Should Dollhouse Be Sent To The Attic?

POSTED BY: Haken
UPDATED: Monday, October 12, 2009 01:49
VIEWED: 14633
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HAKEN

Monday, October 5, 2009 6:33 AM

Kelly West over at Cinema Blend poses an interesting question that I'm sure many of us have asked ourselves earlier last season and as it seems some have already made their decision for this season.

Should Dollhouse just go away so that Joss' can move on to hopefully another series that will fair much better?

You can read Kelly West's full article here:

http://www.cinemablend.com/television/Should-Dollhouse-Be-Sent-To-The-
Attic-20217.html

SHINYGOODGUY

Monday, October 5, 2009 7:11 AM

It was an interesting article mainly because I feel much the same way. I was anticipating a rock'em sock'em opening with a continuation of what Joss started half-way through the 1st season. But I was disappointed, big time.

Episode 2 showed some promise, Joss didn't knock it out of the park, but he hit the wall and got a double. Is it enough to keep DH on the air? The fact that it's on Friday should give Joss the incentive to get the clean-up hitter to the plate, and fast. The ep 'Instinct' showed that there's a great future, but Fox, and the fans, won't be patient much longer.

If the next ep tanks, look for Fox to start warming up the relief pitcher.

SGG

Tawabawho?

HAKEN

Monday, October 5, 2009 7:29 AM

I hate to say this, but if it was even remotely possible, Joss should dump the current Dollhouse and just continue with what Epitaph One started. I really want to know what happens next with that version.

SIGMANUNKI

Monday, October 5, 2009 7:29 AM

I personally never liked this show. The writing is bad, the acting is bad, the disjoint nature of the scenes/etc is bad, etc, etc, etc. And the really sad part is that we all know that Joss can write quite clever stuff and we all know that a lot of the actors are very good at there jobs.

Alan Tudyk is a great example of this. We know that guy can act something fierce. But, I would categorize the portrayal of Alpha was just plain embarrassing. Not that it's Alan's fault. One can only do so much with such a poor script and direction.

I could go on, but I'll stop myself with agreeing with the comic book comment. There's just too much of an infantile nature to the writing in, hell everything about, this show. Hopefully, Joss will get out of that 12 year old, comic book, mentality before he hits his next project. Otherwise, I predict a similar failure.

----
I am on The Original List (twice). We are The Forsaken and we aim to burn!
"We don't fear the reaper"

TUJIAOZUO

Monday, October 5, 2009 8:57 AM

That article really hits how I feel towards the show. There is more as to why the show doesn't work for me, but it pretty much sums it up. Also this comment-

Quote:

I think the primary problem is that Whedon seems to have come up with this series for Eliza Dushku rather than for himself. To me, that's been the false note from the beginning.

I have been thinking a lot about this lately. Buffy had been developing in Joss' mind for years before he sold the script. On top of that, the show aired five years after the movie, which only gave him more time to develop. And we all know Firefly was the show he held near and dear, and things like that are often slowly developed in your mind before they every hit the paper or word processor. Dollhouse was conceived over lunch, whilst thinking of 'What Eliza needs is a vehicle to star in'. I'm not trying to belittle things conceived on the fly, but I'm just saying I feel that Joss' other shows worked so well because he had so much time thinking everything through and fleshing it out.

Your Indian Pirate Lord,
Ash

GWEK

Monday, October 5, 2009 1:46 PM

I agree, Ash.

If we compare Joss's creative works to a romantic dynamic, BUFFY (and, by extension, Angel) was his first love, while FIREFLY was his true love. DOCTOR HORRIBLE was a fun and experimental one night stand (possibly while very, very drunk). Where does that leave DOLLHOUSE?

DOLLHOUSE is the first tentative foray into serious dating after a brutal breakup with the True Love.

Further your point, Ash, Joss spent years developing and "living with" BUFFY and FIREFLY before putting them out there. DOLLHOUSE, on the other hand, is the closest to work-for-hire we've seen him do in probably a decade or more.

I don't want to blame Eliza too much, but I frankly don't think she's up to headlining. Even in TRU CALLING, other characters stole the show. Most often, the interesting part of DOLLHOUSE is whatever plot Echo's NOT involved in.

And that leads to another part of the problem with DOLLHOUSE. As the article in the original post notes, there's a lack of teamwork/family. More than that, I think there's really a lack of sympathetic characters. Most of the cast consists of Dolls (who are tough to root for, or, indeed, even consider full-fledged characters) or the staff of the Dollhouse (and even Boyd, the best of them, is morally reprehensible for working for the Dollhouse). Ballard, the only character close to a fully-developed non-villain, is often bland and self-righteous.

So exactly who is one to root for? To feel sympathy for? To "bond" with?

DOLLHOUSE is an interesting concept, but it just hasn't played out. The two episodes we've had so far are a step down from the quality that the show achieved in the last few episodes of Season One... and those, in turn, were a BIG stepe down from the quality of Joss's previous work.

With FIREFLY, Joss started high-quality because of all the lessons he'd learned on BUFFY. So, theoretically, he should really be on fire with DOLLHOUSE, but it's just not paying off.

The main draw this year seems to be the geek-pedigree of the vast array of guest stars they're pulling in. Alex Denisof, multiple cast members from BSG, Summer Glau, heck, even Alan Tudyk kicked it off... Isn't that usually the sign of jumping the shark?

It's time to close the DOLLHOUSE.

www.stillflying.net: "Here's how it might have been..."

ROBSAD79

Monday, October 5, 2009 3:05 PM

My friend and I are huge Joss fans but we are disappointed in Dollhouse. We loved it at first and we gave the second season a shot, but we aren't loving it. We find you just can't fall in love with characters like the other shows.

Plus maybe it is us, but we miss the sense of humor in the shows. We just don't see a lot.

ZEEK

Monday, October 5, 2009 3:57 PM

I'm still not in love with Dollhouse. I think it's time to pull the plug. I really couldn't blame FOX at this point. The ratings are nose diving.

The sad thing is I think Joss is going somewhere with this. I think he just needed to get there a lot quicker.

I won't shed a tear if they close the Dollhouse for good.

CHRISISALL

Monday, October 5, 2009 4:01 PM

Put Dollhouse in storage & take Firefly OUT.

The laughing Chrisisall

SCOUSERATHEART

Monday, October 5, 2009 4:22 PM

I worry for Dollhouse if they continue to produce these type of episodes. If they continue with eps of this quality, I would say lets send this show to the attic. I have to agree with the perspective that S2 ep 2 was quite poor. The sub-plots (Topher/Ballard and Mellie/Adelle) were adequate, but the Echo plot was stilted and awkward. I TVR'd the show and watched it with my wife over the weekend. Our assessment: one of the worst eps yet. The problem, frankly, is that FOX wanted an Eliza vehicle, and Joss wants to tell a story with Eliza as only one of the crucial main characters. Whenever Dollhouse gets too Echo-centric, the quality plummets.

I really want Dollhouse to succeed. I really enjoy the eps that further the major themes Joss wants to explore - these Echo eps just get in the way. Imagine a second season where Echo hadn't escaped from Alpha. Tudyk and Dushku rampaging and a functioning Dollhouse trying to keep up. It gets rid of the Echo engagements and features the ensemble cast....

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