They were mostly serious(Especially Xena. I mean she did go on a Olympian God killing spree more or less later seasons), but they also remembered they were silly at times and had fun with it, all while being somewhat uplifting(especially hercules).
the main take away from both was the disappearance of Ares, who was awesome. But there were reasons for that (R.I.P ;_;).
Seeker has no reasons for Lack of Bruce! He can make anything work!
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Oh SuperNiceDog's doing it again dude.
SuperNiceDog, you ain't no pimp dude