Dollhouse

Question: I’ve been a longtime fan of Joss Whedon and frequently visit the many boards dedicated to his shows. I am finding with greater frequency links and discussions of stories about fans and their fears for his upcoming show on Fox called Dollhouse. If one was to believe the few that get quoted in many of these articles, one would think the entire fandom was waiting for the axe to fall 15 minutes into the airing of the first episode. I’m finding the opposite to be true. Most are actually tired of hearing others a panic about the fate of a show they haven’t seen yet. (I know I am.) In this day, it seems perception is everything, and I for one would think it a shame for people to not bother to tune in because they’ve been reading for months that not even the fans have faith that the show will last more than a few episodes. My question is, do you think maybe the articles written claiming the entire fandom is resigned to lose another show too soon are having a negative impact on the potential for Dollhouse to succeed? — HGP

Matt Roush: I don’t even know how to respond to this sort of twisted fan logic, that fans are upset because fans are concerned that fans are already giving up on a show that is still months away from premiering. I think fans should relax. It is almost always a mistake to judge a show by its early buzz, and Dollhouse suffers for having been in the pipeline a long while and having undergone a fair amount of widely reported retooling. There’s reason to be skeptical (given the history with Firefly) that Fox may not live up to its end of the bargain, but look how supportive the network has been to Fringe so far, a show that has been exhibiting its growing pains on air, which is possibly even more perilous than what Dollhouse is currently experiencing. In a recent interview with Television Week, the heads of the studio that produces Dollhouse were asked about the status of the show, and 20th co-chair Dana Walden admitted, "The midseason opportunity is a blessing and curse. It’s a blessing because you have more time. And it’s a curse because you have more time. There’s a greater level of scrutiny. There is a greater level of intrusion from executives. The bar just keeps being raised because there’s no urgency to put the show on the air. ? Being stuck in that limbo with a lot of well-intentioned executives is very difficult for a creator like Joss." She added that the first two episodes "are quite good. The third episode is as compelling a script as I’ve ever read." So while there’s no doubt that Dollhouse is a risk for the studio and the network, everyone involved desperately wants to be in business with Joss, and my advice is to let them roll the dice without getting overly agitated in advance.