echoes in the dollhouse

[bitterfig]

Based on the talent involved, the new FOX television series Dollhouse has the potential to extraordinary.  The show is created by Joss Whedon, who was responsible for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Firefly/Serenity, all of which I have a certain devotion to.  Further, Dollhouse stars the absolutely beguiling Eliza Dushku (Tru Calling, Faith in

Comments

[laura_seabrook]

MMM - I'll watch it too though I'm not hopeful.

Firefly should have been Joss's next big hit, but it got screwed around by the Network and just didn't take. Serenity made up for that, but was not a substitute. I love Eliza Dushku as an actress, but I'd be muc much more interested in seeing her do something as Faith. I suspect that Joss Whedon is a lot like J. Michael Straczynski - they've both done their masterpiece but have extreme difficulty in doing follow ups or further projects.

Straczynski couldn't get Crusade to run over a season, and for a long time wrote for Spiderman at Marvel. I liked his stuff (the 9/11 stuff was just right) but it did seem to be a lot of "reinventing the wheel" in the stories, and his last story (where more or less Peter Parker gets a "reset button") was unforgivable.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that Dollhouse seems like a flawed vehicle from your description. If it can last long enough then that might change. First season Buffy isn't that great. but it grows on one.

[bitterfig]

In some ways I feel like I was lucky that I didn't watch the first season of Buffy till I"d already been watching the show for several years (I discovered it late in season 2) because the first season really wasn't that good but since I knew how the characters developed it was fun to see them when they were sort of in their infancy. I do think it wouldn't hurt if networks would hang onto shows longer and let them grow but I guess they can make more money if they scrap anything that isn't a huge hit and go with a reality show where they don't have to spend money on writers or actors or sets. It is disheartening. I'm actually amazed the Whedon was willing to work with Fox again after Firefly...

[laura_seabrook]

It maybe a matter of necessity for him.

I didn't start watching Buffy until the very end of season 5, when Willow goes dark. Then I went out over a period of time about bought copies of everything, and watched it one episode a day (later interleaved with Angel) until I was done (did the same thing with B5 and Andromeda too). You get a much better overview of things that way, and seeing the characters develop is one side effect.

When I'm under a lot of stress, I'll sometimes sit down and watch 1/2 a season over a few days. Seems to calm me down.

[etrangere]

This, yes.

[bitterfig]

Glad you like.

[trie_squid]

Fox made Joss re-write/re-shot the first episode and has already screwed up the airing schedule, as they are won't to do. Also, this meta is really interesting on how Dollhouse is Joss' AU fanfic-love-story of Battlestar Galactica: http://thebratqueen.livejournal.com/950348.html.

[bitterfig]

Thanks for the links, I'll have to look at them. I've never watched Battlestar Galactica but I know that the actor who plays Paul Ballard in Dollhouse used to be a cast member. AU fanfic-love story would go a long way towards explaining the manly yet highly romanticized boxing fantasy sequences of him in the first episode..

[bitterfig]

American television really does seem to be disproportionately male dominated. I know that many female stars do their own producing these days but I can't think of a lot of series created by women beyond Grey's Anatomy and Point Pleasant, short-lived, very formulaic devil's daughter series by Buffy alumni Marni Nixon. There may be others I don't know about, I will admit that except for a few series I obsess over I don't pay a lot of attention to what's going on in television but it does seem to be from a primarily male view-point

[laura_seabrook]

No wonder Joss killed him off in the film, if he really didn't know how to handle him.

I can imagine a version of Firefly where the Serenity film is the overall arc for a whole season, which shock ending of losing long term characters. That's a Whedon trade mark - really get the fans into a character (think Tara, or Fred) and then cut 'em down like a sack of meat.

[rayerai]

This is a fantastic write-up. Thank you.

[bitterfig]

Thanks for reading and commenting. I'm glad to know you like it.