As far as the background-color is concerned, I think
.showtime { background-color: #ff0000; } in your CSS would give it a red background-color.
@youtag: I think this is a really promising plugin. I happen to use FF3/windows, and indeed: the flash is loaded but stays transparant > no images loaded. If I can help in any way by testing, please let me know.
Unfortunately I have the same problem. What does your post look like?
I have, on http://www.4za.nl, [showtime][gallery]. This shows [gallery] but neither the gallery nor the slideshow.
