Birds of Prey

Birds of Prey is a drama television series which is based on the DC Comics series with the same name. It was developed by Laeta Kalogridis for The WB, it was produced in 2002. This is a fantastic series which loved by many fans, unfortunately the show was one of the many that did not get to live as long as it should have. Despite the interesting storyline, addicting characters, a good theme, and a wonderful cast and crew, also with an amazing start within the 13 episodes the viewership quickly began to fall and the series was canceled.

The story revolve to the three woman which is the new protectors of the New Gotham. Batman, the guardian of New Gotham, and his one true love, Catwoman, left behind something extraordinary when they vanished. It was their daughter Huntress, her real name is Helena a half metahuman, she has taken up her father's mantel and under cover of the night, fights to protect the innocent and helpless. Joining her in this struggle, Oracle, who was once Batman's protege, Batgirl. She was caught in the crossfire of the war between Batman and Joker causing her to paralyzed , now she fights crime a different way, a master of the cyber-realms and mentor and trainer to heroes. Together, they have taken in a young runaway, Dinah, a metahuman herself with powers to open hidden doors to the mind, powers that she is only beginning to explore. The girls must learn how to work together and become not only a team of superheroes but also a family.

The series is set in New Gotham City, several years after it has been abandoned by Batman, with Barbara Gordon, and Helena as the Huntress, having taken over his war on crime. A central feature of the series is the concept of metahumans. Individuals born with powers that cannot be explained, such as Helena and Dinah. No two metahumans have the same ability (or set of abilities) and there exists a whole sub culture of metahuman society that the outside world knows nothing about. Detective Reese introduced in this series who teamed up with Huntress and the Birds of Prey to defeat metahuman criminals. At first, he is disapproving of Helena's vigilantism, even trying to arrest her, but eventually he realises there is a need for the Birds of Prey to take down criminals the police can't handle. During the course of the show, the Birds of Prey often find themselves confronted with schemes masterminded by Dr. Quinzel, though they are unaware of her involvement until the final episodes of the series. Her attempts to discover what Helena is hiding, and the duplicitous nature of their therapy sessions together, form a large part of the series arc, beginning in the pilot episode, and being resolved in the series finale.

The Cast:

The Green Hornet

The Green Hornet is a fictional crime fighter which is originally created by Fran Striker for an American radio program in the 1930s, the character appeared in other media including it's television appearance in the 1960s. Inspired by the success of the Batman series, ABC brought The Green Hornet to television in 1966-67, an adaptation which introduced martial arts master Bruce Lee to American audiences and starred Van Williams as the Green Hornet.

Green Hornet is Britt (or "Brit") Reid, a newspaper publisher by day who by night goes out in his masked "Green Hornet" identity to fight crime as a vigilante. While the police and public believe the Hornet to be a ruthless criminal, the District Attorney knows Reid's secret identity, and welcomes his assistance in fighting racketeers and criminals. Also assisting Reid in his crusade are his secretary, Lenore Case, and his faithful valet, Kato (played by none other than the best in the business Bruce Lee), who is a Kung Fu expert and who drives the sleek "Black Beauty", the Hornet's well armed car. The Black Beauty could fire explosive charges from tubes at its bumpers, which were said to be rockets with explosive warheads, had a concealed-when-not-in-use, drop-down knock-out gas nozzle in the center of the front grille, and could launch a small flying video/audio surveillance device through the trunk lid. One relatively minor aspect of the character which tends to be given limited exposure in the actual productions is his blood relationship to The Lone Ranger, another character created by Striker. The Western property was sold to another company in the 1950s, a legal complication that resulted in the identity of the Masked Rider of the Plains being obscured when it has been dealt with at all in Green Hornet depictions.

The first episode of the series entitled, "The Silent Gun", aired at 730pm on Friday 9th September 1966 and was followed by the fantasy/time travel series "Time Tunnel". A few weeks later, on 28th September 1966, both the Green Hornet and Kato made guest appearances on the "Batman" episode "The Spell of Tut" in what was the first of two crossover plots in three episodes (the others being "A Piece of the Action" -1st March 1967 and "Batman's Satisfaction" -2nd March 1967). The music of "Flight of the Bumblebee" was so strongly identified with The Green Hornet that it was retained as the theme, orchestrated by Billy May (who also composed the new background scores) and conducted by Lionel Newman, with trumpet solo by Al Hirt.

Beyond the Break

Beyond the Break is a teen drama series which debuted on June 2006. It is shot entirely on location in Oahu, Hawaii. There are 20 episodes that have finished production, season one consisted of ten episodes and the ten episodes left are for the season two. The show has started production on season three, consisting of 14 episodes, and premieres in early 2008. The series is about the four girls, the flirt, the native, the one trying to fit in and the criminal in the sport of professional surfing, and the ups and downs of the competitive surfing circuit known as Wave Sync. Birdie Scott (Tiffany Hines), Lacey Farmer (Natalie Ramsey), Dawn Preston (Suzie Pollard), and Kai Kealoha (Sonya Balmores) must overcome their differences in order to capture surf stardom.

In the pilot episode, three of the girls are being sponsored for surfing by a company called Wave Sync, Dawn, the rich girl who stays out flirting with hot guys, Kai, the native of Hawaii, and Birdie which struggling in getting a job. They live with their coach, Justin (David Chokachi), and his assistant, Shoe (Jason Tam), who is in charge of keeping the boards clean. Shoe has a huge crush on Dawn, who doesn't seem to notice him much. Bailey (Ross Thomas II), is their annoying, but hot, next door neighbor which can't keep his eyes on Birdie. The last girl, Lacey Farmer, comes from an abusive household. She hopes that if she travels to Hawaii, Wave Sync will give her a sponsorship. She was strongly considered until Wave Sync saw her criminal record. Forced to stay in Hawaii because of her mother's drunk boyfriend, she has to prove that she belongs, regardless of her record.

There are many interesting characters in the series like Dawn which we know as “the flirt”, however as the series goes she's so much more than that. Also Lacey, she has a lot of trials in life which causes her to run off to Hawaii. The four main female characters come from diverse backgrounds and bring many of their issues into the house. Fights ensue over boys, money and surfing, and the girls are forced to learn life lessons without parental supervision. At the end of the day, friendships and bonds are formed, but not without a “whodunit” angle to keep the drama alive until the next episode.

Criss Angel: Mindfreak

This amazing TV show “Criss Angel Mindfreak” is distributed by A&E Network which debuted in 2005, and centers on unusual stunts and street magic acts by illusionist Criss Angel. The first and second seasons were filmed at the The Aladdin in Las Vegas, were the third season at the Luxor Hotel. On its premier on July 20, 2005, there are a lot of illusions featured including walking on water, levitating above the Luxor Hotel, floating between two buildings, causing a Lamborghini to disappear, surviving in an exploding C4 Crate, and cutting Criss Angel's body in half in full view of an audience. Taken from the opening of the half hour television show, the definition of the title, Mindfreak is a modern day mystifier who utilizes skills beyond the category of magic. This can be expanded by saying that a Mindfreak is in fact a person (magicians, illusionists, etc) who engages in acts which seem to defy human or scientific logic or as an individual who pushes the boundaries of their own mind and body. On a stunt in the third season, he attempted to jump out of a van before it crashed and exploded. Criss made it but landed on his neck and the show's production was stopped for two weeks while he recovered. October 2007, fourth season begin filming and the show is scheduled to run for two more seasons after that.

Criss Angel is on a quest to bring magic into our lives through extreme entertainment that he calls “Mindfreak”. He believes today's magicians are for the most part archaic and out of touch with society. He plans to change that with amazing feats, including being set ablaze for 46 seconds with very little protection and levitating people right on the street to death-defying escapes and even more slight-of-hand acts. In response to how he does his stunts, he has only declared not to have any paranormal powers, saying: “I do not believe that anybody has the ability to do anything that's supernatural”.


Building Float: Criss Angel takes Mindfreak's season 1 levitation to a whole new level. He will float from one building to another infront of a random crowd in broad daylight.

Walk on Water: Criss will attempt to walk across an entire pool in one continuous shot while skeptics swim below and around him.

In Two: Criss Angel will demonstrate his version of being cut in half without covers, boxes or trick clothing.