[TV]Dollhouse - Tonight

[Emperor]

Looks like next we get that answer to Alpha's obsession. 

 

Yeah I knew before hand.

[Joram]

The actors are tweeting and Q&Aing that it's all up in the air and they probably won't know for sure until after the season finale.

The show has low numbers, but is easily hitting its target demo.

[Far Dareis Mai]

Apparently the finale had the lowest ratings of the season--but that doesn't include hulu or other internet viewings. On hulu it was the second most watched episode of the week. Internet rumor has it though that it is looking rather grim. If Fox doesn't renew then I hope another station will pick it up--and failing that, bring it back after the Joss cult following freaks out all over them.

[mnwhiterose]

Hey - It worked for Jericho for another season. 

 

Do the ratings include TiVo and DVR recordings? Because most of the time, I don't watch my shows "on time" because I hate commercials. 

[Emperor]

Fox announces its 2009-2010 schedule in 7 days.

 

TV Guide puts it best:

 

Fox executives are holding out a glimmer of hope for the show, noting its loyal core and its strong DVR numbers.

 

"A 1.1 is a bubble show - on the CW."

 

Says The Hollywood Reporter's James Hibberd in reference to the 18-49 ratings of the finale of Fox sci-fi series Dollhouse.  Critics unanimously gunned down any hopes of the rookie show getting renewed, after its season (or series) finale registered a new series-low of 2.76 million, finishing fourth on its timeslot Friday at 9pm, down 11 percent from its showing last week.  Flashpoint won the hour with 8.64 mil.

 

 

The Dollhouse episode entitled "Omega" looked as if it is indeed the final nail in the coffin of beleaguered Fox show.  The finale was the culmination of the Dollhouse ratings dilemma, with the numbers consistently slipping from its 2.0 ratings in the pilot.

 

"It would take some very creative financing to make a renewal work and a giant leap of faith considering that ratings for serialized shows tend to drop between seasons," adds Hibberd. For whatever it's worth, however, Dollhouse pulls a strong percentage gain on DVR, with a 30 percent increase episode.

 

As for the fabled 13th episode, it is still not sure whether it will be made available online, but it's a "safe bet" that it will be available on the DVD.

 

Going into Friday night, Fox’s new drama “Dollhouse” was firmly on the bubble for renewal, and the show’s season finale didn’t make an overly strong case for another season.

 

The 9 p.m. show, created by “Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s” Joss Whedon, posted a sluggish 1.0 overnight rating among viewers 18-49 on Friday night, according to Nielsen, up slightly over the 0.9 lead-in “Prison Break” earned but down a tick from the 1.1 the previous week’s episode posted.

 

“Dollhouse” was fifth in its timeslot in the demo, only finishing ahead of a repeat of “America’s Next Top Model” on CW. It now seems very doubtful the low-rated show will earn a second season.

 

As a reminder, all ratings are based on live-plus-same-day DVR playback. Seven-day DVR data won’t be available for several weeks. Thirty-one percent of Nielsen households have DVRs.

 

CBS placed first for the night among 18-49s with a 2.0 average overnight rating and a 7 share. Univision was second at 1.3/5, ABC and NBC tied for third at 1.2/4, Fox fifth at 1.0/4 and the CW sixth at 0.7/2.

 

CBS led each hour, beginning with a 2.2 at 8 p.m. for “Ghost Whisperer.” Univision was second with a 1.2 for “Cuidado con el Angel,” ABC third with a 1.1 for the first hour of the movie “Happy Feet,” Fox fourth with a 0.9 for “Prison” and NBC and CW tied for fifth at 0.8, NBC for “Howie Do It” and CW for “Everybody Hates Chris” (0.7) and “The Game” (0.9).

 

At 9 p.m. CBS was first with a 1.8 for “Flashpoint,” followed by Univision with a 1.6 for “Mañana Es para Siempre.” ABC was third with a 1.4 for its movie, NBC fourth with a 1.3 for “Dateline,” Fox fifth with the 1.0 for “Dollhouse” and CW sixth with a 0.6 for the “Top Model” rerun.

 

CBS led again at 10 p.m. with a 2.0 for “Numb3rs,” with NBC second with a 1.7 for more “Dateline.” Univision was third with a 1.3 for “Rosa de Guadalupe” and ABC fourth with a 1.2 for “20/20.”

 

Among households, CBS was first for the night with a 5.8 average overnight rating and an 11 share. ABC was second at 3.2/6, NBC third at 3.1/6, Fox and Univision tied for fourth at 1.8/3, and CW sixth at 1.2/2.

[Dunbar]

Please be renewed, Please be renewed, Please be renewed, Please be renewed

[Emperor]

Just a good interview with this news article...

 

We won’t know for a few more days whether the door to the “Dollhouse” has been closed permanently.

 

Certainly last Friday’s finale gave mixed signals as to whether Fox will renew the latest series from “Buffy” creator Joss Whedon.

 

On the one hand, the response from critics and Whedon fans has warmed considerably in recent weeks.

 

On the other hand, scaring up an audience on Fridays is as daunting a task as ever. Since its debut, “Dollhouse” has lost half of its audience in the key 18- to 49-year-old demographic.

 

The ratings for “Dollhouse” bumped up 30 percent when people came home from wherever they were Friday night and watched “Dollhouse” on their DVRs.

 

Still, industry reports suggest the only way the show can come back is through “creative financing,” like the deal with satellite service DirecTV that helped keep “Friday Night Lights” on NBC.

 

Fox had earlier announced that Friday’s “Dollhouse” episode, “Omega,” would be the 12th and final hour aired this spring. A 13th episode was filmed.

 

(Warning: If you haven’t watched “Omega,” there will be spoilers ahead.)

 

In “Omega,” we learned that Echo, the programmable sweetheart played by Eliza Dushku, is capable of amazing recall and feats of strength once she is given access to her backup tape, which contains memories of Caroline, the person she was before the dollhouse.

 

We also learned why the series baddie, Alpha (Alan Tudyk), is so violently off-kilter — he has the personalities of 48 people fighting for control of his brain.

 

And “Omega” produced a tantalizing storyline for a second season with the hiring of FBI agent Ballard (Tahmoh Penikett) as a house detective inside the dollhouse.

 

Over the weekend I spoke with co-executive producers Liz Craft and Sarah Fain. They’re a writing team who have known each other since high school at Pembroke Hill. Their 2008 young-adult novel, “Footfree and Fancyloose,” just came out in paperback.

 

You said in January that your job as co-executive producers wasn’t so much to be showrunners as to help Joss carry out his vision. How successful do you think you were?

 

Craft: I felt that in the first few episodes we all figured out, “OK, this is what ‘Dollhouse’ is, these are the sweet spots,” and then we kind of got there.

 

Fain: Also, the first half of the season was negotiating with the network about what the show was. After those first five episodes is where Joss’ vision got to come through.

 

So “Gray Hour” (Episode 4), which was one of the episodes you two wrote, was a product of the conversation you were having with the network, whereas “Echoes” (Episode 7) happens after you’re all on the same creative page together.

 

Craft: Yes. And what we like about “Echoes” and what the network liked is that it showed Echo as herself —as Caroline. She has flashbacks to Caroline, and we get little hints of who she was before the dollhouse, and that helped anchor her character.

 

I notice Alpha gets away at the end of the “Omega” episode, and it seems to me that’s always what happens to the bad guy at the end of the season.

 

Craft: Alpha will be out there, but we’ll have someone else in Season 2, I’m sure. We always wanted him to get away.

 

Why? Because he was the alpha product?

 

Fain: Well, on a practical level Alan Tudyk is fantastic. And on a storytelling level it took just so long to get to Alpha. We didn’t get to him until the end of the season, so it’s worth it just to carry him over.

 

I was kind of surprised at how Echo ended the season. We know that she has some awareness of being Caroline, but it seems a pretty risky move to present Echo as superficially very much like the Echo we saw at the beginning of the season.

 

Craft: I would say the key word there is “superficially.”

 

Fain: Yes.

 

Craft: I think it will be very satisfying to fans how it plays out in the future. It’s funny because we have another episode that was done after this …

 

“Epitaph One”?

 

Craft: Yes. So to us, we don’t think of this as the last episode of the season, even though it technically is, because this other episode gets into — well, I don’t want to say too much about it.

 

Was that the busted pilot?

 

Craft: No, no, it’s a whole different episode, it’s a really fun, out-there …

 

Fain: Not only is it “out of the box” but a “broke the box and stomped on it” episode.

 

Craft: Hopefully if we get a Season 2, we’ll show that episode. It’ll definitely be on the DVD.

 

I think my favorite line from Friday’s show was when Topher (Fran Kranz) screams, “I’m smarter than anyone in this room, but less scary!” I imagine it’s difficult to do a drama that is this intense and still give the fans their quota of Whedonisms.

 

Craft: Well, that’s been all over the message board. Many people complain that “Dollhouse” isn’t …

 

Fain: “-nesque” enough?

 

Craft: Yeah, “-nesque.” It’s a different show. You don’t want to do the same show over and over. But as the show really kicked in to what it really is, people became more interested in that and less about how it wasn’t “Buffy” or “Angel” or “Firefly.” And keep the humor.

 

Ballard, to me, is the most interesting character because inside the “Dollhouse,” he’s like the sanest man in the room, but outside of it he’s a total lunatic. It’s kind of natural that he would be invited inside and given employment.

 

Craft: That was always Joss’ plan. We worked toward that the whole season.

 

Fain: To me that’s one of the richest things to explore in a second season. What happens when he finds the girl? What happens when that same guy gets into the dollhouse? Does he get corrupted? That’s just fascinating to me.

 

 

[mnwhiterose]

Good interview there. Thanks for posting it, Empy. 

 

Frankly, I love DVRing my shows, because then I don't miss one, and I can fast forward through the commercials.  But, I guess the stations don't like that, do they?  But, I figure, as long as we are watching the show, by DVR, live, or some other recording, it should be kept until they run out of story ideas.

 

I wonder - will we ever get to the point where a tv show will be released only on DVD - no network time at all - maybe advertising.  How successful would that be?

[Emperor]

Again keep in mind ratings = live or watched through DVR that day. 

 

And you bring up a good discussion point.  However I can watch Dollhouse for Free now, why would I pay for it?  Well Dollhouse is a bad example because now that I have watched it I would buy it...

 

Why would I buy a direct to DVD series that will cost upwards of $50 when I haven't seen it before?  I think the next version of shows that miss TV will be on the net.

[Emperor]

Ok we have a few days before we know if Dollhouse is renewed or not.

 

So lets vote.  Do you think it will be picked back up?

 

I check for news daily on the subject btw.  Joss pitched Fox on his vision for the second season earlier this week.  So I don't think Fox has made up their mind quite yet.

[Far Dareis Mai]

I follow Dushku on Twitter and they are supposed to find out by tomorrow.

 

With all the controversy surrounding this, I have a feeling it will be picked back up. At least, feeling actually means "on hands and knees sacrificing spiders to the Powers that Be"

[Emperor]

I think it gets picked up, put on a new night for a limited amount of episodes to see how it performs. 

[mnwhiterose]

I agree - Fridays are such a bad spot. Even if it was after Terminator and Prison Break.  I'd put it back to back with Fringe during the fall schedule until Idol comes back.

[Emperor]

Joss Whedon's brilliant but low-rated new show Dollhouse may not be bound for the chopping block just yet.

 

According to a snippet on Sci Fi Wire, Whedon and Fox are in discussions on how to make a second season of the show more viable, including some cost-saving measures.

 

The first season of Dollhouse drew about 3+ million viewers on average and just concluded after 12 episodes were aired.

 

The series stars Eliza Dushku as Echo, one of many "Dolls" who have signed away their personalities to a mysterious organisation.

 

Their blank minds can then be imprinted with a variety of personalities and skillsets, for rent to a very wealthy client list for various ... purposes.

 

[petels]

Empy, I wasn't going to read your post because I didn't want bad news...I put myself in a bad mood last night just thinking about Dollhouse possibly being canceled.

 

But it sounds like this might possibly maybe be good news? Jeez, I just want to know what's going to happen so I can grieve. Or celebrate and hold my breath until next season.

 

OMG I sound pathetic.

[Far Dareis Mai]

The rest of us feel the exact same way, no worries. :D

[petels]

But is it ok that I mock people who get this invested in TV shows, and yet I'm just as invested? Does it make a difference that the shows I'm invested in (emotionally, not monetarily, of course) are actually good shows? And is it ok that I mock people for loving shows that I've never seen?

 

Maybe I should just watch Firefly this summer. That will keep me out of public.

[Far Dareis Mai]

Sure it is. Look who we are.  8)

[Emperor]

James Hibberd over at the Hollywood Reporter is reporting that “Dollhouse” is now more likely to be renewed than not.

 

Fox announces its 2009-2010 schedules on Monday.

 

Great news for those who remember than “Dollhouse” creator Joss Whedon’s “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” got a LOT better right after its 12-episode first season (with the introduction of Spike, Drusilla, Oz, Jenny Calendar and whatnot).

 

Maybe Summer Glau can join the cast as Foxtrot?

 

“Dollhouse’s” first season fared poorly in Fox’s Friday Night Death Slot, but consistently better than anything else Fox was airing that night.

 

Also, one suspects the execs at Fox looked at their pilots and muttered something like, “None of these is anywhere NEAR as promising as that show with the ‘Bring It On’ girl.”

 

Fox is reportedly looking for budget cuts on the series, but that may not be a big issue for Joss Whedon, who made the DVD smash “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog” for the cost of shoelaces and beer and reportedly directed an (as-yet-unaired) bonus episode of “Dollhouse” titled “Epitaph One” for about half the cost of a regular episode.

[Sirayn]

Interesting news, not sure if the source is authoritative.

 

edit: Another source.

[Dunbar]

f*ck yeah!

[Far Dareis Mai]

I'm happy dancing right now.

[Liathiana]

*DANCES!*

[Emperor]

Summer Glau ("Firefly," "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles") reunites with Joss Whedon when the actress joins the cast of "Dollhouse" this fall in a recurring role as Bennett, a Dollhouse employee who shares a past with Echo (Eliza Dushku). The second season of "Dollhouse" premieres Friday, Sept. 25 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on Fox.

 

Additional guest stars appearing throughout the upcoming second season include Alexis Denisof ("Angel"), Jamie Bamber ("Battlestar Galactica"), Michael Hogan ("Battlestar Galactica") and Keith Carradine ("Dexter"). Daniel Perrin (Denisof) is a U.S. senator leading a witch hunt to track down the underground organization. Mysterious, charismatic businessman Martin Klar (Bamber) is Echo's new husband. Bradley Karrens (Hogan) comes to the Dollhouse hoping to stop a psychotic family member's killing spree, while Matthew Harding (Carradine), a nemesis of Dollhouse leader Adelle Dewitt (Olivia Williams), stirs up trouble. Additionally, Dr. Claire Saunders/Whiskey (Amy Acker) and Madeline/November (Miracle Laurie) return this season in multiple-episode arcs.

[petels]

Oh, Summer Glau. <sigh>

 

That is all.