Goodbye Dollhouse

Dollhouse was absolutely fantastic. God bless, Joss Whedon, and thank you.

Fox renews "Dollhouse" for second season

Joss Whedon and "Dollhouse" fans, rejoice - the muckety mucks at Fox renewed Dollhouse for a second season! Read the story here.

This comes in the face of very low ratings, episode meddling at Fox, and naysayers who assumed the show would be banished to the great big DVD-box-set in the sky like other Fox shows Firefly and Wonderfalls (but actually getting a full first season). What does this mean?

More Topher, Ballard, Sierra and Victor (and Mellie?)
I think the most important thing about this announcement is that we'll get to see more of our favorite characters on TV again. Ballad (or Helo, depending on your BSG mileage) is the FBI agent tasked with finding out the true identity of the Dollhouse. In the last episode of the season, he just got hired as a consultant at the Dollhouse. Topher is definitely not a critical favorite on the show... But anyone who did not get freaked out/tear up by his "imaginary friend" turn in "Haunted", where he programmed a doll to be a platonic friend, has not soul. Victor, the most handsome of the dolls, got his face all cut up in the last two episodes... I'm guessing he'll be replacing Amy Acker (more on that in a second). Sierra at this point in the series is probably the most useful doll on the show, with Echo going off task nearly every mission and Victor becoming mincemeat for Wash from Firefly (Alpha). And Mellie? She had my favorite performance of the season (by the lovely newcomer Miracle Laurie). In the season finale, she was given a free pass out of the Dollhouse. Here's hoping she'll find a way back in.

If you haven't started watching, now's the time - hit up Hulu. This is the next big thing.
In the 2008/09, there was no show smarter nor entertaining other than "Lost" (which is a five-year old show that has hit its prime in storytelling). I liked this much more than the uneven end to "Battlestar Galactica," a little more than the always-engaging "Pushing Daisies," much more than "Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles," and much, much, much more than the terrible season three of "Heroes." "Battlestar," "Pushing Daisies," and most likely "Terminator" are all gone (and too bad "Heroes" isn't), so other than "Lost," what geeky science fiction shows will be left on the TV schedules for next year?

A smaller budget
One of the reasons why "Dollhouse" is back is because the producers agreed to work on a smaller budget. This is not a good thing; two of my favorite moments of the season were fights between Ballard and Echo and Ballard and Boyd. Although, now that I think about, there weren't that many high-budget scenes throughout the first season; I feel that the creators did a good job of divvying out the eye candy throughout the season. Fox viewed low-budget episode "Epitaph: One," the not-on-Hulu-so-don't-even-ask-them secretive 13th episode, before making their decision. Whedon made this episode on only a fraction of the regular-episode budget. This episode probably saved the show entirely. And for you Dr. Horrible fans, know that your favorite mini-musical was also produced under similar budget constraints and limitations Whedon was given for Epitaph.

Less Amy Acker
I just read on Television Without Pity that Amy Acker, who plays Whiskey/Dr. Saunders on Dollhouse, just had a pilot on ABC picked up. This means that is not likely she will be back on Dollhouse. Too bad, because the actress made up for all the things fans hated about Fred on "Angel" in just about 7 or 8 episodes on Dollhouse. A fine feat indeed.

Thirteen more episodes of this intriguing show
Fox picked "Dollhouse" up for 13 episodes next season. I think that the best part of the "Dollhouse" renewal is that we'll get to see what Whedon gets to do with this show's premise. Here's hoping for a Hush or The Body-like episode, because you know what? With Dollhouse's talented cast (Olivia Williams, yay!), it's possible.

Fox meddling and Dollhouse

This post is for Joss Whedon fans, non-fans of Dollhouse, and those still on the fence about tuning in.

Early episodes of Dollhouse led the series to receive poor reviews. The series received a 57/100 rating on Metacritic.com, a Web site that aggregates reviews from all the major TV review media (in comparison, the first season of Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles received a 74/100 for its first season). A 57/100, which is considered "mixed or average reviews" on the site, is disturbingly low for cult-fave Joss Whedon. Whedon is the Dollhouse creator, and up to this point had yet to release a poorly received (and for that matter, highly viewed except for early seasons of Buffy) TV series. Click for an example of a particularly scathing review.

But the true barometer of Dollhouse's success as a series is from Joss Whedon fans. Unfortunately, this too has seen below-average assessments, and even some truly scathing critiques of the series. A penny arcade Web comic that portrays fans of Whedon and Dollhouse as some sort of emperor-with-no-clothes scenario sent waves across the Whedon fanbase at Television Without Pity.com.

I adore Dollhouse - now. But around the time of the series backlash, it is difficult to disagree with these assessments. But I am truly bothered and disappointed by the lack of beneficence from the Whedon fanbase and particularly fringe Whedon fans who only dabble in his work (and thus making it easier to criticize). These are fans that may be very familiar with the praise over Whedon's work. I can specifically point out a large part of this segment who know of the fervor surrounding Firefly and its fiercely loyal following. I have met many of these guys and gals who have bought the Firefly DVDs and Serenity and raved and raved about Whedon and his work, without really seeing any of Angel or Buffy the Vampire Slayer. These viewers are usually general science fiction or comic book fans who follow trends in the media, buy TV shows on DVD, and write or talk about their favorite sci-fi shows on a regular basis. You likely know one of these people, be it a coworker, classmate, or annoying sibling. I know a lot about this population - I am proudly a member of it.

But it's these science fictions fans that I have a beef with. I will list my reasons why.

• First, these viewers tend to judge quickly and harshly with works of media. I will refer to a recent genius episode of CSI (of all sources) that pretty accurately depicts how quickly this cult-fandom turns on new science fiction works. The episode is a satire on the situation with the remade Battlestar Galactica in 2003, where creator Ron Moore previewed the series and riots practically ensued because the new show was so drastically different than the original work. I don't know what it is about this population, but they find it very, very easy to rip apart entertainment media and use ad hominens freely. Blame it on the interpersonal disconnect between telling someone off to their face or telling someone off online, or an assortment of other reasons - the bottom line is that this group is passionate, fierce, and when they disagree with something, malicious.


• This is what I am most upset about. Many Dollhouse critics, who are likely well aware of the Fox meddling with Firefly, have selective amnesia when being aware of the same meddling occurring with Dollhouse. This leads me to conclude that a lot of the backlash against Dollhouse is for other reasons than genuinely dislike the show - wanting to see a sacred cow skewered, dealing with the fact that they did not jump on the Whedon train from the beginning, and enjoying writing harsh attacks on entertainment media. To quickly summarize the Fox meddling with Dollhouse, they were in involved with major creative decisions for the first five episodes of the series, made Whedon reshoot the pilot, and is likely the reason why Eliza Dusku is scantily clad in at least one scene an episode (dominatrix, anyone?). This is highly familiar with Firefly, except less on the creative decision-making part, and more on showing episodes wildly out of order. Let's look at the "pilot" episode for Firefly, or the one that aired first, "Train Job." In my opinion - and many critics share the same view when it was first came out - the episode was sloppy, poorly written (except for that one hilarious scene involving a jet engine), and not a good start for the series. The actual pilot, which was ironically the last episode that aired on Fox, was a fantastic introduction to the series that was witty, well-written, well-acted, and all around brilliant. This is likely because Whedon had more than three days to write it, which, according to the Firefly DVDs, is about how much time Fox gave him to write Train Job. Whedon had more than a few days to write the pilot episode of Dollhouse, Ghost, but Fox had a major part in creative decisions of the episode. For instance, the first (and one of my least favorite) scenes of Ghost where we meet the real person behind Echo, was never supposed to be there.


• Last, none of this would matter if the episodes starting right after Fox's involvement were not markedly different than the episodes where Fox was running the shots. Starting with Man on the Street, the sixth episode, viewers were treated with a different kind of TV series: a Joss Whedon one. Character development, interesting relationships between characters, and that trademark Whedon twisty wordplay finally appeared. This episode also marks the moment where the show's mythology opened up wide: It was revealed that the series is not about pimping out people for situations-of-the-week, there was a much deeper conspiracy happening. It is my conclusion that because of the huge difference between episodes where Fox was calling the shots and Fox was not calling the shots, the early episodes were received so poorly because they were Fox episodes, not Joss Whedon episodes.

So, please, I beg of you, if you gave up on Dollhouse after one episode or two, please think about the context of why those episodes were the way they were and understand that future episodes are much, much different. Also, please view all of a body of work before you assess it completely. And, thanks to Fox, we won't even be getting to see all of Dollhouse.

Help save "Dollhouse"

The latest Joss Whedon TV show - which will go down as one of the best cult TV shows in ages - is in trouble. And it needs your help.

Like Firefly before it, Dollhouse airs on Fox on Friday nights. This is the timeslot affectionately referred to as the "Friday Night Time Slot of DOOM!". In other words, the series is at risk for being cancelled.

For those of you that have not even heard of this phenomenal series, here is a quick explanation. If you want more details, please see the list of links about the series on the right side of the page.

Dollhouse is a show by Joss Whedon (Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, Serenity). He known for creating shows with fiercely loyal cult followings. It is about an organization that takes people and wipes their memories and implants them with new ones and personalities to perform certain missions. These include undercover operations, bodyguards, doctors, government officials, escorts, and a multitude of other uses. Some of these people are implanted with "squicky" personalities - the main character, Echo, has been imprinted as a weekend fling more than three times so far in the series - but as has been revealed, these missions are only a small part of the overarching mythology of the series. The genius is that we don't know what this mythology is... yet. All we know is that there is a much higher purpose to the Dollhouse than pimping out people to fulfill their dark, repressed fantasies.

Joss Whedon fans expecting his usual witty dialogue, rich relationships, pop culture references, and twisty wordplay will be mostly disappointed. Early episodes were completely devoid of the usual characteristics of a Joss Whedon show, except for the emphasis of gender roles and feminism. Luckily, in recent episodes, the series has taken a much different tone and will remind viewers of the best episodes of Firefly, Buffy, or Angel.

This ties into an issue with Fox's involvement with the show. Fox has meddled with aspects of the series in order to create accessibility (and apparently to show off Eliza Dushku's hawt body) for first five episodes. The series received mixed critical acclaim in its first run of episodes, and the Fox meddling showed. But starting with "Man on the Street" (which I have awarded an "A") Joss Whedon was allowed to take full reins on the series. Dollhouse is easily as richly detailed and entertaining as Joss Whedon's other shows, and in the 2008/2009 TV season, it is the funniest, deepest, best show out there along with "Lost" and "Pushing Daisies" (rest its soul).

So, why should you care?
At this point in the series' run, any increase in viewership is incredibly important. Please watch the season finale next week (on Fox at 8 p.m.). Also, please watch or catch up on the show on Hulu or iTunes. Fox will determine which shows will return next season in the next few weeks, so any help you can give this ratings-struggling show, the better.

So, please, please give this show a chance if you have not already. If you have seen some episodes and started tuning out, please give this series another chance and catch up on Hulu. From "Man on the Street" and on, this is the most entertaining set of episodes on TV since... a very, very long time.

Episode review grading

This is some basic information about how I grade episodes of "Dollhouse." I will not be grading episodes of "Dollhouse" against other episodes in the series. Instead, I will be reviewing episodes against the vast body of intelligent TV work found on the airwaves today.

Grading scale explanation

A+ episodes
These are television achievements of the highest order. These episodes are superb in their artistry, directing, writing, and acting. These episodes are extremely memorable and tend to be name-dropped in the media as the crowning glory of their respective show. Some will also make up the basis for all comparisons in each show.

Just for clarification, not EVERY show has a specific A+ episode.

Here are some examples of A+ episodes.

• Buffy the Vampire Slayer – “The Body” (Episode where the mom dies)
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer – “Once More With Feeling” (Musical episode)
• Lost – “The Constant” (Desmond episode)
• Heroes – “Company Man” (HRG/Noah flashback episode)
• Battlestar Galactica – “33” (The TV-series first episode; the cylons attack every 33 minutes)

A episodes
These episodes are superb. They perfect that difficult balance of tone, writing, and directing, and depending on the show, humor. The thing that separates this from an A+ show is simply that the episode is lacking something the A+ episode has. Maybe a scene runs a little long, a line of dialogue feels wasted, or an actor chews the scenery.

A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, or D- episodes
These are episodes that exist in difference variations of excellence and terribleness.

F episodes
An F episode is truly, truly awful. There is absolutely no redeeming value. To qualify for an F episode, it has to be so terrible that audiences will consider the show to “jump the shark” or compare all other crappy episodes in the future of the series to it. It has to be well-known in the show’s audience as the exemplar of all suckitude. There are a few obvious episodes that would fit into this category:

• Battlestar Galactica – “Black Market” (The episode where Lee Adama dates a hooker, children are molested, and everything pretty much sucks).
• Lost – “Stranger in a Strange Land” (The episodes where Jack gets a tattoo from Bai Ling… Possibly a “D” because of Diana Scarwid is in it, and she is awesome, but the “D” qualifies only for Wonderfalls fans).
• Alias – “Façade” (The episodes where we have to experience terrible writing not once but twice, one from Sydney’s perspective and one from Mellissa George’s perspective, because she is eeeeevil).