It had been preceded by several TV movies with the same major characters in 1994: Hercules in the Maze of the Minotaur, Hercules in the Underworld, Hercules and the Circle of Fire, Hercules and the Lost Kingdom and Hercules and the Amazon Women.
Set in a fantasy version of ancient Greece not precisely located in historic time, the show starred Kevin Sorbo as Hercules and Michael Hurst as his sidekick Iolaus. Typical plot lines involved Hercules and Iolaus saving rustic villagers from monsters, evil warlords or the malicious whims of Ares, God of War.
The show had a successful spinoff, Xena: Warrior Princess, with which it shared recurring characters such as Ares, Autolycus (Bruce Campbell), and Salmoneus. Both shows, although produced in New Zealand mostly using antipodean actors, strove for American accents (with varying degrees of success) and were syndicated worldwide.
Characters Hercules (Kevin SOrbo) Iolaus (Michael Hurst) Ares Aphrodite Hera Zeus Alcmene Deianeira Jason Iphicles Nemesis Dahak Evander