We finally have our answer, and it’s just as we suspected: the Dresden Files TV show has been canceled. Read more about the decision at TV Guide.com.
While we wish SciFi could have decided differently, we’re still grateful for the twelve great episodes that aired earlier this year. Largely thanks to the TV show, book sales tripled, and no doubt more new fans will continue to discover the series through reruns and the DVDs. Speaking of which, the DVDs will be released this Tuesday! Buy them here on Amazon.com.
Additionally, fans of Paul Blackthorne will be cheered to learn that he has joined the cast of ABC’s Big Shots.
Discuss this story on the forums here.
Addendum, 2014: This show was canceled in 2007. There’s no bringing it back. The rights have reverted to Jim.
Author: priscellie
Priscilla Spencer has been Jim's creative consultant since 2007. In addition to managing content for Jim-Butcher.com and its social media channels, she beta-reads all of Jim's works, serves as a thematic consultant on the graphic novels and role playing games, and illustrates the maps for his books. The whole "Year of Dresden" thing is largely her baby. Her latest claim to fame is directing the official book trailers for Peace Talks and Battle Ground.
In her professional life, Priscilla is a Producer, Writer, Photographer, and Fantasy Map Illustrator working towards a career in producing TV. She enjoys musical theatre, gluten-free cooking, sci-fi/fantasy, and weightlifting. She aspires to travel the world and pet every dog.
View all posts by priscellie
IT IS A ABSOLUTE SHAME THAT THIS SHOW IS BEING CANCELLED IT WAS SIMPLY THE BEST DAMN SHOW SCI-FI HAS HAD IN A LONG TIME, TOTALLY, ABSOLUTLY LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT AND IM SAD TO SEE IT GO. SCI-FI EXECS NEED TO SMARTIN’ UP DUE TO THE FACT THAT THEY HAD THE SHOW AIRING ON SUNDAY EVENINGS AS OPPOSED TO AFTER SG1-ATLANTIS WHERE IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN OR ON NORMAL BIG SHOW DATES SUCH AS TUES, OR THURS PRIMETIME IS WHAT REALLY CAUSED THE RATINGS TO BE NOT AS HOT. AND TO THINK THAT NOW THAT SG-1 IS OVER IM STUCK WITH ATLANTIS AND THE WEAK A$$ BATTLESTAR GALLATICA ON MY SCI-FRI’S IS STOMACH TURNING AND IM NOT GOING TO MENTION THE WEAKEST SHOW EVER PAINKILLER JANE(DANG I JUST DID), WELL ANYWAY LETS SEE HOW THERE RATINGS FAIR NOW. WORDS FROM A TRUE FAN PEACE!!!
I have greatly enjoyed (and will continue to enjoy) the works and miracles of Jim Butcher, but while I am saddened at the show’s canceling, I felt that the story, characters, and plots of the episodes were just different enough from the books to make me feel that, had this show operated independently from any book, and thusly remained unbound by reader expectations, it could have flourished for several more seasons. That said, I mean no criticism to anyone involved in the show and its unfortunate demise. Perhaps, in time, Sci Fi or another network will be ready to try again…
Addition to my last post: The Dresden Files might make an interesting series of animated shorts, somewhere in the lines of “Sin City” (with perhaps a little less violence, heh), “Renaissance”, and the like. Just throwin’ that thought out there…
I was curious why sci-fi is taking so long to show the next season of “The Dresden Filles”, but it was ’til yesterday that I found out , “why?” And it’s ashame that it was cancelled because of the low ratings. I’m sorry for the show ’cause I was a big fan, and I think that sci-fi was wrong to take away “Dresden Files” from the people that use to love the show so much!
Because I’d never read any of the novels, I enjoyed the TV series “The Dresden Files” for what it was, and I liked it a lot. Because of the TV show, I started reading the novels and I’ve read them all now. I even bought the most recent one in hard cover as soon as it came out. Yes, Harry Dresden in the novels is different in many respects from his television counterpart, but so what?
The TV Harry did enough magic for my tastes and I didn’t mind at all the jeep instead of the VW beetle, the hockey stick instead of a wizard’s staff and a drumstick for a blasting rod. There was nothing about the TV series I didn’t like.
That said, I’m glad the TV series got me to seek out Jim Butcher’s novels and I’ll continue to read them as they are published.
It is really annoying that the SciFi channel killed the TV series. It was a very good thing and I was so looking forward to more of it. Grrrr!
What a shame- I finally get cable (at college), and Sci-Fi drops Dresden! 🙁
I own the DVDs, and I’m still waiting on watching the last one… I’m going to be so sad when there aren’t any more!
I had only just found out about the show which I really enjoyed. Thank god I took the time to download 4 episodes from Itunes.
It really is a shame when a good show gets under promoted and then cancelled due to lack of ratings. If a show is given only a half hearted chance at a long run and then fails to meet it’s goals, what’s to be expected.
To add insult to injury I then found that the show was no longer available on Itunes which doesn’t seem to make sense.
I don’t think that I or even most of the best fans of the show are likely to go to the store and buy a boxed set of the dvd’s of the series.
BUT, I’ll download it in a minute. I don’t mind paying for content that I enjoy but now I don’t even get the chance.
Ever wonder if anyone in corporate entertainment is listening to the fans?
Jim, I am sorry to hear that Si-Fi Channel canceled the Dresden files. I am reading the book now-real good 🙂
I hope Alera takes off for you.
Good Luck and Thanks.
I worked at a used bookstore for many years. Working there I collected a huge amount of books. Harry Dresden was hanging out on my personal ‘To Read’ shelf (with MANY other series and books) for a few years before I actually watched the TV Show. Once I saw the show, I grabbed it off the shelf and dove into the series. I ended up buying the ones I was missing in a shopping spree because I HAD to know what came next! I can’t wait for Small Favors and I am VERY disappointed to discover the SciFi series is cancelled. Why do they have to cancel most of the shows that I like? Eh well. I guess they suppose that WWE wrestling is more than enough scifi for everyone….
Hey Jim!
Not sure you read these posts, but was curious if anyone had pitched the idea of doing the series as movies? Perhaps a way to appease fans like myself while waiting for Sci-Fi to realize their ratings just dropped even more? I’m starting a boycott of Sci-Fi with my friends on LJ, and hoping that it shows the execs we want more of TDF!
(Oh, and on a side note, how goes the newest Dresden File?)
I watched the shows, though I don’t know if I saw them all. I enjoyed them and was unhappy to find they were cancelled. Still that brought me to the books. Read all available in the series, want more.
WHYYYYYYY!! i thought I had to wait a long time for the second season. well to bad I thought it was one of the best shows on T.V. thx
sci-fi channel sucks, “they” would rather run hackneyed re-runs of the twilight zone, then something really new and inventive…”they”are just money grubbers like all the other channels
I just spent the past month on sick leave. I went to Block Buster and found the first 4 episodes of the Dresden Files. I thoroughly enjoyed them. So I went to the library and found the complete season (all 12 episodes) and loved them. While purchasing the DVD set at Barnes and Noble, I found nine books of the Dresden Files. I definately loved them. Now that I am back to work I looked for them on the SciFi Channel. When I was unable to find them I googled the title and found that the series was cancelled. I am quite disappointed. The actors in the series were excellent. That 1941 Willy’s Jeep was put together with lots of love (as a Jeep collector I know how hard it was to get the parts and how expensive). They really made Toronto look like Chicago. Cudos to all the folks involved. I went to a lot of trouble to get the SciFi Channel added to the Cable Packages for all our Fire Stations. I will now have them cancelled. Disappointment is a matter of perspective. Iraq was not enjoyable despite the great work I helped to do with those needy folks there. Afghanistan was a trial as well. The folks there weren’t as needy or grateful. Working in Darfur was a low point in Humanitarian Aid. Now that I am retired from those events and back fulltime with the Fire Department, getting shot for the third time was a major disappointment. I look forward to a little escape from reality now and then. Real life can be overwhelming at times. This series was a nice break from it. I’m saddened that the SciFi Channel decided to make another poor judgement in what their viewers would like to see. It just cost them 42 accounts with my department. Jim Butcher, thank you for a nice diversion. I’m now starting your new Caldera series.
I guess I’m an odd man out here, but I hated the TV show. I watched a few episodes on the Sci-Fi channel and thought they were very very bad, at least compared to the books. The deeply engrossing characters, richly-developed world, and intense plots simply could never be brought to the screen. Frankly it appeared the TV show was more “Buffy” and less “Dresden”.
I’ve been reading the books since #6 came out and I saw #1 on the shelf and read it through overnight. I haven’t stopped reading them since. I personally hate “sword” fantasy, but this series is simply amazing. Keep up the great work!
For what its worth, I loved the show. I’ve never read one of the books, in fact, I didn’t even know it was based on books. I’m soooo relieved to know that there are still books though. I’m sure they’ll be even better than the show too, as books always are.
Cheers!
I’ve read over a quite a few of these comments. It’s funny but the Sci-Fi show actually drew me to the books and then the audiobooks (much easier on this old man’s eyes). Which, by the way Jim, i’d love it if the rest of them got finished.
Anyway, back to the comment….where was i? Oh yeah, for the “odd man out” who hated the TV show: I have to ask, were you born yesterday? It’s strange “when” the show or movie matches the book which is almost never. TV & movies, by the understanding at heart, are never expected to be “as good” as the books. The books are always the purest and least messed with releases of the author’s imaginations so they will, pretty much, always be the best representations.
The TV show was done as well as possible consider Sci-Fi’s well-known imfamous run of B-rater movies that look like “tweaked” 80s movies that they STILL (i might add) are running while TDF got taken off the air. Compared to a great deal of Sci-Fi’s exports, The Drasden Files was almost pure “mastery” considering the solidity of it’s make and good special-effects, not to mention their brilliant cast.
I love Jim’s books in the way I love Orson Scott Card’s books. And if Jim’s ever read any of Scott Card’s books, he probably understands the depth of that statement. Jim and Scott have this thing about the underdog pulling it off after being beaten, battered, blasted, and everything else Harry Dresden went through.
I honestly’ don’t “want” to see a Dresden movie because i would hate to hear about Jim’s irritation about how badly the movie company would chop his ideas into pieces (just ask JK Rowling about that) and it would be better to remember Jim’s work in it’s best forms, written and spoken.
Still, for what it’s worth and for how long it ran, it was a good run Jim. I had gotten to the point to where I really got bored with TV until the Dresden Files hit (that and Dr. Who’s revision).
You know, now that i think about this, we COULD pull off the ole Star Trek move and just keep bugging the heck out of Sci-Fi until they simply would put new episodes out just to shut us up.
I dunno though, it’s really all up to Jim and how much it’s worth to him to go back into it. I would love to see Paul Blackthorne back as Harry but not at the expense of any more chipping away at Jim’s stories.
Like everyone else, i sit there and had my critical moments where i slapped the ole couch arm and said “That never happened!” and got some good giggles at the substitutions to some of the things that weren’t kept original.
But, you know, i think I’ll miss ole Bob most of all. His dry humor was just fantastic along with his unquenchable sexual urges.
But then TV is fickle and things can change when you least expect it. Will the Dresden Files ever come back? It’s like ole Jack Burton once said “…never can tell”.
Cheers Jim.
I love the books, but refuse to watch the show given all that I’ve read about it. Far too much deviation from the books for my tastes. I’m a purist, what can I say? I do wish that the show had run longer, if only to create more buzz for the book series.
I loved the show and the books. To me, it is not about the TV show mimicking the book completely but another art form imitating it to some degree. Granted, there were just some special effects that would have been too expensive to produce for a TV show but would be great for a movie though. It saddens me that the SciFi channel didn’t pick up more of the stories but life goes on.
Just want to chime in and say sorry that the series got cancelled, Paul Blackthorn made a great Harry, and even though she was a brunette, I thought the actress that did Murphy was superb. Like a lot of people, I went out and bought one of the books after seeing the series (many people bought more than one.) Having a TV series of your books made and run on the Sci Fi channel is something many writers only dream about – you actually saw it happen, and better still, the TV series was pretty darn good. Congratulations on your good fortune, and hope you get to see it happen again in the future.