Yikes. I always worry about creative genius perfectionists when they are behind the scenes instead of characters in front of the camera, where I enjoy the drama more. But there appears to be some trouble with Joss Whedon’s and Fox’s Dollhouse.
If it wasn’t bad enough that in May, 8 months before the show was set to even air there was already a fan site dedicated to saving it from cancellation, then in July came reports that Whedon planned to completely reshoot the pilot episode. Now, less than two months later, news comes out that the show halted production last Thursday (September 4) and plans a three week hiatus with production resuming September 25.
According to TV Week, Whedon’s decision to direct two of the first three episodes distracted him from focusing on writing scripts. A Fox spokesman told TV week there is no problem and that because the show is premiering mid-season in January there is plenty of time.
“We have tremendous confidence in Joss and his team, and we wholeheartedly supported his desire to take some time to focus on upcoming scripts before resuming filming,” the 20th spokesman said. “It’s not often in television production that you have the luxury of extra time, but in this instance we did. And this is a show we all believe in and we want to give it every opportunity to succeed,” said the Fox spokesman, but TV Week goes on to paint a picture of some concern among executives at Fox.
I agree that the shutdown doesn’t look good.
That said, your “previous indications” don’t really make sense. Do crazy fans setting up a “save show X” site (especially considering that the producer’s previous effort was a fan favorite that was cancelled quickly) really indicate that a show is troubled? And they didn’t “completely re-shoot the pilot episode” of “Dollhouse” – they moved the pilot to second and shot a new first episode. (Minor side annoyance: not all pilots are first episodes, and not all first episodes are pilots.)
In other words, instead of three bad signs for this show there’s… one.
Jason, first I agree that the antics of crazy fans can’t really be considered a strike against the show in any way. But I thought it was funny. I do however count completely reshooting the pilot as a strike against it, at least from a bean-counting perspective. So thats…two.
If Fox cancels Dollhouse, I WILL NEVER WATCH ANOTHER SHOW ON FOX AGAIN, EVER!
This show worries me. Joss Whedon with too much freedom is hardly a mainstream writer. His shows, minus the first 3 seasons of buffy, are just a too geeky to catch fire to a mass audience. Remember, he writes x-men comics and web musicals. Hardly mainstream fare.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117992021.html?categoryid=14&cs=1
Joss Whedon is resetting his “Dollhouse.”
20th Century Fox TV shut down production on the midseason Fox show on Friday, and plans to resume shooting on Sept. 25.
Whedon had been busy directing two of the first three segs of “Dollhouse,” which kept him out of the writers’ room. As a result, the studio, network and Whedon agreed that the show’s fourth script needed work. Whedon also requested the production reprieve to get ahead on the show’s next few scripts.
Because the show doesn’t bow until midseason, the shutdown won’t affect “Dollhouse’s” schedule.
Whedon earlier this summer decided to shoot a new series opener and turn the “Dollhouse” pilot into the show’s second episode.
Also at 20th, the studio recently temporarily shut down another midseason Fox entry, “24,” in order to do a similar round of script tweaks.
This particular show has always struck me as conceptually troubled. That Joss Whedon is now having all this trouble with the episode is hardly surprising.
But look on the bright side, Robert and Bill… If either 24 or Dollhouse implode, such that Fox can’t air either or both of those shows in its January season, doesn’t that make it all the more likely that they’ll order the last 9 episodes of Terminator?
I have every confidence in Joss and Co. His shows tend to appeal to a geeky audience but that is what FOX is going for this year. Terminator and Fringe amonge the shows with massive geek appeal.
If it doesn’t hurt production why should it hurt us? If he needs time he needs time.
Since Fox is after the geeks, then they must realize that those types of shows will probably not be ratings giants. They have a very specialized audience albeit a very faithful one. If we keep that in prospective, maybe we can all breathe a bit easier about Terminator, Fringe, and Dollhouse ratings, especially since the first two seemed to do when demographically as opposed to in overall viewers.
Dollhouse = Bionic Woman redux
I saw Joss Whedon kill a man in Utah!