Dollhouse

Dollhouse is my first “real time” Joss Whedon show. I turned my nose up at Buffy the Vampire Slayer the entire time it was on the air (and only recently deigned to watch it for the first time on DVD), and I didn’t learn about Firefly until it was already a thing of the past. When I first started watching Dollhouse I thought it was a poor substitute for Firefly, and frankly would not have watched beyond the first couple of episodes except my wife liked it. I not only didn’t like it, I actively disliked it through most of the first season. Something happened near the end of the first season, though, that caused me to reassess my opinion. Then the show went on break for the summer and I forgot what that was. I do remember thinking of the entire first season as set up, a“season zero” if you will, and was willing to watch the new season with fresh eyes. Unfortunately, the new season has had to start at ground zero as far as I am concerned and has yet to “re-win” me over. The main problem for me is that show has no sympathetic characters… not one. The people who run the Dollhouse are totally amoral, and the “dolls” are simply victims, more pathetic than sympathetic. That’s a huge challenger to overcome, but I’m curious to see Whedon and company try. The people who run the Dollhouse are totally amoral, and the “dolls” are simply victims, more pathetic than sympathetic. Dr. Saunders (i.e., the doll formerly known as “Whiskey”) and her relationship with Topher was intriguing, but she’s been written out of the plot (at least temporarily). Oddly, I think Topher Brink, the most amoral character of them all, may be my current favorite. Joss Whedon surprised me once before by turning the vampire Spike into a sympathetic character on Buffy, and I think Topher may be Dollhouse’s Spike. I’ll be keeping my eye on him.

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  • We are doing some discussion of the show over in the whedonverse group and in Joan's blog posts...I will get back to respond here soon!
  • Alan, Doc, and some other have been discussing this over on facebook, but Dollhouse has been cancelled. =(

    The remaining episodes will air as planned and since they aren't done filming they will have a small chance to closing it all up.

    sigh.

    I hope I get to see some of the new faces in other stuff by Whedon in the future. My favorite of the faces was Enver (Victor).
  • =( indeed!

    I guess I picked a bad time to start this thread, but when the Summer Glau episode was postponed I guess the writing was on the wall. It's not that I can't count on Joss Whedon making a show I enjoy, but I'm unsure of his ability to make one with mass appeal that will last. I mean, if Firefly (which we just finished watching the secong time through) couldn't make it, I hold little hope. It's a Catch-22.

    Thanks for letting me know.
  • Jeff of Earth-J said:
    =( indeed!

    I guess I picked a bad time to start this thread, but when the Summer Glau episode was postponed I guess the writing was on the wall. It's not that I can't count on Joss Whedon making a show I enjoy, but I'm unsure of his ability to make one with mass appeal that will last. I mean, if Firefly (which we just finished watching the secong time through) couldn't make it, I hold little hope. It's a Catch-22.

    Thanks for letting me know.

    Welcome to the wonderful world of Whedon-fandom, Jeff.

    Actually, to Joss' credit, Buffy had a successful seven-season run, and went out on its own terms when Whedon and Gellar decided to end it. UPN would have loved to have brought it back for an eighth season -- and probably a ninth and tenth season as well. Even Angel - despite all the controversy surrounding its cancellation - could be considered a moderately successful show. It did manage to hang on for a full five seasons, which is a pretty respectable run for any television series. I know both of those shows ran on the smaller "netlets" which had lower ratings standards than the "big four" networks, but for the stations that broadcast them, they were undeniable successes.

    In all honesty, Whedon's best option is probably to go to one of the premium channels or to one of the "edgier" cable channels. In recent years, HBO, AMC, FX and to a lesser extent, Showtime, have been producing some of the most intelligent, complex and compelling television ever made. I'd love for HBO to let Whedon take a crack at a high-end fantasy and/ or science fiction series. They could schedule it back-to-back with True Blood, and possibly shame Alan Ball and his writers into producing a quality show for once.
  • Article about where the season was going...interview with Joss from before the cancellation news:
    TV Guide Magazine---Spoilers

    KSwolf said:
    Jeff of Earth-J said:
    =( indeed!

    I guess I picked a bad time to start this thread, but when the Summer Glau episode was postponed I guess the writing was on the wall. It's not that I can't count on Joss Whedon making a show I enjoy, but I'm unsure of his ability to make one with mass appeal that will last. I mean, if Firefly (which we just finished watching the secong time through) couldn't make it, I hold little hope. It's a Catch-22.

    Thanks for letting me know.

    Welcome to the wonderful world of Whedon-fandom, Jeff.

    Actually, to Joss' credit, Buffy had a successful seven-season run, and went out on its own terms when Whedon and Gellar decided to end it. UPN would have loved to have brought it back for an eighth season -- and probably a ninth and tenth season as well. Even Angel - despite all the controversy surrounding its cancellation - could be considered a moderately successful show. It did manage to hang on for a full five seasons, which is a pretty respectable run for any television series. I know both of those shows ran on the smaller "netlets" which had lower ratings standards than the "big four" networks, but for the stations that broadcast them, they were undeniable successes.

    In all honesty, Whedon's best option is probably to go to one of the premium channels or to one of the "edgier" cable channels. In recent years, HBO, AMC, FX and to a lesser extent, Showtime, have been producing some of the most intelligent, complex and compelling television ever made. I'd love for HBO to let Whedon take a crack at a high-end fantasy and/ or science fiction series. They could schedule it back-to-back with True Blood, and possibly shame Alan Ball and his writers into producing a quality show for once.
  • Mo Ryan, of the Chicago Tribune, has a lengthy, in-depth interview with Whedon about the end of Dollhouse, and some of the difficulties of working on network television.

    http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2009/12/do...
  • Watched last nights episodes today.

    The plot thickens...loved it. So sad they are done soon.
  • Yeah, is it me, or is this show just starting to hit its stride now that it's coming into the final stretch? A nice blend of character beats, thematic chords and action, to boot. I'll be sorry to see it go dark for good next month...

    Ana Canino-Fluit (Anacoqui) said:
    Watched last nights episodes today.

    The plot thickens...loved it. So sad they are done soon.
  • At the top of this thread I reiterated how it took me a long to warm up to this show. By the end of the first season I liked it, but by the beginning of the second I had forgotten why. The two episodes which aired December 4 reminded me why. Just a few minutes into the first part I paused it and speculated that the Senator himself, not his wife, was the doll. I didn't really see how that could be, I just picked what I thought would be the most shocking twist and was proven right.

    As far as the second part is concerned, I didn't foresee Summer Glau's introduction as Topher's counterpart in another Dollhouse! Based on her previous roles I just naturally assumed she would be brought in as another doll, but this is so much better! And her performance was sublime! (Victor-as-Topher was pretty funny, too.)
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