Welcome to a new Wildcard Wednesday! This week, we’re celebrating an old friend — Xena: Warrior Princess! 25 years ago this week, one of my top ten favorite episodes of all time first aired — the first half of a classic two-parter called “The Debt.” You can read a lot more about this installment here, and see it in the context of its season here.

I honor this episode again now because I have discovered a home VHS recording (of Part I) — and it comes from WOFL, the local FOX affiliate in Orlando, Florida: the very station from which I personally watched this series, and a station on which this particular episode first debuted on November 09, 1997… Now, this preserved broadcast of the classic offering — which includes all the advertisements intact — is from its second official rerun, which took place in Orlando on December 13, 1998. But this is the exact telecast where I am most likely to have first seen this installment — meaning, this tape itself is like a window into my past as well. So, I thought it would be fun to share a digital copy — with subscribers who comment below to alert me of their private, non-commercial interest. And in the meantime, here’s an excerpt — the kind of promo material only viewers from the ’90s will remember!

Come back next week for a new Wildcard! And stay tuned Tuesday for more Martin!