Dollhouse News, Articles, Reviews Misc. tidbits

[Madwelshboy]

Sci Fi acquires 'Dollhouse', 'Knight Rider'
Friday, March 20 2009, 16:33 GMT

By Dan French


The Sci Fi Channel has picked up the UK rights to two new US dramas, it has been announced.

The NBC Universal-owned channel has secured the first run UK pay-TV rights to Joss Whedon's Dollhouse and the sequel to David Hasselhoff's 1980s show Knight Rider.

"We're dedicated to offering our audience the most exciting content available and are thrilled to become the UK home for two such highly anticipated series," said Jon Farrar, programming director for NBC Universal Global Networks. "Knight Rider and Dollhouse both hail from fine pedigrees, clearly reflected in their superior production values.

"The special effects in both series are genuinely show-stopping and likely to be the subject of many water-cooler moments for fans, who have the added choice of watching in either standard or high definition.”

Both shows have been secured for their 13-episode first seasons. The agreement also includes the renewal of repeat rights to seasons one to five of Whedon’s popular Buffy spinoff Angel.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/broadcas...ght-rider.html

[Madwelshboy]

'Dollhouse' and 'Supernatural' finds laughs and revelations in fantasy

It was a great week for mixing humor and fantasy on both Dollhouse and Supernatural. Joss Whedon's Dollhouse continued its now-rapidly-accelerating revealing of the origins of Eliza Dushku's Echo/Catherine, while Eric Kripke's Supernatural offered a sort of alternate-universe tale of Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) as office workers fated to meet.

Dollhouse is leading up to next week's do-not-miss episode which Fox is promoting as an "event": "Dollhouse: The Awakening." In the meantime, we got glimpses of doll Echo's real identity, Caroline, with flashbacks to the deal she struck with Dollhouse dominatrix (as I like to think of her) Adelle DeWitt. But the main plot was a corker about a drug that infected all the major players, turning them into, in DeWitt's phrase, "idiot children." It gave this diverse cast a chance to show new sides of themselves. The result was both funny (Topher: "You haven't seen my drawer of inappropriate starches?") and revealing. Like I said, don't miss next week.

<snip>

Both Dollhouse and Supernatural used our knowledge of what's come before to enrich our knowledge of their heroes, and deepen our understanding of their basic

http://watching-tv.ew.com/2009/03/dollhouse-super.html

[Madwelshboy]

Dollhouse - All Episodes to Air

Fox have told Dollverse that all 13 episodes of DOLLHOUSE will definitely now air.

The episodes and air dates left:

1-08 - April 3
"Needs"

1-09 - April 10
"Spy in the House of Love"

April 17 - DOLLHOUSE off air due to Prison Break

1-10 - April 24
"Haunted"

1-11 - May 1
"Briar Rose"

1-12 - May 8
"Omega"

1-13 - May 15
"Epitaph One"

After DOLLHOUSE finishes, we've been told a new series called "MENTAL" will be taking over the timeslot.

Update: we've been tipped off the May 15th airing of "Epitaph One" (yes, the finale) may be pre-empted by the Prison Break finale. No confirmation on that, and FOX says different.

http://spoilertv.blogspot.com/2009/0...es-to-air.html

[Madwelshboy]

Fox Leaning Toward 'Dollhouse' Renewal

The Fox network is just a step away from shaking up its Friday lineup for the 2009-10 season, canning one show and considering a move to a new night for a second.

Let's hit the good news first. Airlock Alpha has learned that Fox is looking to give its struggling "Dollhouse" a second season, to see if it can grow some legs on a new night. Fox had originally intended "Dollhouse" to air Mondays with "24," but Fox instead decided to move "House" to that spot to replace "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles," and to create sort of a genre theme night on Fridays.

The audience for "Dollhouse" are not exactly where Fox had hoped they would be, however, critical reaction to later episodes following its February premiere has grown more positive toward the series as it has had the chance to flesh itself out. Showrunner Joss Whedon had said ahead of its premiere that he had gone back to retool certain aspects of the show, including using a new premiere episode than what was originally planned, eventually canning what would have been the premiere.

The move seems to be an easy one for Fox. While the audience hasn't been as large as expected, it has instead remained stable. It's not a number that Fox uses, but "Dollhouse" carries a BlipNetwork Stability Index Rating of 92.0, better than every other network genre show currently on television outside of "Reaper" on The CW, which has a 94.7. A Stability Index Rating is the comparison of the show's highest overnight rating and its average overnight rating to see how much of its overall audience a show has retained.

Other factors in favor of the show continuing is that it's not as expensive as other Fox shows. Much of its upfront costs, including the construction of the elaborate set that is the dollhouse itself, were covered by funds that normally would've paid for a pilot (no pilot was made for "Dollhouse"). Also, while Whedon's Mutant Enemy Productions and star Eliza Dushku's Boston Diva Productions are tied to the series, 20th Century Fox Television is still the primary production company involved, which means its licensing fee is not as steep as it would be if the show was produced by another studio.

http://spoilertv.blogspot.com/2009/0...e-renewal.html

[Madwelshboy]

Question: Do you have any info on Dollhouse's second season chances? I've fallen in love with the show and I'm on pins and needles waiting to hear if I'll get another season of it. --Mandi

Ausiello: I wish I could share your enthusiasm. I'm trying really hard to get into this show but it's just not happening. I actually thought the recent (and much-heralded) reboot episode was one of the weakest of the season. As far as a second season goes, I don't have any solid evidence to back this up (aside from those anemic ratings), but I'd say it's a long shot.

http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2009/04/...siello--1.html

[Madwelshboy]

Dollhouse - Only getting 12 Episodes aired?

I was perusing the upcoming schedule notes from FOX, including the series finale of Prison Break on May 15, and I noticed a curious thing. FOX lists the May 8th episode as Omega, the twelfth episode of Dollhouse, as its season finale.

I’ve seen other sites list Epitaph One, the thirteenth episode as the finale that would air on May 15. Clearly that isn’t happening because Prison Break’s finale on May 15th is two hours.

The May schedule information only goes through May Sweeps which end on Thursday May 20, 2009, so I’m not sure what the schedule for beyond that looks like, but for now it looks like they only plan to air 12 episodes of Dollhouse with the season finale on May 8th.

So either I’m wrong (very possible), the information I’m looking at is wrong (possible, but less likely) or it looks like we’re only getting twelve episodes of Dollhouse, and if they’ve actually made 13.

http://spoilertv.blogspot.com/2009/0...-episodes.html

[ShadowMaat]

Felicia Day just posted a confirm on Twitter that the 13th ep will not, in fact, air.

Man, day getting worse and worse. Found out my Dollhouse ep, #13 isn't gonna air. Only on DVD. Such a great part too. Thx Fox.

Frak you, FOX.

EDIT: And from Jed, too:

Alas, rumors are true. Dollhouse ep 13 isn't going to air. This makes us sad. This makes Felicia sad. How does it make you feel? Why don't share those feelings with FOX?

[ShadowMaat]

FOX has now fired back with links to a couple of articles clarifying the 13th ep fiasco: An article on Hitfix & a spoilery one from E! Online

[LoneStar1836]

This is what Tim Minear had to say about it over at Whedonesque:

Okay. So maybe I can help clarify this somewhat. Because we scrapped the original pilot -- and in fact cannibalized some of its parts for other eps -- we really ended up with 12 episodes. But the studio makes DVD and other deals based on the original 13 number. So we created a standalone kind of coda episode. Which is the mythical new episode 13. The network had already paid for 13 episodes, and this included the one they agreed to let us scrap for parts. It does not include the one we made to bring the number back up to 13 for the studio side and its obligations. We always knew it would be for the DVD for sure, but we also think Fox should air it because it’s awesome.

[Madwelshboy]

Joss Whedon speculates on Dollhouse's future and teases the 13th episode

Joss Whedon, creator of Fox's sci-fi series Dollhouse, told a group of reporters that he's resigned to the show's fate and that a second-season pickup is unlikely, but that he holds out hope for a renewal. Fox has not yet announced its plans, but the show's ratings have been below expectations and it is not expected to be picked up.

http://scifiwire.com/2009/04/joss-wh...culates-on.php

[ShadowMaat]

Was at the Dollhouse panel at Paleyfest and tweeted throughout. I'm regurgitating them here, but for those unfamiliar with Twitter, you'll need to start at the bottom and work back up because I'm too tired to put them in proper chronology. There will be more coherent reports from other sources I'm sure. Sorry for the randomness, lack of sentence structure and typos. Livebloggingtweeting is very hard.

Should have taken my program up to get signed too, everyone went right past me, coulda got sigs. But Joss was TOP priority esp after last PM
Hopefully someone can clarify the "six season plan" thing. The questioner was talking abt Firefly but... I dunno. Still jittery.
Survived! Wow it's a good thing I'm not claustrophobic like Enver because I was smushed against the stage in a crowd of pp & sign this items
joss liked the laptop. pic blurry from nerves
http://twitpic.com/3dzgk -[pic of my Evil League of Evil laptop w/Joss's sig]
http://twitpic.com/3dz28 - [pic of Eliza]
miracle likes little nook under tophers office.
eliza likes art room. paint, bonsai, killing ppl... oops nvrmind. lol. fran likes his lab & saunders office. dichen ditto.
whats with human experimentation theme in joss work? tells us abt society & selves. watched wrong movies as a kid. AI a big influence
Joss has six year arc. not sure if firefly or dhouse. sorry for tweet flood guys.
fran has crazy poofy hair. more will be revealed abt motivations of characters. fact that blanks have personalities will play in
enver is claustrophobic. they left him in pod once. awww.
fran wants scene of topher buying groceries. maybe sees Ballard in store...
dolls names get reused. 30-40 dolls. Double Alpha? tangofoxtrotcharlie?
matt roush nerdy q. tru purpose of dhouse... collcting data on doll users
Joss says pictured adele as dragonlady until olivia? tried for part. good at making u feel for her even ax she does bad things
Miracle thinks pods are comfy and luvs how dolls are all different. Fran sez topher basically kid. has no life or connections out of dhouse
if the dollhouse operatly smoothly with no problems would there be a show? joss sez itd be porn.
eliza thinks one of best scenes is mellie going active. and she loves to watch the show
think there have been a lot of twists & turns? Joss says "dude, just wait."
Joss kept trying to get writers to say what their dark doll fantasies would be & everyone woukd clam up
uhh... penis puppet??
Topher creates these dolls & makes them parade around and omg who does that?? (cough Joss cough)
Lady execs happy to work with Joss. Joke that he had to rein them in frm going too far [note: Liz Craft & Sarah Fain]
Adele's pitch to client frm pilot is in 13. Lots of pilot stuff throughout series.
Eliza out of everyine shes worked with hes most intelligent and very pro feminist. grt admiration for him. liked blind girl & play old woman [notes: "he" is Joss and the "old woman" thing references next week's ep]
12 is finale. 13 is just weird ****. post apocalyptic horror movie.
was practically in touching distance as they go to stage. re: 13 ep. Suits taking a look & deciding. Joss now has hope for s2. yay?
banana pancakes. still lol [note: they screened the ep "Needs"]
http://twitpic.com/3dsdb - [pic of Joss]

EDIT: Here's a better writeup (thanks for the link, Jed/Zack/Maurissa/whoever)

[Madwelshboy]

Stars Spill on Dollhouse's Star-Crossed Relationships

http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/watc...erfeed_kristin

[Madwelshboy]

Radha: Dollhouse's chances of renewal are reportedly slim. Please, please say it isn't so! Do you have any happier news?

You know that 14th episode of Dollhouse that's set in a post-Apocalyptic universe and that won't be appearing on Fox network but will be included on the season-one DVD? Well, no one's officially confirming anything, and this is all still entirely in the theoretical dreamy dream stage, but reliable sources tell us exclusively that spinning off "Epitaph One" into a new series is "not exactly outside the realm of Joss’ master plan." So even if Dollhouse proper doesn't get a pickup for season two, there might still be an alternate Dollverse for us to play in. What do you think of that?!

http://uk.eonline.com/uberblog/watch...oing_kill.html

[Madwelshboy]

Dollhouse - Epitaph One to screen first at Comic-Con

http://spoilertv.blogspot.com/2009/0...een-first.html

[Pharaoh Atem]

the first season is available for pre-order http://www.amazon.com/Dollhouse-Seas...ef=pd_sim_d_27

i did a quick skim of the thread hope it wasn't already posted