Epitaph One Recap and Review

Evidentially, the apocalypse has come. The world is burning, everyone is armed, and it's all the fault of tech. We find out we are in the year 2019. The butchers are after the actuals. The actuals need to get as deep underground as possible to avoid the butchers, who are trying to implant anyone who has not been already. Now, one can be programmed remotely; no chair is necessary. Answer the phone, and you become a zombie, out to kill anyone who still moves. The signals evidentially STILL do not carry underground, so the sewers are the safest place to be.

Epitaph one opens with a group of 4 actuals, a little girl, and her infected father, trying to find safety from the butchers. They stumble upon an entry to the Dollhouse, and think they've found paradise 8 stories underground, complete with air, power, and running water. Then, they find the chair, and figure out they may be in the place where all of the imprinting began. They figure out that THIS chair allows for selective imprinting, with complete control over everything, rather than the mass imprinting from which they are hiding. They place the infected guy, Mr. Miller, in the chair and start experimenting.

They begin by giving him one single memory. This memory turns out to be the conversation Adele was having with the potential client in the original pilot, explaining the concept of the Dollhouse and the Actives. The actuals laugh that the technology that ruined the world was originally for creating a more believable hooker. They implant "Mr. Miller" with another memory, which turns out to be Topher's original introduction to the Dollhouse. It turns out that the standing record for the imprinting process stood at 2 hours, until Topher came along and refined it. He got it down to five minutes top. We also find out that Rossum has been collecting personalities for quite some time now. They scan everyone who is scanned by any medical machine they manufacture, including CAT scans, MRIs, etc. They will soon have over a million personalities scanned.

Meanwhile, one of the actuals takes the little girl to the restroom. She finds the showers along the way, and enticed by the prospect of hot water after a year without, sends the girl off to pee while she undresses. The rest of the group responds when they hear screaming, and arrive at the shower to see their friend lying on the floor, her head bashed in.

Back in Topher's lab, Mr. Miller is imprinted with one of Echo's memories. Ballard is now her handler, and they're going to infiltrate the Russian mob. Ballard and Echo leave. In the elevator, Echo emerges, revealing she's maintaining her own memories while taking on those of the imprinted personality. Echo also reveals that the headaches are getting worse.

Down to a group of 3, the scared actuals return to Topher's lab. They tattoo the girl's back with her name, to identify her as an "actual", and as one of them. They agree to try and figure out how to use the original tech to stop its effects.

Mr. Miller flashes to a conversation between Dr. Saunders and Boyd. It is insinuated that the 2 are somehow romantically involved now, and Boyd must flee and go into hiding to save both their lives.

Suddenly, a ghostly Whiskey wanders in, her hands covered in blood. This is the scene that was released as a teaser on the internet.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Whiskey."

"What is your last name?"

"I don't know."

"Where were you born?"

"I don't know."

"How did you get down here?"

"I've always been here."

They want to shoot her, but suddenly, Whiskey asks if they are looking for Safe Haven. "That's a myth", they reply. But Whiskey tells them she can show them the way there, using the chair. They mention that the chair was getting them close. There was one girl, Echo, who seemed like she could withstand the imprints.

Flash to DeWitt talking to Victor. But he's not Victor. He's her boss, Mr. Ambrose, and “(body) upgrades" are a service they now provide. DeWitt is horrified. Ambrose tells her it will all be legal within a year, that they're all either a client or one of us. They now offer eternal life, and she can be a part of it or a casualty. Adele refuses to give away bodies that belong to other souls. Ambrose says he's in 10 other bodies in 10 other houses, and he'll know if she reclaims THAT body. It's time for Adele to make a choice.

Back in 2019, the little girl shoots one of the actuals, and frames Mr. Miller for the deed, while the 2 other actuals are off looking for food with Whiskey. They return to find the little girl screaming. Whiskey assures the 2 left that she can help them find safe haven.

Flash to DeWitt and Dominic, at some unspecified time. Dominic has been retrieved from the attic. DeWitt's brought him back to help her and Topher find a way around Armageddon. Dominic taunts DeWitt about what the Dollhouse lead to: fulfilling fantasies and providing escapes lead to technology that ended the world. DeWitt informs Dom that there is a block, a cure. He asks if Topher has it.

“No,” DeWitt responds, “Caroline.”

Flash to Victor and Sierra. I guess we know what choice DeWitt made. They're back to themselves. Sierra has an Australian accent. They're holed up and hiding out from tech in the Dollhouse. They’ve cut their lines and gone on lockdown. Sierra reveals her new birthmark: a tattoo of her name on her back so she'll always know who she is. Victor shows her a hidden stash of hard drives, "a back up of all of us, even Caroline."

Meanwhile, the remaining actuals give the little girl a gun, since their numbers are down to 3. They search for the hidden stash of hard drives and find it. The little girl points her gun and reveals herself as an imprinted person. She wants the chair to transplant herself into an adult’s body. Surprise, surprise. They're on to her. The gun was filled with blanks. They throw the little girl into the chair and use her to try to find the way to safe haven.

Flash to the remaining dolls, in a prayer circle, underground. Adele goes to see a now insane Topher, holed up in what used to be a sleeping pod, working furiously on equations. He's figured out that his technology lead to all of this. His improvements lead to the improved technology that allowed one robo-call to transform an entire city of people, millions programmed to kill anyone who is not programmed. Then, you have a war with 2 sides: those who answered the phone, and those who did not. Which is worse? Pick up the phone, or don't? Be part of the army, or one of the hunted?

"Why didn't I think of that?” Topher babbles. “Did I think of that? Did I?"

DeWitt embraces Topher and sobs. Topher wonders if his intelligence was curiosity or arrogance.

Flash to the sounds of a wall being broken down. The dolls gather round, terrified, with guns drawn. It's Caroline! She’s back to save them all! And she's with Ballard. Caroline says it will be rough getting everyone to the compound. She says the tech “they” need doesn't travel there. No one there has been imprinted, and it's all thanks to Alpha. Caroline has Saunders make a back up copy of her, in case anyone else ever needs to find the compound. Caroline says that for security reasons, she has to keep the compound’s location a secret; she cannot share its specific location with anyone.

The actuals imprint the little girl with Caroline's personality. They tell her it's 2019. Caroline is glad to see Dr. Saunders, but is disappointed to see that she is Whiskey. But she thanks Whiskey for helping the actuals find her. She then tells them that there is a cure. Caroline, in the little girl's body, leads the actuals off to find safe haven just as the butchers arrive.

The group escapes through the elevator shaft, passing through what used to be DeWitt's office. They pause to look at a wall covered with photos of the former actives, and the little girl plucks down the one of Echo/Caroline. She wistfully comments that she hopes they'll find her alive. They ascend out the window and up a hanging ladder. Whiskey stays behind and sets off a gas that annihilates the intruders.

"They really thought this was what we needed?

"No...Kids playing with matches....and they burned the house down."

I absolutely LOVED this episode, and I think it is well worth owning the DVD set just to see it. (For folks who Netflix, the unaired pilot and Epitaph One are both on disk 4 of the set.) Joss Whedon has said that he wrote this episode when he thought the series would not be renewed for a second season, and he wanted to give the fans something that could be a coda for the series. He also wanted an episode that could be honored should the series live on. Joss has hinted that season two will begin to explore Echo’s resistance to imprinting and the fallout of what Alpha did to her in Omega.

I liked the way that Adele stayed true to her altruism until the very end. Adele has always seemed to see the good that a project like Dollhouse could accomplish, while kind of ignoring its darker side. She seemed totally blindsided by the fact the technology she embraced for its potential to make the world a better place ended up being society’s demise.

I loved exploring the evolution of Topher. We saw Topher fall to rock bottom from his arrogant pedestal in the sky. Topher is the proverbial science geek. He is utterly, absolutely brilliant, yet somehow still socially stuck in adolescence, the eternal gawky lad who spends Saturday nights with his computer and video games. By the end of the episode, we see that his own disregard for others’ souls had lead to his descent into madness. His inanimate equations caused all of this; maybe they can cure it as well? And DeWitt has developed a very maternal relationship with Topher, watching over him and comforting him in his doldrums. It’s almost as if she feels some sort of culpability in Topher’s present state.

I must admit that I was confused by the Boyd/Whiskey scene. Did it mean to insinuate that Boyd was not as “pure” as the first season implied? Hopefully, season 2 will help make that scene make more sense. I wasn’t surprised at all that Whiskey was the one left behind. Whether she was Whiskey or Saunders, she was the one soul that couldn’t seem to survive outside the Dollhouse. She seemed to have no life either before or after the Dollhouse. Like she said, she’s always been there, and she’d always be there. Her purpose in life seemed to be to protect both the Dolls and the Dollhouse, no matter what persona she was wearing at the moment.

I loved the dark version of the future that Epitaph one presented. It honored the human spirit and its ability to persevere under the worst of conditions. No matter how hard it tries, Evil will never be able to overcome Good. DeWitt refused to join the dark side, and instead, holed herself up with her wards, doing her best to protect them from what she had gotten them into. Caroline, the proverbial heroine, resisted the “infection” and managed to lead a charge against the bad guys, saving many a soul along the way, then risking life and limb to come back and save those she left behind. She had tried to lead everyone to safety, out of the Dollhouse, once before. Now, she was back to achieve her ultimate goal. I loved the fact that Alpha, the original victim of the imprinting technology, was instrumental in saving the world from its effects. I hope we have several seasons ahead of us, all building up to the vision Joss presented in Epitaph One.

We still have about six weeks until the new season premieres. During that time, I plan to re-watch Season 1, in order. I’ll be recapping and reviewing here as I go along. You’re welcome to do the re-watch with me. Every episode I watch just makes me look forward to the new season in September.

Recap: Ghost, Episode 1, Season 1

Joss Whedon did not intend Ghost to be the opener of Dollhouse. An unaired pilot is available for viewing on the DVD set. I watched both Ghost and the original pilot, in succession. What follows is my recap of Ghost. Stay tuned for a recap of the unaired pilot.

Ghost is the first episode of Dollhouse that aired, replacing the original pilot. It opens with De Witt and Caroline talking, discussing Caroline's decision to "volunteer" to be a Doll. We then see Echo in action, on a motorcycle, racing with a rather hot guy. They end up at a party, where they dance and laugh. She wanders away and meets Boyd, who tells her it's time for a treatment, and she accompanies him to a van, all the while raving about how she thinks she's met "the one". She meets Topher, and gets into the chair for her treatment. We see a montage of backward flowing memories, all the way back to the crib. A docile Echo sits up and asks "Did I fall asleep?" Topher responds "For a little while."

Echo meets with Dr. Saunders, and comments that she hurt her leg, but doesn't remember how. When asked if she's concerned that she doesn't remember, Echo replies "Should I be?" While waiting for a masseuse, Echo wanders back to Topher's office, where she sees a blonde woman in the chair. Echo expresses concern because the woman is seemingly in pain. Topher tells Echo it's because it's the woman's "first time". What appear to be acupuncture needles connected to a computer protrude from throughout the blonde's veins.

Cut to a scene of a Latino man talking to his daughter on the phone from his limo. As soon as he hangs up, kidnappers burst in and put the little girl in a body bag. We later see this man meeting with DeWitt. We find out he is a "frequent client", and "although they are not robots", she's sure one of their actives can successfully negotiate with the kidnappers. Echo is programmed to be a near-sighted, asthmatic, super-hostage negotiator. The client is surprised they sent a beautiful woman for the job, rather than a fatherly, Edward James Almos type. He laughs when "Miss Pitt" assures him she has been doing this her whole life. He probes her for details about her imprint, and Echo reveals her persona was kidnapped as a child, and not given back.

Echo assumes control of the negotiations, and is very convincing in her role. She sets up the trade, arranging to meet at a dock in order to exchange the money for the girl. All is going swimmingly until Echo comes face-to-face with the lead kidnapper and collapses on the dock. The kidnapper is the same one who kidnapped the person from whom Echo's imprint was made. "Stop them from getting on the boat," Echo gasps. But in the ensuing melee, the client is shot, and the bad guys get away with both the money and the kid.

Boyd extracts Echo, and they head back toward the Dollhouse. Her Miss Pitt persona is bothered by seeing the ghost from her past, and it makes her want to rush in and save the kid even more. She keeps trying to put the pieces together. As they arrive at the Dollhouse, Boyd rushes in to convince DeWitt that Echo can still save the day, but only if she is not wiped. DeWitt acquiesces. Echo knows where the kidnappers are, and heads out with Dominic in a helicopter to save the day. She faces her ghost and rescues the kid. Sierra, imprinted as some sort of commando, bursts in with machine guns blaring, and takes out the kidnappers. They recover both the loot and the child, the client recovers, and everybody is happy. Sierra and Echo are wiped, and head to the communal showers. The dolls then retire for the night in their pods.

A side plot introduces Ballard. He is shown being chewed out and laughed at by his superiors because of his "Dollhouse" assignment. He has hosed several other major investigations, including that of the Russian human smugglers, the Borodines, trying to prove this "thing" exists, making a fool of himself along the way. He has embarrassed a senator, and the only legal activity he was involved in was his divorce. While they are chewing him out, Ballard is thinking of a bout in a boxing ring. He is getting his butt kicked badly, and is apparently down. His bosses ask him if he can "back off" of this dollhouse investigation. Ballard’s daydream shifts to him getting angry and coming back to kick his opponent’s butt. "I can back off" he says to his superiors, as he visualizes himself knocking his opponent out.

Ballard is sitting in a bar. He eavesdrops as this guy named Lubov comes in, hearing Lubov mention the Borodines. Lubov is evidentially connected to these Borodines, a Russian mob involved with human smuggling. Ballard is convinced the Borodines are somehow linked to the Dollhouse. He later follows Lubov into the Men's room, and pulls a gun on Lubov while he is at the urinal. "Say dollhouse", Ballard says while holding the gun to Lubov's head. Ballard sees this Lubov guy as a key to getting the information he needs.

The episode ends with DeWitt saying how happy she was that this (the kidnapping) was contained, while looking at a file. "How are we going to contain this?" She exclaims, as she opens the folder to reveal it says "Alpha". Cut to someone watching a video of Caroline in college, while stuffing a picture of Caroline in an envelope and addressing it to Ballard.

I liked this episode. However, I found it really dark in comparison to the unaired pilot. Ghost seemed to focus more on the darker side of the Dollhouse, and did not nearly emphasize DeWitt’s altruistic goals for her actives nearly as well as did the original pilot.

My next post will recap the unaired pilot. Read the recaps and comment on which you think makes a better introduction to the series. If you haven’t seen the original pilot, I urge you to get a hold of the DVD set and watch it. If you’re lucky enough to live in the UK, I understand you’ll get a chance to see it on SyFy. Those of us in the US will have to get hold of the DVD set. In my opinion, it is well worth the ~$40 to see the original pilot and Epitaph One (which I will be recapping soon.)

DVD Release & Season 2 Scoop

As hoped for, I got the Dollhouse DVD set for my birthday. It arrived in my mailbox on August 1st. I finally had a chance to break it open today, and I started by watching the original, unaired pilot, Echo. I really enjoyed this pilot, and now, want to go back and watch Disk 1, episode 1, to compare and contrast the 2.

The original pilot focuses on introducing Echo, Ballard, Sierra, and Victor. I seem to remember the reveal of Victor as a Doll to be somewhat shocking; I guess, originally the audience knew from the start. Clips of Echo performing "pro-bono" and "do-gooder" type assignments, including helping a young alcoholic woman sober up and re-connect with her family. (And I could swear that drunk was the little girl from Growing Pains, all grown up.) Ballard prods Victor for info regarding a possible Borodine-Dollhouse connection, and when Victor sends Ballard to an abandoned hotel basement, Ballard encounters a Caroline look-alike who claims to be searching for her missing sister, but has really been programmed to assassinate Ballard. Meanwhile, Dr. Saunders and Topher spar back at the Dollhouse, and Saunders' seeming hatred for Topher is revealed as they discuss the "grouping" tendencies of Victor, Sierra, and Echo.

I originally came in on the 3rd episode. I loved the show so much I went back and watched the 2 I'd missed on Hulu. I'm interested in seeing the series again from the start, as I remember being a little more confused by the 1st episode. I'm thinking the unaired pilot would have been a better way to introduce the series, but perhaps, would not have built the suspense. I'll post again later, after I've had a chance to rewatch the 1st aired episode.

The 12 aired episodes are contained on the first 3 disks of the DVD set. The 4th disk contains the unaired Epitaph One, as well as the Special Features. These include the aforementioned original pilot, commentary on Epitaph One, Deleted Scenes, and 4 featurettes. I'll be posting reviews of these over the next month, as I re-watch the first season.

In the meantime, Kristen at E! Online reports some season 2 scoop:

Show runner Joss Whedon spilled some Dollhouse dish at the Television Critics Association tour about what's in store for Echo (Eliza Dushku). Joss says, "Echo starts really realizing that as a person, she not only exists, but that she has a mission—that she has something she wants. This year we are going to see the results of everything she went through last year, particularly the event with Alpha where she was downloaded with all of her personalities. We are going to see what effect that's had on her, and we are going to find her to be a great deal less passive and a great deal more directed in what she wants, and that is, of course, going to make her life a lot harder. And the more she finds out about what is going on around her and the more we find out, the creepier it is going to get, because creepy is what it makes it fun."

Kristen also confirms reports that Amy Acker will be reprising her role as Dr. Saunders, despite being cast in Happy Town.

News from Comic Con

Comic Con is underway, and the Whedon panel happened yesterday. Lucky Comic Con attendees were treated to season 2 spoilers. Joss is reporting that additional Whedon alumni will be appearing on Season 2. Whedon confirmed appearances by Alexis Denisof (Angel) and Summer Glau (Sarah Connor Chronicles). Reportedly, Amy Acker will appear in at least 3 Season 2 episodes. Reportedly, Felicia Day will also be appearing in Season 2, building on her appearance in Epitaph One.

TV Guide reports: "Whedon kicked off the panel by raving that the staff he assembled for the Fox series' freshman run was "the best" first-season staff he has ever worked with. So expect no major changes there." They also report: "Amid the cheers and woots, Whedon gave the show's fans pause when at one point he teased, "There is one trustworthy person in the Dollhouse — and I'm going to kill them." I'm interested in hearing who others think may be killed off. Whiskey, due to her portrayer joining another show? Victor, due to the fact he now needs either reassignment or plastic surgery?

Comic Con attendees got to see Epitaph One. Although reportedly, this episode has also been "leaked" and can be found on the internet, I'll be waiting until I get my box set next week to watch it. Although Joss originally made this episode in anticipation of series cancellation, he promises Season 2 will "honor what was seen" in Epitaph One. He also said Season 2 will be more political, and will get out into the world more.

Whedon also thanked fans for setting their TIVOs and other recording devices to capture Dollhouse. Evidently, the largest numbers in the ratings came from the "record now to watch later" folks.

Reportedly, the panel was so popular that some rabid fans were left outside, and it was standing room only inside. This echoes Whedon's comment that the fans brought the show back from oblivion. Let's hope Season Two rewards our efforts.

Another Epitaph One Clip

Another Epitaph One clip has been released. This one shows no dolls whatsoever, but rather shows a bunch of armed folks discovering this unknown place 8 stories underground. Watch for yourself.

Whedon Discusses Epitaph One

EW has an exclusive conversation with Joss about Epitaph One. Reportedly, Whedon wrote the episode so that it would be a good series coda, should they be canceled, or a very good lead-in for Season 2. SPOILER ALERT: EW reports that the episode begins with Ballard and Caroline returning to an abandoned Dollhouse in 2019. Whedon tells EW. "Every flashback answers something about where people are heading but brings up a lot more questions about where they end up or how they got there." (Whedon says the season 2 opener he's writing and directing won't pick up right where the May season 1 finale left off, with "We've got to find Alpha!", but a little bit later.)

Whedon also says he understands why Fox decided to hold back the episode. As I've already said, I'm planning on getting the DVD set, and cannot wait to watch both this episode and the unaired original pilot. And I'd rather have the second season than the opportunity to see Epitaph One on Fox. If you haven't yet watched the clip of Wiped Clean, Ghostly Whiskey, do so as soon as you can. It's worth a watch.

Season 2: Good News & Bad News

The good news is that Joss Whedon, the man himself, will be writing and directing the season 2 premiere. The bad news is that premiere has been pushed back one week, to September 25. It is still scheduled to air on Friday nights at 9 pm. Curiously enough, Fox has scheduled Glee to run in Dollhouse's original premiere date.

Reportedly, Joss wanted to have 3 or 4 episodes in the can before airing the 1st, and asked Fox to push the season 2 start date back by a week. Reportedly, season 2 will involve Echo trying to discover her "inner Caroline" as well.

The DVD release is still scheduled for July 28. (And I am still hoping to receive the set for my August 1 birthday. I plan a re-watch of the 1st season before the late-September premiere as well.) However, Whedon has also produced a special, limited edition collectors' edition of the season 1 set. It will only be available at Comic-Con, and must be pre-ordered on the Fox website. (link) It includes special packaging, as well as an individually numbered letter from Joss. Only 5000 of each format are being made. If anyone reading this is lucky enough to be attending Comic Con, and/or gets his/her little paws on one of these babies, please tell us about it in the comments section below. I'll have to be satisfied with reports, as I, unfortunately, will not be there. If you know someone who IS going, you may designate that person to pick up your box set for you.

Also, UK viewers are going to get a chance to see the still un-aired "epitaph 1" without having to buy the dvd set. Evidentially, the UK viewers are a lot more fanatical than those of us here in the US. Be can thank their enthusiasm for helping to sway TPTB to renew our beloved show. Dollhouse airs on Sci Fi in the UK. (Is it called SyFy in the UK now too?)

Hopefully, Comic Con will bring us even more Dollhouse news to tide us over until September.

EW.com Posts Exclusive Scoop on Season 2

Joss and his team have started writing season 2, according to Entertainment Weekly. Joss reports that season 2 will expand on season one, and that he's "pumped".

Source: http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2009/06/joss-whedon-buffy-dollhouse-1.html

Exclusive: Joss Whedon on 'Dollhouse' -- 'Back with such a vengeance'

Jun 11, 2009, 09:12 PM | by Mandi Bierly

Joss Whedon is two weeks into breaking stories for Dollhouse's second season, and we're happy to report that he sounds like a happy man even without that season 1 budget. Whedon wrapped his top-secret horror film The Cabin in the Woods on May 29 and hit the Dollhouse writers' room on June 1. "I just wanted to die of tiredness," he tells EW.com exclusively. "About two hours after starting to talk to the writers about story, I was back with such a vengeance, and so energized and so pumped because we really understand the show now. We understand what works, and what didn't work so well or what we weren't so thrilled about. We don't have the onus of trying to be a big hit sitting on our shoulders. We can just be ourselves. And so the stories we're breaking are pure, and exciting, and everybody's on-board in the room, and it's never flowed better."

What does that mean for Season 2? "I'm really proud of the second half of season 1, and we're just expanding on that in a huge way: Finding out the different things that Eliza [Dushku] can be, at the same time as extending our mythology," Whedon says. "Really, just every meeting is like, 'What's the most fun we can have with this actor?' about the whole cast. All I can say -- 'cause I'm gonna be Mr. Un-Spoiler -- is that we're having a crazy amount of fun, and usually, that tends to translate onto the screen."

Speaking slightly spoilery, Whedon tells us that season 2 won't pick up right with "We've got to find Alpha!" but a little bit later. Alan Tudyk has a role on ABC's midseason series V, but Whedon hopes he'll be able to use the character sparingly: "Alpha will always be a part of the equation." Whedon's also hoping to work out a similar loan with the producers of ABC's Happy Town, who nabbed Amy Acker, aka Dr. Saunders/Whiskey. For more insider scoops, keep reading after the jump.

More scoop: Whedon says that Echo's last word in the finale, "Caroline," was the beginning of her season 2 quest. "Echo wants to find not just Caroline, but what's going on behind everything. She doesn't have all of the skills. [Laughs] But she does have this weird super power of becoming a different person all the time, so she might start using that more specifically to find out who Caroline was and what happened to her and why this place exists." So she still has all those past imprints in her? "Well, they're supposed to have wiped them out of there. But we'll see how well that went..."

Other burning questions: Summer Glau hasn't signed on for any episodes of Dollhouse yet. "We're still breaking the episodes," Whedon says, "but we didn't honestly go into the season going, 'Now how can we figure out how to service Summer?' when we already have a huge ensemble. I adore Summer and she's phenomenal, but I have to service the cast I have first. If something comes up that's good enough, my God, I'd hound her. But the rumors of her becoming a big part of the show are greatly exaggerated."

And, sorry, but don't hold your breath that Whedon might become involved in the big-screen Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot. "I believe [the producers] did ultimately reach out to my agent after the news broke," Whedon says. "I think that's something better left untouched by me. So, I wish them luck."

Fox Announces Fall Premiere Dates

Today, Fox announced premiere dates for its fall shows. Dollhouse is scheduled to return on Friday, September 18. So we won't have to wait all that long after the DVD release for our second season. (The DVD release is scheduled for the end of July.) However, although Fox is leaving Dollhouse on Friday nights, it appears to have ditched the sci-fi Friday concept. The lead-ins to Dollhouse are a pair of sitcoms, including the very mediocre "til Death." I hope the weak lead-in doesn't kill our beloved show, and that Fox takes into account the DVR numbers.

I, for one, will probably be taping Dollhouse. 9 pm on a Friday night is not exactly prime viewing time for a single gal. And since we managed to save Dollhouse for at least one more season, I will be re-capping episodes here, once season 2 begins. (In fact, I plan to review all the 1st season episodes, as well as the 2 DVD only episodes, as soon as I get my little paws on that box set.) I'm hoping the numbers remain high enough for a 3rd season. After all, I need some new loves now that Lost is reaching its final season.

Latest Scoop from Ausiello: Summer on Dollhouse?

Source: EW

According to Ausiello, Summer Glau might migrate over to Dollhouse, now that Sarah Connor has been canceled:

Question: With Sarah Connor Chronicles canceled, please tell me there is a possibility of Summer Glau making an appearance on Dollhouse! --Jenn

Ausiello: The noise you're about to hear is the sound of the Whedonverse exploding. Joss confirms to me exclusively that, well, he's one step ahead of you. "If anybody thinks [bringing Summer onto Dollhouse] hasn't occurred to me already then they have not met me," he says. "I mentioned it to her before [SCC] was canceled. I was like, 'You know, we should get you in the 'house.' But first we have to come up with something that works." And casting her as a doll would not work, insists Whedon. "Summer would be perfect to play an active, but she's done that [type of role] a lot," he says. "I'd rather see her play someone who talks too much. The most fun I have is when I get somebody who's good and comfortable at doing something, and then I make them do something else. Summer said to me, 'I would like to play a normal girl before I die of extreme old age.'" Got any ideas? Head to the comments section!

These little tidbits only make me want those "two lost episodes" even more. Lucky for me, the DVD set comes out just a few days before my birthday. Guess what's #1 on my list!

More Renewal News

All of the popular sources have confirmed that Dollhouse will be back for a 2nd season. Evidentially, the renewal involved slashing the budget, which sources say is not that big a deal, as the sets are already built. Guess that means no more fighting on top of sleeping pods! I'm hoping Amy Acker's new show being picked up does NOT lead to Whiskey being sent to the Attic, and to a new doll being imprinted as Dr. Saunders.

I love Washington Post's TV Reporter's comments:

"We hear Sony is practically paying Fox to keep " 'Til Death" on the air until it has enough episodes for syndication, and the budget on "Dollhouse" reportedly was sliced as part of the deal to get a second-season pickup late last week -- an order that caused The Reporters Who Cover Television's eyebrows to rise until they nearly disarranged their bangs.

After all, Joss Whedon's latest exercise in feminist heinie-kicking-and-tight-tank-top-wearing hadn't even copped 3 million viewers the other day. That's not even a decent FX number, much less a stat that would merit renewing a series on the country's No. 1-ranked network. The reporters suspected that "Dollhouse's" eyebrow-raising pickup had something to do with the fact that the company that produces "Dollhouse" is owned by the same company that owns the Fox broadcast network. They sensed that the renewal had more to do with keeping the show going for the sake of DVD boxed sets, overseas sales and other ancillary interests than with copping the largest audience possible for Fox, and they said so yesterday during a Q&A with Fox execs.

Those execs were braced to meet that suggestion with stout denial. They are great believers in stout denial and they are very good at it.

"It's a bet on Joss Whedon," Reilly insisted when asked about it, adding that Fox is committed to having original scripted programming on Friday nights.

Unless it's "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles," Fox's other scripted Friday drama this season. "Terminator" is canceled because, Reilly explained, they looked at that show's ratings and "the trend line was not pointing in the right direction."

Hey, let's take a look at the ratings track on "Dollhouse" -- shall we? It's 4.8 million, 4.2 million, 4.2 million, 3.6 million, 4.3 million, 4.1 million, 3.9 million, 3.4 million, 3.5 million, 3 million, 3.1 million, 2.7 million."

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/18/AR2009051802744_2.html?sid=ST2009051900007 (Lisa de Moraes, Washingtonpost.com)

Never got into Sarah Connor myself. I love true sci-fi, but am not a fan of the shoot-em-up-action-movie-set-2000 years-in-the-future type of thing. But I'm not sure Fox isn't dooming Dollhouse by leading in with comedies. But then again, didn't the Simpsons originally lead into The X Files? And we didn't even have TiVo in those days. Me, I'm still a good old VCR gal. I'm also single, so my Dollhouse habit rarely involved live viewing. Hulu serves as a backup for the occasional power outage.

I wonder how others think scheduling will effect viewing. I'm also wondering why Fox doesn't try a Dollhouse/Fringe block...

Save Joss Whedon's Dollhouse!

About the 3rd episode, I stumbled on to the best new TV show since "Lost," namely Joss Whedon's Dollhouse. (It must be some sort of pattern with me. I actually didn't discover Lost until the 3rd episode either. I had to wait for re-runs. We didn't have Hulu.com back then. But I digress.) I was immediately intrigued by this new series, seemingly a darker "Fantasy Island", except in this version, rich folks pay scientists to imprint willing volunteers with a new, dream personality each week. The hour flew by sooner than I knew it. I never did get up to get that soda I had thought about during the first, ever so short, commercial break. I turned the TV off and went to my computer, hoping Hulu was carrying this fantastic new show. It was. And the first 2 episodes were just as intriguing as the one I had just watched live. My VCR got a new weekly entry in its recording schedule.

I care very little about TV shows these days, with the exception of Lost, to which I am almost obsessively devoted. I like a few sitcoms, but if I miss them, it's no big deal. I certainly don't schedule my social life around them. But it's different with Lost. I stay in on Wednesday nights, and spend the hour after the show dissecting it in internet chatrooms. Until recently, no other show held my attention like Lost. And then I discovered Dollhouse.

Dollhouse is my new, favorite television show. It doesn't quite have the internet proliferation of Lost. But give it time. Lost didn't have it either during its first season. Please, give it time.

But the folks who report on TV are telling us our time may be up. Dollhouse is a "bubble show," meaning the network has not decided that it wants to pick it up yet. But they haven't canceled it either. Maybe we can change their minds.

Let's start to build that Internet Presence, like Lost has. As time permits, I will be enhancing this site with additional Dollhouse-related information. In the meantime, please leave your comments below. And help me get this site to go viral. Maybe that way, we can get their attention. We can show them how much Dollhouse means to us.

Dollhouse is the best new Sci-Fi series to hit the tube in decades. It is innovative, creative, and current. It is destined to become a sci fi classic, if it is just allowed to run its course.