Time Passages
I was looking forward to the Dollhouse premiere, hopeful that this would be a unique and engaging series, but with no huge expectations. Honestly, all the lead-up news was more foreboding than promising.
I can't say I feel any better about that after the premiere, though I have not seen ratings yet. While on the one hand, there's a certain fan amusement factor about seeing Summer and Eliza doing joint promos for their shows, all the promo breaks were incredibly annoying. And Summer, in particular, just looked stiff and uncomfortable in those segments (and weirdly artificial -- is it possible she's had plastic surgery this young?) Clearly FOX is desperately pitching these shows at young men. Good luck with that. If they look at demographics, Friday nights are not a good time for that viewing audience. However if they are actually targeting young teen boys, it would explain why Joss is getting notes from the network that they want him to tone down the sex, while at the same time running ridiculous promos like this. I imagine they don't want anyone to accuse them of marketing porn to 13 year olds (which is kind of ridiculous since teenage boy + Internet connection = pornopalooza). Just plenty of cheesy titillation apparently.
What this reminded me of, with a bit of a shock, were those same awful promos for Tru Calling. And also, "the-audience-is-so-stupid-they-can't-remember-what-they-saw-5-minutes-ago" flashbacks at the start of every segment. I haven't actually watched a FOX show since I first tried out Bones, so maybe they do that with every one of their series - the dumbing down/ramp up the action bit. But I will go out on a limb and say that if their strategy in pitching a Joss Whedon show to an audience is to find the least common denominator, this show is going to be cancelled well before we get to 13 episodes. Given the amount of publicity they've now given it, that might be a bit embarrassing, and if the ratings aren't too bad, maybe it'll stick around for the whole run. But I think they have no idea how to sell this show. Then again, this is the network that got him to make Firefly because they thought Buffy was a comedy.
Speaking of comedy, that was something I thought was desperately missing from this episode. Frankly, had I not known that Joss was creating and writing this series (or episode), I wouldn't have guessed. And I say that, having sometimes guessed when I was watching a Joss penned Buffy episode, because even on a show with a remarkably consistent style, it was still possible sometimes to spot Joss' own work as opposed to that of his other writers. Am I misremembering or was there not a single moment of humor in the whole episode?
That lack of humor was, to me, desperately needed in an episode that was talky and yet had none of Joss' often sparkling dialogue. The episode was visually stylish. It seems to me there must have been a small fortune dropped on that central set, and there were some nice moments. The second half of the episode picked up as we got into more plot and less exposition, and ED was able to actually get into a character. But if the FOX execs weren't happy with this first episode, I sadly have to agree with them. That opening scene was leaden, especially since the average viewer probably had no idea what was going on in it, and I only did because of the constant exposure I've had to Dollhouse's premise over the last year. If you compare this episode to any of Joss' other pilots, this one was probably the most visually sophisticated but not in any way as involving.
I hear episode 2 is supposed to be more lively, and Joss has said episode 6 is where things really kick off. I will definitely stick around at least that far, because I know he's capable of pulling out riveting stuff. But it's not a promising start.
Q: Out of all of the characters you have worked with over the years whose [typo corrected] story arc has pleased you the most?
Joss: For a long term arc, you can't beat Wesley Wyndham-Price. Talk about empowering a geek! I also have special love for Anne, formerly (among other things), Chantarelle. I didn't realize till after the fact how much her story owed to "A Little Princess".
I found this quote rather interesting in terms of what grabs Joss when it comes to characters. I think a lot of fans have a particular love for Wes' arc as well, but I don't know as I would call it empowering. I would call it transformative. Other than always coming up short somehow, and being a little too sure of himself, there's not much similarity between our first view of Wes and our last. That's also true of Anne. The difference is that we saw Wes slowly morph over six seasons. Anne's story was empowering, given that in our early views of her she was always looking to someone else for support and identity and in the end she found her identity by giving support to others. One thing about early and later Anne that remained consistent though, was her complete focus on whatever she found was giving her that identity.
Given Joss' interest in transformative arcs, one can see the appeal of Echo's storyline to him. Here is a character that will literally start from nothing (although I'm sure Joss has an extensive backstory for her) and develop before our eyes to become someone. He says he has a 6 year arc in mind, the same length as Wesley's, by coincidence. One thing that I think Joss has proved good at is maintaining novelty in characters for a fair length of time, even though sometimes those changes make people very unhappy. If he gets a chance, I do think he could do some really good stuff here. But I am very dubious about him getting that chance.
Speaking of AtS, there's a post over on Whedonesque noting that it was 5 years to the day that Angel was cancelled when Dollhouse premiered. Some people were professing shock that it had been that long. But to me, it almost feels like it's been longer. For one thing, even though Firefly was cancelled before Angel ended, the focus on the Serenity movie makes that series seem more recent. Then we've had a few stillborn projects under discussion, there was the launch of the Angel and S8 comics, there was Dr. Horrible, and there's been talk about Dollhouse since even before that. So there's been a fair amount of stuff in the intervening years.
Also, while many of us remain firm fans of the verse, you can only watch a cancelled show so many times. Inevitably you begin watching other programming and enjoying other characters and storylines. There have been several shows in the intervening years, the rapidly closing BSG among them, that have really raised the bar in terms of what we can expect from TV. The television landscape has changed considerably since Angel went off the air. On the one hand it can better support thinkier shows like Whedon's, with a lot of serial storytelling. Also, with diminishing ratings across the board and the tightening money supply, I think slow-growing shows have a better chance than they did 5 years ago. But I also think audiences have become more demanding. There's a lot of competition for their attention, and you have to show them something new to grab them. And I do wonder if Joss has that in him.
The other thing that's changed isn't just the audience's attention, it's their role. Britney Spears is asking for fanfic as a storyline for her next video. RPS writers ahoy!
ETA: I'm fascinated to see that part of what's being blamed for Dollhouse's tepid numbers is not only the holiday weekend but what's apparently a really impressive opening for Friday the 13th. Not only that but it looks like audience response is really positive. Good for Jared.
I can't say I feel any better about that after the premiere, though I have not seen ratings yet. While on the one hand, there's a certain fan amusement factor about seeing Summer and Eliza doing joint promos for their shows, all the promo breaks were incredibly annoying. And Summer, in particular, just looked stiff and uncomfortable in those segments (and weirdly artificial -- is it possible she's had plastic surgery this young?) Clearly FOX is desperately pitching these shows at young men. Good luck with that. If they look at demographics, Friday nights are not a good time for that viewing audience. However if they are actually targeting young teen boys, it would explain why Joss is getting notes from the network that they want him to tone down the sex, while at the same time running ridiculous promos like this. I imagine they don't want anyone to accuse them of marketing porn to 13 year olds (which is kind of ridiculous since teenage boy + Internet connection = pornopalooza). Just plenty of cheesy titillation apparently.
What this reminded me of, with a bit of a shock, were those same awful promos for Tru Calling. And also, "the-audience-is-so-stupid-they-can't-remember-what-they-saw-5-minutes-ago" flashbacks at the start of every segment. I haven't actually watched a FOX show since I first tried out Bones, so maybe they do that with every one of their series - the dumbing down/ramp up the action bit. But I will go out on a limb and say that if their strategy in pitching a Joss Whedon show to an audience is to find the least common denominator, this show is going to be cancelled well before we get to 13 episodes. Given the amount of publicity they've now given it, that might be a bit embarrassing, and if the ratings aren't too bad, maybe it'll stick around for the whole run. But I think they have no idea how to sell this show. Then again, this is the network that got him to make Firefly because they thought Buffy was a comedy.
Speaking of comedy, that was something I thought was desperately missing from this episode. Frankly, had I not known that Joss was creating and writing this series (or episode), I wouldn't have guessed. And I say that, having sometimes guessed when I was watching a Joss penned Buffy episode, because even on a show with a remarkably consistent style, it was still possible sometimes to spot Joss' own work as opposed to that of his other writers. Am I misremembering or was there not a single moment of humor in the whole episode?
That lack of humor was, to me, desperately needed in an episode that was talky and yet had none of Joss' often sparkling dialogue. The episode was visually stylish. It seems to me there must have been a small fortune dropped on that central set, and there were some nice moments. The second half of the episode picked up as we got into more plot and less exposition, and ED was able to actually get into a character. But if the FOX execs weren't happy with this first episode, I sadly have to agree with them. That opening scene was leaden, especially since the average viewer probably had no idea what was going on in it, and I only did because of the constant exposure I've had to Dollhouse's premise over the last year. If you compare this episode to any of Joss' other pilots, this one was probably the most visually sophisticated but not in any way as involving.
I hear episode 2 is supposed to be more lively, and Joss has said episode 6 is where things really kick off. I will definitely stick around at least that far, because I know he's capable of pulling out riveting stuff. But it's not a promising start.
Q: Out of all of the characters you have worked with over the years whose [typo corrected] story arc has pleased you the most?
Joss: For a long term arc, you can't beat Wesley Wyndham-Price. Talk about empowering a geek! I also have special love for Anne, formerly (among other things), Chantarelle. I didn't realize till after the fact how much her story owed to "A Little Princess".
I found this quote rather interesting in terms of what grabs Joss when it comes to characters. I think a lot of fans have a particular love for Wes' arc as well, but I don't know as I would call it empowering. I would call it transformative. Other than always coming up short somehow, and being a little too sure of himself, there's not much similarity between our first view of Wes and our last. That's also true of Anne. The difference is that we saw Wes slowly morph over six seasons. Anne's story was empowering, given that in our early views of her she was always looking to someone else for support and identity and in the end she found her identity by giving support to others. One thing about early and later Anne that remained consistent though, was her complete focus on whatever she found was giving her that identity.
Given Joss' interest in transformative arcs, one can see the appeal of Echo's storyline to him. Here is a character that will literally start from nothing (although I'm sure Joss has an extensive backstory for her) and develop before our eyes to become someone. He says he has a 6 year arc in mind, the same length as Wesley's, by coincidence. One thing that I think Joss has proved good at is maintaining novelty in characters for a fair length of time, even though sometimes those changes make people very unhappy. If he gets a chance, I do think he could do some really good stuff here. But I am very dubious about him getting that chance.
Speaking of AtS, there's a post over on Whedonesque noting that it was 5 years to the day that Angel was cancelled when Dollhouse premiered. Some people were professing shock that it had been that long. But to me, it almost feels like it's been longer. For one thing, even though Firefly was cancelled before Angel ended, the focus on the Serenity movie makes that series seem more recent. Then we've had a few stillborn projects under discussion, there was the launch of the Angel and S8 comics, there was Dr. Horrible, and there's been talk about Dollhouse since even before that. So there's been a fair amount of stuff in the intervening years.
Also, while many of us remain firm fans of the verse, you can only watch a cancelled show so many times. Inevitably you begin watching other programming and enjoying other characters and storylines. There have been several shows in the intervening years, the rapidly closing BSG among them, that have really raised the bar in terms of what we can expect from TV. The television landscape has changed considerably since Angel went off the air. On the one hand it can better support thinkier shows like Whedon's, with a lot of serial storytelling. Also, with diminishing ratings across the board and the tightening money supply, I think slow-growing shows have a better chance than they did 5 years ago. But I also think audiences have become more demanding. There's a lot of competition for their attention, and you have to show them something new to grab them. And I do wonder if Joss has that in him.
The other thing that's changed isn't just the audience's attention, it's their role. Britney Spears is asking for fanfic as a storyline for her next video. RPS writers ahoy!
ETA: I'm fascinated to see that part of what's being blamed for Dollhouse's tepid numbers is not only the holiday weekend but what's apparently a really impressive opening for Friday the 13th. Not only that but it looks like audience response is really positive. Good for Jared.