Birds of Prey

Birds of Prey promo, featuring Ashley Scott as the Huntress. The text reads "Batman's little girl is all grown up."
Format	Drama
Running time	approx. 0:60
Creator(s)	David Carson Shawn Levy
Starring	Ashley Scott Dina Meyer Rachel Skarsten Shemar Moore Ian Abercrombie Mia Sara
Country	USA
Network	The WB
Original run	October 9, 2002 – February 19, 2003
No. of episodes	13

Birds of Prey was a live action US television series produced in 2002. The series, which was created and produced by David Carson for The WB, was loosely based on the DC Comics series, Birds of Prey. Despite its initially high ratings, the series was poorly received by both comic book fans and the mainstream audience, and was cancelled due to low ratings after 13, one hour-long episodes. Promotional image for Birds of Prey, featuring Ashley Scott as the Huntress This is a copyrighted promotional image. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... David Carson is a British television director. ... Ashley Scott in WBs now-defunct series, Birds of Prey Ashley McCall Scott (born July 13, 1977 in Metairie, Louisiana) is an American actress. ... Dina Meyer in a screenshot from Birds of Prey Dina Meyer (born December 22, 1968 in Queens, New York) is an American film actress. ... Shemar Moore Shemar Moore (born April 20, 1970) is an American actor and model. ... Ian Abercrombie (born September 11, 1936 in London) is an English actor. ... Mia Sara (born June 19, 1967) played Ferriss girlfriend Sloane in Ferris Buellers Day Off. ... The WB Television Network, casually referred to as The WB, is a television network in the United States, founded as a joint venture between the Warner Bros. ... October 9 is the 282nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (283rd in Leap years). ... 2002 (MMII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... February 19 is the 50th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... In film and video, live action refers to works that are acted out by flesh-and-blood actors, as opposed to animation. ... ... A television program is the content of television broadcasting. ... 2002 (MMII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... David Carson is a British television director. ... The WB Television Network, casually referred to as The WB, is a television network in the United States, founded as a joint venture between the Warner Bros. ... The current DC Comics logo, adopted in May 2005. ... For other meanings of the term, see Birds of Prey (disambiguation). ... Rating is a means of classifying things in different categories. ...

Series History

The short-lived series was based loosely on a series of events from conflicting Batman comic series. The Huntress as the daughter of Batman and Catwoman was taken from the Silver Age Earth-Two, which was discontinued in 1985. Barbara Gordon's paralyzation and subsequent donning of the mantle of Oracle was from the graphic novel The Killing Joke (which has a scene very similar to one of the opening moments of the first Birds of Prey episode) and subsequent comics. The destruction of Gotham City (as indicated by the constant references to "New Gotham" as the city's name) is also another recent development in the comics. One episode featured a female assassin and onetime enemy of Batgirl's named Lady Shiva; in the comic books Lady Shiva is the enemy of the current Batgirl, not the Barbara Gordon version. Showcase #4 (September-October 1956), often thought the first appearance of the first Silver Age superhero, the Barry Allen Flash. ... In DC Comics, the Multiverse is a continuity construct in which multiple fictional versions of the universe exist in the same space, separated from each other by their vibrational resonances. ... Cover to Batman: The Killing Joke. ... Lady Shiva is a fictional character created by DC Comics. ... Cassandra Cain, nicknamed Cass, is the current Batgirl, having taken on the role with the approval of both Batman and Barbara Gordon. ...

However, the series never caught on in popularity; comic fans complained of the mishmash of timelines and "villain of the week" episodes while the overarching story arcs involving the disappearance of Batman, and the series' version of Harley Quinn who was supposed to serve as the primary antagonist, were not made clear enough to retain interest. The producers hinted that Batman might appear in the series, but the show was cancelled before this could happen. Villain of the week (or, depending on genre, monster of the week) is a concept that describes the format of certain television shows. ... Harley Quinn (real name Dr. Harleen Quinzel) is a fictional character, a supervillain in Batman: The Animated Series and its spin-offs, and subsequently in various Batman-related comic books. ...

The producers of the series were allowed to produce a finale episode following the show's cancellation which allowed them to resolve at least some of the show's subplots. It was combined with the penultimate episode by The WB to form a two-hour finale movie (although the two episodes were shown separately in international markets). The finale marked the only time that Harley Quinn was shown wearing a costume resembling that seen in the comic book.

An alternate version of the show's pilot episode exists, featuring Sherilyn Fenn as Harley. She was evidently considered unsuitable for the role and was replaced by Mia Sara, who refilmed Fenn's scenes. The first version of the pilot also differed in how it handled Barbara's love interest (the first pilot had her relationship ending while the aired version had it just beginning), and the first pilot is also considered to be darker in tone than the aired version. A television pilot is the first episode of an intended television series. ... Sherilyn Fenn at the Sleepy Hollow premiere Sherilyn Fenn (born Sheryl Ann Fenn February 1, 1965 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American actress, of Italian, Irish, French and Hungarian descent. ...

Plot Outline

The series featured Ashley Scott as The Huntress and Dina Meyer as Oracle. The Huntress's origin is derived from the original version of the character, not the version appearing in the Birds of Prey comic book: she is Helena Kyle, the daughter of Batman and Catwoman, who (in the television series) was raised by her mother without her father ever knowing that she existed. After Catwoman's death, Batman went into a self-imposed exile, leaving the Huntress and Oracle as the guardians of Gotham City. A major difference between the television version of Huntress and the comic book original is that the TV character possessed a few cat-like superpowers inherited from her mother, who, in the TV series continuity, also had superpowers (in the comics she does not). Ashley Scott in WBs now-defunct series, Birds of Prey Ashley McCall Scott (born July 13, 1977 in Metairie, Louisiana) is an American actress. ... The Huntress is the name of several fictional characters in various stories published by DC Comics. ... Dina Meyer in a screenshot from Birds of Prey Dina Meyer (born December 22, 1968 in Queens, New York) is an American film actress. ... Oracle is a fictional character, the nom de guerre of a superhero appearing in the publications of DC Comics. ... The DC Comics hero Batman (originally and still sometimes referred to as The Batman or The Bat-Man) is a fictional character who first appeared in Detective Comics #27 in May 1939. ... Catwoman (real name Selina Kyle) is a DC Comics character, associated with the Batman franchise. ... Gotham Citys skyline, as it appears in the 1989 Batman movie. ...

Black Canary's teenaged daughter also appeared in the series; Black Canary herself appeared in one episode and was apparently killed. (In early publicity for the series, the daughter was described as being Black Canary herself, which led to protests from fans of the comic book character; subsequently the series made it clear that the girl was not Black Canary.) The series also featured Mia Sara as the insane Harley Quinn, a character originally created for Batman: The Animated Series but later incorporated into mainstream DC continuity. Black Canary is a female superhero published by DC Comics. ... Mia Sara (born June 19, 1967) played Ferriss girlfriend Sloane in Ferris Buellers Day Off. ... Harley Quinn (real name Dr. Harleen Quinzel) is a fictional character, a supervillain in Batman: The Animated Series and its spin-offs, and subsequently in various Batman-related comic books. ... The animated Batman shoots his grappling gun from a rooftop in a scene from the episode, On Leather Wings. ...

Episode list

1. Pilot
2. Slick
3. Prey for the Hunter
4. Three Birds and a Baby
5. Sins of the Mother
6. Primal Scream
7. Split
8. Lady Shiva
9. Nature of the Beast
10. Gladiatrix
11. Reunion
12. Feat of Clay
13. Devil's Eyes

Trivia for Birds of Prey

• The map of New Gotham is identical to one used in the Batman comic book cycle "No Man's Land", which told the story of the destroyed Gotham and is also the name of the metahuman bar in the show.

Metahuman is a term, coined by the fictitious alien Dominators (in DC Comics Invasion! miniseries), used to describe any human being with what are commonly described as super powers. The justification for this alternate phrase is that super implies a value judgement—is super-strength somehow better than normal strength...

Taglines for Birds of Prey

• Batman's Little Girl Is All Grown Up.
• Meet The New Batgirl.

External links

• Birds of Prey at the Internet Movie Database
• Birds of Prey at TV.com
• Gotham Clock Tower
• Birds of prey online