Birds of Prey ran for one season (2002-2003) on the WB (now the CW). The program was based off of some characters from the DC Comics universe. I started watching it because of its time slot years ago, but found it entertaining enough to want to watch it again.
The program is one about girl power. The three main characters are heroines, who fight crimes in different ways. Huntress otherwise known as Helena (Ashley Scott) is the daughter of Batman and Catwoman. DC created an alternative universe at one point, where Batman and Catwoman were involved romantically. She left the life to raise Helena. In this show, Helena saw her mother knifed in cold blood. She is taken in by Barbara Gordon (Dina Meyer) who was Batgirl, until an accident that left her in a wheelchair. Barbara then became acting as Oracle, who helped with support, but not with fighting.
The first episode begins with a new character named Dinah (Rachel Skarsten) who comes to Gotham City, not knowing Barbara or Helena, but she saw their tragedies. Teenaged Dinah becomes a valuable member of the team. Helena and Dinah are both metahumans, which basically means they have special powers. Helena has the ability to fight and scale buildings, while Dinah can see into people’s minds and telekinesis. The audience finds out that Dinah is the daughter of Black Canary (guest star Lori Laughlin), so she comes by her abilities through genetic.
Helena has a love interest in the series played by Shemar Moore after he left The Young & the Restless. Jesse Reese was a detective for the Gotham City police department. Barbara fell in love with one of her fellow teachers named Wade. He was played by Shawn Christian (who is an alum of As the World Turns, One Life to Live and is currently on Days of Our Lives. Shemar was a regular cast member, while Shawn appeared on about half of the episodes as a guest star. Other major characters included Alfred (Ian Abercrombie) who was Batman’s loyal butler, and helped out the ladies and Harley Quinn aka Dr. Quinzel (Mia Sara). Harley acted as Helena’s court-appointed therapist. Eventually Helena chose to go to Harley not knowing she loved the Joker and was out to get people like her. (That character originated on Batman: The Animated Series.) During the last episode, the women defeated Harley.
Also included in this set was three seasons of Gotham Girls. It was an animated web series mainly focusing on Catwoman and the other villainous females of Gotham City. I was surprised by how much I liked the shows (though I do like animation.) This series was on warnerbrothers.com, but the only way you can access it is via direct links that are up on wiki. The first two seasons were comical, while the third told a complete serialized story.
While Birds of Prey isn’t typical fare for someone who watches a lot of soap operas, it is entertaining. The program is full of action, and suspense. The show was episodic in nature, as most episodes had a villain of the week. There were character and a story arcs that carried through the 13 episodes. The DVD set clocks in at under 10 hours. So if one is having a lazy weekend at home, it can be easily watched in two days.
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