real thief to justice if he just had more time. Dirce is passionate about “protecting her clients…justice for the people…humanity before tradition” and tells him his “goose is cooked” unless Hercules can round up the real thief. The King is a very progressive, forward thinking king but is easily side tracked by tradition. She agrees to stall the King for three days by suggesting the “Erebus Test – an ancient test of innocence” and the court agrees…although, much to Iolaus’s disbelief, the King says he personally believes it would be more humane to let the court execute the accused! At any rate, Dirce is brilliant and she gets her three days…only problem is, Iolaus has to undergo several painfully excruciating physical tests in order to complete the challenge and prove his innocence.

The King, Dirce and Iolaus convene at a pond to commence the first of three tests. Dirce comically describes the first test, called “Dunking“. Iolaus is tied to a huge heavy rock and is to be thrown into the water; if he drowns, he is guilty. Iolaus looks in disbelief at Dirce…as he is tossed in. She advises that he should not swallow the water! The King tells her she is only prolonging his agony, and she insists that she is “only looking after his rights”! He grumbles that she chose a “strange way of doing it”…and walks away. She looks a bit worried! Time expires and we see Dirce sitting atop a large rock, immobile and somewhat stricken as she realizes her client has almost certainly drowned. One guard tells her they will drag the carcass out of the water…and out he comes…alive! She is ecstatic patting him on the back. She tells him that he has passed the first test! Only two more to go! He looks mortified as she cheerfully explains the next test to him, called “Pressing”.

As he stands bearing an unspeakably heavy load of rocks on a large flat board, Dirce clamors under with him and explains that, he needs to bear the weight for an hour without letting any stones fall. He says, “No problem”. She is buoyed by his attitude and announces gaily “that’ll show my father we can beat the system”. He asks who her father is and she says, “The King of course”. He is shaken by her remark and drops a stone, which he catches with his shoe and tosses back up top. She shouts, “Look out…that was close”, and “don’t worry, winning this case has become a personal matter to me”! He chuckles and says, “yea…me too”! Best scene of the show. Hilarious!!!!!!!!

He manages to survive this test as well. She asks how he did it, and he tells her he became one with the rock. Everyone is waiting for the King; he is in his study playing with his inventions. Dirce walks in and admonishes him for not behaving like a regular King, and he tells her she’s not behaving like a real princess…he tells her to stop chasing after lost causes (save the stag beetles, feed the harpies) LOL!! She gets all sentimental and tells him she wants him to care about people more then he cares about his inventions…none of which work! In anger, she grabs one of the flying inventions, and flings it into the air….it works! Staring in disbelief as the thing takes wing, she says, “Would you look at that”…and makes a hasty retreat!

The final test involves him going head to head, in a pit with a wild bore for three hours. She tells him, “All you have to do is not loose any blood.” She by now has the utmost confidence in him! He says, “Three hours?” She tells him “she knows he will get through this and gives him a very sweet look and smiles.” He says, “See ya in three hours” and jumps in!

She is waiting breathless, anxiously staring as the hourglass empties. They open the door and out he comes. Once again, she asks how he did it…and he explains he put the pig in a trance…and old hunters trick! He is unscathed, but as he makes his way out of the pit, he cuts his finger on a sliver of metal and bleeds. The King sees the blood and again calls for his execution.

In the meantime, Hercules has located the real thief and is making his way back with him. Time is running out for Iolaus.

Iolaus is brought to the execution chamber. Dirce is incredulous, shouting that he is innocent and places her very own neck onto the guillotine….the King is outraged as his guards pull her away kicking and screaming. She tells Iolaus she cannot let him die. He tells her to keep fighting for justice and reason, if she does that, his death will not have been for nothing. She pleads with her father, but he proceeds, sighting tradition! Iolaus is placed in the guillotine as Dirce watches! Again, Dirce pleads with her father…he tells her “he is sorry, but it is bigger then both of them.” He tells the executioner to proceed. The man begins cutting the rope that will drop the blade.

At that moment, Hercules breaks into the room with the real thief slung across his shoulders. Dirce says, “Hercules, where have you been?” He says…“you were supposed to give me three days”. She looks away. Autolycus tells the King that he was the thief and that Iolaus is innocent. The King, caught up in tradition is hesitant to let Iolaus go free, as the situation is unprecedented. Dirce tells him that he could re-write the laws and agrees to help him do so. He agrees to release Iolaus. During the confusion, the other thief gets away…with everyone’s money-pouch.

As Iolaus and Hercules are leaving, Dirce grabs Iolaus and plants a big goodbye kiss on him. She strides away, with an adorable, dreamy look in her eye and large smile plastered upon her face! Think Dirce’s in love!!

Another riotous role for our Lisa! She and Michael Hurst are priceless together and had to have had a ball filming these scenes! They were adorable in this episode!! Loved it…one of my favourites….hair and all! LOL!!

Hercules – The Legendary Journeys – Season 2
Ep34 – The Wedding of Alcmene – (April 28, 1996)
Review by Crys – Oct. 5, 2005

Lisa has a very short part in this episode…only about two minutes total…but she is brilliant!! Once again, she plays the role of Dirce, a bright and caring attorney/princess! She played this role in “King of Thieves” where she defended Iolaus in court, falling for him at the end. In “Wedding” however, all she does is eat a taco!

Hercules’s mother (Alcmene) is getting married to King Jason. King Jason wishes to cede the thrown and asks Iolaus (Hercules best friend and sidekick) (Michael Hurst) to locate and bring back a man whom he has chosen to be his successor. Iolaus leaves the kingdom on foot, running cross-country in search of the man.

Along the way, he runs into a taco vendor (a taco stand of all things…during medieval times! LOL!). Dirce is there enjoying a taco. They recognize one another and hug (crushing her taco in the process). In very Claire like fashion, she has a mouth full of food! Iolaus, in a warm gesture, warns her not to finish the taco (bad food). She smiles and gazes down at his hand upon hers and up into his caring eyes. Cue romantic music and deep meaningful looks. Sigh! Lisa has the bluest of eyes!! Iolaus suddenly realizes he must be on his way and asks Dirce to accompany him to the wedding…she agrees and they proceed to kiss, but the taco vendor impatiently interrupts them by ringing a large bell (a taco bell? lol). His hope is to snag the catering business for the wedding…boasting of a large salad with many marshmallows! (must be a kiwi thing?) 😉

Next scene shows Iolaus and Dirce running hand and hand, when Dirce pulls up and veers off the track, ducking behind a rock as she looses her lunch (Iolaus’s warning!). Loved her face and look right after she straightened up…he says, okay?…and she sort of shrugs, wipes her mouth on the back of her hand and smiles weakly. He grabs her and off they go…she on very wobbly legs! Very funny scene! She really does do humor brilliantly!!

The next time we see her is at the end of the episode, the wedding has concluded and she is seen smiling and clapping alongside Iolaus (no dialog).

Very cute episode! Lisa is just brilliant when it comes to these exceptionally silly scenes!!

Hercules – The Legendary Journeys – Season 1
The Circle of Fire – (October 31, 1994)
Review by Crys – Aug. 8, 2006

A very wealthy man and his three very spoiled daughters have checked into an Inn for the night. The man is complaining as to lack of heat in their rooms. During this ruckus, a small, unkempt girl tugs on one of the daughters cloaks…at first the daughter ignores her…then she (Lisa) turns as the girl announces that Hercules is staying at the Inn. That caught their attention as they are husband hunting….each thinking how lovely it would be to make Hercules her own.

The child, a sprite and trouble maker of sorts, has put a hallucinatory spell on Herc and two of the daughters (Lisa being one) slip into his room…and bed! LOL! In his hallucinatory state, he thinks it is his love Deianeira that he is with, when in fact it is the naughty daughters! The child leaves a small bouquet of flowers outside Deianeira’s door (who is traveling with Herc but sleeping in separate quarters), and gives a soft knock. She answers and assumes the flowers are an invitation to join him. She goes to his room, only to find him in bed with the two daughters! He attempts to get out of bed, pulling the bed linens with him…which fall away and the girls have a good giggle and spectacular view from behind! His girlfriend storms off and he is hot on her heals. Later, she realizes that Herc was tricked into thinking it was she and all is forgiven.

This movie has only about a minute and a half of Lisa but naturally, she is brilliant! I would venture to guess she thoroughly enjoyed filming this scene!! LOL…