fox sucks
no, not for cancelling Dollhouse. that much seemed, unfortunately, inevitable.
they suck for the way they handled the second season, though, and I place the blame entirely on them for putting the show in a position where cancellation was really their only option.
they renewed a show with mediocre ratings, though ratings that could possibly grow with enough buzz or hype considering how strong the end of season 1 was in terms of episode quality. however, they promoted it almost not at all, and left it in the same time slot with a less suitable lead-in, which, due to a combination of the competition at the time and the fact that most people aren't at home on Friday nights to watch TV, doomed it to ratings failure.
it seems to me that if you buy a fixer-upper, you can't expect to flip it in six months unless you actually put some work into it. the same applies to TV shows. no matter how good a show is, it needs promotion and reasonable placement in the schedule to meet certain expectations.
I don't know what they were expecting, but it obviously wasn't this. did they honestly expect it to grow with minimal promotion and a lousy (and even lower-rated) lead-in? or did they intend for it to be low-rated and go off the air after thirteen (if we're lucky) episodes?
if it's the latter, then I think my conclusion is correct that TV networks are not simply about profit, but also about control of distribution. they want to tell you what to watch, when to watch it, and how to watch it. and if they don't like it, they won't give you an opportunity to watch more of it.
I think Dollhouse could be perfectly profitable for Fox as an online only show. If the current ~3 million weekly viewers translated into 1 million who were willing to pay $2 or $3 per episode, that's enough to spend a decent amount of money per episode and still make a sizable profit - and not take up a precious timeslot on the network. (And as a side effect, have more freedom in terms of episode timing - September to May? Never mind that! 44 minute episodes? What if one is 54 or 84? And so on) Add in DVD sales for the other viewers who want to wait or don't want to watch online, and it becomes quite a profitable show.
so why not do that? is Eliza Dushku too big a star to 'act' in a well-produced web series? or are they just stuck in the old modes of doing things and not even considering that there are other ways they can make money off the show? or is it that they really do not want this show to be made?
I really think it's the third one. They want that control. They want people tuning in at 9pm on Fridays to watch whatever garbage they replace Dollhouse with. They don't want people downloading or streaming shows, because it gives them too much freedom as viewers.
TV networks are evil, and Fox is the worst. I really hope Joss Whedon never works with them again, because this is now the second time they've screwed him and his fans over.
Also, I hope whatever does replace Dollhouse never breaks a 0.7 in the 18-45 ratings bracket.
they suck for the way they handled the second season, though, and I place the blame entirely on them for putting the show in a position where cancellation was really their only option.
they renewed a show with mediocre ratings, though ratings that could possibly grow with enough buzz or hype considering how strong the end of season 1 was in terms of episode quality. however, they promoted it almost not at all, and left it in the same time slot with a less suitable lead-in, which, due to a combination of the competition at the time and the fact that most people aren't at home on Friday nights to watch TV, doomed it to ratings failure.
it seems to me that if you buy a fixer-upper, you can't expect to flip it in six months unless you actually put some work into it. the same applies to TV shows. no matter how good a show is, it needs promotion and reasonable placement in the schedule to meet certain expectations.
I don't know what they were expecting, but it obviously wasn't this. did they honestly expect it to grow with minimal promotion and a lousy (and even lower-rated) lead-in? or did they intend for it to be low-rated and go off the air after thirteen (if we're lucky) episodes?
if it's the latter, then I think my conclusion is correct that TV networks are not simply about profit, but also about control of distribution. they want to tell you what to watch, when to watch it, and how to watch it. and if they don't like it, they won't give you an opportunity to watch more of it.
I think Dollhouse could be perfectly profitable for Fox as an online only show. If the current ~3 million weekly viewers translated into 1 million who were willing to pay $2 or $3 per episode, that's enough to spend a decent amount of money per episode and still make a sizable profit - and not take up a precious timeslot on the network. (And as a side effect, have more freedom in terms of episode timing - September to May? Never mind that! 44 minute episodes? What if one is 54 or 84? And so on) Add in DVD sales for the other viewers who want to wait or don't want to watch online, and it becomes quite a profitable show.
so why not do that? is Eliza Dushku too big a star to 'act' in a well-produced web series? or are they just stuck in the old modes of doing things and not even considering that there are other ways they can make money off the show? or is it that they really do not want this show to be made?
I really think it's the third one. They want that control. They want people tuning in at 9pm on Fridays to watch whatever garbage they replace Dollhouse with. They don't want people downloading or streaming shows, because it gives them too much freedom as viewers.
TV networks are evil, and Fox is the worst. I really hope Joss Whedon never works with them again, because this is now the second time they've screwed him and his fans over.
Also, I hope whatever does replace Dollhouse never breaks a 0.7 in the 18-45 ratings bracket.