Joss Whedon's 'Dollhouse' w/ Eliza Dushku on FOX - Page 5

I enjoyed it! Eliza can pull this off based on what I've seen here, I'm pretty sure. Joss is no dummy. If he see's genius in his muse, then I'm at least going to see if he's acting on professional instinct or a more primitive compulsion. The whole show clearly hinges on her. They need to establish her comrades-in-arms and make them both compelling and the focus of stand-alone episodes or the premise will quickly wear thin. While I think Eliza can carry the majority of the heavy plotline lifting, she's going to need some help. I'll be here regardless, sink or swim - very impressive start.

Look at the later seasons of Buffy and pretty much all but the first season of Angel, then top that off with Joss stating that he was influenced by BSG when making this series and I believe you have nothing to worry about. Angel especially was HEAVILY serialized in seasons 3 and 4 and the last half of season 5. I see this show shaping up like Veronica Mars, in that I think every week we will get a new standalone "engagement", but we will also get juicy mythology aspects thrown in, as well, mostly through the story of Paul Ballard.

The sad truth . Maybe FOX's comment of changing the model was a hint. Wasn't NBC trying to spice up Friday as well?

+1. I bet Fox wasn't happy to hear about My Own Worst Enemy while Dollhouse was under development. I wonder if NBC swiped the idea and rushed it out in the fall to steal some thunder. It is pretty much the exact same premise, right down to the geeky young guy in charge of imprinting. I gave MOWE 3 or 4 episodes before I decided I didn't like it...I can see anyone who did like it not really being interested in getting attached to Dollhouse because they don't want to go through the cancelation pains again.

Anyway, the pilot wasn't amazing and it wasn't bad. A little derivative of Dark Angel maybe. I'm surprised to see that the show has such a heavy focus on Echo and not the rest of the cast, at least so far. Whedon is usually all about the ensemble. It'll be interesting to see how that plays out, assuming we get more than a half dozen episodes.

The gratuitous dancing scene in the beginning was completely silly, but man that little white dress was short.

I enjoyed it, it was fun. It will be interesting to see if it lasts. I too watched a few episodes of My own worst enemy, but Christian Slater just didn't do it for me. If the cast would have been better I might have stuck with it.

I thought it was a generally interesting concept (albeit, not exactly novel) that is in desperate need of some serious tweaking. I was never a Buffy fan, so know little about Dishku, but if they can maintain the states of various undress for her (although her attempts at tugging up the white mini got a little ridiculous at times) and the other female imprints, I will generously consider continued watching. Maybe they should try an American Idol spin, and offer us several diferent outfits in advance of airing the episode so we can vote and determine how we would like to see her. I'm casting my vote in advance for a baby-doll nightie.

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Palladin

Chance favors the prepared mind

It was a bit silly, but as keenan stated above, that particular character was her most realistic personna. However, when she left the guy in that club, her happy face suddenly drooped(?). That's when I thought, "is this going to be like 'My Own Worst Enemy'?" Unsure if that was intentional or bad acting....

Not must-see for me yet. I'll give it one more shot.

Similar to My On Worst Enemy and featuring a guy from Journeyman - not good signs.

Of course...that's why that guy looked so familiar! I was having trouble placing him. Thanks.....saved me an IMDB lookup this morning.

As for Dollhouse I was actually expecting something much worse based on some early reviews I had read. I really wasn't that bad. Of course, calling it "not that bad" is hardly a glowing endorsement....but I haven't deleted the Series Link. I saw enough to give it a chance to develop. Hopefully Fox will too.

I enjoyed it quite a bit. Some of that is Whedon fanism as the pilot had some serious problems, but I think I can see the blossoming of a cool show. Wow, that first scene was TOUGH! Now I want to know what the original first pilot was. Reminds me of Firefly. The original pilot had heart and soul, the "Bank Job" new pilot was just flash. Hopefully Dollhouse is the same situation and the rest of the episodes differ thematically from the reshot pilot.

I think they should have shown more successful "engagements" before having the botched kidnapping. I guess the "date" was successful, but it had so little set-up it made a big leap from the dolls being essentially a super-escort service to putting a girls life in their hands.

Still, I know most of my questions will get addressed in the first few eps as there seems to be little BSG or Lost style extended mysteries. Hopefully the ensemble cast comes through as that is where I think Whedon really shines.

Oh yeah, Amy Acker was SMOKING, scars and all! Why is she not working more?

The first show was good enough for me to watch next week. I thought the show was pretty good and yes, that skirt was super short.

Too early to tell but I think I'm going to like this one. I lost insterest in My Own Worst Enemy after a couple weeks because it annoyed me somehow. Not sure why. But I still think Dollhouse has potential.

- Tom

I'll keep watching, but I'd be surprised if any non-genre fans stuck with it after that opening.

The first 10 ~ 15 mins seemed like a mess to me.

If this is the result of requested reshoots and refocusing by Fox I'm curious to see what Joss had done originally.

horrible ratings for this and terminator..as expected. Not sure if it's worth investing the time.

Agree on the audio - could barely hear the opening dialogue - had to turn in way up, then they cut to the motorcycle race and almost blew out my windows!

The show was OK - slow at first, but picked up as it went on.

I guess it comes down to contractual issues, how much FOX is willing to pay for eyeballs, and how much they're willing to test this "remote free" viewing concept for limited commercials.

The premiere's ratings were worse than House reruns a year ago but better than America's Most Wanted last week. A repeat of Lie To Me two weeks prior did better than the premiere.

So, I can definitely see Fox at least airing the first half of the season to get a better idea of how well this ad format works. If they haven't put in a full season's order, I can see the second half of the first season not being picked up. If numbers don't improve, I can see it not being renewed for a second season. If it's as expensive as we think and ad revenue isn't anywhere as good as Fringe's (the other show with this same ad format), we might see it canceled much earlier. Then again, if they were willing to renew T:TSCC who knows what they'll do.

It's a shame it's not pulling in better numbers because it's a show I'd be willing to watch, if only for its eye candy.

Surprise surprise, a show at the start of a 3 day weekend didn't get good ratings...what was everyone expecting? Idol like numbers? Ridiculous...

As some have said, I was disturbed by the overly negative reviews that were coming out from the dedia but I liked it. The similarities to My Own Worst Enemy are not good though as that show was a major failure in terms of story-telling. I have hundreds of miles more faith in Whedon than I do in the creators of that show. Also even the Firefly pilot wasn't exactly perfect...its a pilot...you can't expect perfection.

Regardless, Whedon + Minear + Dushku + Penikett + Acker + Sheppard = I'm in until cancellation...(and then I'll claim to never watch another new Fox show)


Also, I <3ed the Eddy James Olmos reference...obviously BSG has affected Whedon...and I think this is a very good thing...

Yeah, will give it a few more weeks (if it lasts that long). I never expect too much from a pilot, so figuring there will be some tweaks along the way. But for one episode at least, it was nothing more than "My Own Worst Enemy" with a much hotter lead. I was one of the few enjoying MOWE though and thought it was really staring to hit its stride when it flatlined. Oh and I don't think pulling from BSG is a good thing at all considering that for all the critical love it gets, about 20 people watch. (Sorry BSG geeks, but it's true.) I know, I know, "People are stupid and watch stupid stuff," but network TV is ratings driven so "Dollhouse" needs ratings to continue.

The better to show off those (IMO) awesome legs.

I expected the bald kidnapper guy to blow her away at the dock. He was also at the club, wasn't he? Might need to start recordificating this one & watch over.

Penikett's (Helo?) boxing scenes had the "overblown-whites" look that BSG often uses.

I have a few somewhat unrelated observations:

(1) I agree that Dollhouse is off to a good start, high production values and good performances add a lot.
(2) As has already been pointed out by others, I noticed that Fox's 5.1 audio seemed to have been recorded at a low level; nevertheless, when I cranked in a suitable number of extra dB it sounded very good; the PQ was excellent, too.
(3) I thought that any resemblance to My Own Worst Enemy was tangential, at best; Eliza Dushku is exponentially better here than Christian Slater was in Worst Enemy, in fact, he was his own worst enemy.

On balance, I liked the first episode a lot and think the series shows a lot of promise.

Caveat: I am a Joss Whedon fan from way back.

I'll have to re-watch the show tonight as I fell asleep 15 minutes in- 1 too many cocktails during TSCC. I really want to like it but those first 15 minutes were not too strong.

And Echo reminds me of Jaime Somers.

Just getting around to watching it now. During the discussion of Echo's persona's glasses/eyesight, the set really looks like a slightly remodeled Wolfram & Hart when Angel was working there.

Watched about ten minutes, turned over to Flashpoint (watchable enough show, if not the greatest).

'Dollhouse' debut gets decent ratings

Feb 14, 2009, 12:54 PM | by Lynette Rice

Categories: TV Biz

More than a fair share of Joss Whedon fans tuned in Friday to see the premiere of Fox's Dollhouse. The mythological drama starring Eliza Dushku attracted 4.7 million viewers -- a pretty decent jump over the eyeball levels for The Sarah Connor Chronicles at 8 p.m. (which lured a mere 3.7 million), according to fast national ratings. In fact, Dollhouse helped Fox double its viewership levels among women versus Chronicles and helped the net finish in second place among adults 18-34 and in first place across key male demos for the night.

So what does this mean for Dollhouse's long-term prospects? Although 4.7 million isn't that great -- Fox typically averages 5.5 million on Fridays -- the Whedon drama has a better chance of making it over the long haul if it stays put on the night. In fact, network insiders have long cautioned that if the series were scheduled earlier in the week and ended up attracting these kind of (low) viewership levels, it would have been axed by its second or third airing. So relax, Whedonites -- Dushku and Co. appear safe for now.

Chronicles will remain as Dollhouse's lead-in until Fox runs out of episodes; later, the Terminator franchise will be replaced by Prison Break for its final six episodes.

http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2009/...use-attra.html

I found the audio level was too low but the mix was good. I had to crank the volume on my receiver, so when commercials kicked in it almost blew out my windows. The same thing happens consistently during TSCC too, and maybe FOX other shows.

I really like the "Dollhouse will be back in 60/90 seconds" notice. My DVR has a 30 second skip button so I know how exactly many times I need to press it.

Yep, helped me too.

I also liked the show. I will keep watching for now. It has potential.

We aren't supposed to mention that. Fewer commercials, higher cost per commercial - if they found out that the view rate was lower, not higher - something tells me that the practice will die out.

I have a 30 second skip feature on my DVR, a TiVo Series3, too, so I LOVED knowing in advance how long a commercial interruption would be. I hope this experiment works out for Fox because I have found it to be very handy.