Dollhouse

Joss Whedon Gives An Inside Look At ’Dollhouse’

Joss Whedon is back on television. This Friday, his new show Dollhouse premiers on Fox. Eliza Dushku plays an active who is implanted with a new personality each week, then wiped blank after each mission. Seems like a lot of trouble when they could just hire a different expert every week.

"The point of the show is that an active or a doll is just the very best at anything that they do," Whedon said. "They have been conditioned to be exactly whatever it is that they need to be, and they have no other agenda."

The star is Echo, Dushku’s character, with some support from Sierra, played by Dichen Lachman. The Dollhouse is not all hot girls though.

"We will definitely see males as well. One of the things we want to say is everybody’s fantasy or somebody’s need is different, so when you get into the later episodes it’s pretty much evenly men and women, and also a few different ages, different body types, stuff like that."

The dolls take their work seriously, so Dollhouse goes without the usual irreverent humor of Whedon’s previous series, Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Firefly.

"I’ve lost my sense of humor entirely in the last eight years," Whedon joked. "It’s sad really. Apparently, I was a funny guy. This show is much more straight-ahead dramatic than what we’ve done before. It has less opportunities to be totally silly. However, it’s me we’re talking about and my staff and these actors, who are all actually really good comedians as well as everything else. We can’t fight the funny. The funny is going to win, partially because it makes it more diverting and partially because I believe that’s how people, articulate people, react to difficult situations."