Dollhouse, Firefly, Angel, Buffy : news, photos & videos

Dollhouse in the 10 TV Things TWoP is thankful for this year

Webmaster — 2009-11-20T23:21:23Z

While we're constantly grateful for our friends and family and jobs and health and all that jazz, we're really thankful for the gift of television and DVRs and for Grey's Anatomy episodes without Katherine Heigl. So instead of focusing on the negative, we'd like to spend this very special episode of TWoP 10 celebrating all of the good that has come to the airwaves this fall.

10. Dollhouse is Given Notice

While we're not happy Dollhouse was cancelled, we are happy that the show will get the chance to air its remaining episodes to finish out its second and final season. Unlike when unceremoniously cut off Joss Whedon's Firefly a few years back, Whedon will be able to wrap up Dollhouse the way he wants to, which hopefully means we'll see a lot of story resolution that might have been a long ways off under ordinary circumstances. We won't go as far as saying "blessing in disguise," but we will say that we can't wait for the finale, because nobody does them like Joss.

9. Charlie's Match.com Dating Profile (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia)

Sunny in Philly's funniest moments usually involve delving into the mind of Charlie Kelly, but Mac and Dennis trying to interview him for his Match.com profile, in which we learned that his favorite food is "milksteak" (preferably with a side of fine jelly beans — raw), that his interests include "magnets" and "little green ghouls, buddy !" and that his dislikes are solely "people's knees" was one of the funniest short scenes in the history of this already awesome show.

8. Jim Parsons on The Big Bang Theory

Parsons scored an Emmy nom for his role on BBT and rightfully so. His character Sheldon is a masterpiece, the perfect blend of intellectual superiority, smug nerdosity and obsessive-compulsive disorder. From his intricate arguments about superheroes to his icy analysis of his roommate's love life, he's the bastard we love to hate, mostly because we know he likes to be sung to when sick.

7. John Lithgow on Dexter

It didn't seem possible, but somehow John Lithgow has managed to forego his usual overacting style in favor of delivering a genuinely terrifying and restrained serial killer foe for Dexter. He's the perfectly suburban Christian dad when the script calls for it, which makes his psychotic explosions all the more disturbing when they appear. Truly perfect casting, and very impressive work from an unlikely actor on a series returned to form this season.

6. The Office Wedding

Finally, the payoff we've been waiting five years for ! Although the rehearsal dinner was a nightmare and the ceremony itself devolved into a YouTube video tribute, Jim and Pam got the wedding they wanted by cutting out for an hour and getting married on the deck of a boat under Niagara Falls. In the words of Jim : "I bought those boat tickets the day I saw that YouTube video. I knew we'd need a backup plan. The boat was actually Plan C, the church was Plan B, and Plan A was marrying her a long, long time ago. Pretty much the day I met her." Oh, Jim — you seem to have gotten something in our eye.

5. The Vampire Diaries Is Surprisingly Good

The first episode of this seemed to just be aimed at cashing in on the popularity of Twilight (even though the VD books were around first). But this silly CW love triangle has rapidly become a weekly addiction, not for the cheese factor, but because it's actually good — shockingly so. The well-developed rivalry between the brothers, some stellar acting on Ian Somerhalder's part and a bunch of really fun plot twists (and the cutest little witch since Willow) have made this a perfectly satisfying partner for our beloved Winchesters.

4. Nathan Fillion on Castle

We love Nathan Fillion wherever he pops up, so we were happy when his new series Castle got picked up for a second season because it's a fun, comedic procedural that keeps getting better the more we come to know the cast of characters. But the best supporting cast in the world would mean squat without Fillion himself, who hams it up in every scene as Rick Castle, the big-kid mystery author who gets to play cops and killers for real. And the Halloween-episode shout-out where he dressed up as his character from the late, great Firefly ? Icing on the cake.

3. Two Awesome New Comedies in Community and Modern Family

Usually if we get one halfway decent new comedy a season we're lucky. And ones that start strong and don't need a lot of time to build like Parks and Recreation or The Office are even more rare. This season we were blessed with two fantastically funny new shows that started off fabulous and have kept up the momentum. Community focuses on an oddball students in preposterous situations and Modern Family focuses on an oddball group of relations in preposterous situations, both happily laugh track-free. Community is filled with pop culture references and features a selfish jerk as the lead, while Modern Family delights in exposing as many awkward family moments as possible. Both are awesome in their own right and we're hoping that we'll be thankful for them for many years to come.

2. The Mad Men finale

Aside from the regrettable likely loss of Kinsey and Ken for good, the new business endeavor between Don, Bertram, Roger, Pryce, Peggy, Pete and Harry was one of the most exciting season finale plot twists and next-season set-ups we've ever seen. The band's back together (with Joan in tow, thankfully), the Draper marriage was put out of its misery at just the right time and we can't wait to see what happens with that rag-tag rogue advertising company full of crazies cooped up in a hotel room. Dear Bones, House and Heroes : this is how you do it right.

1. All Things Glee

We may quibble and nitpick about plotlines that don't make sense or about Mr. Schue's annoying wife, but it comes from a place of love. This show is just such a wonderful delight, filled with pop songs and good cheer, that it just brightens up our week. Jane Lynch is phenomenal and someone needs to give Amber Riley (Mercedes) a recording contract, stat. And seriously, iTunes can't post the songs fast enough for us. So while we might not love a preachy story about being nice to people in wheelchairs, we love this show with open arms and are willing to forgive all of its flaws.

Good-bye, Dollhouse, It's Been Nice ; Hope You Find Your Paradise

Webmaster — 2009-11-18T14:05:56Z

To quote Joss Whedon's favorite musical creator, I'm sorry/grateful that Dollhouse was canceled. (Basically, my feelings mirror those of our wonderful recapper Joy Press, who tweeted, "It had potential. But like a lot of people, I was too ambivalent about Dollhouse to feel sad about cancellation.")

But I'm unambiguously happy that Whedon will get to do something else, whether it's Dr. Horrible 2 : The Horribling or that new digital studio he's supposed to be founding — the one I dream will turn him into the entrepreneurial Moses of online distribution. And while I'm flipping all over the emotional dial, I'm irritated by Lisa De Moraes's acrid suggestion that the show flopped because Whedon was money-hungry : "Joss Whedon needs to think more about his fans and less about his wallet. If he did, he would do his work for a cable network which can sustain a show that attracts this sized audience. He did not serve you well. Shame on him."

From my POV, this is crazy-talk, since from what he's said in interviews, Whedon developed the Dollhouse concept in the first place because Eliza Dushku (a friend since her role on Buffy) already had a development deal with Fox and asked him to collaborate on a vehicle for her. For better or worse, he's spent his adult life as an ideological populist, trying (à la The Simpsons) to plant subversive myths in mass culture. Now, this particular subversive myth definitely didn't work — not in the ratings, not in Dushku's performance. (The role Whedon had written to demonstrate her versatility highlighted exactly the opposite trait, while her unspellably named castmates, Dichen Lachman and Enver Gjokaj, kicked ass in their multiple roles.)

I certainly don't think that Dollhouse's fate makes Whedon the martyred Christ of network villainy, but it also doesn't mean he is the villain himself. There's such a thing as an interesting failure, and that's the category I'd put Dollhouse in : At once ambitiously conceived and weirdly unbaked, it had moments, even whole episodes, of brilliance. In the end, it was a failed genre experiment, in which a feminist sci-fi creator tried to use a police-procedural format (the type most frequently used as an excuse for endless close-ups of nude female corpses) to stage a metaphor about false consciousness and sex slavery.

In a way, maybe the series is even more admirable because it now looks, in retrospect, so truly impossible to pull off. Unlike something as purely girl-powered as Buffy — a juvenile myth with adult philosophical resonance — Dollhouse was designed to freak viewers out from the start. When it was kicking on all engines, the series was a sick-making essay about rape culture, and I've never seen one of those hit a mass audience. (Although it had a strange thematic sibling this year in AMC's Mad Men, another ambiguous dream-world stocked with brainwashed women.)

For those still grieving, here are some Dollhouse epitaphs — plus one proposal for the future of Whedon that I personally hope comes true :

i09's Graeme McMillan's wry 5-stages-of-fan-grief model for TV cancellations.

James Poniewozik admires the show's ambition but says that "Fox gave it as much of a chance as it reasonably could have."

And Devin Faraci argues that Whedon belongs online :

"Whedon needs to fully leap into the world of direct to DVD and On Demand programming. He's already dipped his toe in those waters with Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog, which was an artistic success and apparently fiscally successful enough to warrant an impending sequel. Instead of going through a network, dealing with their interference and their programming whims and the need to appeal to a very wide audience so as to sell time to Viagra advertisers Whedon can concentrate on serving his fanbase with his vision ...

Imagine a world where a show like Arrested Development or Battlestar Galactica isn't constantly in fear of getting the axe, where shows don't have to dumb it down to reach the widest audience, where creators don't have to worry about skittish advertisers, where fans put up or shut up by supporting what they really like."

"Dollhouse" Tv Series - The five stages of fan grief

Webmaster — 2009-11-16T20:39:29Z

Wednesday's announcement of Dollhouse's cancellation came as no surprise to most, but that doesn't mean that we're not here to help those for whom the news means emotional turmoil. Let us walk you to happiness, one step at a time.

Psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, in her 1969 book On Death and Dying, introduced the concept of the Five Stages of Grief to help those dealing with personal tragedy get through it as easily as possible. We've discovered that those Five Stages are almost applicable to less serious emotional issues, such as the cancellation of a favorite television show. As The Aristocats' Thomas O'Malley once said, let me elucidate here :

1 : Denial

How many times did fans deny Dollhouse's falling ratings, or tell themselves that miracles could happen despite a tiny audience and uneven quality - A self-delusion not helped by the series getting a second season in the first place, admittedly - and everything could turn out okay ("Look what happens when you add in the time-shifted audience !") ? The writing may have been on the metaphorical cancellation wall for sometime, but that doesn't mean that plenty of people were pretending that they couldn't read when they saw it.

2 : Anger

As those who've survived the loss of Firefly should remember, the cancellation of Dollhouse will have one clear effect on fans : Blaming Fox. Never mind that they gave the show two seasons with a promise to show the complete second season despite reruns of House getting more viewers and making them more money in the same timeslot, Fox will very clearly be the bad guy in the fan version of this story ; as Preston Beckman, Fox's VP of strategic programming told Broadcast & Cable, "I'll still get hate mail and death threats." But why stop there ? There's lots of mad to go around : Why not get mad at Joss for going back to Fox after the clusterfuck that was Firefly (By which I mean, the way Fox treated it, not the show itself. I'm not pissing off those River Tam fans) ? Or at the rest of America who, quite clearly, didn't see the entertainment value in a morally-ambiguous show about brainwashed slaves even with the amount of gratuitous T'n'A thrown in ? Or Smallville for somehow managing to build on its ratings on a Friday night even in its ninth season ? Or Ghost Whisperer just for existing in the first place ? There's a lot of mad in there. Just let it out. You'll fell better afterwards.

3 : Bargaining

We'll throw this one over to Syfy's senior VP of digital Craig Engler's Twitter stream from Thursday November 12th to illustrate this point for us :

Whenever some other network cancels a sci-fi show, I've noticed a distinct trends in the type of tweets I receive about it : 80% Polite : Could you please pick up X show ? I think it'd be a great fit with your network ! 8% Analytic : X shows has more viewers than your show Y so why wouldn't you pick it up ! 5% Bribe : I'll star watching/will watch more of your network if you pick up X show ! 4% Less Polite : Why don't you pick up X show ? It's better than any of the crap you air ! 3% Blame : You suck for canceling X show and/or not picking it up from another network ! (OFTEN SENT IN ALL CAPS !!!!!)

I think you get where we're coming from here.

(And in case you were wondering, Craig directly addressed Dollhouse later that day :

Leaving aside viewership, the biggest issues are, we simply can't afford network budgets and no one has even offered it to us AFAIK. Then you have to consider, it had much more exposure on Fox than it would ever get on Syfy, but the audience never quite materialized. We'd of course LOVE to do a project with Joss Whedon for Syfy that was affordable. Overall we're big fans of his work... If we could hold [the audience size from the Fox airings] (doubtful), it *could* be a good number if the budget were remotely in our ballpark.

So now you know.)

4 : Depression

What's the point in watching any new shows ? Won't they all run into network interference issues (V) or get canceled early (Eastwick, but, really, does anyone care that much about Eastwick ?), like Dollhouse ? Isn't Fringe also supposed to be having cancellation woes - and it's on Fox ! If Joss Whedon can't make television work, what chance does anyone else have ? We understand that it can be hard to believe in the healing power of television at a time like this, but think of it like this : Sometimes early cancellation can be a good thing. Imagine a world without Angel Starbuck or Deanna Troi being turned into a cake in Data's dream, and suddenly your silver lining has been found.

5 : Acceptance

Yeah, okay, this is the one that - for some fans - may never happen. Fandom in all its forms knows how to hold grudges, and if Firefly has taught us anything, it's that fandom never forgets. Now that Fox has killed two Joss Whedon shows (and Terminator : The Sarah Connor Chronicles, for that matter), there's going to be an element of fandom that will never be able to trust the network again, never believing that Fox had good reasons to keep us from the full run-up to "Epitaph One."

Of course, identifying all the stages doesn't mean that you should rush through them, especially when there are nine episodes still to air, and an ARG still to decipher. We're not saying that you should hold onto your sadness until mid-January, of course... but if you want to, we're going to be here for you no matter what. And possibly going through exactly the same thing.

Was it right to axe "Dollhouse" Tv Series ?

Webmaster — 2009-11-13T14:36:42Z

By now, you're either crying in to your pillow or rejoicing at the news that Fox has cancelled Dollhouse.

After a tumultuous year or two (to say the least), Fox has finally laid Joss Whedon's baby to rest. But was it the right decision ? Here, Tube Talk takes a look at the show's highs and lows to see if it ever really stood a chance (or if it had two chances too many).

November 1, 2007 : Eliza Dushku announces that she's starting a new project with Joss Whedon. "It's going to have sex and heartbreak and violence and hilarity," she says. "That, to me, is a hot show." Not hot enough, apparently.

March 27, 2008 : Tahmoh Penikett, Fran Kranz, Dichen Lachman and Enver Gjokaj are added to the cast as the show starts to gather an online following. Later, Angel actress Amy Acker comes on board.

May 16, 2008 : Fox announces that Dollhouse is a major part of its 2008-09 lineup and will launch midseason.

July 23, 2008 : The first of many problems : Joss reveals that he's shooting a new pilot for the show. "The fact is, I'm very proud of the ep we shot and the series is making me crazy with the excitement," he says. "But I tend to come at things sideways, and there were a few clarity issues for some viewers."

September 11, 2008 : Production is suspended for two weeks to allow scripts to be rewritten. Uh oh.

November 7, 2008 : Ahead of its debut, Dollhouse is moved to a Friday night slot in a midseason shakeup. Apparently, Fox thinks the ailing Sarah Connor Chronicles will be a good lead-in.

December 13, 2008 : New delays mean that the show is pushed back again and will now premiere in February. Despite this, Eliza Dushku insists that "the scripts are tight, solid, fast, action, drama, comedy. It's really great."

February 13, 2009 : The Dollhouse premiere fails to set ratings alight with 4.7 million viewers. Ouch.

March 20, 2009 : Dollhouse heads to the UK ! British broadcaster Sci Fi announces that it has picked up the first run UK pay-TV rights to the series.

April 10, 2009 : Fox cuts the thirteenth episode - 'Epitaph One' - of season one, sparking outrage amongst fans. On the plus side, it does appear on the season one DVD.

May 16, 2009 : In what appears to be some sort of miracle, Fox renews Dollhouse for a second season.

July 2, 2008 : Sci Fi nabs the second season and the elusive 'Epitaph One'. Woo !

July 8, 2009 : Keeping with tradition, Fox delays the second season premiere. The new date for the diary is Friday, September 25.

August 27, 2009 : Sci-fi fans all over the world wet themselves with excitement when Summer Glau teams up with Joss again and lands a recurring role.

September 25, 2009 : Dollhouse returns to its lowest ever ratings. If Summer Glau can't save the show, who can ?

October 13, 2009 : Despite the ratings issues, Fox insists that it will air season two in full. "We're not saying we're happy with those numbers, or accept them, but we don't have to overreact..." Yet.

October 22, 2009 : Fox announces that Dollhouse will take a hiatus in November, with back-to-back episodes scheduled for December.

November 11, 2009 : Fox cancels the series.

Phew ! What do you think of Fox's decision to pull the series ? Will you be sad to see it go ? Cast your vote in our poll below then feel free to sound off in the usual place below. R.I.P. Dollhouse !

"Dollhouse" Tv Series cancellation : peeved or pleased ?

Webmaster — 2009-11-12T21:14:55Z

It seems that, sometimes, no matter how smart, how full of ideas, how fun a thing may be, it will still outlive it's usefulness to the people who run the show. Heck, if beer can have an expiration date, so can everything else. And so the day that all Joss Whedon fans knew would come has arrived : Dollhouse has been canceled by Fox. Apparently, they'll air the balance of the 13-episode order and, most likely, shuttle it to DVD as quick as possible.

It's not a surprise, really, given how anemic the ratings have been — the real surprise was that the Eliza Dushku mind-wiping show got a second season in the first place. And it's not a surprise to anyone who knows Whedon's history with Fox, the same network that gunned down Firefly after airing as many episodes as you can count on two hands. The writing has been on the wall for almost as long as there's been a wall.

From where I sit, there are two ways to feel about this :

1) Pissed, because there won't be any more episodes of a TV show that was just beginning to hit its creative stride. Joss tends to get better as he goes ; breaking down some characters, building up others, seeing just how far he can push the world he's created until it snaps, then snaps back. I'd have liked to see him get to the point where he, and his staff, was truly firing on all cylinders.

2) Pleased, because it'll free Whedon from a show that, let's be frank, was never going to climb out of the hole it was in. Dollhouse had too much viewer attrition and too little network support. It'll let him chase down the myriad other things he could be doing — writing more comics, making more Web content, and, perhaps (as more than a few people have suggested) getting in bed with a cable network that'll give him the latitude to do what he likes, how he likes. As for what Whedon'll do next, here's what he posted on Whedonesque : “I'm off to pursue internet ventures/binge drinking. Possibly that relaxation thing I've read so much about. By the time the last episode airs, you'll know what my next project is. But for now there's a lot of work still to be done, and disappointment to bear.”

I sit firmly in between the two camps. I liked Dollhouse, but didn't love it — I kept watching because I knew that, at least once or twice, Joss would surprise me. And that patience was rewarded in episodes like “Man on the Street,” “Epitaph One,” and “Belonging” — all episodes that deserve a slot in the Whedonverse Hall of Fame.

Where do you fall : pissed or pleased ? Or maybe you never watched the show and don't give a flying frak.

Is neuroscience still the bad guy in "Dollhouse" Tv Series ?

Webmaster — 2009-11-12T20:27:11Z

When we posted Ed Connor's essay “Psychology Bad” (from The Psychology of Joss Whedon) last week, I couldn't help being impressed how prescient Ed's essay was. He labeled neuroscience as the bad guy in Firefly and Serenity, and identified it as a major theme in Joss Whedon's work—before Dollhouse was even a glimmer in Joss's or Eliza Duskhu's eye.

Here's Ed extending the ideas in his essay to Dollhouse :

My major thesis in this essay was that River dramatizes what it means for us to be simultaneously neural and human. Neural, in the sense that we are brains—unimaginably complex wetware computers with rich potential and tragic vulnerabilities. Human, in that we are capable of love, courage, sacrifice, and self-determination. These two states of being are often viewed as irreconcilable, and for me River is a moving personification of how they are equally miraculous and truly identical.

I don't know how Joss would react to this analysis, but as always his work speaks even more eloquently than the man himself. Dollhouse is an entire show devoted to exploring this same question of what it means to be both neural and human. The dramatic stakes are raised and the philosophical issues are more mind-bending, because in Dollhouse neural control extends all the way to the core self. If Topher's chair can make me in every sense a ninja assassin, complete with memories, beliefs, and skills, then what am I—the person I went to sleep as, the assassin I woke up as, or just so much neural putty in Topher's hands ? It will fall to Echo, as it fell to River, to answer this central conundrum.

Another point of strong continuity in Dollhouse : Neuroscience remains the “big bad” (to quote Spike)—the counterpart to black magic in Buffy and Angel, the darkest art in the current Whedonverse. Take one brilliant but morally vacant neuroscientist (Topher), add several layers of increasingly shadowy, increasingly malignant power players, top it off with the eternal unpredictability of the human mind, and you get “Alpha”—Alan Tudyk's marvelous turn as an operative gone wildly wrong. For starters. To glimpse the global mayhem that may follow, check out the lost episode “Epitaph One” on DVD or iTunes. It is a masterpiece of neural fiction, and heartrendingly human.

"Dollhouse" Tv Series - What If Moviemakers Swapped Franchises ?

Webmaster — 2009-11-11T12:00:57Z

What If Moviemakers Swapped Franchises ?

The problem with big movie franchises is that you always know what to expect ; it's always the same guys making the same movies. But what if you swapped creators and movie franchises around ? Here's what'd work - and what wouldn't.

McG's Dollhouse

Pros : Revamping Joss Whedon's television series into a stand-alone movie, McG would give interviews about really getting to the heart of the darkness at the center of the concept but then present a movie that's a series of comedic vignettes wherein Eliza Dushku, Lucy Liu and Ellen Page are sassy, independent girls who have to roleplay different personalities and lives while working undercover for D.O.L.L.house, a secret spy organization that pretends to brainwash people and rent them out to clients - with hilarious consequences !

Cons : Revamping Joss Whedon's television series into a stand-alone movie, McG would give interviews about really getting to the heart of the darkness at the center of the concept but then present a movie that's a series of comedic vignettes wherein Eliza Dushku, Lucy Liu and Ellen Page are sassy, independent girls who have to roleplay different personalities and lives while working undercover for D.O.L.L.house, a secret spy organization that pretends to brainwash people and rent them out to clients - with hilarious consequences !

Bay, Kurtzman and Orci's Batman

Pros : You'd get a new Batman movie every two years, even if Michael Bay would complain and tell people that he didn't want to make it but the studio offered him so much money he couldn't say no. Plus, with Bay attached, you know that they'd get to Catwoman as soon as humanly possible instead of this whole "I am a nihilist Joker" crap from The Dark Knight.

Cons : Kurtzman and Orci would probably take their Daddy issues (Fringe's Walter/Peter complicated relationship, Star Trek's Kirk trying to live up to his dead father's memory by self-destructing but then coming through as the hero he was destined to be, even Transformers' Optimus as Tough-But-Fair Robot Daddy to Shia's Sam Whitwicky) to pop culture's most parent-obsessed character, leading to the risk of a third act emotional breakthrough where Batman cries. There are enough Batman characters to make Revenge Of The Fallen seem understaffed, and the various personality tics of said Batman characters could lead to more unfunny schtick like the Twins and/or Jazz from the Transformers movies. Michael Bay possibly already sees himself as Bruce Wayne. Also, there's every possibility that the movie would make no sense whatsoever (See : Transformers, Transformers : Revenge Of The Fallen).

JJ Abrams' Terminator

Pros : Abrams' sense of kinetic, fun filmmaking is just what the franchise needs after Terminator Salvation - He's a sci-fi nerd who knows how to make successful popcorn movies full of tech that are really all about people ; in other words, he's a younger James Cameron, before Cameron fell more in love with the tech involved in making movies. A Terminator-ized "Bad Robot" logo would be awesome. There'd probably be a Simon Pegg cameo.

Cons : Abrams' inability to not have a happy ending would mean that Skynet would be completely defeated by the time he was done, whether it was a movie or trilogy. The time travel core concept would allow him to reboot the series whenever he wanted, with Zachary Quinto as Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator. There'd probably be a Keri Russell cameo. Actually, fuck the cons. I really want to see Abrams do Terminator, the more I think about it.

Christopher Nolan's GI Joe

Pros : If anyone could give GI Joe some critical credibility, it's Christopher Nolan.

Cons : Nolan's attempt would probably be called A Real American Hero and would likely be three hours long, most of which would be spent filled with actors who should know better (Yes, Gary Oldman, we're looking at you) telling the audience how difficult it is to be a real American hero in a morally ambiguous world. There would be at least one subplot about abuse of military power to underscore the moral ambiguity until we move into the third act when the audience needs to get pumped and then Duke would abuse military power to stop the bad guy and then walk away in disgust in order to make a point that will be lost on the majority of an audience who were excited to see shit blow up finally. Cobra Commander would be so compelling that you'll start to wonder if he's wandered on set from a different, better, movie. Purists would complain about Snake Eyes' closing monologue about how difficult it is to be a ninja in the US military. No child would ever want to buy a GI Joe toy ever again.

Bryan Singer's Transformers

Pros : Singer's mix of geek cred and understanding of human drama/cheap angst is exactly what the Robots in Disguise need. His X-Men movies show that he can deal with large casts, and also keep the core of the original concepts and characters without getting weighed down by nostalgia. His Superman Returns shows that he, uh... knows Kevin Spacey, who could probably do a good Megatron voice ? Okay, maybe not that last one.

Cons : Tom Cruise would end up playing Optimus Prime, and Ian McKellen would cameo as the Matrix of Leadership/Allspark/Creation Matrix/whatever the hell it's called these days. Singer would leave before the last film in the trilogy to go and make a Go-Bots movie about Leader-1 really being Jesus and stalking his ex-girlfriend.

Why you should be watching Dollhouse when it comes back in December 2009

Webmaster — 2009-11-06T15:55:31Z

If you're the sort of person who cares about things like then, then you probably don't need me to tell you that Dollhouse has been knocked off of Fox's November sweeps lineup. If you aren't the sort of person who cares about things like this, then you're probably wondering what a dollhouse has to do with a fox while you subconsciously evaluate any of my previous blog entries to determine whether they give off an “anthropomorphic animal fetishist/pedophile vibe.”

If, by some miracle, you a) know that Dollhouse is the newest sci fi/action/drama by Joss Whedon (Buffy, Firefly, Dr. Horrible), b) haven't heard of Dollhouse, but are always open for a good show to watch and/or c) aren't now frantically searching the Internet for a photo of me to put up on posters at your children's schools, then this post is for you.

As you may or may not know, “November sweeps” is, in a colloquial nutshell, when the Neilsen ratings board kicks it into fifth gear and, in effect, decides what shows are likely to be renewed (or, indeed, which are likely to finish their current seasons at all). Now, as Whedon has said himself, Dollhouse was never going to live or die on the sweeps. Much more likely Dollhouse is going to die in mid-season obscurity, only to be revived into a twisted, undead pseudo-life as a cult phenomenon on DVD. That is, unless we—O Dorks of the Internet—can band together and save it.

Well, “save it” might be a little melodramatic. Ideally, we can band together and save it from mid-season cancellation, which is a fate that should be reserved only for the most unwatchable pop culture dross. And Dollhouse is anything but unwatchable.

Comedian (and big ol' pop culture nerd) Patton Oswalt said in a recent interview that television is currently going through a renaissance similar to the one film experienced in the seventies. And, for what my considerably less noteworthy opinion is worth, I agree entirely. On subscriber services like HBO especially, but also on the networks, we're seeing not only a marked increase in the quality of writing, production and performances, but also an incredible maturation of theme. I honestly can't name a film made in the past fifteen years that has the same psychological acuity of The Sopranos. In all of the thousands of hours of film and television I've watched, I have never seen anything—ever—with the deep sociological prescience and understanding of The Wire. Generation Kill demonstrated a more complex, nuanced view of the war in the Middle East than any film with similar themes (yes, even The Hurt Locker, which was excellent on its own merits). Deadwood was gritty American Shakespeare—a completely unique, fresh take on a genre that seemed doomed to endlessly derivative Sam Peckinpah worship. Arrested Development somehow managed to stay on the air for three seasons on a major network by making increasingly more esoteric jokes about its own meta-narrative. AMC's Breaking Bad is loaded with moral ambiguity so rich and thick that you could, to quote Oswalt out of context, drizzle it over pancakes.

There are more, but all of these shows are destined, I think, to become the Serpico's, the French Connection's, the Taxi Driver's and the Chinatown's of tomorrow. Well, except for Arrested Development, which is probably more of an Annie Hall. In their own way, all of those shows I mentioned are the kind of bold, important projects that will live on in our cultural memory and—no doubt—in hundreds of Masters' theses. But...

But !

Dollhouse is not one of these shows.

[sound of a record being scraped against a needle]

“Oh shit but wa—what was he—oh God wh—where am I ? Am I alive ? Who's the prime minister ?”

Though you should take a moment to collect your blown mind, I do intend to address the statement that seems to run contrary to the original thesis of this post. No, Dollhouse is not one of the Great Shows. It does not have a universal appeal that will persist for years after its inevitably been cancelled. It's a decidedly—proudly—niche little universe that Joss Whedon has created, and some of you will absolutely hate it. But I love it. And I do think it's important, in its own way. And here's why.

Though the '70s is the best decade to reference when describing some of the greater contemporary trends in television storytelling, Dollhouse owes much more to the ‘80s. Though rightly-derided for a many reasons, ‘80s culture allowed for the rise of the pulp films like no other decade before, the most notable of which are in the sci-fi and horror genres. The ‘80s gave us Blade Runner, the Road Warrior, Aliens, the Terminator and Robocop. Each one of these movies, while firmly bound by science fiction tradition, riffed on the genre in an interesting way. Blade Runner gave us a little existential crisis to go with our robot murder, The Road Warrior blended tropes of the American Western into its apocalyptic sci-fi milieu, and Aliens arguably remains the iconic vision for military-based sci fi to this day. Dollhouse, to get back on topic, does a lovely job of sneaking in some surprisingly thoughtful ruminations on the nature of identity between all of its witty dialogue, well-crafted characters and inventive sci-fi conceits.

For those of you unfamiliar with it, the premise of the show is that, if you have enough money, a group of people who run something called—surprise—the Dollhouse, will program a built-to-order human being for you to do with as you will for a few hours… or weeks. As you can imagine, the strength of the conceit rises and falls with each individual writer. When its good, Ecco—the “doll” or “active” protagonist played by Eliza Dushku—is sent on “engagements” where the client's needs could never be satisfied by a regular prostitute, bodyguard or really good friend, instead requiring some special skill or life experience specific to the task. When it's great, as in season one's high point “Man on the Street,” there's a sad, subtle irony to Ecco's engagements with the powerfully needy, broken people who hire her. In that episode, a rich computer programmer (played by none other than Oswalt) hires Ecco once per year to act out a scene that should have happened with his wife—if she hadn't been killed in a car accident while she was coming to meet him.

What's great about Dollhouse is that it never pauses to spell out these connections. It trusts the intelligence of its audience like no other show on a major network. In “Belle Chose,” a recent season two episode, a sociopath captures women using veterinary anesthetic and poses them like, well, dolls in eerily mundane tableaus in his basement. In one of the typical CSI-alike procedural-em-ups that dominate network television, the connection between this man's disgusting actions and the actions of the Dollhouse would be explicated in a two-minute monologue. Dollhouse does the opposite. In the very same episode, we see the people who run the Dollhouse being protective of the dolls, refusing to carry out actions of unambiguous evil and, instead, carrying out actions of ambiguous good. Though Whedon can't resist the clean narrative geometry that comes from having distinct “good” and “bad” guys throughout, he and his writers aren't afraid to let the good guys be wrong sometimes, the bad guys be right others, and let the two camps constantly inbreed and shuffle about.

Just to put an exclamation point on why Dollhouse, while niche and a little bit inaccessible, is absolutely worth the right kind of person's time, here's a dialogue exchange where, afterward, I sat literally dumbfounded and astonished that I had just heard it on any major television network, let alone Fox. The scene takes place between Dr. Saunders (Amy Acker), a permanently “imprinted” (that's what it's called when they get custom personalities shoved in their brains), and Topher Brink (Fran Kranz), the genius “sociopath in a sweatervest” whose job it is to program the dolls.

After Saunders admits that she's afraid to take back her original personality (even though its been offered to her) because that would imply, necessarily, killing the only “self” she has any familiarity with, she says :

“I'm not better than you. I'm just a series of excuses.”

“You're human,” says Topher.

“Don't flatter yourself.”

It isn't quite the moment in Blade Runner when Rutger Hauer, confronted with the fallibility of his own creator, is driven into a profound existential rage where he, in effect, chokes God to death, but it certainly echoes the theme. It's been within the ambit of science fiction for some time to assume that in the not-so-distant future technology will give human beings Godlike power, and Whedon—like the very best of science fiction writers—has the curiosity, audacity and imagination to question how power like that will affect the people who choose—or are chosen—to use it. It's dorky, pulpy, gloriously fun stuff, and there's at least a little bit of it in every single episode—even the bad ones.

Oh, and there are bad ones.

I've spent a lot of time singing Dollhouse's virtues in part because I'm trying to convince you to watch it, but also because I think it's too easy to focus on its faults. Some writers can't handle high concept sci-fi, and there are a few of them on Dollhouse's staff. Fortunately season two hasn't dipped quite as low as the worst episodes of season one (I'm looking at you, ridiculous pop singer episode), but there was still one or two that didn't work for me. But even when the episode-to-episode plotting gets a little shaky, the higher-level intrigue and philosophy remains solid, and the crap is never quite laughably crappy. Some of it comes close, though (still looking at you, pop singer episode).

Amidst a sea of CSI spin- and knockoffs that rake in more than many countries' GDP, it's actually kind of amazing that shows like Dollhouse still get made. Every time I watch an episode, I get that same feeling of disbelief usually reserved for Arrested Development :

Who would ever give someone money to make this ? I wonder. And then I think : Oh yeah, Jesus. Jesus would give Joss Whedon money to make Dollhouse, because Jesus has really good taste. And he loves us. And hates CSI.

Contrary, I'm sure, to the opinions of some of Fox News' commentators, I'm reasonably sure that Jesus is not currently employed by the Fox network, which makes Dollhouse's existence all the more miraculous. And because divine intervention is officially off the table, it will take altogether more corporeal means to keep it from suffering an unjust fate. So write about it, dear FFWD readers. Blog about it, talk about it, tell your friends about it and please, please, God please watch it. And if someone you know participates in the Neilsen ratings who doesn't seem likely to watch it, try to convince them to leave their transmitter thingie on while it shows (Sunday nights !) or lie on their paper mail-ins. In the war on bad television, just as it is within the Dollhouse itself, there is no such thing as ethics.

Girls on Film : The Hollywood Dollhouse

Webmaster — 2009-11-04T19:49:41Z

Being an actress can be a real pain in the ass. By definition, the gig is simple. You pretend your someone else ; you perform. In reality, however, there's a whole added can of worms — especially when Hollywood is involved. There's this ridiculous and particular mold an actress has to fit into, and pitfalls she must deal with — especially in terms of superstardom.

There is literally no way to completely avoid the possible pitfalls of celebrity — especially if you choose to be involved with any film project. We live in a world where potential blockbusters can tank and the $11k, uber-small Paranormal Activity can become a phenomenon. There's always a chance — the possibility of being thrust into the ever-scrutinizing public eye, finding any semblance of privacy fly out the window as the paparazzi camp out at your front door and fandom rains down.

Welcome to the Dollhouse.

We need entertainment. It comforts us when we're sad, gives us a sense of camaraderie when we're lonely, and entertains us when we need an escape. We need actors to provide this for us. Yet we don't treat it like a need. We treat it like a right. We demand it, and expect our actors and actresses to deal with any pitfalls our interests might create — to take their money and shut it.

When did we become a pack of blood-hungry carnivores whose personal entertainment is more important than a performer's ability to have a private life, be safe, and experience security and happiness ? It's like Hollywood is our own personal Dollhouse, but without any scruples about how each doll should be handled. We want each actor to walk around happy and content, not minding the fuss around them, always willing to take another job and provide us with more entertainment without complaint or critique. Or, likewise, be content and blank whilst receiving a hurricane of derision.

The more I think about Dollhouse, or Hollywood, the more they melt together — this idea of innocent and complacent dolls being set up for any scenario, no worry about their safety or their psyche.

If the doll complains about where we've placed them on the spectrum, we hope for another mental wipe, or for the complainer to get sent to the Attic. It would be so handy to be able to slide that immobile set of lips over the real one and cut off any critique. Silence if golden.

I see someone like Kristen Stewart (a young girl who hasn't even hit 20 yet) get chastised for thinking Twilight fandom is crazy, or note how hard it is to try and maintain a life while being stalked by the tabloids, and wonder how anyone can complain about her comments.

We all think rabid fandom is a little scary when we're outside it, whether that be screaming fangirls crying at the sight of their sparkly stars or Trekkies descending on a city to give each other the Vulcan salute. It's also not hard to imagine the pains that come from being a tabloid-loved celebrity. Imagine going to the grocery store in grubby clothes and having it immortalized, trying to drive through a horde of people (ever get stopped by picketers ?), or hugging a friend and that embrace becoming a secret lovers' tryst that pulls in not only yourself, but your family, your children into the so-called affair.

Of course, the body is up for grabs as well in actress land. We live in a world where Samantha Morton isn't sexy enough for The Brothers Grimm. We'll chastise Ms. Stewart for grubby, post-Jett-mullet hair, Photoshop Kate Winslet thinner, whip up pregnancy rumors for a curve or fold of skin. But it's not just magazines and tabloids. I can't begin to count how many times I've heard moviegoers call an actress fat for the slightest weight gain, even if it still puts her thinner than the "IRL" people they call thin. Or, people calling any number of beautiful actresses ugly, rather than just admitting that they simply don't fit into a certain, preferred look.

It's all a mess, but I wonder how Hollywood can get out of the dollhouse mold — what it would take to pull the moviegoing public out of this demanding mindset and not play the double-standard game. Is it even possible ? What created this whole mess ? Young fandom never taught that it is not okay to maul celebs in public spaces ? Is this just an earlier embodiment of the Internet phenomenon — the guts to say terrible things because we're not seeing the person face-to-face ? The desire to unleash fury and inappropriateness in a "safe" outlet ?

I think we need a hard reboot.

"Dollhouse" Tv Series - 2x04 "Belonging" - Guardian.co.uk Review

Webmaster — 2009-11-04T15:30:17Z

SPOILER ALERT : This weekly blog is for those who have been watching Dollhouse. Don't read ahead if you haven't seen episode four yet.

It's a bittersweet week – by far the best episode this season (and certainly among the top ever), mingled with the possibility it's the last we might see for a while. But before we get to that latter point, we should revel in the former for a while…

This week at the Dollhouse

After the mention was made of Sierra having been put in the Dollhouse by a bad man in Needs (s1e8), it's been a story begging to be told in full. And this week it was. We saw that before the Dollhouse she was Priya, a freespirited artist, drugged by the evil Dr Kennard who was in love with her. He convinced the Dollhouse she was a paranoid schizophrenic and gave her to the Dollhouse.

When Topher and DeWitt discovered this, they tried to stop Dr Kennard using the Dollhouse, or Sierra, but were overruled by the Rossum Corporation – with Dr Kennard given Sierra on permanent loan. This turned out not to be very permanent, when, after Topher imprinted her with her old personality, she killed him. This was a lot more permanent.

Why this episode was completely brilliant

So many reasons – the fact that it was so Sierra and Victor heavy weighs heavy. And also that Dichen Lachman as the pre-Dollhouse Priya, the doll, and the imprinted original personality, was brilliant.

It's obviously not something that can be done every week, but the examination of how people get brought into the Dollhouse was immeasurably more powerful a subject than another of Echo's adventures. Added to that, the continued development of Topher and DeWitt and their excursions into being people with consciences is too. Topher may not ever be a truly sympathetic character, but this mixture of suddenly starting to tell right from wrong and his growing sense that he's losing control of his creations brings us closer to understanding how he might move from season one's sarcastic cold-hearted science wonk to being the closed-off headcase we saw in epitaph one.

In everything, the writing, the performances, the questions raised and answers given, it was head and shoulders above every episode so far this season, and arguably better than most in season one, as well.

Which is why it's very sad – if this is the kind of material we've been waiting for and where this is all going – if these 13 episodes will be the last made. Fox have committed to airing all of season two in America – but this was the last episode to air in its regular timeslot (it's going off the air for a few weeks, and then they'll show the rest in back-to-back double episodes in December). What does that mean for the UK airings ? We're still waiting on confirmation from SciFi, but it seems unlikely that they'd show the episodes so far in advance of the US airings ; I'll update this post when I get an answer from them about it.

Thoughts

• So it's definitely not just Echo having brain slips and loopholes in memory : Victor remembers who he was originally, and Sierra, even when imprinted with her old personality, knew that she was in love with Victor.

• Echo reads books. And now has an all-access pass to the Dollhouse doors.

• Boyd has an uncanny calmness when dealing with the disposal of dead bodies. • Where is Ballard ? And Dr Whiskey Saunders ? I miss Dr Saunders. Ballard not so much, but it would be nice to know where he was.