Dollhouse DVD sales
- Thread starter Colin Xavier
- Start date
A little disappointing I guess.
That seems like a decent figure. I'd be curious to know what the expectations were compared to these numbers.
I'd say it's not disappointing.
BSG is an acclaimed show that has garnered lots of respect and a large fan base during the course of its run.
Dollhouse is/was a struggling show that got almost no positive media attention save Whedon's name upon it.
I'd say coming in second to a proven champ is good.
I would consider this good news, especially for a series like Dollhouse which hasn't received as much attention or acclaim as BSG. Plus, I would expect the BSG sales to be high since this was the last boxed set and people would be eager to get the final string of episodes.
There's nothing bad about coming in second place.
There's nothing bad about coming in second place.
Certainly in the UK, BSG has received a lot of attention and praise from unlikely quarters like The Guardian, which has singled it out as THE boxed set to buy, once you get through The Sopranos and The Wire. Then there' the recent show of the year award and the US acclaim in the likes of Time or tv guide. Arguably, it took 3 - 4 seasons for BSG to get onto the radar of such magazines or newspapers, so it's hardly surprising that it's outselling a much less sung show.
Interestingly, though, The Guardian (again) and Ireland's Sunday Tribune have been pointing to Dollhouse as an example of a much improved show and potential slow burner. Be interesting to see how it sells by season 5, if it gets that high.
Interestingly, though, The Guardian (again) and Ireland's Sunday Tribune have been pointing to Dollhouse as an example of a much improved show and potential slow burner. Be interesting to see how it sells by season 5, if it gets that high.
DVD sales of TV shows tend to drop off after the first week. I think its disappointing because the numbers for the next few weeks will probably not warrant a third season.
Uhhh... aren't ratings still based primarily on how many people actually watch the show on TV? Given that the second season hasn't premiered yet, it's impossible to anticipate what ratings it will get, and thus entirely premature to make any assumptions about renewal.
Yes, but if sales were high enough, 20th Century Fox (the production company) might think it worthwhile to reduce the license fee paid by Fox (the network) to keep the show on the air longer.
The assumption with Dollhouse(hinted at but never said explicitly by Fox) is that the ratings for the 1st season didn't justify a 2nd season. However, Fox was willing to run Dollhouse on Friday night with lesser expectations on the assumption that DVD sales would generate enough revenue to make up for lost broadcast revenue.
I have no clue what numbers Fox was expecting for DVD sales, but if Dollhouse comes in below those numbers, then it will have to see an increase in ratings for the 2nd season to have a shot at a 3rd.
^Exactly my point. It could see an increase in ratings for the 2nd season; it makes no sense to make assumptions about the 2nd-season ratings before the 2nd season has even premiered. For all we know, the show's viewership will increase. We don't know yet, so we should just be honest about not knowing yet rather than making glib assumptions about what will happen nearly a year from now.
It would be awesome if viewership increases but going by the Nielsen data of the first season, that is just unlikely.
Although speaking of "Unlikely" Dollhouse getting a second season was nothing short of a miracle, especially considering FOX's past dealings with low rated shows.
And the show's renewal proves that unlikely things can happen. There's no need to say "Well, given this past evidence, we can make such-and-such an assumption about the future." That's not a meaningful statement, it's just a way to fill airtime and give the illusion that you have an answer to a question that can't be intelligently answered in the absence of actual data. It's something that's become unfortunately common in this age of media pundits, the need to concoct an answer rather than admitting you don't have one. We need to remember that it's okay just to say "I don't know yet" and leave it at that.
What pissed me off is that execs were like if we cancel Whedon's shows everybody will get angry and stage a write in. Hello Mr. Exec ONLY IF THEY ARE GOOD!!!! Dollhouse is very far away from Firefly cailbre. You saved the wrong show.
Here are the first week DVD sales for some other TV box sets released over the last few months for comparison:
True Blood, Season 1 - 509,317 units ($19,063,735)
24, Season 7 - 274,496 units ($9,055,623)
Weeds, Season 4 - 178,236 units ($4,454,118)
Family Guy, Volume 7 - 171,966 units ($4,809,008)
Entourage, Season 5 - 167,024 units ($4,052,002)
Stargate Atlantis, Season 5 - 106,161 units ($3,297,361)
Mad Men, Season 2 - 94,774 units ($3,173,981)
Prison Break, Season 4 - 91,232 units ($2,937,670)
Friday Night Lights, Season 3 - 79,182 units ($1,503,666)
The Closer, Season 4 - 70,374 units ($2,077,440)
Psych, Season 3 - 69,279 units ($2,250,875)
Monk, Season 7 - 61,513 units ($1,998,557)
The Shield, Season 7 - 58,594 units ($2,167,392)
Eastbound & Down, Season 1 - 58,586 units ($966,083)
Burn Notice, Season 2 - 57,391 units ($1,835,938)
Pushing Daisies, Season 2 - 52,514 units ($1,139,554)
True Blood, Season 1 - 509,317 units ($19,063,735)
24, Season 7 - 274,496 units ($9,055,623)
Weeds, Season 4 - 178,236 units ($4,454,118)
Family Guy, Volume 7 - 171,966 units ($4,809,008)
Entourage, Season 5 - 167,024 units ($4,052,002)
Stargate Atlantis, Season 5 - 106,161 units ($3,297,361)
Mad Men, Season 2 - 94,774 units ($3,173,981)
Prison Break, Season 4 - 91,232 units ($2,937,670)
Friday Night Lights, Season 3 - 79,182 units ($1,503,666)
The Closer, Season 4 - 70,374 units ($2,077,440)
Psych, Season 3 - 69,279 units ($2,250,875)
Monk, Season 7 - 61,513 units ($1,998,557)
The Shield, Season 7 - 58,594 units ($2,167,392)
Eastbound & Down, Season 1 - 58,586 units ($966,083)
Burn Notice, Season 2 - 57,391 units ($1,835,938)
Pushing Daisies, Season 2 - 52,514 units ($1,139,554)
First off -- totally different execs. The people who ran FOX when Firefly was on no longer work there. The people in charge now understand that Friday night shows intrinsically get lower ratings, so the bar for success has to be set lower. If those people had been in charge back when FF was on, they might have renewed it. But they weren't.
Second -- no network executive has ever kept a show on the schedule based purely on fear of write-in campaigns. Despite certain urban myths perpetuated by certain producers named Roddenberry, fan write-in campaigns usually number only in the thousands. What determines the success or failure of a show is ratings and cost. Ratings determine ad rates, the amount of money that advertisers pay a network for airtime during a given show. If that income is too far below the cost of making the show, it isn't feasible to keep making the show, so it gets replaced with a different show. Sometimes a network is willing to take a loss on a show in exchange for critical approval or if the folks in charge really believe in it and are willing to nurture it. But if a show is losing too much money over too long a term, then all the critical praise and fan loyalty in the world won't make a difference, because a TV network is a business, not a charity.
A large part of the reason Dollhouse was renewed is because Whedon made "Epitaph One" for half the cost of a regular episode by shooting on digital video and using other shortcuts. That demonstrated that maybe he could bring in a whole season for a greatly reduced budget. The budget could be cut more by abandoning the limited-commercials format of the first season and dropping the length from 50-plus minutes to the more conventional 42. If it doesn't cost as much to make, that means its ratings don't need to be as high to break even, so it's feasible to keep it around longer. (Also more commercial time means more income for the network.)
Firefly was undoubtedly a more expensive show than Dollhouse, given the special effects and the exotic sets and locations. It would've been harder to slash its budget in the same way, even if digital video had been available at the same level of quality and practicality of use (and it may well have been, I don't know).
Last edited:
The champ being a TV show that only lasted 4 years and even less viewers than Dollhouse? Also what came in third? Someone name some TV shows that came out that week.
Those were the only two new releases for that week in terms of TV season box sets. To add another TV box set released in the last few months to the list of first week sales I provided above that you in particular may be interested in: Boston Legal, Season 5 - 66,793 units ($2,136,708).
Similar threads
