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Dresden Files
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Deven Science
Posted 2009-02-10 11:45 PM (#1577)
Subject: Dresden Files



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Location: Sacramento, California		I recently watched the one season series The Dresden Files on DVD. What a great show that was. That could've kept going as a great series, and I highly recommend that anyone on this site who hasn't seen it to rent it. I haven't read the books, but I know that even Jim Butcher loved the show from interviews.

The two shows that the Slice of Sci-Fi website always gushed over was Dresden Files and Charlie Jade. Well, now having seen that they were right about Dresden, I'm thinking I need to check out Charlie Jade. Anyone seen either show to discuss it?
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Administrator
Posted 2009-02-11 7:55 AM (#1578 - in reply to #1577)
Subject: Re: Dresden Files



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Location: Dallas, Texas		I've always wanted to see The Dresden Files but never got around to it. I'll definitely check it out now. I can't usually manage series on first broadcast because of the kids. Thank God for the interwebs and Hulu!

http://www.hulu.com/the-dresden-files

I've not heard much about Charlie Jade. If memory serves it's a Canadian show. I don't know if it was ever available in the US on TV. It's not on Hulu which is too bad for me. Can you get this on DVD?
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Deven Science
Posted 2009-02-13 12:50 PM (#1582 - in reply to #1578)
Subject: Re: Dresden Files



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Location: Sacramento, California		As to Charlie Jade, NetFlix doesn't have it. The only DVD I could find of it at all is this one, which is not friendly to US DVD players, and is also too much money besides. I don't want to see it that badly.
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jynnantonnyx
Posted 2009-02-16 10:20 AM (#1586 - in reply to #1578)
Subject: Re: Dresden Files



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I finished watching the series over the weekend. Thank you, Hulu.

Episode 8 was pretty bad, but the poor quality of the ep made sense once I found out it was a heavily-edited version of the original pilot.

All in all, very good. They managed to wrap up the outstanding loose ends, but left it open enough that they could return to the series for another season or a set of movies. I don't usually go for magical fiction (Harry Potter filled my quota for a decade), but the writing and ideas made it worthwhile.

Does anyone know if the novels are worth reading?

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Deven Science
Posted 2009-02-16 12:20 PM (#1587 - in reply to #1586)
Subject: Re: Dresden Files



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Location: Sacramento, California		I've heard good things about the books, but I haven't read any of them.
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Administrator
Posted 2009-02-24 9:02 AM (#1588 - in reply to #1577)
Subject: Re: Dresden Files



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Location: Dallas, Texas		So, I finished Dresden last night.

All in all, I thought it was a pretty cool show. Very entertaining with likeable characters, decent to good stories and a plethora of hot chicks for good measure. The plots all followed the same formula: something weird happens and there's a dead body, or two, and they're connected to Dresden who feels compelled to work the case even though he's not going to get paid... but the characters and the writing were good enough to overcome the formula for me. I even forgave it the many cliches. Why do all vampires have to look like Euro trash and hang out at seedy techno clubs?

It did start to feel a bit like Murder, She Wrote with all the dead folks popping up around Harry though that may be because I watched them all within a couple days rather than spread out over weeks. Still, I would avoid Harry Dresden and Angela Lansbury like the plague.

Another thing I was thinking is that the show started out at a pretty high quality. So many shows, like Star Trek TNG or Dollhouse, start out a bit rough and need some time to mature. Have you tried to watch the first season of TNG? A built in fan base will float a rough show long enough for it to get better it seems. My oh my, what crap that first season was. Given that time, shows like Dollhouse can end up being pretty good but they often get canned before they can grow.

Dresden I liked right off the bat. Not sure why it didn't catch on. I would have liked to see where they took it in season 2. Thanks Deven for the recommendation.

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Deven Science
Posted 2009-02-28 12:03 PM (#1590 - in reply to #1588)
Subject: Re: Dresden Files



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Location: Sacramento, California		It was formulaic, but I'm often fine with formula, after all, Monk is built purely on formula, and I still love that show. And cliché helps sometimes in TV, as in the case of vampires and the like, because then you the viewer know what they are instantly, without any need for the show's writers or producers to take the time to explain everything. You just know. It's a tool, in these cases.

You're right about it being good from episode one, which is indeed rare. I disagree with you about the first season of TNG, though. Oh it was rough, to be sure, with people more prone to overacting, but I'm also surprised at a few of the first season episodes that are among the best in the series. I hated Tasha Yar though, and so my preference is to watch anything that takes place after her righteously pointless death.
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MT in Austin
Posted 2010-05-10 10:46 AM (#2026 - in reply to #1577)
Subject: Re: Dresden Files



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I have read the first Dresden Files novel and am halfway through the second.
Even better than the show.
Loads of fun.
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Administrator
Posted 2010-05-10 5:58 PM (#2028 - in reply to #2026)
Subject: Re: Dresden Files



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Location: Dallas, Texas

MT in Austin - 2010-05-10 10:46 AM I have read the first Dresden Files novel and am halfway through the second. Even better than the show. Loads of fun.

Glad to hear you like the Dresden books better than the show.  I'm still intending to read these books some day myself and I loved the show.

I just added the whole series to the DB so you can tag them read as you go along.  The covers are pretty cool for this series.  Harry looks a little more bad-ass than he did in the TV show.

The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher

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Deven Science
Posted 2010-05-10 7:37 PM (#2030 - in reply to #2028)
Subject: Re: Dresden Files



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Location: Sacramento, California		I'm on the... eleventh Dresden novel now. I love the novels. I haven't had this much fun reading a series in a long time. I've got this and one more, and a new one that's in hardcover, then, I'm doomed to wait like everyone else. I've pretty much been reading one if Butcher's books every other book, just so as not to burn through them that much faster. I just started Small Favor today, actually.

I agree, better than the TV show. Most of these books are intense in their action scenes.
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MT in Austin
Posted 2010-05-11 6:47 AM (#2032 - in reply to #1577)
Subject: Re: Dresden Files



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The books are available in audiobook form if you are stuck in traffic on a regular basis.
I don't have the Dresden audiobooks but I often listen to books when I am frequently parked on I-35 during the day.
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Deven Science
Posted 2010-05-11 11:53 AM (#2034 - in reply to #2032)
Subject: Re: Dresden Files



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Location: Sacramento, California		@MT in Austin,

Yes, I think I burned through four of them by audiobook. Not every one is available yet, but the first four are, and the last few are. Last I heard, they were trying to get the others done, so more might be available by now.
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