When Xena: Warrior Princess premiered on September 4, 1995, it was truly unlike anything else on TV. Xena, played by Lucy Lawless, debuted as a villain on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, in which Kevin Sorbo played the mythical muscleman.

Though producers had originally planned to kill off Xena at the end of her three-episode story, fans wanted more; so instead, Lawless was given her own spin-off show, which began with the episode “Sins of the Past.”