http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/ … ny-mcbride

The good news about Joss Whedon's rabid online fan base is that their enthusiastic support for his Dr Terrible's Sing-Along Blog established a market for web-based entertainment that will, one day, see the broadcast networks crumble into dust. The bad news about Whedon's internet following is that they were making funeral arrangements for his new show Dollhouse while he was still writing it. Dollhouse was going to be on Fox, the very same network that defiled his previous Firefly by scrapping his pilot episode, making him cobble together a dumbed-down first show, relegating the series to the Friday night graveyard slot, screening episodes out of order, underpromoting the show and finally, giving it the axe. The Whedonites' worst-case-scenario then got increasingly worse: Fox scrapped the Dollhouse pilot, instructing its creator to cobble together something more coherent, then they relegated the series to the Friday night graveyard slot. When the show debuted to anaemic ratings, the outpouring of online woe and anti-network venting was inescapable. There's no question that Fox treated Firefly like a red-headed stepchild and that the ire of the fans was justified. Dollhouse is a different story. Whedon's asking us to buy that there are members of society so desperate and without hope that they voluntarily sign up to a Secret Organisation where all traces of their memories and personalities are wiped. Henceforth, they become empty vessels woken from dreamless slumbers when the Secret Organisation imprints them with brand-new personalities. These blank slates - known inhouse as "Actives" - then assume new identities. Assassins, safe-crackers, gangsters, girlfriends: you name it. But why does the SO go to such lengths? So they can make a buck by satisfying the jaded palates of the obscenely rich. Here's where we, as viewers, utter a collective "Wait a minute..."

Whedon's rejigged pilot starts with rookie active Echo (Eliza Dushku) assuming the identity of a rich birthday boy's hot date. Wait a minute... So the SO, with its open-plan unisex showers and secret Frankensteinian enclaves, is basically an escort agency? Later, Echo is given the skills and memories of a hostage negotiator so she can retrieve the abducted child. Once again, wait a minute... I suspect Whedon and his crack staff are aware that Dollhouse is a premise that seems more flawed the closer it is examined. The writers set a series of plot strands in motion: will Echo's former personality reassert itself? Will the cop on the trail of the mythical Dollhouse prove its existence, to up the suspense and steer the show away from being a showcase for Eliza Dushku's array of accents? But, as appealing as the prospect is of a weekly appointment watching Dushku discard costumes and enjoy showers, she's the star of a paranoid, science-fiction Secret Diary Of A Call Girl.

mixmaster_mo wrote:

I loved this episode!  That last part was genius!  My sister was telling me that Eliza Dushku was saying Whedon gains full control of the show around episode 6...and the rest of the season from that point on is just amazing.  I'm already loving it so I can't wait until it truly becomes Joss' voice.

God, I hope that's true, because I feel like it's just so awful right now. I hope doesn't get cancelled before it gets good. Must remember: BTVS started out slow, too. Patience.

Last edited by ashtab (Sun 3/1/09 12:23 pm)

Here's the interview with Eliza: http://www.avclub.com/articles/eliza-dushku,24418/1/

I just hope the show makes it to episode 6! I have decided that I'm no longer allowing myself to check the ratings/ read the critics, because they make me too upset!

Mr. Roland wrote:

The third episode was appallingly bad!.

It was awful wasn't it.  I was cringing at the singing audition.

I thought the third episode was the best so far.

i liked this one. sierra bugs me somehow.

I thought this episode was okay, but I agree that Topher is really annoying.

I kinda like him. But maybe that is just because he reminds me of people I know. I mean, yeah actors don't need to communicate with their arms etc, but every day people often do. I guess maybe if I was critiquing his acting or examining him as a actor, it would bug me to. But he is supposed to be a person, everyday kinda guy.

I know a lot of people who gesture when speaking, more than they should, usually not even to convey their original point... they just do it.

They need less of the mission-of-the-week and more about Alpha's crazy asparagus.

i wasn't nuts about this one, but i am still holding out for that mythical episode 6 that is really going to kick this thing into gear....here's hoping!

mrsbadmouth wrote:

They need less of the mission-of-the-week and more about Alpha's crazy asparagus.

True. He's the one I'm really interested in.

Honestly, after the backup singer bodyguard episode, I don't see this show lasting. Whedon should stick to his usual lighthearted wit and sentimentality, not this attempt to be dark and edgy. It doesn't work.

This week the numbers fell to 3.5 million, but Terminators fell even worse.

GOD DAMMIT FOX QUIT TRYING TO TAKE THE HOT CHICKS OFF OF MY T.V.