All due respect, I disagree on the concept thing

Elisa Camahort — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 10:23:44 -0600

All due respect to Charlie, I gotta disagree on the relative strengths of the concepts of Firefly, Buffy and Dollhouse.

The driving strength of Firefly and Buffy was the juxtaposition of real live people, fully three-dimensional people, who just happened to encounter and have to deal with fantastical situations. You could suspend every bit of disbelief required to follow the plot lines, because you were watching characters you could relate to in the midst of those polt lines. And buffy, in particular, had an amazing sense of continuity...references to earlier season's events were regularly thrown out there as little Easter Egg reqards to loyal viewers.

What does not sound intriguing to me about Dollhouse is its very clinical aspect of the Dolls...and the fact that it sounds like an easy way to get around any kind of plot or continuity difficulty...time for another brain wiping!

I'm definitely going to watch Dollhouse because I love Whedon and I like Dushku. But I'm concerned it won't have the life's blood of quirky, imperfect humanity that makes Whedon shows tick.

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Still watching it!

debra roby — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 09:10:26 -0600

I've put the date on my calendar and will watch it.

Part of me is a little surprised that Whedon in back working with Fox, considering their behavior with Firefly; but, if it's work with the Devil or not have the show, I guess I might get into bed with the devil, too.

The Friday Night Dead zone does not kill all good tv shows. Remember a few years back (10?) CBS Ok'd the last show to make the schedule and put it in that slot. It was to follow their "very big hit" show The Fugitive, but they weren't very hopeful that it would have much of a following. The Fugitive was canceled that fall; the throw away show went on to become an empire. The CSI empire.

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I agree! Sometimes I wish

Super Jive — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 20:11:30 -0600

I agree! Sometimes I wish Whedon could script out first dates and awkward moments for me. Like real life, only better.

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Still watching it

Mrs.Micah — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 18:47:12 -0600

The good news is that Whedon fans like me will watch it no matter when it's on. And hopefully they'll count online views....because I feel like more people who will watch it will watch it online.

Worst comes to worst, we'll have another Firefly, which was pretty awesome even if it didn't run as long as Buffy.

Whedon's Dollhouse Moved to "Timeslot of Death": Whedonasphere Poops Self

Super Jive — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 17:03:59 -0600

Joss Whedon, writer and creator of awesomeness such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, and most recently Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog has a new show in the pipeline, Dollhouse. The bad news? It doesn't start until February, and many are already predicting Dollhouse's demise. The good news, though, is that it is filming now, and people are already writing about it on the internet!

Dollhouse is set in the future, where a secret group of scientists have engineered "actives" or "dolls," people who can have memories and personalities added to and subtracted from so that they can be hired to perform tasks. When the dolls return to the "Dollhouse" or laboratory, they are wiped clean and start over. Dollhouse stars Eliza Dushku, who Buffy fans will remember as "Faith." Of course, this raises ethical issues with some who catch wind of this organization.

In addition to the excitement of seeing what missions the actives will go on every week, an F.B.I. agent hellbent on chasing down what most think of as an urban legend relentlessly pursues the truth about the organization. I'm very excited that the agent is played by Tahmoh Penikett, who was one of the highlights of Battlestar Galactica as Karl Agathon (Helo). Check out the trailer for Dollhouse at the official site and get your (optional) frothing on.

What bloggers are concerned about at this point is that Dollhouse, which promises to be awesome for fans of Whedon's style and the sci-fi/action genre is that Fox is placing it in the same timeslot as Firefly. Many believe that Firefly, which, worryingly to fans was also sci-fi, could not pick up an audience because of its Friday-night ghettoization. Club Jade worries that Dollhouse has other problems, such as the fact that it will compete with Clone Wars on the SciFi Channel.

Fox's scheduler Preston Beckman defends this strategy, responding to concerns with:

“If we put it on Monday and it didn’t do well, we might have to yank it,” he said. But because Fox’s winter lineup should be solid on Saturday through Thursday nights, “We can afford to let these shows run their course. We can give them 12 or 13 weeks to find an audience.”

Fair enough, says Ian Blessing of Dollrific, but:

The biggest downside to Dollhouse's Friday shift isn't the night's low viewership—that'll either be overcome or it won't, based on the show's merit and word-of-mouth buzz—but rather the drastically lower advertising budget a Friday night show typically receives. A couple months ago I imagined Dollhouse receiving the Fringe treatment: constant radio, TV, and billboard spots. Now that Fox has thrown Dollhouse to Friday to see if it "surprises" them, this seems highly unlikely.

Sarah from Sarah, Et Cetera is reliably on hand to provide snark on these matters. Here's what Sarah says about the February/Friday night announcement:

So, let’s review:

* Joss Whedon’s new show Dollhouse is dystopic sci-fi with ass-kicking chicks. This may feel conceptually familiar to you.
* Dollhouse will air on Fox.
* Fox didn’t want to air it in the fall when most networks traditionally rush out all their “good” shows. Fox is different.
* Fox didn’t like the original pilot. After they saw it, they asked Whedon to make another one. We can only assume he and Minear banged it out over a weekend with three things in mind:
1. Shoot it so Carey Meyer takes a pratfall off a moving vehicle.
2. Make it clear that Eliza Dushku is both badass and extremely moral.
3. Act 3 needs to be really long and talky and introduce a bunch of guns because this show is gonna last, baby! Yeah! Seven seaons! \m/!!!
* As soon as they started shooting, there was a production shutdown. It’s raaaaain! On your wedding day! It’s a free riiiiide! Oh, wait… not ironic. File under “big series of bummers.”
* Production resumes and they send out a press release about the premiere date of the show: FRIDAY, February 13th. There is not enough “INORITE” in the known universe to convey my feelings on that particular point.
* That’s also right after Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, which is obviously limping toward a whimper-not-bang death what with being full of Summer Glau and all her DIAF ballerinaosity.

But, something has to play on Fridays, right? Maybe I am overly optimistic, but I figure Whedon has enough of a fanbase now to get people to Tivo or record or whatever they need to do. I understand that the point of television is to sell soap flakes, but people will get their fix one way or another, so to a certain extent, who cares about time slots? Firefly and Dr. Horrible are available with limited interruption on Hulu, which I find much more tolerable than network television. Additionally, there are talks that there will be a one-to-one webisode match up for every episode that airs on television. I am also hearing that Dollhouse will run longer than average shows, six whole minutes, wowza!

Charlie Jane Anders at i09 sees good things in Dollhouse's future, but not for the reasons I would expect. Anders says that compared to Dollhouse, Firefly and Buffy had poor premises (ouch, my fangirling):

Let's face it: Firefly and Buffy had weak concepts, and they soared thanks to masterful execution. A gun-slinging crew of Western frontier bandits in space? A teenage girl who fights vampires and demons in between running for homecoming queen? Neither of those ideas particularly screams "masterwork" to me.

Meanwhile, Dollhouse? It has one of the most intriguing concepts I've ever come across, right off the bat. In a sea of "ordinary person gets brainchip/spy computer in brain/mutant powers/introduced to a mad scientist" shows, Dollhouse instantly stands out.

Anders cites other reasons Dollhouse will blow up regardless of timeslot as well: writing, the supporting cast, the depth of the message behind the show, and more.

Are you excited about Dollhouse or a Whedon fan all-around? I think this is going to be a must see. Dollhouse starts Februrary 13th! Mark it on your 2009 Angel calendar today!

BlogHer - Whedon's Dollhouse Moved to "Timeslot of Death": Whedonasphere Poops Self - Comments

All due respect, I disagree on the concept thing

Still watching it!

I agree! Sometimes I wish

Still watching it

Whedon's Dollhouse Moved to "Timeslot of Death": Whedonasphere Poops Self