Dollhouse

Question: I just finished watching the next-to-last episode of Dollhouse, and I’m officially hooked. I have to admit being underwhelmed by the first few episodes, but recently this show has found its footing and begun to reveal a complex mythology. Alan Tudyk was simply fascinating tonight, and Alpha is taking things in a whole new direction. Anyway, my question is: Why isn’t Dollhouse succeeding? Is it the Friday night curse? The essential concept of the show? The poorly performing lead-ins? For that matter, why do creative "outside the box" shows seem to only attract a few devoted viewers? I always hear people complaining about how generic network TV shows are, but when something different comes along, it almost always quickly fails. (I’m referring to the four major networks, not smaller ones where shows like Battlestar Galactica and Mad Men can have low ratings but be considered successful.) It seems easy to blame the networks for lack of promotion, poor time slots, etc., and in the case of Dollhouse, too much interference with this first season. But as I look at the ratings sliding each week, it doesn’t seem like the network is completely to blame. Why is it that "quirky" and challenging shows never seem to become hits (and often don’t even get a full season)? And how did Heroes and Lost, which both had huge first seasons, manage to do it?—Lenore

Matt Roush: All good, and frequently asked, questions. The bottom line is that many people don’t watch TV to be challenged and tossed into mystifying, weird worlds or asked to decipher complex mythologies. I tend to enjoy these kinds of shows, but I understand why others would rather relax with TV than have to work at it. Dollhouse is even more problematic than most, because its premise of “consensual [or is it?] slavery,” as one character recently described it, is very off-putting, and there are precious few characters to root for. (As the show has progressed, I’ve found I’m more interested in Dollhouse stories than “the adventures of Echo,” which may be another setback.) I do take issue with the charge that Fox interfered with the show in its first season. Beyond scrapping the first episode, which seemed a joint decision of network and studio (and, ultimately, Joss Whedon himself), Fox has let the show do its thing, albeit dumping it on Fridays, where the audience was always going to be cult at best. (Although if it had aired on Mondays as originally planned, the likelihood is it would have been seen as an instant failure.) As for Lost and Heroes, those are very much exceptions to the rule, and I was surprised in both cases—and absolutely thrilled by Lost, which broke so many rules—when these shows broke out in their freshman seasons. The easiest way to explain their early success and pop-cultural impact is in the simplicity of their titles and initial concepts: wonderfully drawn characters lost on an island of mystery, and ordinary people gifted or cursed with extraordinary powers.