It's odd. I saw the series first. Took me a while, too - I couldn't get past the title, "The Dresden Files." My brain kept telling me it was a series about war. Either that, or an American series set in Germany which seemed just strange.
Unlike you I actually love the show but this is one thing we can agree on. I had my misconceptions too. They advertised this show very poorly. I wasn't going to watch the show at all. Before it aired the few advertisements I had seen made it look like some cheap detective drama having to do with cases in the supernatural. Another (yawn) Night stalker. And I was already reeling in disgust from Stuart Townsend's version. Is there anything that man touches that he doesn't ruin? the only reason I watched The Dresden Files was because someone talked me into it. I was not going to watch it at all. She talked me into it and while she was on the phone with me I turned it on and watched.
I saw the opening and the name Terrence Mann came up and I was like 'Wait. I know him. Where do I know him from?' When he finally came on screen my reaction was 'Oh, my God! It's Dr. Frank N. Futter!' In 2001 I had been to Broadway to see the revival of The Rocky Horror Show. Terrence Mann had just taken over the role of Dr. Frank N. Futter. I had seen and heard Terrence Mann in other things before then such as the cast album for Les Miserables (which I have loved for years) and as Oberon in the animated series Gargoyles but The Rocky Horror show was the first thing to come to my mind. It was so surreal to see him there. The first thing I did was retrieve the old playbill to make sure I was right and needless to say I was. Before the word ghost was uttered on the show I noticed the manacle bracelets on Bob's wrists and I actually did ask the words 'Is he a genie?' The thought that he might be a type of genie lingered for a chunk of the first episode because of his being bound to the skull and being able to be called back into it, much like a genie into his lamp. Later this became very funny to me when in a later episode I heard child Harry ask the same thing.
Seeing Terrence Mann as the ghost drew me in. I loved the character almost immedately. Discovering that Harry Dresden was a wizard was the next thrill for me. The commercials didn't even mention that! It's like they wanted to make the show look like it was something it wasn't. Less than a month later I found myself buying all The Dresden Files novels from a Barnes and Noble and I devoured them. I loved the books. I grew very attached to the character of Thomas but I was actually a little disappointed that Bob of the books was nothing like Bob of the show. I honestly perferred the show version. I do love both though. I would have probably over looked the books if not for the show.
Even into the seventh or so episode the commercials were still somewhat misleading. I recall the one for Soul Beneficiary. 'And the number one suspect is BOB!' (cutting to a clip of Bob just standing there looking stunned). That was probably the most misleading commercial since the commercials that aired before the premiere.
Though The Dresden Files did have very, very good ratings I think if they had advertised it properly for what it really was they might have had an even bigger audience. There are people out there who still never knew it existed and those just discovering for the first time on Hulu either because the original commercials turned them off (as they almost turned me off) or because they never saw the advertisements at all.
