Birds of Prey (Batman / Catwoman's daughter) Premiers Today!

[JediTricks]

This thing looks like a cross between Cleopatra 2525 and Mutant X, but I'll watch its 70-minute premiere tonight... with a big bucket of skepticism. It's a good thing Junkyard Wars is repeated at 12am though or I'd probably not bother with Birds of Prey - if it turns out to be ok, then WB needs to fire whomever is in charge of the promotions for this show.

[RooJay]

Sadly, I missed the premier. So what's the word? What'd I miss? Anyone care to fill me in? I'm a HUGE fan of the Birds of Prey comic - Chuck Dixon (Birds of Prey's original writer) is the most unerrated writer in comics!

[Master Goeweins]

Okay, I just watched it and............. I don't know.
Some of it was decent, but other parts were decididley melodramatic. They all looked good, but the acting was a bit stiff. I say, give it a half season to learn itself, and it could be pretty cool..... as long as they don't play top 10 Michelle Branch songs at the endings. I am going to watch it again at least to see Harley... she was here, but not in costume. Next week's episode looks a little more exciting. I like Batman being gone, but I kind of wanted more Joker.. oh well.

As long as they cut the Top 10 music plugs and beef up the adventure, I will give it a small chance. But, honestly.... I think I will lose interest.

[Eternal Padawan]

"Turds of Prey" is more like it. Who's the chimp writing this overly glib and sacastic dialogue? It tries to be witty and fresh and comes off as biting and defensive. Especially Helena's whenever shes making googly eyes at the cop. (Where's Commish Gordon?) And the plot was about as interesting as cat litter. I see this getting pulled inside of two months, but what do I know? I thought xXx was crappola in a sack and it made millions. I guess the TV viewing public has a little less taste than little ol' moi...

Dina Meyer looked hot in the Batgirl costume though...rrrrowlll !

[JediTricks]

Ugh, it felt exactly as I feared, 75% Mutant X to 25% Cleo 2525. The guy who acted as the Joker looked ridiculous. This show was a visual eyesore all around though, even the CG city didn't line up in many shots. Even low-rent Alfred didn't hold my interest, and I still don't like Dina Meyer.

[Patient Zero]

Did anyone besides me notice the blatent similarities to Charmed? Three 'Sister' like girls (the long haired cutesy one, the 'thinker', and the more rough/rebelious one that gets slightly romantic with a cop who wants to believe in the supernatural) that attempt to help people.

The difference: I can watch Charmed if nothing else is on, but I don't think I will bother watching BOP again.

[El Chuxter]

I thought it was a mixed bag, though more on the okay-to-good side of the spectrum. (Of course, I went in with absolutely zero expectations, and don't watch any of the other shows that some of you have compared it to.)

First the bad:

1) The music was horrible! Half the time Mark Snow (X-Files, right?) sounded like he was trying to ape Elfman's score from Batman, though with odd effects (most annoyingly the stupid cat roar) mixed in. The pop music was lousy for the most part, and even when a decent song was used (Michelle Branch's was the only one, IMHO), it was sorely misplaced in this show. The ad for upcoming CD's immediately after the show didn't help, either.

2) A lot of the dialogue was terrible, and there were some major holes that should've been cleared up. Like did the Joker get arrested or killed on the night he crippled Babs (different characters said different things, and he doesn't seem to be in Arkham)? That's a serious point, and plays pretty heavily on Harley's motivations. Also, why is this city suddenly"New Gotham"?

3) The CG was unnecessary. I don't know what was worse, the clocktower animation, the city, or Huntress' eyes.

4) Too many references to Batman without an actual Batman appearance. It's fine if he doesn't show up, but don't mention him every line if that's not the case.

5) The retirement of Batman is completely out of character, considering that the reason is far different from the one given in Batman Beyond (which fits better with the Bat).

6) Some of the acting was absolutely terrible, mostly from the actress playing Huntress. Dr Quinzel also has several acting classes to attend before the inevitable season (or series) finale appearance of Harley Quinn as such. And why in God's name would they not have Mark Hamill play the Joker if they're paying for his voice talents?

Now the good:

1) This has got to be the cutest cast of any TV show I've watched in a long time--even moreso than the Powerpuff Girls.

2) Visually, this matched the BOP comic almost perfectly. The clocktower (in static shots), Oracle in a tank top at the supercomputer, the nice amalgam of Huntress and Black Canary costumes for Helena.

3) Oracle was perfect, except for the completely random schoolteacher bit that was thrown out early on and seemingly dropped. As Barbara, Batgirl, and Oracle, she was everything I could've hoped for.

4) Mark Hamill as the Joker, if only the voice. He completely blows away Cesar Romero and Jack Nicholson, both of whom did excellent jobs for their adaptations.

Yeah, it looks like I saw more bad than good, but that's what I went in looking for. I'll give this show a chance.

Completely random question: if they don't stick to the "everybody they fight works for Harley" dealio, wouldn't Mr Zzaszz be the perfect villain for this show?

[LTBasker]

Originally posted by El Chuxter
5) The retirement of Batman is completely out of character, considering that the reason is far different from the one given in Batman Beyond (which fits better with the Bat).

Well actually Batman Beyond is not official canon to the Batman uni according to the people who worked on the animated shows. Neither is Birds of Prey actually, it runs off of it's own continuity appearantly kinda like how the Spider-Man movies is running off it's own continuity. (mostly due to licenses for characters of Spider-man and of course time constraints on the movies) but I think like Smallville they just wanted to give it it's own edge and such for it so the adverage viewer can find it interesting instead of having to be a die-hard fan to get into it.

[El Chuxter]

Originally posted by LTBasker
Well actually Batman Beyond is not official canon to the Batman uni according to the people who worked on the animated shows. Neither is Birds of Prey actually, it runs off of it's own continuity appearantly kinda like how the Spider-Man movies is running off it's own continuity.

Yeah, but they're both building on the future of an iconic character who's been pretty consistenly portrayed in most media ventures (Batman & Robin and the 60s TV show notwithstanding). In BB, it's believable that Batman gets so disgusted by his use of a gun that he forces himself into retirement. But Batman has always been so driven that I found him retiring in response to a violent spree by the Joker a tad out of character.

[Tycho]

I liked the show. I'll be watching, giving this a chance - and I was the one here trying to not like it.

The Joker, as I picked up on it, also retired, leaving town. Batman couldn't bring himself to kill him, Barbara said.

His criminal organization smashed, and his failure to turn Batman to murder (by making him crazy enough to kill him for what he did to Barbara and Selena Kyle (Helena's mom for those of you who don't know Catwoman's real name), Joker was defeated, but not put in Arkham or 6 feet under ground.

The girls in the cast are definitely cute. I don't watch Gilmore Girls, but Barbara had the motherly feel to her character like the mother on the previously mentioned show (I've caught some of it waiting for Smallville to come on).

Smallville uses the same format, the pop-chart Top 10 songs, and advertises the WB's record selling labels or online music sources after each show. Save for the very last part - about where you can buy the music, this kind of thing was going on since Miami Vice first started using that format in the '80's. That was not a teen show, but teen audiences were drawn to both these new shows, and Miami Vice which was like another spring board for Phil Collins' career (not that I didn't enjoy every minute of that)...

"But I was there, and I saw what you did...
I saw it with my own two eyes.
So you can wipe off that grin
- I know where you've been.
It's all in a pack of lies!"

Sonny Crockett, good cop turned bad, having witnessed the murder of his partner, loads his gun, strolling down a white sands Caribbean beach. There the drug lord who caused so much pain and death sits, free from United States prosecution.

"And I can feel it calling in the air tonight - hold on.
And I've been waiting for this moment all my life! - Hold on."

The criminal says he's free from prosecution and has diplomatic immunity. Sonny can't arrest him and retry him for crimes he'd be acquitted of.

'That's right,' Sonny says. The drug lord sees the cold look in his eyes and says he can't hurt him - he's a cop. He swore an oath. He begins to panic looking for his body guards. They're no where to be seen as Sonny calmly empties a bullet out of his gun and straight through the head of the crime boss.

"Can you feel it coming in the air tonght - hold on...."

The music fades, and red blood drips on white sands, and somewhere along a lonely, private beach, a cop walks away from paradise, and heads back to a world that much more uncertain...

This was the TV movie that started it all. There's nothing wrong with the format, as long as the music choice is appropriate!

I don't know if BoP can ever live up to the melodrama that was found in a show like Miami Vice, this is geared for a younger, teen, and chic audience. However, BoP was good in its own right.
The psycho-babble ending with the violence occuring in the minds of the characters, and not the real show, was a cheap-gratuitous way to show Batgirl in action, but not a really exciting way to end the pilot episode. I think instead, they could have shown more of Batgirl in flashbacks in other episodes, versus making a way-too Star Trek type of ending for this show.

Still, I'm going to give "Gilmore's Action Girls In Hell" some more viewing chances this season. It's got me interested, but it doesn't hook me quite as much as Smallville, or empathizing with male lead characters and villains would.

Finally, what's Dina's deal (the character)? She gets on a bus and just KNOWS these ladies are in New Gotham and not Metropolis, or anywhere else?

Oh - and the Smallville characters' crossovers might be used as gimmicks to draw viewers - though as far as I understand it, this show, BoP takes place maybe 20 years AFTER Smallville's current timeline. Highlights of a cross-over might be seeing Tom Welling in the Superman costume for a BoP episode, or seeing Mike Rosenbaum play an older, evil Lex Luthor. Does anyone know if they film BoP up in Canada where they shoot Smallville?

How about my timeline informaton? Is that correct? If Helena went to Smallville, or Dina was seen on the show, would they be like under 10 years old, and some kind of witness to something happening on the Smallville show?

Just a thought - and probably a bad idea. But oh well. It's the DC universe.