Dollhouse

Fox reveals that if the show continues with the same numbers, there’s a good chance it will be picked up for a full season.

As far as creatively, Reilly says that early on last season, Whedon was certainly struggling trying to find the voice of the show, but commends the creator in figuring out a way to make DOLLHOUSE work.

“I don’t think he was having any fun and we were a big part of that, and ultimately once he hit his stride, I don’t think we spoke,” says Reilly. “It was an ambitious show. It wasn’t a straight ahead linear concept. I felt that struggle and challenged him on some things and he completely engaged on it, gave it thought and attempted to address it. I think it did very well and it never came down to ‘you’re trying to make me do a show I don’t want to do.’ It never came to that place. I can’t say enough good things about him.”

As for the Friday time slot, Reilly says the low expectations on Friday night also factored into the second season renewal.

“There’s less pressure on it and when we told Joss what we were going to do, ‘we can give you better time slots, but you’re going to be under a lot of pressure’ I believe what he said to me, ‘I’m actually comfortable staying on, rather than having a bigger rating and the pressure of not being able to see the order through,’” adds Reilly.

That said, Reilly says he would be happy with the same numbers from last year to give him confidence to order the back nine and perhaps even a third season.

"We want the same stability we had last year," says Reilly. "The same ratings would be just fine. We’re looking at the cume as well. I’d like to see it continue its creative consistency, which I believe it will and I want to see a show we can lock in to week in and week out."

There was concern from the fan community that Fox not airing the “Epitaph One” episode was a sign the show was doomed, but Reilly notes it was financial more than anything.

“They had an extra episode to round out their order on the DVD and it’s an extra license fee last year we didn’t want to pay,” reveals Reilly.

And finally, with the show back for Season 2, budget cuts were inevitable which Reilly says won’t affect the overall production.

“They had to trim the budget a bit,” says Reilly. “I don’t think it will change anything. Joss is an outstanding producer. He knows how to do this. He’s way ahead of it. It comes under the heading of smart producing. This is not a guy who is going to say ‘I’m going to do a lesser show’ and the audience is going to say ‘Joss, what have you done?’ It’s not incumbent on him to make the same show efficiently.”

JOSS WHEDON SAYS EPITAPH ONE WILL HAVE AN IMPACT ON SEASON TWO

LOCATION: Pasadena, CA

THE SKINNY: While DOLLHOUSE had a rocky first season creatively, Fox Entertainment President Kevin Reilly says that going into its second year, the show is in even better shape.

“Joss will keep doing what he’s doing,” says Reilly at today’s Fox TCA Press Tour. “That’s the beauty of Joss. Joss was pretty open about the hiccups. He started finding the show in the second half of the year. The fact that he found that, it’s going to be much smoother sailing this year.”

In terms of the less than stellar Friday night ratings, Reilly says the deciding factor in picking up the show, was the devotion of the fans.

“The fans were there every week and that factored in,” says Reilly. “They nurtured the show and stuck with it — a lot of fans [of other show] wouldn’t. They gave us a consistent rating and we felt it was enough of a base to give it another shot.”

As far as creatively, Reilly says that early on last season, Whedon was certainly struggling trying to find the voice of the show, but commends the creator in figuring out a way to make DOLLHOUSE work.

“I don’t think he was having any fun and we were a big part of that, and ultimately once he hit his stride, I don’t think we spoke,” says Reilly. “It was an ambitious show. It wasn’t a straight ahead linear concept. I felt that struggle and challenged him on some things and he completely engaged on it, gave it thought and attempted to address it. I think it did very well and it never came down to ‘you’re trying to make me do a show I don’t want to do.’ It never came to that place. I can’t say enough good things about him.”

As for the Friday time slot, Reilly says the low expectations on Friday night also factored into the second season renewal.

“There’s less pressure on it and when we told Joss what we were going to do, ‘we can give you better time slots, but you’re going to be under a lot of pressure’ I believe what he said to me, ‘I’m actually comfortable staying on, rather than having a bigger rating and the pressure of not being able to see the order through,’” adds Reilly.