Is Fox foxing-up Dollhouse?

[Jimilu]

That the show is not popular doesn't mean is a bad show. I think the premise of Dollhouse is great, but since the beginning it was destined to be canceled, just like TSCC. This type of shows should designed to last 2 seasons. Anyway, i hope the ratings go suddenly up, y have a good time watching Dollhouse and stargate on fridays, while i drink Tequila! or baybe i just enjoy the tequila.

 

[Lindley]

The entire premise of the show, not just its execution, is complete and utter shit

Science fiction in its purest form is about saying, "Suppose we had X technology. What would it mean?"

Which is pretty much exactly what Dollhouse is doing. It's not about good guys and bad guys, it's just about the technology and its implications. That some people regard it as good and some regard it as bad is merely one of those implications.

To a generation used to equating science fiction with space opera or at least a heroic epic, it can be a bit jarring. But I don't see anything intrinsically wrong with the premise.

 

[Neroon]

Fanboy opinions notwithstanding. (Note how even they're saying they don't love the show. Yet they'll apparently defend it to their dying breath in order to kiss Whedon's ass on the off-chance, I guess, that he may happen upon this loving tribute of his work and shower them in his hyperegotistical manjuice or something. I honestly don't know.)

Whoa there..... getting a little too personal there, not to mention needlessly graphic. You're free to have opinions for / against the show and/or its creator. But it's not necessary to get this way about it.

 

[bigdaddy]

It returns in December with double episodes until the end of the season.

Until the end of the series.

And the House reruns got twice the viewers than Dollhouse.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

It returns in December with double episodes until the end of the season.

Until the end of the series.

And the House reruns got twice the viewers than Dollhouse.

No doubt it will be the end of the series. I didn't mean to imply otherwise, but I usually say season for American shows, series for British, I guess this time the automatic season may have implied something other than what I meant.

 

[DigificWriter]

Until we know for sure that FOX won't order any more episodes of DH, 'season' IS the correct term to use, even if the 'writing on the wall' - and conventional wisdom - says that the show is finished.

 

[Forbin]

Yeah, uh, the first 5 episodes were rewritten to Fox studio executives' notes. They had no understanding of what Whedon was trying to do at all. Episode 6-on is when Whedon's vision for the show kicks in.

And it's every bit as abysmal now as it was then. The entire premise of the show, not just its execution, is complete and utter shit

Fanboy opinions notwithstanding. (Note how even they're saying they don't love the show. Yet they'll apparently defend it to their dying breath in order to kiss Whedon's ass on the off-chance, I guess, that he may happen upon this loving tribute of his work and shower them in his hyperegotistical manjuice or something. I honestly don't know.)

Yeeks! Overreact much?

 

[RoJoHen]

Just because fans don't love a show doesn't mean we don't like it enough to want to see it continue.

It's not a Whedon-love thing. I think the show is interesting, and I enjoy the characters. I don't LOVE the show, and I won't be heartbroken or angry if it's canceled, but I'd still prefer that it stay on.

 

[Hyperspace05]

Same here...

As someone else stated earlier on this page, "What if" type shows can be very interesting.

It is just drastically unfortunate that Whedon chose to turn "programmable/wipeable people" concept into a show about prostitution and nanny services. Geez, is that really the first thing such an invention would be used for?

Sure we are getting into more interesting stuff now, but it is Whedon's fault that it started off so pedestrian.

 

[Lindley]

It is just drastically unfortunate that Whedon chose to turn "programmable/wipeable people" concept into a show about prostitution and nanny services. Geez, is that really the first thing such an invention would be used for?

Probably.

I think my favorite Dollhouse line is:

"A brothel? The tech that punt-kicked the ass of the human race started out as a way to build a more convincing hooker?!"

 

[Bob The Skutter]

It is just drastically unfortunate that Whedon chose to turn "programmable/wipeable people" concept into a show about prostitution and nanny services. Geez, is that really the first thing such an invention would be used for?

Probably.

I think my favorite Dollhouse line is:

"A brothel? The tech that punt-kicked the ass of the human race started out as a way to build a more convincing hooker?!"

I agree it probably would. Sex is always what new technology is used for. Photographs and video, pornography sprang up, hell all the way back to the stone age, carvings and paintings of breasts and genitalia. wooden dildos and other things back to the ancient Romans... so I have no doubt it would be used for sex.

 

[Hyperspace05]

The issue is this... Prostitutes and nannys can already by gotten for far cheaper than "dolls". And my favorite doll escapade has to be the short one to help deliver a baby. "good value for your money there!!!"

Espionage, sleeper agents, suicide bombers, whatever... there are so many more apt initial usages for the technology from such a sinister organization as Rossum. But instead we get episodes about dolls as the ideal girlfriend, rockstar bodyguards, well you name it...

 

[Bob The Skutter]

The issue is this... Prostitutes and nannys can already by gotten for far cheaper than "dolls". And my favorite doll escapade has to be the short one to help deliver a baby. "good value for your money there!!!"

Espionage, sleeper agents, suicide bombers, whatever... there are so many more apt initial usages for the technology from such a sinister organization as Rossum.

Sure there are, but as Ballard said in the first episode when you can have anything you want you want something else, something new, something you can't get.

 

[Forbin]

Same here...

As someone else stated earlier on this page, "What if" type shows can be very interesting.

It is just drastically unfortunate that Whedon chose to turn "programmable/wipeable people" concept into a show about prostitution and nanny services. Geez, is that really the first thing such an invention would be used for?

Sure we are getting into more interesting stuff now, but it is Whedon's fault that it started off so pedestrian.

I think you're missing several points here.
And still getting that last bit mostly wrong.

 

[Hyperspace05]

So the point of your post is that I am wrong on several points but you refuse to specify any of them?
(I have seen all aired episodes - and liked most of them, so I am not some troll just throwing out some generic complaints here)

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Just because fans don't love a show doesn't mean we don't like it enough to want to see it continue.

True, however I do love the show. I like most of what Whedon's done, although I thought most of Angel was aimless at best.

 

[David cgc]

And my favorite doll escapade has to be the short one to help deliver a baby. "good value for your money there!!!"

IIRC, they mentioned that one was more about discretion than anything else. Echo delivered a wee little scandal that no real midwife could be trusted to keep secret (at least, that's what the super-rich and super-paranoid client no doubt thought).

 

[RoJoHen]

although I thought most of Angel was aimless at best.

I really, really want to pretend I didn't just read this.

 

[SinglePurpose]

The show probably would have done better if it had a) been advertised more and b) not been put in the Friday night death slot but beyond that Fox has treated the show pretty well.

Come on, reruns of House are getting better ratings than original episodes of Dollhouse. If the time slot was the only problem then House reruns would be doing just as bad.

Yes but that could be because more people are familiar with House and already know that they like it or just that people who are fans of House are more likely to be home on Friday nights than people who might watch Dollhouse. Friday nights really is a terrible night for premiering new shows and it's not just Dollhouse. Dollhouse is the first show that Fox premiered on Friday nights to even get a second season in 10 years so clearly it's not just the show (source).
Plus, IIRC House didn't do too well originally either it was only once Fox started scheduling it after American Idol that lots of people started watching.

Can you really tell me that you've never liked a show that's been canceled prematurely?

Hmmm... I might have watched shows that were canceled early, but I've always been aware of the show's flaws and I understood why people weren't watching. And when the show inevitably got canceled I didn't shed a tear. But then again, I may not be a true geek, because I don't love canceled shows.

Oh, don't get me wrong. I can understand why a lot of people wouldn't watch Dollhouse. It's sci-fi and it's exploring a lot of uncomfortable topics like prostitution. I really doubt it ever would have been a huge mainstream success. That being said the idea that every canceled show is canceled because of quality is ludicrous. Lots of shows took time to find an audience. Seinfeld and The X-Files were both really big shows that didn't do too well at first. Then of course Family Guy was canceled but gained an audience later and was brought back. Did fairies come in and magically make the show better once it was canceled? And then there are movies like The Wizard of Oz or It's A Wonderful Life that are now considered classics but they didn't do too well at the Box Office originally. This is all the more absurd because we're having this discussion on a message board for a canceled TV show.

 

[Amaris]

...This is all the more absurd because we're having this discussion on a message board for a canceled TV show.

Good points, but I'd like to add here that it's either a message board for a canceled TV show, or a message board for a recently revived franchise.

J.