Dollhouse ----or Aw, Geez....
 

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/show...-returns-.html

I don't know whether this is a good thing or not...

Maybe it's a little too late at night, but I don't even understand the premise. Chalkboards? Really? I love Eliza Dushku but I'm not sure how this one is gonna play out ...

Here's Ausiello's take on it, if anyone's interested.

http://http://community.tvguide.com/blog-entry/TVGuide-Editors-Blog/Ausiello-Report/Eliza-Dushku-Lures/800026169

And here's Kristin's take on it.

I'm ambivalent. I get the metaphor and I do love the worlds that Whedon creates. But doesn't this sound like a retelling of the River story? Anyway, Kristin's conversation with them makes the concept a bit clearer.

Sounds... interesting. Essentially characters that can change at the click of a button. I hope there are some normal people in it to carry the emotional charge of the show - or that the chalkboards begin to retain some kind of memory/personality trait, otherwise I can't see myself caring for the show on a long term basis.

I'm thinking Quantum Leap. New episode, new character, new situation, same actress. Fine for an individual episode, but will there be anything to keep you hooked?

I will be passing on anything touched by Whedon and Minear. I just can't trust them to tell a decent story nor do I like the way they treat their employees.

Okay, now that I'm through laughing about the "Joss is the ultimate male feminist writer" jazz -- because seriously, that jig is well and truly up -- I'll say only that it may be interesting to see whether this project can break through Whedon's built-in audience cap, i.e. whether he and Dushku can draw anyone besides the 4.5 million viewers who will tune in for any Whedonprodukt. What people and especially Whedonkinder tend to forget about Firefly is the reason it was canceled, which was that it was the lowest-rated scripted show, of any genre, on FOX during its run (and very nearly the lowest-rated show, period). Even the last seven episodes of the already canceled Futurama, burned off unceremoniously all over the schedule and sometimes with as little as 36 hours' notice before an airing, got better ratings on average. It seems to me that Joe has to break that particular glass ceiling before he can make a viable show outside a niche network. Will Dollhouse do it? Maybe.

Which reminds me of this quote I read in one of his recent interviews, which made me snort tea out my nose:

And you can go onto the Internet and read three people discussing you endlessly and think "Oh my god, I have the biggest fan base in the world!" [Laughs] And then your movie opens and you find out what’s really going on. [Laughs]

Also, yeah. Eliza's comment about Joss geting women" gave me my first eyeroll of the day.

And this article* irritated me on principle. Um, hello, where's Cordy?

* http://a href=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-whedongirls-pg,1,6734599.photogallery?coll=la-headlines-entnews
(Sorry about the link - I can't get Edit to let me add it in correctly.)

Somewhere doing something better with her time than posing with Joss?

Eh. If Buffy, River and Fred are the quintessential Whedon Women...he just has a very strange archetype that he puts forth as the protagonist woman. His ideal of this put upon little flower is just off putting to me. You'll notice that the picture of Eliza was as "Echo", not "Faith". And you didn't see Morena Baccarin's prostitute in there anywhere or even Jewel Staite....

Well on the brightside, if ED has producing creds she'll be able to call some shots. I'll be interested to see how the ulitmate feminist writer deals with having a woman call the shots. Or to be honest, having anyone pull rank on him.

I'll most likely pass, ED isn't enough of a draw for me to watch TV in general, add in JW and TM and I'm seriously turned-off.

It sounds like it's either going to be great for 2-3 seasons until Whedon gets bored again, or it's going to be really, really, bad.

Of course, with Minear on board, it may not get past six episodes or so.

I thought I must have imagined reading that! Dushku really said it?!

I look forward to watching this while it lasts, but I doubt it will last for long. I guess Tim Minear is going to keep going to the well at FOX until he manages to work on a show that gets axed during the first commercial break.

It is driving me nuts here because I KNOW I have read this premise before. A friend of mine thinks it was a short story that might have been published in Omni. We were wracking our brains because we both know we have seen this idea before. Either way, from the looks of it, just more recycling of someone else's ideas. (Forever Knight, Dark Shadows, Kindred even.)

This sort of premise would work for a movie maybe but I don't see it lasting as a real show. Minear seems to be kiss of death lately and this is Fox. I am sure when it is cancelled, there will be all sorts of uproar about Fox once more not recognizing Whedon's "talent" or some other kind of wank.

I think ED is sex on a stick but that isn't enough for me to watch this.

ETA: Does anyone have a link to the BBC Radio show where Whedon says he never wants to work with Fox again? It was maybe a year ago? Maybe longer. I downloaded it and lost it when my HD crashed. My googlefu is not working today. All I have to say about that, is that crow must be mighty tasty.

I for one am excited about the new show. I'm a Joss fan (and TM for that matter, I absolutely adored the Darla storyline). I think Joss created three of the most interesting shows in television history. I love the epic nature of the shows - they were imaginative, had a superior standard of writing with interesting characters and endless twists. Yes, aspects of the shows disappointed - particularly the Cordy saga - but I'd still pitch an hour of Angel, Buffy or Firefly against some of the top shows on tv and they could hold their own on originality and creativity. There is a reason why we are all still talking about a show that wrapped a few years ago and Joss (irritating as he may sound in interviews!) is a huge part of that reason. I'll definitely tune into the new show and keep my fingers crossed for some C/A quality chemistry.

I dunno...plot sounds kind of weak to me...but then again, at first I was also miffed out by the whole Chosen One/Vampire with a soul thing...I'll look out for it. It'll probably come in an year or two on Star World.