The Dresden Files > DF TV Series
POLL: End Game Opinion of the Series
twinswin123:
So wait...What replaced the TV series?
thelordbeans:
I've seen all of the episodes (except the original pilot) and I didn't like it. It wasn't bad, but I don't think it did the books justice by any stretch. The dialog seemed uninspired - Harry, the perennial wiseass, said only one funny thing the entire season (I think it had something to do with Mayans, I don't remember). Also, I could never shake off the feeling that Paul Blockthorne was a creepy stalker instead of a hero with good intentions that just looks like a creepy stalker at times. The individual episode plots weren't exactly captivating. They didn't describe how magic works, like Butcher does in the novels, or at least not much, and I remember them getting some things wrong about magic. Bob was horrible - I don't care if Bob is a talking skull or a person that lives in a skull and pops out genie style, but TV Bob and book Bob are completely different people.
It needed work... I don't know where, if it's just bad writing, or also bad actors, or not enough effort put into it, or not enough money... maybe Butcher should have written some of the scripts, or maybe helped direct a little (like Frank Miller in Sin City), but I wouldn't be surprised if he has his hands full with writing his great novels.
Maybe a mini TV series would be better (a few episodes all about Storm Front) or a full fledged movie, if that was possible. Otherwise... don't continue the TV show, unless it gets some type of revision.
edit: also, it might be better than the other stuff they show on Sci-Fi channel (I don't watch much Sci-Fi channel, if any), but it's not a show I'd watch if I wasn't a Dresden Files fan
edit2: I admit, I really liked the hockey stick
Spyndel:
I actually watched the show (or a few episodes of it, if it was on) before I read any of the books. I found it sort of lackluster and a bit uninspired. I agree with some of the others here that I thought the dialog could be much better. You can live with practically any show budget as long as the scripts are entertaining. It wasn't awful. It was better than most Sci Fi channel fare, but that's damning with faint praise. I had no problem with the cast. I liked the "grubby PI" look Blackthorne had. I found the woman who played Murphy strangely "hot", but as we all know now...that's not Murphy. I even thought the hockey stick Staff was a clever idea. I understand Bob needing to be a person, though he of course, wasn't *BoB*.
But even from a from a (then) non book fan perspective, I wanted livelier dialog and more over-arcing storylines. The "monster of the week" theme is seldom very interesting to me. That worked for Xfiles because they split the episodes up between really entertaining monster of the week shows, and powerfully addictive mythology shows. The latter aspect seemed really underdeveloped in TV Dresden. I understand that this is often what Studio and network executives dont want, because they fear people dont want to watch something they cant just jump right into. All I can say is when I DO watch television shows, its almost always because of compelling story arcs.
And its a shame, because it almost put me off reading the books, which I since have and have come to really enjoy. Looking back on the show now after having read the books, it seems even less appealing. After some time has passed, I would really enjoy seeing a new effort to bring Harry to the small screen, maybe as number of mini series, much more in line with the tone and storylines of the books.
This is not to put down any of the people involved. I know putting together a television show that really fires on all cylinders is a difficult task, and things can go wrong in the mix for any number of reasons, with so many fingers in the pie.
Tribblechomper:
--- Quote from: twinswin123 on May 04, 2008, 11:59:54 PM ---So wait...What replaced the TV series?
--- End quote ---
Repeats of BSG and Doctor Who, until new eps became available; oh, and the occasional SciFi Originals Beastie of the Week movie!
Can you believe Kevin Sorbo's so pinched for a paycheck that he'd do that "Aztec Rex" movie airing this weekend?
Guess the residuals from Hercules and Andromeda are drying up...
thelordbeans:
An addendum: I do think the show had potential, and deserves a second shot. And it's better than Charmed
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