Ask Matt @ TVGuide.com
Question: When will we know if there will be a new season of The Dresden Files? I've stopped watching Battlestar Galactica, but I never miss Dresden Files. Paul Blackthorne is so endearing as Harry Dresden.- Denise
Matt Roush: Generally, a show tends to wrap its first season before you get official confirmation of a second. Dresden wraps April 15, and in a release accompanying the season-finale screener, Sci Fi Channel notes that Dresden delivers more female viewers than any other current scripted Sci Fi original series. Which I take as a plus, because it seems to me the appeal of Dresden Files is in its charmingly disheveled hero.
The appeal isn't universal, as witnessed by this response from Jill: "It's hard for me to understand your positive review of The Dresden Files and your negative comment regarding Blood Ties. Blood Ties has more of what I want in a series: a strong female lead, strong male leads who are also good-looking, and a great romance in its buildup phase. Dresden has... damsels in distress. Every week. It has a male lead who can barely take care of himself, let alone others. It's also markedly different from the book series, which is a major annoyance. I realize I prefer character-driven over story line-driven shows, but I don't feel like Dresden is strong on either point. It's, well, boring. I guess my question here is, what do you see in Dresden?"
Can't win for losing in this column, whatever I praise or criticize. Look, it's not like I'm doing cartwheels over Dresden. I just happen to think the character is winningly portrayed, and I happen to like the fact that he isn't impervious to pain and is a bit of a mess. I'm not familiar with the source material, but the show works for me in a very formulaic, classic-TV way (from the start, I've likened it to a supernatural Rockford Files). Once in a while, it's actually a relief when a show chooses not to take itself so seriously, and to play down the mythological, serialized elements. That's why Dresden is at best a guilty pleasure. Whereas Blood Ties left me cold from the start. It doesn't surprise me that diehard fans of occult romance are biting, but nothing about that show's execution in acting, writing or production impresses me. I was bored stiff by the pilot and could barely make it through an hour episode. It's just not for me. In this genre, TV can do better, often has and will again.
Matt Roush: Generally, a show tends to wrap its first season before you get official confirmation of a second. Dresden wraps April 15, and in a release accompanying the season-finale screener, Sci Fi Channel notes that Dresden delivers more female viewers than any other current scripted Sci Fi original series. Which I take as a plus, because it seems to me the appeal of Dresden Files is in its charmingly disheveled hero.
The appeal isn't universal, as witnessed by this response from Jill: "It's hard for me to understand your positive review of The Dresden Files and your negative comment regarding Blood Ties. Blood Ties has more of what I want in a series: a strong female lead, strong male leads who are also good-looking, and a great romance in its buildup phase. Dresden has... damsels in distress. Every week. It has a male lead who can barely take care of himself, let alone others. It's also markedly different from the book series, which is a major annoyance. I realize I prefer character-driven over story line-driven shows, but I don't feel like Dresden is strong on either point. It's, well, boring. I guess my question here is, what do you see in Dresden?"
Can't win for losing in this column, whatever I praise or criticize. Look, it's not like I'm doing cartwheels over Dresden. I just happen to think the character is winningly portrayed, and I happen to like the fact that he isn't impervious to pain and is a bit of a mess. I'm not familiar with the source material, but the show works for me in a very formulaic, classic-TV way (from the start, I've likened it to a supernatural Rockford Files). Once in a while, it's actually a relief when a show chooses not to take itself so seriously, and to play down the mythological, serialized elements. That's why Dresden is at best a guilty pleasure. Whereas Blood Ties left me cold from the start. It doesn't surprise me that diehard fans of occult romance are biting, but nothing about that show's execution in acting, writing or production impresses me. I was bored stiff by the pilot and could barely make it through an hour episode. It's just not for me. In this genre, TV can do better, often has and will again.