Dollhouse

Should Dollhouse Be Sent To The Attic?

POSTED BY: Haken
UPDATED: Monday, October 12, 2009 01:49
VIEWED: 14633
PAGE 2 of 5

KHAMBILO

Monday, October 5, 2009 5:11 PM

Wow I guess i am one of the few who wants to see Dollhouse succeed.

This article brought up some interesting comparisons between Joss's early work with Buffy, Angel, and Firefly. I think one reason that loyal Joss fans do not like Dollhouse is because it doesn't have the formulaic group-of-friends-save-the-day-from-the-big-bad concept that Buffy and Angel especially had and even Firefly had a little of. But I think it makes Dollhouse more interesting as a show to not have this concept. I'm glad the Joss is taking on more complex themes and issues than he's done in previous series.

Again for Buffy comparison, and i posted this in an earlier thread, but people who watched epitaph one and liked it are complaining that the second season is not good because it hasn't picked up to those concepts. But for those of you who watched Buffy, the second season of Buffy didn't get off to a great start either: the first episode back When She Was Bad was by far the worst season opener of all seven seasons and it was followed by some of the worst episodes of the series: Incan Mummy Girl, Reptile Boy. But as soon as What's My Line came, the season dramatically picked up, and a handful of episodes later we were introduced to the Angel/Angelus issue, making the second season one of the best of the series.

It's frustrating to me that fans watching the show are that impatient as to not let the show hit it's stride before leaving the boat. It's second season has only had two episodes! Remember season one did not pick up until Man In The Street, which was either five or six episodes in.

It's a great show with several very talented actors on board, and I would love to see it flourish, but that's not going to happen we don't give it a chance.

KWICKO

Monday, October 5, 2009 5:50 PM

Actually, Khambilo, I found Season One of Buffy - by far the weakest of its seven seasons - still far and away superior to Dollhouse. Dollhouse has had maybe ONE espisode that's even come close to Buffy's worst episodes, in my opinion.

As for Buffy Season Two, I *liked* the opener, and I liked the third episode ("School Hard").

And that's where the wife and I finally drew the line on Dollhouse; when we were discussing it, we both said at the same time that we'd rather be rewatching our Buffy DVDs than putting any more time into Dollhouse.

And to me, that's the final verdict: If I'd rather be watching something I've already watched multiple times, instead of watching Joss's newest show, that's a pretty strong sign that his latest just isn't up to snuff.

A show grabs me, or it doesn't. Sometimes I come back to it a year or three later, and find out that something's changed, and it's now one of the best things on TV. Give Dollhouse a chance, by all means. If you like it, watch it. As I said in my earlier post, I really hope I can come back in the middle of Season Four and find that it's the best thing that's ever been on TV. But I'm out of patience in waiting for that to happen, so I'm bailing.

Edit to add:

Gwek's post is everything I've been trying to say about this show, only he said it so much better than I.
Mike

The percentage you're paying is too high-priced
While you're living beyond all your means;
And the man in the suit has just bought a new car
From the profit he's made on your dreams

MANGOLO

Monday, October 5, 2009 7:38 PM

I have a hunch, given that Joss is out there raising money for his own new company, that Dollhouse is a hired gun gig at this point and his passions are elsewhere.

EVILDINOSAUR

Monday, October 5, 2009 7:42 PM

I'm also part of the small group that's still enjoying the show. It's not blowing my mind or anything, but it's entertaining and I'm enjoying it.

"Haha, mine is an evil laugh."

STORYMARK

Monday, October 5, 2009 9:05 PM

Given that the ratings are down drastically from their not-so-hot-to-begin-with first year numbers, it may all be a moot point anyway.

"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."

SHINY

Monday, October 5, 2009 9:56 PM

I just have one question, and it's the same question I had when I first learned about this show, and its premise:

Who exactly is the audience supposed to identify with? Echo? Caroline? Ballard?

Sure, the themes of identity and free will are very interesting, but in practice we've had active-of-the-week storylines which make it difficult for the audience to become invested in many of the main characters. And since Topher and Adelle are largely responsible for the actives' predicament, we're left with Ballard and Boyd, both of whom have become pretty compromised and complicit. So what characters are we supposed to care about enough to really want to tune in each week?

---

I don't need a gorram back-spaceship driver!!!

STORYMARK

Monday, October 5, 2009 10:32 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Shiny:
I just have one question, and it's the same question I had when I first learned about this show, and its premise:

Who exactly is the audience supposed to identify with?

If only Joss had asked that question....

"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."

SIGMANUNKI

Monday, October 5, 2009 10:49 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by khambilo:

I'm glad the Joss is taking on more complex themes and issues than he's done in previous series.

Complex... please. Dollhouse isn't complex. It's an attempt by Joss to be serious. And he's failing utterly. Joss can't do serious. He can do witty banter, etc. But, he can't do serious. Another example of this is the first while of Angel. He tried to go more serious and failed. Wisely, he took a more Buffy direction and the show got a lot better. I don't think that Dollhouse, the way it's structured, would be able to be redone in that way though.

Quote:
Originally posted by khambilo:

But as soon as What's My Line came, the season dramatically picked up, and a handful of episodes later we were introduced to the Angel/Angelus issue, making the second season one of the best of the series.

You realise you're comparing apples and oranges, right? Do you honestly expect something like that to happen when season one wasn't good?

Quote:
Originally posted by khambilo:

It's frustrating to me that fans watching the show are that impatient as to not let the show hit it's stride before leaving the boat. It's second season has only had two episodes! Remember season one did not pick up until Man In The Street, which was either five or six episodes in.

It's a great show with several very talented actors on board, and I would love to see it flourish, but that's not going to happen we don't give it a chance.

I'm a Joss fan and I thought the show sucked from day one. In fact, I recall only one good episode. Can't remember the name of the ep, but Tim Minear wrote it. And there was this thing called comedy in it. Go figure.

Btw, a show can have the best actors that exist on it. But, if the script is horrid, along with the direction, then what can they do?

Dollhouse is one dimensional from every angle. And if it hasn't given some sort of richness in any aspect to date, what hope is there?

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

SIGMANUNKI

Monday, October 5, 2009 10:52 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Storymark:
Quote:
Originally posted by Shiny:
I just have one question, and it's the same question I had when I first learned about this show, and its premise:

Who exactly is the audience supposed to identify with?

If only Joss had asked that question....

Indeed. Not to mention all those other questions.

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

KWICKO

Monday, October 5, 2009 11:29 PM

Hard to argue with anything Sigma and Story have said...

I didn't watch a single one of Joss's shows when they were on the air originally. I "found" Buffy quite by accident, because I was on sabbatical from a job and bored one afternoon, and there was nothing else even a little bit watchable on the tube, and it was - literally - 114º and 90% humidity outside. So I flipped the channel to a Buffy rerun in syndication (FX network), and said, "Hey, there's that 'American Pie' girl." Only she was a vampire. And kind of a hot-looking dominatrix type, too. And then a few minutes later, "Hey, there's that Scott Evil kid." So I got curious. And I watched. And the next day, I watched again. I was in the middle of rebuilding one of my cars at the time, enjoying my time off, and Buffy happened to come on about the time of day when it just got too damned hot to work outside anymore. So it became a bit of a habit for me to watch it.

I told my wife, and she quite literally laughed at me for watching a show called "Buffy". She'd heard of it, and thought it sounded stupid. I convinced her to watch one. It was better than she expected, she admitted. So we started watching together. Then I bought Season One on DVD, so we could see it from the start. Then Season Two, and so on. And we got hooked. And the opening scene from the Season One premiere had us both laughing and saying, "I don't think this is going to be like other shows..."

Dollhouse has never given me one of those moments.

Angel gave me several. Buffy gave me dozens. Firefly hooked me when Mal kicked Crow through the engine. Dollhouse hasn't has a single moment that made me say, "Wow!" Okay - it came close; Mellie being an active kind of threw me. But then they tossed that aside, and it's never really come up in any kind of meaningful way again.

Mike

The percentage you're paying is too high-priced
While you're living beyond all your means;
And the man in the suit has just bought a new car
From the profit he's made on your dreams