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23 Jan 2012
2 CommentsWitchblade, the Television Series
Witchblade, The Television Series – Two Seasons of Action and Adventure
Witchblade was a short-lived, but well-made, action drama television series based on the comic book series of the same name.
I was a little surprised to find out a television adaptation of the Witchblade comic book series existed. Although I read some of the comics back in the day, I couldn’t remember the full story. Which is good, because it helped me get into the show without any preconceived notions.
Witchblade is the story of Sara Pezzini, played by the ever-enigmatic Yancy Butler, an NYC homicide detective. Sara encounters an ancient artifact of incredible power called the Witchblade while in pursuit of a killer. Wielded only by women throughout the ages, the Witchblade is almost another character in and of itself. It gives Sara the power to see the past, present and future in glimpses. It can also heal, and more generally, it aids Sara in the form of a long blade. The Witchblade is sentient and sometimes displays a will of its own in direct opposition to Sara’s own wishes.
Yet, somehow, this show ended after only two seasons. By all accounts, it was a well-received show, with good ratings. So, what happened? I found the show intriguing. It started with a made-for-TV movie, which you can consider the pilot episode. The pilot tells the story of how Sara’s partner died and how she came into possession of the Witchblade. The series continues that story for another 11 episodes. The second season expands on the first for another 12 episodes.
I did not have a problem with the show. The actors did well with their characters; the shows were admirably episodic with an overarching plot. There were enough twists and side stories to keep the drama going, and the exquisite torture of the main character throughout the show made it adequately dramatic. Sometimes it wasn’t great, but it was always at least good television.
A few gripes I had with the show: The first season has Sara’s partner, Danny Woo played by Will Yun Lee, already dead by the start of the first episode (he dies in the pilot). He still appears, but he is hardly a main character…yet he gets top billing in the opening credits. It is somewhat odd. He plays a bigger role in the second season. How a dead man manages to do that is up to you to find out.
Another problem was the second season itself. It’s not nearly as good as the first. Especially considering the season works as a reboot of the first season (once again, you will have to find out how that works by watching). The second season has much of what the first season lacked, yet it misses a bunch of the things that made the first season awesome.
But those are small gripes. The show is enjoyable, well written and well acted. You do not have to like the comic to enjoy it. You don’t even have like sci-fi or fantasy stuff to get into it. I suggest tuning in to the first season (including the movie/pilot) and from there you can decide if you want to jump into the second season.
When I found this series, I also found out there is an anime and manga series as well. I will be watching the anime soon, so look out for a review. Also of interest, I found there is a live-action Witchblade movie currently in the works. Of course, the news is years old now, but word is there is a script or two written up and there are still plans to make the movie. I am glad there is still interest in this franchise.
For more information on the television series, try the usual places:
Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witchblade_%28TV_series%29
IMDB – http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0274298/
Here is a link to the script of the pilot by Lee Thomson
http://leethomson.myzen.co.uk/Witchblade_1×01_-_Pilot_(1999).pdf
You can find everything mentioned in this article on Amazon and in other places:
- Witchblade TV Series (2 seasons and movie/pilot) – http://amzn.to/WitchbladeTVSeries
- First 50 issues of the Witchblade comic series – http://amzn.to/WitchbladeCompendium
- The complete set of the Witchblade anime – http://amzn.to/WitchbladeAnime
- The Witchblade manga (Complete with 2 volumes) – http://amzn.to/WitchbladeTakeru
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26 Mar 2012
0 CommentsBirds of Prey, the Television Series
Birds of Prey is short lived television series based on the DC Comics publication of the same name.
Birds of Prey The Television Series
I had no idea that Birds of Prey even existed. I came across it during a wiki walk while looking for something unrelated regarding the Batman mythos. After a little research, I found many people agreed it was an okay show with a little room for growth. Unfortunately, since it never got past the first season, it was never allowed that potential growth.
What is Birds of Prey?
Birds of Prey is an action television series based off DC Comic’s comic book series of the same name. The show only ran for one season between 2002 and 2003. It features three women fighting crime. That’s pretty much it.
Helena Kyle aka Huntress is the brawn and main character. Barbara Gordon aka Oracle is the brains, and Dinah Redmond is the newest and youngest member. They beat-up the bad guys and take down nefarious plots in New Gotham. Yes, there are other characters and even a main villain, but we will keep it to the basics.
Where Birds of Prey Failed
They could have just as easily left out the whole Batman connection they invented and still would have had the same story, since he doesn’t actually have anything to do with the story. But like I said, they could have removed every DC reference and it would have been a tighter show for it.
As an example, Helena Kyle is the daughter of Batman and Catwoman. This could have been left out. Many characters from the comic series make either a brief appearance or no appearance in the show at all, even some of the more regular ones. There is a lot more to this but I don’t want to get too much into the details of it. It’s understandable that they took liberties with the source material but they took the wrong liberties.
Another reason that they should have left the DC elements out is their use of the whole “metahuman” concept. Admittedly, metahumans do exist in the DC Universe but they may have gone a little too far with it in this show. Everybody with any sort of ability is a metahuman. A metahuman is a person with some genetic trait that gives them some kind of ability (think Marvel mutants like the X-Men).
They overuse the phrase as well as the trope.
Birds of Prey Still Offers Plenty of Action
As this is mainly an action show, there is plenty of action. But in a post-Matrix world, it has become more and more difficult to impress with the type used in Birds of Prey. This is especially rough with the main character Huntress, whose use of over-the-top acrobatics during many of her fight scenes seem a little out of place much of the time.
I understand that you can only expect so much stylized choreography with a television show budget, but I swear they sometimes used the same exact shot of Huntress doing the same exact acrobatic fighting move during the same fight!
I know it sounds like I am beating this show down, but that is not the case. It is adequate for some lazy watching. It is full of action and even if the special effects aren’t the best, they are passable. The show could have been much, much better and I think if it had been renewed for another season or two, it would have grown into something truly good.
The full series can be found for cheap on Amazon: http://amzn.to/BirdsOfPreyTV
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