Dollhouse

"Epitaph None" - FOX and Dollverse.

Dollverse was recently told by FOX it can not cover something about the TV series Dollhouse, in perhaps a watershed moment in terms of a network attempting to control a fan site output. We were told by FOX: “…you are doing a great disservice to the show”.

FOX’s Director of Publicity, Todd Adair, recently told me that Dollverse shall not make “any further announcements on [Dollverse] regarding network scheduling unless you receive notification from the network that scheduling is confirmed”.

The email was CC’ed into other staff at FOX. I tried replying to everybody to clarify to the issue; however nobody at FOX chose to respond. As far as I am aware, this is the first time a US network has tried to exert specific editorial control over a fan site, and I think deserves a debate. As fans, do we want to hear news FOX wants us or approves us to report about a TV show we watch?

The issue has arisen over "Epitaph One", the unaired episode of Dollhouse season one. Recently, Dollverse reported we’ve heard the episode should now make it to air, but there’s no set airdate currently. We additionally said it would air in Sweden during July, which is confirmed (international networks were sold the episode by the studio, 20th Century Fox, which is a different company). This issue has been directly flagged by Todd. Unfortunately FOX’s publicity team misread our post on the issue, and decided we had said FOX had official announced it would air during the summer. We didn’t say either.

FOX went on to say: “Clearing up your misperceptions of the show has become very time consuming and frankly takes away valuable time that could be spent actively marketing the series in the proper way.”

Not to blow my own trumpet, but there’s something I want to point out. Dollverse is a fan site which shares a significant audience in both the US and the rest of the world. It’s acted as a portal to other sites over the years, and has provided a visible positive focus for the show. We’ve specifically focused on driving revenue back to Fox in terms of DVD sales and providing information on legally watching online and on air to make sure FOX’s revenue for the series is maximized. Or in other words, so the series can turn a profit. It’s a site with a webmaster who understands what a Nielsen C3 ratings is and other such boring topics, and who has tried to build a loyal core of a fan base around the show on the site. In other words, the people who run this site might well be an asset.

Dollverse has broken many big stories about the show – none of which were with the assistance of FOX’s publicity team, since they failed to supply any material and often ignored requests for comment. From set pictures to the first trailer of Dollhouse over a year ago, from interviews with the cast, crew and creators, we’ve tried to bring you something about Dollhouse which is unique and – dare I say it – interesting.

The Dollhouse cast and crew have been incredibly supportive during this time, with many of them involving themselves and being really quite sweet towards us. It’s been nothing but amazing, so thanks guys. I count a few Dollhouse people as personal friends now.

The FOX execs, too, have been great, with FOX exec Kevin Reilly thanking us “for the passion” not long ago.

And then there’s the publicity team, who say we are “doing a great disservice to the show” because they disagree with some of the things we – fans – have written on the site. FOX have also now highlighted an issue where earlier this year two stories we wrote across different dates had an incorrect detail. A suggestion: highlight the issue THEN, not months down the line?

There are some things from FOX we’ve seen over the time spent with Dollhouse, such as the announcement of shifting of the show to Friday night being made on Twitter which caused outright panic in the fandom – which caused almost all the interviews to then have a negative tinge to them. There’s the handling of the non-airing of "Epitaph One", which caused a great many people – a number one trending topic on Twitter for 4 hours, in fact – to believe the show had been cancelled, which could have been sorted out by issuing a press release in advance to clarify the "Epitaph One situation.

But we’d never demand FOX do these things differently. Because we can’t. Because we’re viewers. FOX can not also demand we don’t cover certain subjects on the site. We might only be fans, but we’re also viewers, and that gives us the power to be a fandom.

A publicity department’s job is – in part - to create a positive flow of information about a show so there’s a positive story to report. Not to suck the life out of it. Everybody has been supportive of our site, from the top down at FOX, until it reaches Publicity it appears… Which is an issue.

We have offered to have FOX give their feedback on any stories we publish, but had no response to this suggestion. If we reported things FOX had officially announced about the show, this site would be tiny and they wouldn’t have to bother with pesky calls from journalists about the show – but… well… As far as I’m concerned, if FOX’s publicity department are getting press queries from things we have written, that’s a high class ‘problem’ to have. For full disclosure, the email in full:

From: Todd Adair
CC: "Shari Rosenblum"
, "Cait Hood"
Subject: Dollhouse
Date: Wed, 20 May 2009 13:08:32 -0700

Once again you have incorrect information posted on your Dollverse site. FOX has not announced that it will be airing “Epitaph One” and for you to state on the site that it will air (and should be airing this summer) is false. This is yet another instance of you posting information that in no way helps the show. You also posted an incorrect airdate schedule for the remaining season one episode stated as fact that “Epitaph One” would air on May 15, then May 22 - which was never announced by the network - as we never licensed that episode for air.

Moving forward do not make any further announcements on your site regarding network scheduling unless you receive notification from the network that scheduling is confirmed - you are doing a great disservice to the show and your own site. Clearing up your misperceptions of the show has become very time consuming and frankly takes away valuable time that could be spent actively marketing the series in the proper way.

Todd

Todd Adair
Director, Publicity, FOX Broadcasting Co.