Remembering The WB's Birds of Prey, the sexy, girl-powered counterpart to Smallville

Paste Magazine

The news that Ashley Scott would be reprising her 2002-2003 Birds of Prey role on Arrowverse's "Crisis on Infinite Earths" was a reminder of how unique the short-lived WB superhero series was. "Of course, Birds of Prey only lasted one season—13 episodes, to be exact. The series premiered as a hit, with 7.6 million viewers… and then it just kept plummeting," says LaToya Ferguson. She adds: "At the same time, Smallville’s second season ratings were only growing, so it seemingly proved to The WB that they were doing something right on at least one loose comic-book adaptation. Even though, Birds of Prey was doing things right too, just differently, within the confines of the era’s idea of what it meant to be a strong woman (though not the worst approach to it), and without the ratings to back it up. Birds of Prey was very much a product of its time, and there’s no telling where it would have landed had it gotten a lengthy run like Smallville or Charmed or even had it gotten just one more season to work the episodic kinks out or draw more comic-book inspiration."