The Official Dollhouse Thread

[Doc Ock]

So does that mean that the Friday timeslot is a possible reason why Dollhouse failed?

 

[BlackLantern]

It's a factor, but considering it got a second season and Fox did promote it to make sure people knew when it was on, it's not as big a reason as some want it to be

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Pretty much everything else on Friday fails unless it's on a cable network (which expects lower ratings overall). So yeah, probably.

 

[The Apatow Crew]

Its just one of those things of the general public not caring enough and it might have been a little too complicated for them to follow or such.

 

[mr. peasant]

Precisely. Joss Whedon, as brilliant a storyteller as he is, has a major problem when it comes to pacing for a television series. His shows tend to be very mythology dependent in that you have to watch the previous episodes to fully understand what's going on now. And while there are other shows that also feature this, such as Heroes and Flash Forward, there's a lot more payoff in each episode whilst Whedon's tend to come later on in the season which can get very frantic towards the finale. Essentially, his style works a lot better with movies and on DVD; i.e. anything that can be watched back-to-back in one sitting or at least large chunks.

 

[Doc Ock]

I'm surprised Joss keeps going to networks for his shows, maybe something could will come up on FX.

 

[GL1]

I'm surprised he keeps going to FOX

 

[BlackLantern]

well I know with Firefly, they were the only network that said yes...with Dollhouse, Dushku has a developmental contract with Fox and she wanted to work with Whedon again

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Yeah, Dushku cajoled him back into working with Fox. Presumably, he'll finally realize that his tastes and those of Fox's audience just don't mesh too well this time. I wouldn't be surprised to see him do more web-only stuff like Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. That garnered huge acclaim for him--more than Dollhouse ever did.

 

[GhostPoet]

Yeah, Dushku cajoled him back into working with Fox. Presumably, he'll finally realize that his tastes and those of Fox's audience just don't mesh too well this time. I wouldn't be surprised to see him do more web-only stuff like Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. That garnered huge acclaim for him--more than Dollhouse ever did.

Agreed on the web thing...but nothing quirky. I think he should do a full length Web series.

 

[mr. peasant]

The problem with focusing on web-only series for someone like Whedon (i.e. a full-time professional) is that it doesn't pay nearly as well as television. I mean, as acclaimed as Dr Horrible was, I'm pretty certain it's made only a fraction compared to what a couple episodes of Dollhouse makes him.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

True. Plus, it did feel like he was begging for money a bit when he was making blog posts and stuff about how Dr. Horrible was coming out on DVD.

 

[Gilpesh]

To be fair to Whedon.... the DVD was worth it.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I wouldn't know, I didn't buy it. Watching it on the web was enough for me.

 

[Gilpesh]

Dude. Commentary the Musical!

 

[GL1]

Precisely. Joss Whedon, as brilliant a storyteller as he is, has a major problem when it comes to pacing for a television series. His shows tend to be very mythology dependent in that you have to watch the previous episodes to fully understand what's going on now. And while there are other shows that also feature this, such as Heroes and Flash Forward, there's a lot more payoff in each episode whilst Whedon's tend to come later on in the season which can get very frantic towards the finale. Essentially, his style works a lot better with movies and on DVD; i.e. anything that can be watched back-to-back in one sitting or at least large chunks.

I'm going to point out that a lot of this has to do with not having full creative control of his shows early on.

 

[BlackLantern]

a lot of Whedons best episodes of Buffy and Angel are the standalone episodes that have nothing to do with the season arcs

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Dude. Commentary the Musical!

I never listen to commentaries.

 

[BlackLantern]

you're missing out, Corp the commentary on Tropic Thunder is glorious RDJ in character as Lincoln and Kurt Lazarus

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Yeah, I don't care. I don't have time to watch a movie over again and listen to the cast and crew chatter about it.

 

[BlackLantern]

because you're SOOOO busy....stop it, Corp

I like them, lots of insight and can even make a meh movie seem good

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Well, I work 60 hours a week and I'd much rather be playing video games or reading or doing any number of other things with my spare time than listening to people natter on about the lighting in a scene or whatever. I'm a fairly observant person; if it's actually good, I'll notice it when I'm watching the film. Also, if the film were actually good, I wouldn't think it was "meh" in the first place, so I wouldn't need a commentary to convince me that it's good.

 

[Gilpesh]

Jeez... someone flipped Corp's BlackLantern switch.

 

[Sawyer]

a lot of Whedons best episodes of Buffy and Angel are the standalone episodes that have nothing to do with the season arcs

Smile Time was life-changing for me.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Jeez... someone flipped Corp's BlackLantern switch.

lulz, ya gotta beat 'em at their own game sometimes.