Grrr.

[Ebony]

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I've seen a couple eps of "Birds of Prey" -- might be fun. Doug would certainly blow the lid off of the "superheroes are urban legends" bit, though. Daylight is a good thing, tactically speaking...

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Only if you can't see in the dark. Personally, I thought that what little I saw of BoP tried too hard to be a WB family-friendly drama and missed out on the point of the characters. Being rather familiar with the characters in the BoP comic, I felt that the TV portrayals were not only wrong, but at points downright stupid (she fights crime in lingerie for cryin' out loud!). My biggest problem is that the TV writers pretty much failed to grasp that there are two sides to DC's mainstream comics, as noted by their two flagship characters, Superman and Batman. Superman is in the daylight, out in the open, honest and true, and he can afford to be. He symbolizes the bright side of the Everyman, that part that says that you can succeed if you try hard enough, love your parents, and treat everyone fairly. Batman is the dark side of the Everyman; that part that comes out when the light side has been stomped on, exploited, and abused. The positive note is still there, but it's tempered with a sense that, sometimes, you have to get mean and scary to beat the "bad guys."
These two heroes general themes carry over to their settings as well. Gotham is supposed to be dark and seedy. Metropolis (and Smallville) are supposed to be lighter and cleaner. "Smallville" works well as a family drama, because Superman falls into the theme that WB uses. I like it a lot. "Birds of Prey" left me feeling like I was watching a parody.
Mind you, I only watched a little of it, and my opinions are based on an incomplete vision.
"Firefly," on the other hand, is a Space Western. And there's little in this world that I like more than a good alternate Western. What I've seen of it (first 3 episodes) made me very pleased with it. It also makes me want to beat the Fox programming execs over the head repeatedly for putting it in the Death Spot (a.k.a. Prime time on Friday night, where it has to compete with weekend events, movie openings, and the like).
Ebony the Black Dragon
Senior Editor, Living Room Games
www.lrgames.com
Ebony the Black Dragon
http://ebony14.livejournal.com

"Good night, and may the Good Lord take a Viking to you."