Birds of Prey

[Guest Sassquatch]

Huntress needs a win over someone like Shiva.

 

It will be interesting how the show will explain why Shiva is not an old bitch like the rest of the cast should be that were around for the Batman years (at least Barbara looks to be aged from a girl to a woman).

 

Unless of course Sung Hi Lee is actually made to look like she is middle aged in the show when she does appear.

[Guest Kagato Otaku]

Unless of course Sung Hi Lee is actually made to look like she is middle aged in the show when she does appear.

 

Which would defeat the purpose of Sung Hi Lee being on the show.

 

There'll be no middle-age make-up. Birds of Prey is all about eye candy, my bet is she'll appear as is.

[Guest areacode212]

They may decide that the BoP Lady Shiva simply hasn't been around that long. How much time has passed between Barbara's shooting and the "present" anyway?

 

Ah, at any rate, I'm dropping the show...I gave it a chance, but every episode I've seen has been tedious and unentertaining. Wake me when Sung Hi appears (we saw her kiss another woman in Nurse Betty....think we'll see some Shiva/Harley action??), or when the show improves.

[Guest starvenger]

Unless of course Sung Hi Lee is actually made to look like she is middle aged in the show when she does appear.

 

Which would defeat the purpose of Sung Hi Lee being on the show.

 

There'll be no middle-age make-up. Birds of Prey is all about eye candy, my bet is she'll appear as is.

The only problem is that "as is" for Lee generally means that we can see her tattoo, and I don't think we'll get to on network TV...

[Guest Sassquatch]

I know the feeling 212. I have been trying to get myself to ditch the show but I have found that I have only been flipping back and forth to different channels instead.

 

It's also rumored that a possible encounter between a young Bruce Wayne and Clark kent from "Smallville" might be in the works which would negate a crossover between the two shows (thank God).

[Guest starvenger]

Continuing the trend of babecasting, Lori Loughlin is Black Canary. Not a bad choice, given that they needed an older actress for this role. Whether this translates to a better story... well, I guess we'll see...

[Guest Lethargic]

I friggin forgot to watch the damn thing. I hope it's up to download somewhere.

[Guest SP-1]

I think that the problem with BoP is that it's suffering horribly from First Season Syndrome. I think it has alot of potential, but until the creative staff and the actors find the chemistry and flow all around, it's going to pretty much suck. but alot of shows go through it.

 

I'm not going to consider dropping it until around this time next season, i think. I may not scramble to see it, but I'm not gonna drop it until it's had enough time to outgrow it's creative infancy and establish itself.

 

SP

[Guest Lethargic]

Looking around to see if there are places to download it I found the original pilot. I can't to watch that and see how they tried to pull off Sherliyn Fenn as Harley.

[Guest starvenger]

Looking around to see if there are places to download it I found the original pilot. I can't to watch that and see how they tried to pull off Sherliyn Fenn as Harley.

IIRC Harley was only meant to be in the pilot to start. When they increased her role Fenn couldn't commit to the series, hence Mia Sara and the rewrites.

 

Episode itself wasn't bad - standard mother/daughter separation angst and a rehash of the McKay family reconcilliation on 90210 - but it wasn't great either. It seemed a lot longer than an hour, and not in a good way.

 

Also, the editing needs to be better - check out the "gate conversation" halfway in and you'll see what I mean. And the CGI still sucks. Some things never change, I guess.

 

I'll give it a 6.5/10.

[Guest Lethargic]

I hate the CGI roof crap. Didn't they watch Spiderman? That scene with the CGI Peter Parker running across the roof tops was the most horrible thing I've ever seen. But yet, these people on a TV show budget thought that THEY could do it.

[Guest Lethargic]

Looks like Birds or Prey won't be picked up for the full season. Don't really understand that myself. Not like it's the best show on TV but it's not the worst either. And come on, it's the WB. They don't have many good shows on the air NOW, so what could they possibly have for a mid-season replacement that would pull in better numbers than Birds? Unless the show just plain costs too damn much to make I don't see why they shouldn't at least give it one full season to see how it turns out.

[Guest starvenger]

Probably a cost vs. ratings issue. Although if they wanted better ratings, they shouldn't have stuck it against stuff like West Wing and the Bachelor. I'm sure that Fastlane is eating into those ratings as well.

[Guest Lethargic]

Or they could stop putting all their hopes into big time guest stars like Lori Laughlin. ha

[Guest starvenger]

Or they could stop putting all their hopes into big time guest stars like Lori Laughlin. ha

Hey, just be glad it wasn't the Olsens.

[Guest Lethargic]

I was bored so I went through the ratings for the past three weeks to find out how Birds has done compared to other shows that seem solid with no big chance of being cancelled.

 

The last three weeks has seen Birds get better ratings than:

 

Angel

Sabrina the Teenage Witch

Buffy - one episode was a rerun but the other wasn't

Whose Line Is It Anyway

Charmed

Dawson's Creek - which mean it gets better ratings than it's lead-in show

Fastlane

Firefly

 

And then I got bored with that too and quit.

 

It seems to make it would make A WHOLE LOT of sense to move the show to Tuesday and have a 2 hour block of Smallville and Birds together before cancelling it. Those two show's have a better chance of having a cross over audience than Gilmore Girls or Dawson's Creek. Plus I wouldn't forget to watch it.

[Guest Sassquatch]

Lethargic, just from a numbers standpoint, could you maybe post the ratings for the shows you mentioned while they ran up against BOP?

 

DC has been recieving a huge backlash from fans and comic book creators alike since the show aired and add to that low ratings (as compared to Smallville) DC did not want to look bad in this situation.

 

From a business standpoint cancelling the show was the best thing they could have done rather than deal with the criticism and comparisons to Smallville.

[Guest Kagato Otaku]

10/07-10/13

 

"Birds Of Prey," WB, 4.7

"Whose Line Is It Anyway?," ABC, 3.4

"Dawson's Creek," WB, 3.3

"Charmed," WB, 3.1

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer," UPN, 3.0

"Angel," WB, 2.5

"Sabrina, the Teenage Witch," WB, 2.1

 

10/14-10/21

 

"Birds Of Prey," WB, 3.4

"Charmed," WB, 3.2

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer," UPN, 3.0

"Angel," WB, 2.8

"Dawson's Creek," WB, 2.8

"Firefly," Fox, 2.7

"Sabrina the Teenage Witch," WB, 2.1

 

10/22-10/27

 

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer," UPN, 3.1

"Firefly," Fox, 2.9

"Birds of Prey," WB, 2.8

"Whose Line is it Anyway?," ABC, 2.8

"Angel," WB, 2.6

"Charmed," WB, 2.6

"Dawson's Creek," WB, 2.4

 

10/28-11/03

 

"Whose Line is it Anyway?," ABC, 3.2

"Charmed," WB, 2.9

"Firefly," Fox, 2.8

"Dawson's Creek," WB, 2.7

"Birds of Prey," WB, 2.6

"Angel," WB, 2.2

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer," UPN, 1.9

"Sabrina, the Teenage Witch," WB, 1.9

 

 

The Birds of Prey ratings breakdown...

 

Week 1: 4.7

Week 2: 3.4

Week 3: 2.8

Week 4: 2.6

 

Birds has squandered its oppurtunity after the early advertising gauntlet. If this continues it'll be dropped like Dark Angel was, a show whose ratings didn't warrant keeping it around due to cost of production.

 

The last three weeks has seen Birds get better ratings than:

 

Fastlane

 

Except for the first week, Birds couldn't hope to match Fastlane.

 

Fastlane's earned a 6.1, a 5.4, and a 4.5. Birds has never beaten it in the weekly ratings. EVER.

[Guest Lethargic]

If people cancelled shows because of criticisms there wouldn't be a show left. I'll be surprised if they use the cost excuse, not that it doesn't make sense, but at the same time the show looks like it's made on about a 15 dollar budget.

[Guest Sassquatch]

BOP dropped over 2 ratings points within a 4 week span.

 

In the world of TV, that is deemed a failure and I am not surprised the show will be cancelled now.

 

Lethargic, the reason that DC does not want to deal with the criticism of BOP is because they do not want their critics to think of them as a one-trick pony that got lucky with BOP.

 

Marvel Comics has been having huge success in multi-media over the last couple years while DC has been struggling with their ventures into it.

 

As we saw with the criticism that the Superman movie has taken and how DC scattered over the criticism it recieved, they have been very jumpy and paranoid about them screwing up anything in the multi-media world.

 

Oh and thank you to Kagato for posting the ratings breakdown of the show. Thanks.

[Guest Lethargic]

Lethargic, the reason that DC does not want to deal with the criticism of BOP is because they do not want their critics to think of them as a one-trick pony that got lucky with BOP.

 

Marvel Comics has been having huge success in multi-media over the last couple years while DC has been struggling with their ventures into it.

What kind of backwoods logic is that? "Well, since Marvel has done good, let's cancel this show to make us look good and avoid criticism." Huh? I can't even grasp how retarded that is. The show is still getting decent ratings and could go back up in the future as the show progresses. There's no real reason to cancel it now that's been proven. Of course, it has NOT been cancelled, it's only rumor for now. But still, good god, that's the stupidest thing I've ever read. Let's purposely fail a show so we don't look like a one trick pony?! If you have one hit show and one show that gets cancelled that DOES make you look like a one trick pony. Besides you think DC really has a say in this? It's up to the network what gets cancelled and what doesn't. If the network is still willing to pay DC to make this show DC is going to take it. They don't give two shits about criticism. They're a business. They don't give a rat's ass about criticism. They want to make money and that's it. If it makes them money it'll stay, if it doesn't make them money, it'll go. That's it. Criticism didn't stop this Superman movie, because they know it's gonna make money no matter how many of us internet morons complain about it.

[Guest MarvinisaLunatic]

The WB Network is about to say goodbye to the leather-clad Batgirls of "Birds of Prey" and hello to the portly dad and perky kids of "Grounded for Life." The WB has struck a deal with Carsey-Werner-Mandabach to pick up the family comedy "Grounded for Life," which had been on the fence for a full-season pickup at Fox. Also on Monday, sources said the WB pulled the plug on the femme Batman spinoff drama "Birds of Prey," which popped a big number in its premiere but fell off quickly in subsequent weeks. There was also a behind-the-scenes shuffle among the creative team on the Tollin/Robbins-Warner Bros. Television drama. It's unclear when production will stop on the initial 13-episode "Birds of Prey" order. New episodes of the show will run on the WB through next month. "Grounded for Life," starring Donal Logue as the head of a rambunctious middle-class clan, will relocate to the WB in March, most likely as a companion to the WB's Friday night tent-pole comedy "Reba".

 

Hmm..

[Guest starvenger]

Mentioned that in the "Haunted" thread. Basically it comes down to money and ratings. The ratings are actually respectable for the weblet, but I suppose that they figure that it could be better given the money invested in the show. Exactly how it could be better against stiff competition is beyond me, but that's the way it goes, I guess.

[Guest areacode212]

The Lady Shiva episode will be broadcast on Wednesday, so at least the babe factor will outweigh the shitty writing/acting factor this week. I wonder how many remaining episodes there have to show.

 

Do you think BoP could still be saved, with a different creative team, or is it tainted in the minds of the public? ST: TNG really sucked in its first couple of years, yet once it found its stride in season 3, it got really good. The huge ratings for the premiere showed that people were interested in the idea, but were turned off by the execution.

 

I don't know. I think the show would require MAJOR retooling (new writers, get rid of Mia Sara (or at least tell her to act like a real person instead of a '60s "Batman" villain), give more variety to the show's "look" -- have there been ANY daytime scenes on the show) for it to work. It's probably a moot point anyway.

[Guest Lethargic]

There is supposed to be 13 episodes, with 10 being made. I haven't seen if they will actually go ahead and make the other 3.

 

I still think they should've gave the show a different time slot and seeing how it fared then before outright cancelling it. Put it with a show that the audience would cross over better like Smallville or Angel. Not Dawson's Creek.

 

What I saw said it's not on and it's not coming back on until the 11th with the Shiva episode.

 

I forgot to watch it last week again so I can't watch the Shiva episode until I find a place to download Split anyway. Hell, I haven't watched it since Sin of the Mothers so it looks like I'll end up watching like 4 or 5 episodes in a row just to catch up in time for the show to end. haha

[Guest Sassquatch]

The show is tainted and can not be fixed.

 

Unless they had an episode where all of the Bat-women strip down nude and have a giant lesbian orgy in a Jell-O bowl then I do not see any way for this show to survive.

 

It could have been good. It had promise. But it went to shit for various reasons and is now being cancelled.

 

Fans do not care about this show which has been evidenced by the ratings. The only real reason that most fans probably did tune in for the first two episodes was to see Batman who should have already had a new show made about him (too bad "Year One" is in creative limbo right now).

 

If the producers would have done the comic book version of BoP where Diana (Black Canary) is the star (who would have been older) along with the occasional Huntress cameo who receives info from Oracle (Batgirl) and sticks with that premise then I could have seen the show surviving on it's own. It would have not been tied down with any Batman related baggage and the show could have had more range to it then it just being an excuse for the WB to tease fans with a possible Batman appearance.

[Guest Lethargic]

I'm sure they'd like to make a Batman series if Warner Brothers would let them do it but they won't. They think it will take away from the movie they're never gonna make anyway. Warner was even talking about forcing the WB to cancell Smallville so it wouldn't intefere with the new Superman movie, until this year's ratings ended that retarded talk.

 

Personally I never want to see a live action Batman TV series. The budgetary constrants of TV would never allow it to be done right. I'd rather have no Batman at all than a cheap looking Batman with old worn out suits left over from the crappy movies. Birds of Prey, I can take that cause it's just the Birds of Prey, who gives a rats ass if they don't do THEM justice? But if this was a Batman show and it looks the way it does, no thanks. No bad CGI Batman running across a roof for me, thank you very much.

[Guest Lethargic]

So Birds of Prey gets cancelled because of low ratings. But yet, this week they're putting it on in a two hour block back to back. And the final episode is going to be a 2 hour movie "event". If the show isn't getting ratings why do they do crap like that? haha. The funniest thing is that they're moving Angel into Bird's old slot when it's gone. Angel gets lower ratings than Birds AND costs more to make. haha

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

Lethargic, the reason that DC does not want to deal with the criticism of BOP is because they do not want their critics to think of them as a one-trick pony that got lucky with BOP.

 

Marvel Comics has been having huge success in multi-media over the last couple years while DC has been struggling with their ventures into it.

What kind of backwoods logic is that? "Well, since Marvel has done good, let's cancel this show to make us look good and avoid criticism." Huh? I can't even grasp how retarded that is. The show is still getting decent ratings and could go back up in the future as the show progresses. There's no real reason to cancel it now that's been proven. Of course, it has NOT been cancelled, it's only rumor for now. But still, good god, that's the stupidest thing I've ever read. Let's purposely fail a show so we don't look like a one trick pony?! If you have one hit show and one show that gets cancelled that DOES make you look like a one trick pony. Besides you think DC really has a say in this? It's up to the network what gets cancelled and what doesn't. If the network is still willing to pay DC to make this show DC is going to take it. They don't give two shits about criticism. They're a business. They don't give a rat's ass about criticism. They want to make money and that's it. If it makes them money it'll stay, if it doesn't make them money, it'll go. That's it. Criticism didn't stop this Superman movie, because they know it's gonna make money no matter how many of us internet morons complain about it.

Try this Lethargic: After the first two weeks, the ratings didn't justify the show.

 

 

That clear?

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

I'm sure they'd like to make a Batman series if Warner Brothers would let them do it but they won't. They think it will take away from the movie they're never gonna make anyway. Warner was even talking about forcing the WB to cancell Smallville so it wouldn't intefere with the new Superman movie, until this year's ratings ended that retarded talk.

 

Personally I never want to see a live action Batman TV series. The budgetary constrants of TV would never allow it to be done right. I'd rather have no Batman at all than a cheap looking Batman with old worn out suits left over from the crappy movies. Birds of Prey, I can take that cause it's just the Birds of Prey, who gives a rats ass if they don't do THEM justice? But if this was a Batman show and it looks the way it does, no thanks. No bad CGI Batman running across a roof for me, thank you very much.

Actually they were going to make a Batman series, it was going to air back-to-back with Smallville and be called "Bruce Wayne" the show would focus on Bruce's 12 years abroad before he became Batman.

 

 

However, the pre-Spider-Man world two comic books shows on the same night was deemed not financially viable.