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Version shown on TV not as smart in series following Batman's child
By Rich Heldenfels
Beacon Journal popular culture writer
Published on Sunday, Jul 13, 2008
With all the excitement around The Dark Knight, Warner Home Video seems eager to exploit any possible DVD tie-in to the film.
This is actually good news for fans of Birds of Prey, the short-lived series on the old WB network, since it will at last be released on DVD on Tuesday (13 episodes, four discs, $29.95).
Inspired by several comic-book characters, Birds of Prey, which aired in 2002-03, focused on three women: Helena Kyle (Ashley Scott), the daughter of Batman and Catwoman, known as the Huntress; Barbara Gordon (Dina Meyer), the former Catwoman, now called the Oracle; and Dinah Redmond (Rachel Skarsten), whose crime-fighting future was uncertain as the series began. Also involved with them was police Detective Jesse Reese (Shemar Moore).
The show had a good look, plenty of comic-style atmosphere and a few decent stories. But it's apparent, when you look at the unaired version of the series pilot (included as a DVD extra) and the pilot as televised, that Birds of Prey was intended as more thoughtful than the network wanted; the revised pilot has a dumbed-down quality.
And even then, I would have been interested in seeing more than these 13.
Also offered as a DVD extra: animated segments of an online Gotham Girls series.
Elsewhere on DVD Tuesday is Evening Shade: Season One (CBS/Paramount, 24 episodes, five discs, $39.99), the opening round of the CBS comedy starring Burt Reynolds, which originally aired from 1990 to 1994.
If you need only one reason to watch it, I offer a cast that included Reynolds, Charles Durning, Ossie Davis, Michael Jeter, Elizabeth Ashley, Ann Wedgeworth and Cleveland's own Hal Holbrook. And behind the scenes was Designing Women's writer-creator Linda Bloodworth-Thomason.
It wasn't as great as it might have been, but it was very good. Unfortunately, as I mentioned in last week's column, the DVD treatment is less than stellar. No extras, and the music has been changed from the broadcast version.
Saving Grace, the fine TNT series starring Holly Hunter, begins its second season on Monday. On Tuesday, the first season hits DVD (Fox, 13 episodes, four discs, $49.98).
With great daring, Hunter plays Grace Hanadarko, a hot-tempered Oklahoma City police detective who is in the express lane to self-destruction. Things start to change when she is visited by an angel — really, an angel — named Earl (Leon Rippy). But Grace is not easily sold on salvation.
The first season found Grace dealing with Earl, criminals and a terrible trauma from her childhood, and it's often well done. You might even argue that it's too well done, since Grace's pain stays with you long after an episode is over.
Extras include a music video by Everlast, an overview of the series, featurettes including cast members and audio commentaries on the series premiere and the first-season finale; the commentaries are by producers of the show.
DVD notebook: Centennial, the 1978 production based on the James A. Michener novel, finally gets to DVD on July 29. This is one of the titles I get asked most about, and I expect to have more on it closer to the release date.
B.L. Stryker: Season Two — the Burt Reynolds private-eye show — will not be released on DVD on Tuesday, as previously announced. A complete-series box set will come out in September.
Never Back Down, the mixed martial arts reconfiguring of The Karate Kid, arrives on July 29; Parma's Sean Faris stars.
The Shield: The Complete Sixth Season is due Aug. 26.
Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal and in a blog at http://www.ohio.com. He can be reached at 330-996-3582 and rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com.
With all the excitement around The Dark Knight, Warner Home Video seems eager to exploit any possible DVD tie-in to the film.
Get the full article here.
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