Dollhouse Renewed for Season 2
A surprising turn of events for the Joss Whedon series.
by Eric Goldman
May 15, 2009 - Update: It's official – FOX have renewed Dollhouse for Season 2. It's a pretty surprising move, given the show's performance. In fact, the Hollywood Reporter's James Hibberd notes it could even be the "lowest-rated in-season scripted drama to ever get a renewal on a major broadcast network." (in-season meaning a series that aired in the traditional September to May TV season).
Apparently, Joss Whedon used the show's much talked about unaired thirteenth episode as an example to the network of how the show could come back with a lower budget – that episode was shot with far less money than the others in the series.
As Hibberd notes, this also means that FOX can lay claim to a rare feat these days – renewing all of the new dramas (Fringe, Lie to Me and Dollhouse) they premiered this past season.
One change Dollhouse may potentially need to deal with in Season 2 is losing Amy Acker, who plays Dr. Claire Saunders. Acker's pilot, Happy Town, has been picked up by ABC.
Original story from earlier today below.
It's looking increasingly likely Dollhouse will return. Hollywood Reporter's James Hibberd says that the final decision is going to really come down to the wire (FOX is after all making their announcements this Monday) and nothing is 100% certain, but as of now, they are leaning towards a renewal of the low-rated series and their rough draft of their fall schedule does include the show.
Both Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Dollhouse had been considered dead, in the wake of their weak ratings. But in the case of Dollhouse, Hibberd says several factors are being considered, including the show's strong DVR numbers and online streaming, not to mention the fact that it's very likely to do well on DVD, based on its genre and the history of Joss Whedon's series on DVD. So why can't potential DVD sales help Terminator, despite the fact that the most recent Dollhouse episodes got less viewers than Terminator's least viewed episodes? Likely because Terminator is produced by Warner Bros, while 20th Century Fox produces Dollhouse - so in the case of Dollhouse, good DVD sales would benefit the network's sister company, which is not a factor for Terminator.
The Reporter says FOX does want Dollhouse to be cheaper for them, if they do pick it up, and discussions are currently underway to see how to cut costs on the series.
