Dollhouse Update

Well, a lot has happened over the past few years with respect to television. Ratings in general are on a perpetual spiral downward, but Dollhouse blew them all out of the water in comparison by scoring abysmal ratings (finale was 1.0 share), even lower than Firefly, which you remember was promptly canceled. Thus, everyone was expecting the worst for Dollhouse. Much to everyone’s surprise, the show was retained for another season. It turns out that angus63’s dire predictions of generals fighting the last war are not coming to pass for a few reasons:

1. Joss Whedon. Whedonesque is ecstatic about Joss’s ability to deliver in a second season, citing Buffy and Angel as the prime examples.  It seems that Fox is aware of this as well and is hoping for a more solid and coherent show.

2. Kevin Reilly. The president of Fox Broadcasting has a reputation for nurturing promising shows (see: The Office). Whedon has stated that the whole team at Fox has changed from the ones that destroyed Firefly, and it seems to be true: Whedon’s posts state that Fox is behind the show and gets the premise.

3. The importance of new media.  Perhaps due to being placed on the Friday night slot, Dolhouse didn’t perform as well by the Neilson ratings as indicative of its popularity. DVR, Hulu, and iTunes views undoubtedly influenced the decision, convincing the execs that the show has avant-garde viewers watching in nontraditional fashions. Now it’s up to broadcasters to monetize that population.

4. All in the family (acknowledgements to NickC).  Since Whedon (in the form of Mutant Enemy) and 20th Century Fox are also producers, Fox Broadcasting could ask them internally to reduce the show’s price tag and shoulder a larger share of production costs.

Despite the hope injected by the renewal, I feel that Whedon still has to tighten up the plot to attract viewers. Whedonesque speculates on why the show is not succeeding. If you ask me, it’s due to a lack of relatable characters. There is no sense of family or any romance, as was in all of Whedon’s previous forays into TV. Instead, all the characters put up barriers, making it difficult to become emotionally attached to anyone. Also, the fact that the show focuses on the gray areas between solid moral boundaries of technology, regular viewers lack a “hero” or a “villain” to identify with and root against. Each character on the show is complex and motivated by different priorities, which makes for an intriguing novel but a dense show (see Ice and Fire).