Dollhouse

There were two minor miracles in TV land recently. Firstly, FOX renewed “Dollhouse” against all odds, and then NBC followed suit by renewing “Chuck”. Both shows had large and passionate “save our show” fan campaigns, and watching these shows when they return might just change the TV landscape for smaller shows permanently. Full thoughts and details after the break….

Miracles rarely happen in the television landscape when it comes to low-rated cult shows on the major American broadcast networks. In a business where it is all about costs and profits, creativity plays second fiddle. What isn’t an instant success goes the way all living things go at some point: Six Feet Under.

Just go and check all the Internet message boards for short lived TV shows where their audiences grieve for their quick demises and lament how it feels like a personal attack against them made by the networks. Arrested Development, Firefly, Wonderfalls, Pushing Daisies, Carnivale and Dead Like Me are just a few of the shows that prematurely got the axe because they didn’t bring in the big bucks.

We know that television is not a charity, so it’s really pleasant when networks sometimes have a few surprises in store for us. The CBS show “Jericho” was one of these pleasant surprises. When the show was cancelled in May 2007, fans began sending nuts to CBS in reference to the show’s final episode, in which the main character referenced the Battle of the Bulge when he answered “NUTS” to a request to surrender. Three weeks later, over 8 million nuts had been shipped to CBS N.Y. and CBS L.A. offices totaling over 40,000 pounds. Nina Tassler, president of CBS, sent out a memo on the 6th of June 2007 saying they had ordered seven more episodes to air within the year. Jericho’s fans had done the impossible and brought back a show that appeared to be dead.

Unfortunately it didn’t pay off. The show wasn’t capable of gaining viewers on it’s return, and so it was just a short lived victory for the passionate “Jericho” fans. If more people had watched the show in that second year, it could have changed the television landscape for the better. Networks might have made more of a gamble on their bubble shows and given them a few more chances to succeed, as “Jericho” would have proven to them that sometimes patience can pay off in terms of building a solid viewership base.

Fear not though, as there is a new opportunity to let patience grow when it comes to bubble shows which do not bring in the audience that their networks want them to bring in. Last week when the networks announced their fall line-ups, two shows were renewed against all odds. In a move that surprised the entire industry FOX brought back a series called “Dollhouse” which stars Eliza Dushku, and was created by critically-acclaimed writer Joss Whedon, the man behind the cultural phenomenon that was “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”.

“Dollhouse”, a show about young people who have their personalities erased by a morally ambiguous organisation to be rented out to the rich, wealthy and highly connected , was highly anticipated before the show even premiered, but difficulties in finding the right tone for the first episodes, mediocre reviews from critics and a bad time-slot only led to disappointing ratings and an erosion in viewers during the run of the show. Even though the show grew itself a passionate audience and even though critics became more positive towards the show in the end, “Dollhouse” was believed to be dead. These days we know better. The show is far from dead. FOX renewed it for a second season, believing it might be capable of growing and trimming the show’s budget for the show to remain profitable, which makes “Dollhouse” the lowest rated show in twenty years to actually receive a renewal.

The critically-acclaimed NBC series “Chuck”, starring Zachary Levi, was similarly believed to be dead, but was also brought back in a surprising move. The show, which is about a twenty-something computer geek who inadvertently downloads critical government secrets into his brain and becomes a secret agent, was helped by a smart “save the show” campaign by its passionate audience. The campaign had fans go to Subway and buy sandwiches in support of the show on the Monday before the season finale aired, simply because there was an episode in which a Subway sandwich was featured prominently. Aiming directly at the show’s advertisers, the campaign was a success, not only in acknowledging the passion of the fans, but in how successful product placements can be, which is one of the reasons why NBC ended up giving the show another chance.

Both “Dollhouse” and “Chuck”, have a second chance at life and it’s up to viewers to decide whether the gamble that NBC and FOX make on both shows will pay off or whether it will disappoint just as much as the gamble that CBS made on “Jericho”. If “Dollhouse” and “Chuck” succeed at growing their audiences, it could help every other beloved, but low-rated show in the future. If they don’t succeed, television miracles like these two surprising renewals, will become even more rare. So, even if you don’t obsess about either show, it still might be worth a shot to actually sit down and watch them.

Maybe you will even start to see what their passionate fans see in them. And perhaps you will be intrigued by the philosophical themes that “Dollhouse” deals with: The struggle of identity. Can you be yourself in a world defined by others? Do we have a soul or are we just empty vessels programmed by society? If we have souls, can they be taken away from us? What is right and what is wrong? Does want equal need?

And maybe you will be enamored by the quirky humor in “Chuck” and realize that you don’t need to be Superman to be a hero.

It truly would be preferable for every TV viewer if “Chuck” and “Dollhouse” prove that even low-rated niche-shows can become bona-fide hits, if only with a little bit of patience on the network’s part. And if for some reason it doesn’t work out and you have to save both shows again, aim not only at the networks, but at the advertisers. Take pictures of yourself as a typical “Chuck”/”Dollhouse” fan having bought their products and send them to the advertisers. It might just help.