Woohoo! I'm so excited! :bananadance:

Series Synopsis

Think you understand how the world works? Get schooled with The Dresden Files, a supernatural detective series based on the best-selling novels of Jim Butcher.

The Dresden Files tells the story of Harry Dresden (Paul Blackthorne), a regular guy with an irregular life — he's a wizard, a practitioner of magic who uses his unique abilities to solve the cases that come through his Chicago storefront office; call it the next evolution in forensics.

Harry lives in the same work-a-day world we live in, but he can also operate in the world of the supernatural, the metaphysical, and the unexplainable. Dresden unravels otherworldly schemes and crimes and does battle with the forces of darkness, all while keeping his true activities veiled from Lt. Connie Murphy (Valerie Cruz) of the Chicago Police Department.

The governing body that supervises wizards is called the High Council. The Council enforces the rules and makes certain that nobody in the mundane world ever knows what's going on in the supernatural world. In Chicago, the Council's Warden is Morgan (Conrad Coates). Morgan is Harry's probation officer. Three years ago Harry used black magic to kill his uncle Justin Morningway. The Council ruled that Harry did it in self-defense, but Morgan suspects otherwise. He would be only too happy to catch Harry in another transgression.

Dresden's confidante and adviser on all things magical is Bob (Terrence Mann). Bob was a medieval wizard who took up the dark arts but went too far. He was caught and killed by the Wardens, who then bound his soul into eternal servitude as punishment. Bob haunts Harry's apartment, hoping for a chance to regain his corporeal self — or at least get out for a walk in the park once in a while.

Through it all, Harry Dresden retains his wry, sardonic view of both the natural and supernatural worlds. If you ever need his special kind of detective skills, you can find him listed in the phone book. For $500 a day, with a two-day minimum, he'll take your case and bring it to a successful conclusion.

Just don't ask him how he does it.



Birds of a Feather

PREMIERES SUNDAY JANUARY 21 AT 9/8C on the SCI-FI CHANNEL

Logline
A 10-year-old boy comes to Dresden claiming that monsters are after him. Dresden dismisses the boy's fears — until he belatedly realizes the kid is right.

Synopsis
When Scott Sharp, a frightened 10-year-old boy, begs Dresden to protect him and his mother from "monsters" that are lurking in their home, Harry at first dismisses the boy's fears as the product of an overactive imagination. But when Scott is subsequently kidnapped by sinister beings, Dresden realizes that the boy is an innocent pawn in the supernatural contest between good and evil.

The case triggers memories of Dresden's own childhood, when young Harry lived with his father, Colm, who performed low-rent stage magic in community theaters and children's parties. When Harry was Scott's age, his talent for real magic began to emerge — a fact that caught the eye of his uncle, Justin Morningway, the brother of young Harry's murdered mother.

Harry's uncle wanted to take him away so that he could hone the boy's talents to serve Morningway's own malevolent ambitions. Just as Colm had to protect young Harry from his uncle Morningway, so Dresden must now rescue Scott from those seeking to exploit him for their own nefarious purposes.


CAST
Harry Dresden -- PAUL BLACKTHORNE
Lt. Connie Murphy -- VALERIE CRUZ
Bob -- TERRENCE MANN
Kirmani -- RAOUL BHANEJA
Young Harry -- MATTHEW KNIGHT
Colm Dresden -- JONATHAN HIGGINS
Scott Sharp -- DYLAN EVERETT
Sheryl Sharp -- MARIE WARD
Melissa Perrini -- HEATHER HANSON
Ms. Timmons -- DEBORAH ODELL
Raven Man -- EARL PASTKO
Justin Morningway -- DANIEL KASH
Laura Ellis -- NATALIE LISINSKA


PRODUCTION
Executive Producers -- DAVID SIMKINS, ROBERT HEWITT WOLFE, NICOLAS CAGE, NORM GOLIGHTLY
Producer -- JONATHAN HACKETT
Written by -- PETER EGAN
Directed by -- MICHAEL ROBISON

I haven't read these books, but the description sounds pretty good. Guess I'll have to add them to my wishlist.

Yes! I've been waiting for this, but forgot the exact date :bananadance:

I, too, am very excited. I'm already counting down to 9:00 tonight. :)

I hadn't seen an episode summary so I'm happy that you posted that. Thank you!

I have to say that I'm a little nervous. I saw in previews that Bob is a person rather than a spirit in a skull. And the idea that Harry would just dismiss the boy's fears (first episode summary) and think it was his imagination doesn't seem completely like something Harry from the books would do.

But I'd probably better try my best to separate the show from the books. I know it's going to be different and if I nitpick it, I won't enjoy it.

I do notice quite a few changes in characters' names, but at least they kept Harry. I read that for a while they were thinking of changing it to Eric! Eek!

I'm looking forward to this show tonight myself, even though I haven't read any of the books.

4 more hours!

Gah! I can't watch it! I don't get the SciFi channel! :cry:

My friend is DVRing it for me, and I may go over there on Tuesday and watch it, and if not this episode is being re-aired at 8 next Sunday right before the next one...and next Sunday I'll be at another Friend's house in Louisville where I will be able to watch SciFi.

Now if only I could find out how much it would cost to upgrade to standard cable without spending three hours on hold!

only 1-1/2 hours!

I'm ready!!

Less than an hour to go. I ran DH off to go watch his football elsewhere. :P

Hopefully he's rooting for my boys The Patriots!! :D

As for me, all I can say is... lucky thing for TiVo! *phew*

My DH is watching football right now, but since he has been reading the Dresden books and has been enjoying them, he's looking forward to the show himself. It'll be nice to watch it together. :)

He said he's rooting for the Colts since the Patriots went to the Super Bowl not to long ago.

:bash: to Michelle's hubby! :P

Besides, 4 is my favorite number so they need 4 Super Bowl rings with Brady, not 3!! :D I'm greedy!!! ;)

Loved it! But I haven't read the books yet.

I'm just so relieved that the Space Channel in Canada is simulcasting it so I can watch it too!

As someone who loves the books, I was a bit disappointed in the show. Yes, there were changes and yes I expected changes. But Bob as a person? (okay, the skull was there, but still) No Blue Beetle? Who's Laura? Justin is his uncle and still alive? A shield bracelet from his mom rather than the silver pentangle? I could go on but I won't.

I know they seem like very surface details and that I shouldn't be bothered by it, but I just can't help it. It just didn't really have the same feel to me as the books do. Harry doesn't seem quite right to me.

Perhaps the show just needs a few more episodes to find its place. I'll give it that chance. I just knew I shouldn't have gotten my expectations up because they were bound to not be met. *sigh*

I liked it but can't say it loved it yet. I will wait to see more of the episodes to decide. I guess reading the first 4 in the series has clouded my judgement a bit.

Since I TiVo'ed it, I can't read anymore of this thread till after I watch it myself.

I need something to up my spirits because of the Pats loss to the Colts. :cry:

Okay, so I've only listened to audios of the first book and a half so far, but was this show based on ANY of his books!??!?! That definitely wasn't the storyline of the first two books so was wondering where it fell into place, if at all. Honestly, I didn't care for the show and neither did LB, but maybe it'll get better in time. (hopefully)

No it's not supposed to be based on any particular book. I thought I posted that a few times in various places... Basically it's supposed to be a spin-off of the books, and yes Jim Butcher did confirm in an interview I listed to last week that a good deal of liberties were taken with certain characters.

Here are the episodes I know about so far besides what aired tonight.

The Boone Identity
PREMIERES SUNDAY JANUARY 28 AT 9/8C

Logline
The ghost of a murdered girl can't rest until justice is brought to her killer — unfortunately, he's already dead.

Synopsis
A grieving father seeks Dresden's help to exorcise the ghost of his murdered daughter, Lisa. When Dresden attempts to cleanse the restless spirit, he's forced to look into the circumstances surrounding her death.

Lt. Murphy insists that the case is closed: the killer, Gus Boone, died only a few hours after Lisa's murder, during a botched carjacking attempt. The intended victim of the carjacking — Edward Miller, a wealthy young stockbroker — fought back and killed Boone with his own shotgun.

As Dresden investigates further, he suspects that Miller and Boone were actually accomplices in the robbery that led to Lisa's untimely death. The stolen item? An Egyptian stone tablet that holds an ancient secret: a key to eternal life.


CAST
Harry Dresden --PAUL BLACKTHORNE
Lt. Connie Murphy -- VALERIE CRUZ
Bob -- TERRENCE MANN
Kirmani -- RAOUL BHANEJA
Charles Harding -- C. DAVID JOHNSON
Boone -- KEVIN RUSHTON
Lisa Harding -- KALEIGH NEVIN
Joseph Miller -- TOM BARNETT
Lucas Sabin --DOMENIC CUZZOCREA
Marie -- JUDY MARSHAK
Joshua Bergen -- JOHN ROBINSON


PRODUCTION
Executive Producers -- DAVID SIMKINS, ROBERT HEWITT WOLFE, NICOLAS CAGE, NORM GOLIGHTLY
Producer -- JONATHAN HACKETT
Written by -- GEORGE MASTRAS
Directed by -- JIM CONTNER

Hair of the Dog
PREMIERES SUNDAY FEBRUARY 11 AT 9/8C

Logline
When Lt. Murphy asks Dresden to help her investigate a series of ritualistic slayings, he discovers that werewolves are involved. But the werewolves aren't the killers — they're the victims.

Synopsis
Murphy brings Dresden to a Chicago park, where the latest in a series of bizarre killings has taken place. A young woman is dead, her hair shorn and her canine teeth pulled out.

Dresden's investigation reveals that the victim was a werewolf, and that she was killed by a lethal dose of silver iodide administered via an aerosol inhalant. It appears that the werewolf chased someone into the park, but the lycanthrope's intended victim turned the tables and killed her with the silver iodide, then harvested the beast's hair and teeth. But why?

Meanwhile, Lt. Murphy finds herself forced off the case by an aggressive FBI agent who has been tracking the serial killer across the United States. But Dresden realizes that this is merely the agent's cover story; she's not tracking the killer — she's the mastermind of this monstrous plot.


CAST
Harry Dresden -- PAUL BLACKTHORNE
Lt. Connie Murphy -- VALERIE CRUZ
Bob -- TERRENCE MANN
Kirmani -- RAOUL BHANEJA
Zachary Bushnell -- CONSTANTINE ALEX KARZIS
Joya -- KYRA HARPER
Heather Bram -- KATHLEEN MUNROE
Mina -- IPSITA PAUL
Waldo Butters -- MATT GORDON
Kelly Raskin -- KRISTA BRIDGES
FBI Agent -- DERWIN PHILLIPS
Puppeteer -- JAMES RANKIN

PRODUCTION
Executive Producers -- DAVID SIMKINS, ROBERT HEWITT WOLFE, NICOLAS CAGE, NORM GOLIGHTLY
Producer -- JONATHAN HACKETT
Written by -- LAURENCE WALSH
Directed by -- MICHAEL NANKIN

Rules of Engagement
PREMIERES SUNDAY FEBRUARY 18 AT 9/8C

Logline
Dresden tries to help a beautiful young woman whose fiance is struggling to sever his ties to some unrelenting demonic forces.

Synopsis
Dresden is hired by a beautiful young woman, who asks him to recover twenty thousand dollars that has been stolen from her Aunt Frieda.

When Dresden locates the thief, he discovers that the man has been burnt to a crisp by a deadly supernatural force. He investigates the man's death and discovers that his beautiful client lied to him about the money, about Aunt Frieda — in fact, about everything.

Dresden confronts his client with what he knows, and she fires him — either out of fear, or because she's in the thrall of some dark, supernatural evil. Nevertheless, Dresden risks his life to protect her as they play a dangerous game against a ruthless hellion that understands the rules of the game far better than they do.


CAST
Harry Dresden -- PAUL BLACKTHORNE
Lt. Connie Murphy -- VALERIE CRUZ
Bob -- TERRENCE MANN
Morgan -- CONRAD COATES
Kirmani -- RAOUL BHANEJA
Caryn Harris (Nikki Slovak) -- MEREDITH HENDERSON
Sirota -- KIM COATES
Sister Beatrice -- CHAPELLLE JAFFE
Matthew Jacobs -- COREY SEVIER

PRODUCTION
Executive Producers -- DAVID SIMKINS, ROBERT HEWITT WOLFE, NICOLAS CAGE, NORM GOLIGHTLY
Producer -- JONATHAN HACKETT
Written by -- CURTIS KHEEL
Directed by -- MICHAEL GROSSMAN

Storm Front
TBD

Logline
Harry Dresden (Paul Blackthorne) is a wizard — the only one in the Chicago phone book.

Synopsis
When a local gangster and his girlfriend are found dead, their hearts literally exploded through their chests, local police are baffled. There's no natural explanation for the gruesome crime scene — no forced entry, no sign of struggle, and no evidence that there was anyone in the room aside from the victims. That's when Chicago P.D. Lt. Connie Murphy calls upon the special services of sometime police consultant Harry Dresden, Wizard.

Not one to buy into any "magic" nonsense, the by-the-book Murphy knows one undeniable thing about Dresden — whatever his methods, he always delivers results. Harry, who could use the paycheck, is happy for the work. However, when he visits the crime scene, it becomes crystal clear that the only possible explanation for what he's seeing is black magic. He turns down the case. Harry knows that the only way he would be able to solve it would be to delve into the same dark arts that were used to perpetrate the crime ? and if he did so, the High Council that governs the realm of magic would shut him down ? permanently.

While the police assume that the gangster was the prime target, Harry is convinced that the girlfriend is the key. His investigation uncovers a trail of intrigue that leads to three other murders, an encounter with the seductively lethal vampire Bianca, recurring battles with a fire-breathing demon, and a desperately futile attempt to go on a simple date with his lady friend, Susan, a local news reporter with a dangerous penchant for finding trouble.


CAST
Harry Dresden -- PAUL BLACKTHORNE
Lt. Connie Murphy -- VALERIE CRUZ
Susan Rodriguez -- REBECCA McFARLAND
Morgan -- CONRAD COATES
Ancient Mai -- ELIZABETH THAI
Bianca -- JOANNE KELLY

PRODUCTION
Executive Producers -- DAVID SIMKINS, ROBERT HEWITT WOLFE, NORM GOLIGHTLY, HANS BEIMLER
Producer -- JONATHAN HACKETT
Directed by -- DAVID CARSON
Written by -- ROBERT HEWITT WOLFE, HANS BEIMLER, MORGAN GENDEL

Might as well interject here as LB just told me tonight, but you all probably knew that James Marsters was originally picked to be Harry for this show which he had to turn down, but... Marsters is getting ready to be a new character on "Smallville". I've never watched this show but just added season 1 to my Netflix queue. :)

I'm undecided, I'll have to watch a few more... but no Mister the cat :(

Not that it's a funny storyline, but to me the books did seem more humorous all the way through than the feeling here. Even if it's just the wry/ironic humor of everything that usually goes wrong for him.

My husband and I talked about the show last night after I posted. I figured out something else that bothered me (or us, I should say).

In the books, Bob is a bit of a smart aleck, making wise-cracks (as does Harry). But the Bob on TV seems a bit subservient - heck, at one point he even apologizes to Harry (when would Bob really do that??) and he tells the person beating up Harry what she wants to know? What?

I guess I wouldn't mind Bob being a person rather than a skull so much if his character actually matched the book Bob.

Interesting that the shows aren't supposed to be based on any particular book (which I had known) - because in that list Cheesy posted, there is one (Storm Front) that looks to be based off the first book.

Anyway, I'm going to just wait until next week and watch it and see if it grows on me or if I just can't watch it without being disappointed. (Now I'm really happy that I've held on to the books because I know I'll want to reread them!)

Okay, I've got to find the first book of this series.

Overall, I liked the show, but then again, I don't have anything to compare it to as of yet. I'm going to stick with it and see how it goes. Though, I wasn't impressed enough with it that I would be upset it I missed an episode.

My hubby and kids liked it. I wasn't totally impressed either casey.

When I saw that, I recalled that in the interview I listed to with him last week from The Butcher Block (I don't have the URL handy now, but I can look it up if you want it or can't find it on google), they asked him about that. I'm pretty sure that was the only one they did that with, and it wasn't originally planned. But yeah, I would've that if they were going to do one story line similar to the books, they'd do it for the first one... *shrug*

I DVRd it but have not watched it yet because I have the first 3 books in the series and have been debating rather I should read them first or not. What does everyone think?

It's probably not really necessary. In some cases, it may even make you feel less towards the TV show because of the liberties they took with certain characters. However, the show didn't seem as good as the books, so I wouldn't want the show to put you off from reading the books either. I suppose it could be looked at from either way.

If it were me, I'd probably read at least one of the books first so I knew what to expect. I've only read the first two myself so far, though I have up through (i think) the 8th book on my shelf right now... (the BC search isn't working right now so I can't verify without getting up off my lazy ass!)

Well, no wonder it was a unsatisfying episode. The Sci-Fi channel is treating it in exactly the same way that Fox treated Firefly, and we know what happened to that fantastic show. *sigh*

Here's what someone posted on a mailing list I subscribe to:

Someone else posted this:

I'd been looking forward to this series, and then missed the January 21st showing (too much going on at home to keep on top of stuff I guess). Glad to see this thread; I'll catch the show on the 28th.

I'm especially sorry to hear they're doing the same terrible stuff to this that was done to "Firefly" -- that's horrible! :angry:

Pyan, check the SciFi site. They're reshowing the first episode several times again throughout the week.

Thanks for the info -- I'll go check right away!! :kiss:

Thank you karen for all that additional info. :)

I've really loved the Dresden books so when I heard from my dad that they were going to have a TV series I was stoked!

Overall, I think I really enjoyed the show. BUT they did take a lot of liberties!

First off, and maybe this was just me, but I didn't picture Dresden as being cute/handsome, I pictured him as slighly overweight, with kind of a facial hair problem, and sort of unkempt.

So I was kind of disappointed when he turned out to be so goodlooking on the show.. just because it was so far from what I had imagined, but I can deal with that.

It did irk me as well that he doesn't have his Beetle.. that would've made the show better in my opinion. As well with the skull (I'm having a mental breakdown as I cannot remember it's name!!) I was surprised when it was a full body spirit, but then again, I guess I can deal.

I thought the character they stayed the truest to was Murphy. Spot on for me (so far.)

I REALLY missed the cat as well.. I am not sure why they are omitting all these details as in my opinion, they would add character and charm to the show and would add the dry humor aspect that is so prevalent in the books (as I think Karen mentioned.) I didn't really detect a lot of humor from the TV Dresdon.. I hope that changes, as that is what makes me love the books so much!

But I think even if it does stray away from the books I'll keep watching, because it is enjoyable and I will just have to make myself divorce the show I like from the books I love. I'll just enjoy both seperately! :)

I was talking to a friend about the show last night and he suggested that some of the decisions may have been made due to cost constraints.

Having Bob as a talking skull would have upped production costs a lot and reduced the amount of other special effects. Certainly I hadn't thought about it that way so it is something to ponder.

I was disappointed with the show. Even though many of the changes were minor, it's the little things that make the whole picture. Definitely not enough magic. And Harry wasn't tall enough or scruffy enough.

If you go to Jim Butcher's website, he comments on some the changes and he appears to be okay with it all. The Beetle car change, the staff, character name changes, Bob, are all given reasons why they couldn't or wouldn't be done.

I will probably give the show a few more episodes to see if it gets it's legs, but right now I am not impressed at all. :(

What I missed the most was what Martie said, not enough Magic. The physical stuff wsn't important to me.

ok so far i'm intrigued by this show and i'm currently halfway through the second episode but..


did the guy just say "he killed a kid, and mummified him alive" ? :huh:

Yep the guy in prison did that. :blink: