I bought the DVD (a few years ago) because I remember watching a few episodes on TV. I liked the show but I don't think it should have been called Birds of Prey because if they couldn't make it like or similar to the comic books then they shouldn't have tried to produce this show.
Some reasons the show didn't work:
1. No Helena Bertinelli. I didn't understand why they didn't use the then current Huntress from the comics. There was no need for a blood connection to Batman for BoP to work - the comic already had a pretty good fan base and good amount of success - without that connection. By using the Helena Kyle version, they made her a surrogate daughter to Barbara and they missed out on showing how much Barbara and Helena didn't quite get along at first because Huntress hooked up with Nightwing. Also, why did they give Huntress powers? Even the Helena Wayne version in the comics didn't have powers. What was the point of that?
2. The whole Black Canary situation was confusing. In the BoP comic book, the three main members are: Oracle, Huntress and Black Canary but on this show they didn't have Black Canary as a member. What they had was a teenage Dinah Redmond (Lance) who didn't have the canary cry but various psychic abilities. She was the daughter of Black Canary who was named Carolyn Lance who had the canary cry but was not a member of the team. It was unclear if Dinah was also going to go by the Black Canary code name as well. I also found Dinah to be really annoying. I guess they thought they needed a teenager on the show to bring in the teen viewers.
In the comics the first Black Canary (Dinah Drake Lance) didn't have the canary cry, she was just a non-powered superhero. However, her daughter the second Black Canary (Dinah Laurel Lance) did acquire the ability and was a member of the Birds of Prey.
3. They didn't use enough of the Birds' villains. The episode with Shiva doesn't even count, they did a horrible job with that character. Harley should not have been the main villain and if they were going to use Harley they may as well have brought in Poison Ivy (for a guest appearance at least). They also didn't need the metahuman of the week for each episode.
4. No costumes. This was one of the main complaints from fans. I think the show would have been better if Helena and Dinah had worn costumes. Helena would complain about her secret identity but how can she keep her identity a secret when she doesn't wear a mask. Plus she worked in a popular bar. What's to stop a villain from recognizing her while she's working? Absolutely nothing.
5. No recurring characters from the comic books. It would have been nice to see: Batman, Nightwing, Commissioner Jim Gordon, Wonder Woman, Robin (Tim Drake), Catwoman (she could have been used if they had not gone with the Helena Kyle Huntress), Batgirl (Cassandra Cain), Vixen, Savant, and more.
6. Barbara's boyfriend Wade was not needed. Wade was pretty much useless for this show. They could have just brought in Nightwing every now and then since Barbara and Dick were suppose to have an on-again-off-again type of relationship anyway.
7. Batman leaving Gotham. It made no sense at all and showed that the producers of the show not only didn't read any BoP Comics but also didn't read any Batman comics as well. Batman would never leave Gotham or give up being Batman. Also, it's hard to believe that no one ever heard of Batman on the police force in Gotham City. How can that be?
8. Why didn't Barbara know who Dr. Harleen Quinzel was? Since Barbara was once Batgirl she would have spent plenty of time fighting Harley. It's public knowledge in Gotham that Harley used to be a psychologist and not to mention all her time getting arrested and being locked up in Arkham Asylum.
9. Too many Metahumans. Why were there so many people with powers? Gotham isn't known for having that many metahumans.
10. Poorly written. Each episode didn't seem to have a lot going on other than the Birds need to stop the metahuman of the week. There was no intricate plot or anything to really engage the viewer.
All in all the show would have been good if it were just a random superhero show. However, it felt nothing like the Birds of Prey.
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