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Dollhouse
Ditto the huge fan ... and at this point, I will take anything by Joss. I like Dollhouse. It always takes a few episodes to get a true feel for a show, but I'm liking it so far. I see the potential anyways. I'm kind of missing the humor, but I'm sure it will show up. I do miss Firefly and hope this show doesn't go south so fast.
After 2 episodes I am really hooked.. though I was never a fan of Buffy. Angel I did like but wasn't my favorite show.But I am a huge fan of the actress.. and did watch her on buffy a time or two so that's what ultimately brought me to watching Dollhouse. And so far I really like the storyline.
I'm relieved to hear someone likes it too! I have only heard mixed feelings and I'm even more worried that they'll cancel it! I hope the network gives it a decent chance. It's crazy how fast they were cancelling some of the new fall shows.
I think one of the reasons I'm feeling cautious is that I read an article in Rolling Stone where Whedon seemed very cool toward the series -- and it hadn't even started yet! -- which made me wonder if he was putting the love into it.Dollhouse just doesn't come across as passionate as Dr. Horrible.
I'm so glad someone started a Dollhouse thread!!!I have been reading all the press I could about this show leading up to the premiere.
Here is what I have heard so far. Basically, the first six episodes or so are "Fox's vision" of what they want for the show. Then after that, it starts to get a little bit more into what Joss Whedon actually wanted to do with the show. The worry is that it won't last through those first six episodes. It was given a really crappy night (just like Firefly) and I've heard conflicting reports about ratings. And it doesn't seem like Fox is promoting it as much as they should.
But I have also read that Fox understands the mistake they made with Firefly and have committed to not jumping the gun, and giving Dollhouse some time to grow and build a fan base.
As for my own opinion: I really liked the first episode, but the second fell flat for me. I'm not a fan of Eliza Dushku, and while I was okay with her in ep 1, she bugged me in ep 2.
But it looks like they're starting to introduce some real storyline, what this guy "Alpha" and all, so that's cool. And I LOVED Tahmoh Pennikett on Battlestar Galactica, so it's fun to see him on another show.
I'm glad someone started a Dollhouse thread too.I've seen the first episode. I liked the idea, it just needs the spark. I'll have to watch the second episode to get more of a feel.
The thing about Echo/Eliza is that she'll never be the same "person" twice. I think that might get to me. I like her as an actress, but I'm not sure how we can like her as Echo because she's a blank slate. It will be the other characters that will have to pull the story along and maybe who Echo was before they wiped her.
I like the fact that she will never be the same person twice.It leaves so much open for creativity for the show.
True, Melissa, though I think part of what the show is about will be Echo starting to remember who she is. We already saw bits of that in the last episode. So I think she'll start to take on a bit of a personality.Though it would be easier to like Echo if Eliza was a better actress... (sorry, I know some of you guys like her, but she bugs me.)
Yeah, the 'reset' on the character each week could be problematic, although I think Nichole's right, that we'll see more personality sticking as the story goes on. Right now, I like Langdon the handler and Agent Ballard best, and they're both outsiders.I love action and ass-kicking as much as the next girl, but my fave episode of Firefly was Out of Gas where the characters are shown joining the crew. Although that episode was framed with a bit of action, it was getting to know the characters that mattered.
"Yeah, the 'reset' on the character each week could be problematic, although I think Nichole's right, that we'll see more personality sticking as the story goes on."Did you catch the glimmer of memory at the end of last week's episode. I think as it goes on, Echo is going to keep more and more of herself as her "treatments" begin to fail. I love the series so far, most especially the relationship between Echo and her handler. That's going to turn into something juicy (not sexual, but emotional) with lots of potential for betrayal of trust, use of him against her or vice versa, etc.
I'm watching the show, but this is just so-so. Just seems to me to be more in the "spy" thing. And I'm wanting more with wacky. Like Horrible or Buffy. Where you really get some great stuff going on. Programmable People is a little too 1984 for me to stomach. Downright creepy. I'm watching it, and enjoying it... but it just is missing something for me. Luckily it does have the Joss panache. :) Just with so many great scifi shows having been ripped from the screen, I'm just feeling a little melancholy. *SIGH*
Sometimes I think maybe I expect my favorite creators to give me "more of the same, but different" without allowing them to explore. Like Lady Ozma, I wanted that bang-bang clever that I've come to expect from Whedonworlds.Although, there was that one line where Langdon asks Echo "Do you know how to use a gun?" and she says, "Four brothers, none of them Democrats" which made me think, ah, there's Joss :)
I did love that Four Bros, none of them democrats was an awesome line. That's the Joss we all know and love. :) I don't know, I guess my thing is this barely makes it on the scifi radar. Really it's just got it cause they are programmable people. At least Buffy had demons and witches. I like something I can't see my gov't doing. And yes, I have such little respect for our gov't that I figure they probably can program people if they felt like it. They probably do. I mean you gotta get super spies somehow.
I do like Dushku. I think that Fox has royally scrwed her a time or two. Just like Joss. Why those two decided possibly get foxed yet again is beyond me. But, I'll take what i can get. Guess I'm just as guilty.
I dunno, I'm just finding myself wanting right now for tv. Seems like we'd gotten a ton of great stuff and then the networks ate the good shows. Without giving a good bulk of them a chance. The pickings are pretty slim these days.
Ozma,I agree - this just seems like another "adventure of the week" spy-type show. There's not much sci-fi or paranormal in it, and so far I'm not sensing any of Joss's flavor in it. It's been pretty bland so far; there's nothing about it that jumps out and says "this is something special."
Even the humor they've tried to put in it, like with the guy who does the imprinting (what's his name? Tyler? Tucker? Topher? I dunno...) just kind of seems like it's trying too hard and is a little cliche; it doesn't feel fresh or clever, which is what I would have hoped for from Joss and his writers.
I will definitely keep watching to see where it goes, unless it gets obvious that it's not going to get any better. But I have faith in Joss. :)
I think the Joss-dom goes into the story. I mean we're seeing some backstory that's pretty in depth. That seems like a major Joss thing. He never has a show just start. He's got these crazy detailed backgrounds for every single person on his shows. This definitely has shown signs of that. But yeah, adventure of the week spy type show. Character morphs into what she needs to be for the spy thing, there's adventure... I dunno. Ep 2 was disappointing. I mean eventually there'd be the cliche man-hunt show, maybe, but I didn't think they'd do it in episode 2. I'd kinda hoped that Joss was more creative than that.
I think the previous comment about "Fox's vision" might be something to keep in mind. I mean let's face it, they are not the brightest bulbs. Need I really say "Firefly"????? They totally mucked up the order making it crazy.
Anyone agree that maybe we should give this through the first half of the season? Try to get past the Foxing of the show to see what Joss might have in mind?
That's what I'm planning on/hoping for, Ozma, but I worry that Fox will get antsy and won't give it that long. They say they plan to give it a chance, but I don't know if I trust them...
"They" always say that. I don't trust them. Not any further than I can throw them. They Fox things too much. Scifi Hammers things too much. I can go on and on. Forget it. I'll give it a whirl until I see that either Joss has obviously screwed up or Fox has obviously screwed it up.
I've been really intrigued by the buzz about Dr. Horrible, not just as a show, but as a new business model. Apparently, people (me too!) were willing to pay, which means there could be a new episode, or spinoff, or something.How about you all? Are you willing to trade production values for good story?
I'm loving Dr. Horrible but then I adore Nathan Fillion and will follow him anywhere because of "Firefly." Yes, I think as more people watch tv shows on their iPods and computers, we'll see more programs like Dr. Horrible.Indie films without a huge budget can be amazingly good stories because you don't need big bucks to tell a good story. Same goes for publishing. But just as you need a good editor for a great film, you need a good editor for a great book.
I love Joss too but I'd rather rewatch Firefly. I'll stick with Dollhouse, see if it gets better, which it has, marginally.It's just not clicking right away and I think that's because Echo literally has no personality and that makes it hard to connect with her. I typically love Reed Diamond but I know he won't be around long because he's not a series regular. And I really hate Olivia Williams character. Lila retread. I liked Lila much better.
I too loved Dr. Horrible, and paid the money to buy it on iTunes.Joss has said he wants to do a sequel, but said some really cryptic thing about maybe not using the same media for it...
Also, both he and Nathan Fillion are very busy doing other things so it's something that wouldn't get done for a long time.
Personally I didn't think the quality was that bad. But I watch several internet shows like Dr Horrible.If you aren't watching The Guild, you are missing out. (It has the love interest from Dr Horrible as the lead character).
Another is Mr Deity. Seriously, that one is so smart and so awesome. You gotta watch it. A little sacrilegious, but in a good way. In the name of the Deity, The Boy, and Larry... Sanctification!
I think more and more these web shows are picking up steam. Which is good. I still remember when I watched Tiki Bar TV like back in what, 2004? Amazingly good considering it was filmed in some dude's basement. :)
Me too!!!! I game a lot and I've been in guild leadership and I've had local guild friends and non local guild friends and so I just see these episodes and die laughing. HAHA It's fantastic! :) I think there's been a couple new eps, I am a little behind. Since they went over to that MSN thing, I don't keep up as well. GRRR. I'm glad they got picked up but grrr.
Nichole wrote: "Ozma,I agree - this just seems like another "adventure of the week" spy-type show..."
This is what I thought too! It reminded me of Alias... this girl (Eliza Dushku) gets (well, is programmed) to be a different person every week - just like Jennifer Garner in Alias. Obviously, the stories are different, but that is what it reminded me of.
I've never really had an opinion on Eliza Dushku before, but I have to say that I'm not impressed with her on this show. She's just not that great of an actress or there is a spark missing or something.
Love Tahmoh Pennikett from Battlestar Galactica, but he's not enough to keep me watching this show.
I think that Fox has done a pretty good job of promoting Dollhouse. It seems that whenever we are watching something (House, 24, Bones, etc) that there is at least one of those commercials with Summer Glau from SCC: Terminator and Dushka.
We gave up after two episodes and stopped the DVR from recording new episodes. It just didn't engage either of us - don't get me wrong, my husband though Dushka was hot - and I didn't want to keep forcing myself to watch in the hopes that it would turn in to a new Firefly.
Theresa - I think it was the show. It's just been rocky IMHO. They somehow missed the hook and it plays out that the entire cast seems to know this. Or maybe we'll all find out we're starting out on episode 5 or something because FOX didn't learn ANYTHING from Firefly. I keep waiting for an episode that clicks and makes me go "WTH THIS shoulda been the pilot" like when I watched Firefly and they finally showed the pilot at the end of the series.And wow... that goes to show just how BAD battlesmut galactica is... I had to google Tahmoh Pennikett to find out who he was and still didn't recognize him so went to IMDB and found out he was the guy who played Helo. I really should stop recording BSG since I can't find the strength to watch this season at all it's gotten even worse than the bad beginning. At least in the beginning it was fun to mock. *SIGH*
This last episode was interesting. Did you guys catch that both Sierra and Echo seem to not be getting completely wiped or some such? Interesting!!! Will be interesting to see what happens next.
Lady Ozma,I stopped watching Battlestar Galactica sometime last season. My husband hates BSG and would throw a fit every time I tried to watch my DVR'd episodes. It got to the point where I was 5 or 6 behind and I finally just decided that I'd rent the DVDs after the show is over and watch them sometime when my husband was working and I had a day off.
Why didn't you watch the DVR while he was working and you had the day off? ROFL. Seriously... I enjoyed the first season. It was good for mocking big time. But it just kept going downhill. Somewhere along the way last season I lost even the desire to do that.
A couple weeks ago I missed an episode on my DVR to record a much better psych and monk. I didn't even care. I have three other episodes on my DVR and no desire to even watch them.
Pretty sad since I LOVE the BSG universe. Or should I say the REAL BSG universe. They really shoulda just kept it Mormons in Space. Was way better.
I didn't watch it when I had a day off because by the time I had five of them on my DVR, I still hadn't had a day off where he wasn't off too. In general, if I take a day off work, it is because we are going out of town or something. :)I stopped enjoying it sometime after the Caprica occupation. It just got SO depressing and then Jamie Bamber got fat (even if it was fake), Starbuck went even crazier than usual. I don't know... I just got tired of the constant depressing episodes. I can actually pinpoint a lot of my disillusionment with the series starting around the time of the Pegasus and what they were doing and condoning to be done to Six's character on that ship. Then the thing with Eight and that despicable bad guy. I know it is supposed to be a gritty story, but I was disgusted.
Oh honey, you didn't get into the fun. Like this:Six is really called: Sex the SixBot
Starbuck is really called: Buck-ette (somewhere there's a nasty limerick so with her name on it)
HEHE
I think the biggest problem is they took the wrong angle. This woulda been more fun if they just told the story from the cylon side. HEHEHE
Speaking of Nathan Fillion --I'm liking CASTLE. Not paranormal at all, but a really good version of the amateur-helping-cops thing. The woman who plays the cop, Stana Katic, plays the character right and not too flip/snide, and Castle is a single father who's a writer that they actually show writing (and thinking about things like a writer).
I completely forgot about Castle. I'm not a huge fan of amateur sleuth stories but I might make an exception for Captain Tight Pants :) And since I'm getting high speed on Thursday (yay!) I would even be able to watch back episodes.
My husband and I don't always agree on TV, but Dollhouse, Castle, and Better Off Ted are all working for us this season. He made a comment that Better Off Ted is what Eureka wanted to be - very odd humor. I don't know if I agree with that, but Ted is really funny in a demented way.
Finally, finally Dollhouse starts to get good. It was like the first coupla weeks were for the execs at Fox and now Joss can do what Joss does best. I thought last week's episode, where Mel's true nature is revealed was just mind-blowing. Keep 'em coming!
Next week is "The Awakening." I'm curious how the dolls can figure it all out... and then still continue the show. Should be interesting.
This Dollhouse was incredible! And finally we got to see some Joss humour.Is anyone else now shipping DeWitt/Topher? :D
loved the last episode and can not wait until the next one. it will be so much fun. i really hope they pick it up for another season.
I like it, but not as much as i liked tru calling. i want eliza dusku (sp?) to suceed i really like her.
Angela wrote: "I like it, but not as much as i liked tru calling. i want eliza dusku (sp?) to suceed i really like her."
I know!! i loved Tru Calling. I was so mad when they canceled it. They always do that with with shows like this. hopefully they won't cancel dollhouse too.
I'm so glad to hear it's getting better.I saw the first two eps and started the third, and couldn't get past the first 10 minutes. Eliza Dushku just bugs me. But it sounds like you guys think the show is getting good, so maybe I'll try to suffer through her. Now that Galactica is over I have to get my Tahmoh Penikett fix somewhere...
I really think that the show has hit its stride! It's so great! I'm really looking forward to friday!!! I can't wait to see the awakening!!!!
Yeah! I'm going to be done with copy edits, so I'm going to make myself a big plate of cookies and I'm going to watch me some Joss. Then I'm going to read my Prism judging books all night. Reveling in great, unique, paranormally stories for hours on end = Happy sigh.
The Awakening was a great chapter in the story. Nice twistings. Good deepening of character. I'm trusting the writers again.




Okay, we're only two episodes in, and I heard there were production clashes, but still, I'm not seeing the sparkle. The scifi touch is there, along with the kick-ass heroine, and the relationship between Echo and her handler is nice, and yet...
I don't know, am I being hasty and judgemental? Is it so wrong to want Firefly back so badly?