Remember Buffy, The Vampire Slayer? It started out as a campy romp in theaters which later became a hit TV show. It became so big, in fact, that it spun off another hit TV show, Angel, a slew of books and other fan fiction, and gave the originator, Joss Whedon the clout to produce Firefly, a space/western show that was killed off prematurely only to rise again in runaway DVD sales, fan fiction, and, finally, the movie Serenity.

Buffy was a hit because it was different, very odd, yet personal. Joss Whedon seems to have a knack for creating anti-stereotypes; Buffy herself was a preppy teen turned kick-ass monster killer, Angel was a vampire with a soul, and the captain of the Firefly class freighter Serenity, Malcolm Reynolds, was a space-faring atheistic criminal with a heart.

Few people can make anti-stereotypes and the shows about them into cult icons, though many have tried. One of the latest attempts can be witnessed in the new SciFi Channel series, The Dresden Files. This show is not a Joss Whedon creation and you can tell.

Harry (Houdini? Potter?) Dresden is a wizard in a world where real magic is thought to only exist in fairy tales. Yet, magic is real, and so are the denizens who lurk just beyond the senses of normal folk who, from time to time, step into the real whole and cause death, destruction and other nastiness. The police are baffled, so they call Harry, whom -- with the help of his aid, an air spirit with a shadowy past named Bob -- solves the crimes and saves the day.

The Dresden Files TV show is based on a series of well regarded books of the same name. The first episode, "Birds of a Feather," is one of this week's free downloads at iTunes Store.

There's a whole world of magic behind Harry Dresden, and we see glimpses of it in this episode, as well as peeks into his past, but the world of Dresden is so big that only those who are familiar with it will understand what's going on.

For instance, when we first see Bob he is writing out some arcane formula in the air. The uninitiated have no clue who this guy is, why he's able to write in the air, or what he is to Harry Dresden. The conversation they have is steeped with references that only Dresden File aficionados will understand, and you are left wondering what just happened.

So here we have a character who is atypical; a good wizard in a world ignorant of magic. The situations he finds himself in look a lot like those Buffy might face. Dresden faces his demons with wit and help from his friends, like Buffy did. In fact, the similarities between the two shows, at least from the perspective of this first Dresden episode, is remarkable.

The difference is that you could understand what was going on in Buffy because you are there at the beginning, and you learned as she did about the dark world she must face. In Dresden, you are pushed into the deep end of the magic pool: Skin Walkers, Air Spirits, High Councils, and more are thrown at you with wild abandon and you are just suppose to take it with the belief that all will be made clear eventually.

If you suspend your analytical processes for a bit and let the show go about its business some things are made clearer, but not enough. Some will say that this is not a bad thing because it makes you want to know more about Dresden's world. Normally I would agree, but unlike Buffy Summers or Malcolm Reynolds, Harry Dresden, while likable, is only mildly interesting, as are the rest of the characters introduced in this episode.

To be fair, most shows start off dumping a lot of info on the viewer in the hopes that something about the show will catch and make the viewer want to watch more. That's how Star Trek: The Next Generation started off, and we know how that show took off once several episodes were under its belt.

Obviously, the point of the free download is to get you to watch the show. The question is, will you continue to watch? I think there is enough here to warrant viewing another episode or two, but if coming episodes are like the first then I won't bother. I hope that there's more though, because good SciFi or fantasy based shows are rare on TV and I believe we could use a lot more of them.

So, Harry Dresden, I've got my fingers crossed.

Other free downloads oat the iTunes Store (with direct links):