According to Bookspot Central, Dollhouse may be canceled before episode 13. Actress Felicia Day just Twittered:

Man, day getting worse and worse. Found out my Dollhouse ep, #13 isn’t gonna air. Only on DVD.

Start mailing blow-up dolls to Fox in protest, everybody!.

UPDATE: Ohnotheydidnt say that Fox is just going to air episode 12 as the season finale, include episode 13 on a boxed set to be released in July, and then wait and see on a season 2. Now, I’m not a Fox executive, but I think that’s not a very healthy strategy to save a TV show.

34 replies on “Look Out, Whedon-Heads”

  2. Fox, and television networks in general, SUCK…since Lost became a hit, they all wanted to jump on the serial story wagon, and 98% of these shows fail and then the fans are left hanging…also, you don’t disrespect people with talent, like Joss Whedon…if you sign a Joss Whedon to do a show for you, then you need to give him creative control, (with financial limitations of course), a smart marketing plan, a decent timeslot and the time for the show to develop an audience…you don’t slap it on a shitty night, with no p.r. and kill it after a handful of episodes.

    assholes.

  3. My girlfriend and I watch this show on hulu. It’s VERY cheesy and bad, in a somewhat entertaining sort of way, depending on the episode.

    The plot really picked up a LOT starting with episode six, though. Before that it was almost entirely fluff with a few bits of delicious story meat thrown in.

  4. Also note that, even though I would like to see the first season wrap up, I wouldn’t be entirely angry at fox if they canceled the show, since it’s not exactly the best example of character, plot, or acting ability.

  5. I’ve got some great ideas for replacement shows! How about a show about cops in Manhattan? Or a show about the lives of a hospital staff? Or a crime drama about lawyers?

    This is all really original stuff here!

  6. Surely you jest. That stuff has all been done.

    Now if only someone would pick up my idea for a show about crime scene investigators who carry guns, solve crimes, and arrest suspects.

  7. “you don’t disrespect people with talent, like Joss Whedon”

    Funniest fucking thing I have ever read.

    Talent? Joss Whedon? The man has had a few successes (but is nothing without Tim Minear)

    Please remember this is the man who wrote Titan A.E. and Alien Ressurection.

  8. Who cares if Dollhouse gets cancelled? Just get the DVDs for La Femme Nikita and Alias. Same story lines. When you are done be sure to punch yourself in the junk for watching such crap.

  9. Hey now, Titan AE was a fun movie.

    Look, Joss has done some good stuff. I thought Firefly was a great show, for example.

    That said, his stuff has always been a bit poppy and a bit fluffy. It’s not the most brilliant stuff ever written. If his shows were novels, they’d be in the teen section along with The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew and Goosebumps…well…without all the implied sex.

  11. Titan AE was fun? We must have seen different films then.

    And I agree that Firefly was a great show that was never given his due. My main beef is that the Whedonheads (or browncoats, of Angelfelaters or what ever they are calling themselves these days) think that he is the second coming and the greatest writer to ever walk the earth.

    All of his sucesses (imo) have been because of his working with Tim Minear. The man knows how to reign in Whedons large head and keep things focused.

    Firefly was great show. Serenity sucked and killed the story. What was the difference between the two? Tim Minear had nothing to do with Serenity.

  12. What I want to know is why Joss went back to FOX in the first place, considering they did roughly this same thing to Firefly. Dollhouse was totally lame, though. I’m a big Joss fan and I only lasted three episodes.

  14. DAMMIT. I really like the show – yes, it started high on the Velveeta end, but once the less-FOX-mandated episodes passed (eps 1-5), it because very watchable. And certainly more interesting than anything else on at that time.

    @12 Eliza Dushku’s the one with the developement deal at FOX, so she’s the reason the show is there. Although I agree, why would Joss Whedon agree to create a show for them without making sure they butt eh hell out of the creative decisions.

  15. @12 – it was because Eliza had a production contract with Fox. Whedon has said that he went back & forth a few times before agreeing to do a show on Fox.

    If only Joss didn’t have such a boner for Dushku, the show might have had a chance…

  16. My roommate is the biggest Whedonhead so I’ve seen most of the eps, and I have to say the show really became watchable the last two eps. It’s too bad network tv is going down the crapper, but maybe Whedon will catch a break on cable where shows tend to be able to develop an audience.

  17. most shows kind of suck in the beginning…if someone has a track record, you give them a chance…and the show has gotten a LOT better in the last couple episodes.

    Anyone who created Buffy is a god, so shut up on the Whedon hate.

  18. I was just talking with friends about this today, since I just watched the most recent episode last night (I watch it on ad-supported Hulu.com, just FYI).

    The first 5 episodes do kind of suck, admittedly. But things get DRAMATICALLY better starting with #6, when the frame tale really kicks in. To me, it feels like the first couple episodes were watered down WAY too heavily in order not to confuse/freak out the mass audience that isn’t willing to trust Whedon to do something interesting. Commenter #2 has got it about right.

    Anyway. I admit I’m biased in that I’ve enjoyed Whedon’s previous stuff, but whatever. I think it’s a pretty cool show and it would be a shame if it gets canned while so many crappier offerings are still around.

  19. Step 1. Fuck up the first few weeks of a show with ass-headed top-down changes.
    Step 2. Watch ratings do poorly.
    Step 3. Cancel show.

    Memo to Joss: Fox doesn’t like you.

  20. Whedon’s stuff is not accessible to Fox types; I’m not sure why he keeps working with Fox. This is Firefly all over again.

    And, no, @11, “Serenity” didn’t suck–it wrapped everything up for the prematurely canceled series and gave fans the closure they wanted (and deserved). It was designed to be accessible to those not familiar with the series (I myself saw it before I saw Firefly), and it was a lot of fun, probably the most fun you’ve had at a summer space opera movie since 1977.

    The story of how Serenity came to be is also an amazing tale of fan activism overcoming studio exec numbskulledness. Fox must have more numbskulls per square inch than anywhere…

  21. If by bending over fans and ass fucking them without lube is the closure you wanted, then yes…the film totally delivered.

    Here is my beef with Serenity:

    1. Too many major points were changed from the show to the movie. Continuity would have been a nice thing and you still could have made it accessible to new viewers.

    2. Fan activism had NOTHING to do with the creation of the film. Buying of the DVD set of Firefly did. I really wish fans of shows would realize that only on a few rare occurances (Star Trek, Quantum Leap, and even Jericho) have fan campaigns actually done something. The Browncoats can continue to believe the did something to get it made but it did nothing. Universal execs could have cared less about a write in campaign to save the show. They saw how much Fox was making on the DVD set and decided it would be worth it to fund a film.

    3. Serenity could have been a great starter film for a HUGE franchise… but instead Joss sucked the life out of it and closed the whole story. Plus, he killed the wrong person (spoiler… it was Wash)
    And Rivers whole purpose was to fight the Reavers and someon high up in the Alliance was worried she “might” have known something about the planet they were trying to keep quiet? That was the whole reason for chasing her? Puh-lease. That makes no sense.

    4. Marketing for the film was a joke. All the pre-screenings for free to “fans” didn’t get the word out to non fans to go see it. Plus, a name like “Serenity” aint gonna attract the average viewer.

    5. It was not the most fun I have had at a Summer Space Opera since it was RELEASED IN THE FALL. Plus, I walked out of the theater feeling betrayed, hurt and angry.

    You can obviously see the world through your “Joss is a God” colored glasses and continue on this charade. But Serenity was an insult to the greatness of what was Firefly.

  22. Hey gang, just curious: the first few episodes don’t actually seem to be *on* Hulu anymore. Even if I wanted to watch this show, I can’t start from the beginning. And nobody is downloading the torrents so that’s a dead end. Any suggestions? (CROSS-POST TO QUESTIONLAND??)

  23. After what Fox did to Serenity, I cannot believe Joss went back to them for another series.

    Dollhouse has piled up on the Tivo (TV has been a casualty of the campaign) and I haven’t seen an episode yet, just for the record.

    I watched Buffy from episode 1, and the first season (or so) was pretty sketchy. Same with Angel in some respects, at least until he figured out how to write within the title character’s acting ability. My friends who are Joss fans suggest Dollhouse is fairly vapid, but I’ll cut Joss some slack when and if I find some time to watch the new show.

  24. @23, you’re totally right. As a dedicated Whedonist, even I admit that season one of Buffy is a bit ridiculous and pales in comparison to the later seasons–however, in its ridiculousness, it set up plot points that would later become pivotal, in a non-ridiculous way.

    And @21–I think buying DVDs *is* a kind of fan activism, albeit run-of-the-mill. We put our money where our mouths were.

  25. OK — I have an idea. We kill Echo (and take Dushku’s deal out of the equation), make Sierra the lead, move the show to Sci Fi (I mean Syfy). Joss gets creative control, Tamoh stays on basic cable, much rejoicing.

    I’m a genius.

  26. @22: I swear by ninjavideo for shows that aren’t on Hulu.

    I feel like a bad Joss fan for not watching Dollhouse, but, as per usual, Fox is fucking him over and he’s letting them. The show didn’t have to start out fluffy, but they insisted on it. I like Dushku, I LOOOOVE Helo, and I can’t stop staring at Sierra. It deserved a better timeslot and to be on any network that wasn’t Fox. Lest we forget, Fox also fucked Arrested Development around for three years as well before giving it the most ignoble end ever.

  27. I’ve seen everything Joss Whedon has done since he left Rosanne, I’m a huge fan and — Dollhouse is just a really stupid show. It might get better if the serial plot could develop for a while, but there was never any chance that this show as going to make it past first season. None. Nobody who knows anything about TV shows, or Joss Whedon, had any illusions that Dollhouse was even going to finish it’s half-season. The best anyone dared hope for was that it would be a half-season of brilliance, like Firefly, but the premise required a bunch of crap shows about Ultimate Call Girls before they got into the conspiracy, so the first half of the half-season that will now be canceled sucked.

    Of course I’ll buy the DVDs. But I won’t be happy about it.

    Stupid throw-away idea for a stupid throw-away show. No loss. Hopefully Whedon will scale back and do everything on iTunes from now on. Best hope for good material in the future.

  29. @26 – Thanks for the tip, Jessica! It looks like the video was removed “due to infringement”, but that’s an awesome resource that was not previously on my radar.

  32. Dollhouse is one of the worst shows on television. I realize that it allegedly “gets going” after episode six – but that means that the viewer has to sit through at least five hours of crap before the story kicks in.

    It’s like saying – we’re going to give you something great, but first we’re going to slowly pull out your fingernails. After that kind of torture the reward had BETTER be good – and in the case of dollhouse, it isn’t.

    I sat through it, waiting for the alleged Whedon Magic to kick in – and now I want my fingernails back. I can use them to claw out my eyes.

  34. Everybody who is agreeing that the first five episodes of Dollhouse sucked, or they lost interest after three episodes, or they couldn’t get past the pilot, blah blah blah…it’s because Joss wasn’t involved until the sixth episode. And then it improves dramatically. Hm, coincidence.

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