I’ve received a few e-mails today and I’m sure people have posted links in the comments to a story that FOX is considering renewing Dollhouse. Ah, the Internet, where speculation runs rampant. So let me add my $.02 of speculation.
Until announcements are made, of course that is fair speculation, but these kind of stories seem to suggest that while the ratings are worse than even FOX expected them to be on Friday nights, that FOX is mesmerized by the critical acclaim for recent episodes. Simply put, that’s complete BS.
While it’s true the vaunted sixth episode was generally well-received by critics, it did absolutely nothing for the show’s ratings. And anecdotally, critical reception of the two episodes that followed has been mixed. But it’s irrelevant really. Here’s the deal: the show won’t be back if it keeps pulling 1.4 overnight ratings among adults 18-49. FOX will not consider renewing it with those numbers. I think it needs to get to a 1.6, and probably a 1.7 for FOX to even consider bringing it back for a second season.
While it’s definitely possible the show could turn the ratings around and improve them, it isn’t very probable. The trend has been down since the premiere and while things have flattened out the last couple of weeks, the trend hasn’t really been reversed.
Some are suggesting that things will improve when Dollhouse has Prison Break as a lead-in. I’m not thinking there will be much improvement, and certainly not in the range of 15%-20% improvement to the 18-49 ratings that seem necessary at a minimum to keep the show afloat.
Will FOX keep an open mind and see what happens? I certainly think that is likely. But I doubt that FOX execs are truly any more optimistic than I am that it will actually happen. And I’ve seen nothing to indicate, “hey, we believe in this show and are going to spend a couple extra million to promote it!”
FOX is simply playing it in a fashion where if it does miraculously turn around they, like the fans, can be ecstatic, and if it doesn’t it is well positioned to say, “Hey, we tried, it didn’t work.”
UPDATE: from our friend, “Travis Yanan” who posted in the comments:
FYI, Friday’s episode pulled a 1.5 in finals.
A 1/10th of a ratings point improvement over the prior week isn’t necessarily a trend, but up is up, and 1.5 is closer to 1.7 than 1.4 is!
My real issue with Dollhouse’s ratings going forward is that Prison Break is somehow going to be the magical missing piece of the puzzle and improve things. I’m prepared to be proved wrong on this but unless Fox is really going to promote the return of Prison Break (and I’m not sure why they would since it has absolutely been shipped to Friday’s to die) I don’t really see the show being a drastic improvement on the current Terminator lead-in.
At best I think Prison Break gets maybe a tenth or two higher than Terminator on Friday, which is pretty much what it was doing on Monday I think. The question then becomes does that audience stick around for Dollhouse or does Prison Break pull better numbers than Dollhouse? I suspect Prison Break will like pull better numbers, which really would be the final nail in the coffin for Dollhouse.
Having said that at the risk of fuelling some kind of new Dollhouse conspiracy theory let me say this – I think it’s a shame that Fox couldn’t line the sixth episode of Dollhouse up with the return of Prison Break. Had they been able to promote those as a package deal the numbers might have gone up a little.
On top of that Dollhouse really needs to be able to stand on its own feet at this point and prove that it has a decent audience that Fox can invest in. And Robert I disagree with you, I think now its dropped this low the show needs to rebound higher than a 1.6 or 7.
Have to agree. The last two episodes have been relatively weak compared to episode six. Episode seven damaged the characterization by trying to have DeWitt seem FUNNY, which was ridiculous. Episode eight was muddled, the point it was trying to make was unclear at best.
A new show needs continuous momentum, a rapid pace and a clear sense of identity. Dollhouse is losing that.
I tend to agree with Alex’s point in other threads that the character of Echo is not working as a focus of the show. Not only is she difficult to relate to, but her influence is split with the FBI agent’s focus. The POV of the show is not clear.
I actually sort of enjoyed last Friday’s Dollhouse, it was nice seeing the “real” dolls, but since they forgot everything, the whole episode was pointless. It’s hard to get to into a show where the main characters get amnesia every episode.
Well, you really hit the nail on the head with your FNL predictions – I see no reason to doubt your future-predicting ability whatsoever. Maybe it would be best to avoid the matter-of-fact “certain to be canceled” language – it would lend credibility to your blog.
The website on which the mentioned article appears is owned by the writer of the article. The article cites a “stability index” for TV shows that no one on Earth cares about – least of all FOX.
The article is shameless sourceless speculation written by someone who has almost no insight into the television industry other than just being another fanboy and choosing an awful name for a website that was purchased by a cable company that has worse taste in name branding than he did.
If your dog told you that Fox was considering renewing Dollhouse, your dog would have more credibility than the article’s writer.
We (or specifically Bill Gorman) predicted very accurately that FNL would only be saved if DirecTV wrote a check. They wrote a check. Sometimes you have to read the prose of the Renew/Cancel Index. Sucks, I know, but…we were right!
I also wonder about the supposed magic of the return of Prison Break vis a vis Dollhouse. I’m not convinced PB will do that much better than TSCC, and I doubt it may have anything more than the tiniest effect on Dollhouse numbers.
I should add that the article’s writer claiming that Fox was considering renewing Dollhouse apparently doesn’t know enough to know that Prision Break is taking over TSCC’s slot.
I’d provide the link, but the mentioned article is the worst kind of Internet propaganda. It’s just completely made up B.S.
If someone other than “a guy who just got rich off a cable company buying his old website and sees this as the key time to drive traffic to his new website so he makes up B.S. rumors” reports serious Dollhouse renewal consideration, I’ll treat that commentary much differently.
Harold, since this website makes you so angry, I would strongly recommend not coming here anymore. It can’t’ be healthy if every time you come to this site, your blood pressure goes up.
ok I just figured out you were talking about the other site. I’m very very sorry for being so stupid.
Stacy, I think Harold is *agreeing with us*, and disagreeing with the site I was referencing. Irving, on the other hand…
Stacy, Bill and I make similar mistakes frequently, no harm, no foul.
Yeah, a stability index is ridiculous. If a show gets 2 million viewers and a 1.0 in the demo every episode it airs, it’s getting a consistent number of viewers and will score high on a stability index but it’s not going to stay on the big 4 for very long.
i would venture a guess that Prison Break averages anywhere from 1.5 to 1.8
if dollhouse sees an average of 1.6 with PB as a lead-in, i will consider it an accomplishment.
Yeah, that thing with the stability of the ratings was funny. Even if somebody cared for stability, ratings of Dollhouse are far from stable. That article also mentioned relatively low cost for the show – I do not think its true either. I’ve seen numbers like 2 million per Dollhouse episode, which is less then Fringe, but can be considered average.
I have no idea what Prison Break will do for Dollhouse, but I do think that it will do quite a bit better than Terminator. In fact, I have to wonder if PB, since its been around so long, and is closing out the series, wouldn’t do its regular Monday numbers on Friday.
I’m not sure anyone was going out on a ledge predicting FNL would only survive if DirecTV wrote a check. Given that that was the sole reason for renewal last season, it was pretty obvious that was going to be the case this year as well.
Dollhouse has had way more discussion about it’s ratings than is warranted. It’s like going to a horse race where the same lame horse that lost it’s last 6 races is in the starting gate again and people argue over whether or not the horse could show.
As far as any correlation between quality and ratings… how do people know the episode will be good before they watch it? I can kinda see it if the idea is that word of mouth (to a Nielsen household) AFTER episode 6 would cause a ratings uptick, but there would never be reason to think episode 6 would be higher rated…. unless people on the East Coast call their Neilsen-measured friends on the west coast after it airs and beg them to watch.
Dollhouse is free to go and everyone should just let it. No miracles are going to happen. Fox could be airing reruns of House or The Nutty Professor every Friday and do better. Prison Break isn’t gonna help and if it takes Prison Break to get people to watch Dollhouse… well, that’s just scary.
Ah! I just figured out what the source website is! I subscribe to its feed but still call it by its previous name. So, I was completely stumped, especially since I skipped over the article when I saw its title in my feed reader before this one — seemed more like “Read Whenever” than “Read Right Now.”
I’ve since read the article, and I agree the article doesn’t merit serious attention. The owner also does seem to have a tendency towards self-promotion, especially after the recent website name change and the issues surrounding it, but I remain a fan because of his history covering the genre online.
Brandon, I agree with your take completely. BTW, it isn’t our desire to go out on a limb or make bold predictions to draw traffic. It is our desire to be correct, and make reasonable predictions based on the data. The reasonable prediction for FNL was it wouldn’t come back without a check from DirecTV. I agree completely that by positioning it that way, we weren’t going out on a limb. We were just calling it based on data and past history, but that’s all we were trying to do.
The guy who started this (Michael Hinman)… Back at the beginning of the season (Fall 2008), he wrote about “insider info” that TSCC is one step away from cancellation. Three weeks later we received word of the back 9 pickup. As much as I’d like Dollhouse to stick around, Hinman is not a source to rely on, so his words do not reassure me.
As much as I love Dollhouse, Fox would be insane to renew it with its current numbers. The show is done.
wouldnot it be a a crime to cancel dollhouse but renew “Dont forget the lyrics”
since both shows sharing same timeslot have similar demo and ratings but Dollhouse might have strong dvd sales?
Hagi, I doubt it, at least not based on very, very round numbers. Dollhouse would need ~$20 million in DVD sales to offset just the differences in cost of production. For 13 episodes the DVD box will likely be priced at ~$20, meaning it would need to sell a million units. I don’t see that happening.
All it takes is one look at the Renew/Cancel index to know on that these guys know they’re stuff. But as perfection is boring, the best discussions are usually going to be fanboys, the women who ( maybe rightly ) despise them but actually have a life and can’t fight them, and other such stuff. I am personally fascinated/appalled by the advertising industry, which I think has the same grip on Western Civilization the Catholic Church did in the medieval ages. ( Free college thesis. ) I love McLuhan and other theorists, and he also was ambivalent about the ad industry. Yada yada. I want to point out I predicted Dollhouse would be sold to scifi and am I not correct? ( I thought I read that here or somewhere a week or so ago. )
Again if it is canceled I hope FOX lets Whedon produce a final episode to wrap up it’s really fasinating concept. Without a series final episode the show will have no value whatsoever in repeats or DVD down the rd.
chuck
oh my i hope Dollhouse improves
Look, the X Files was renewed for a 2nd season despite bad ratings. And Kevin Reilly has a history of renewing shows at NBC despite bad ratings. I want to see what Nick C. has to say.
Well, I’m no Dollhouse fan. I think it’s a bad show with a very offensive concept and poor execution. It’ll probably improve somewhat with a Prison Break lead-in but I don’t see PB doing that well on Fridays so… how much can Dollhouse be expected to pick up, anyway. IMO, Fox should go back to programming cheap reality on the night, or repeats of shows that have done okay on Friday.
Jay, I think you are referring to the talk of the UK SciFi picking up the first run rights in the UK.
Personally, I have enjoyed Dollhouse and would expect it to really hit it’s stride mid way through a second season, much like I feel Buffy and Angel did. As a result I am obviously pulling for renewal, but the numbers are looking too low for that to be a realistic possibility. Here is hoping they improve.
“Look, the X Files was renewed for a 2nd season despite bad ratings. And Kevin Reilly has a history of renewing shows at NBC despite bad ratings. I want to see what Nick C. has to say.”
I know I’m stirring a hornet’s nest by saying this, but it seems Dollhouse’s chances of renewal aren’t much better than TSCC’s? Less perhaps, if you consider the weight Terminator has behind it. The thing with these shows is that they share a similar dilemma and similar future.
Dollhouse’s ratings are low, but FOX have been very lenient so far, which gives it a chance to trend back up. TSCC’s numbers are low and it has only one more episode to kick back, which isn’t likely to do it any good. But then TSCC has the potential to kick ass with a third season (it is common for sci-fi shows to suffer in their second season and then kick back in the third).
I think it’s a case of whether FOX is willing to take the risk with either show, both of which can be brilliant if given a little time and patience. But I firmly believe that if TSCC is cancelled Dollhouse should follow suite. My $0.02.
I think that dollhouse will improve a bit with prison break as a lead in but not evenenough to get the ratings improve in about 20 % so that I think the only way to get dollhouse renewed is simple. Fans must watch it at home and NOT ONLINE.
It is also a bad thing that dollhouse premiered on a friday and qwith a lead in that suck, but anyway I think FOX just don’t want dollhouse to get a second season
I like Dollhouse, and I think it has the potential to grow into a show to be very proud of. But, it started off slow with a vaguely icky concept that wasn’t fully explained as icky until much later. I think starting with an episode like ep. 6, where “people on the street” were interviewed expressing all the different takes on the dollhouse, and outright comparing it to slavery as well as discussing its benevolent possibilities, I think an ep. like that would have started it off with more audience sympathy.
So, I hope the show is renewed because I think it has its concept worked out now. And it looks like Fox has taken its fingers out of Whedon’s pie (there’s less overt sexualizing, more depth, and more of the other dolls). If it turns into an ensemble show, I think it can survive. As an Eliza Dushku vehicle, it’s probably dead (I like Eliza, but she’s not quite strong enough to carry the show). And it definitely needs a new night!!
Right now, honestly, I’m more invested in TSCC, which is another high concept, highly literary show that isn’t drawing a big Friday audience. The epic scope of the show, and the personal psychology that motivates, are phenomenal. I wish more people had the time and the patience to watch this show, which really is amazing and unique. I hope anyone worried about Dollhouse has been taking a look at its lead in, because TSCC always has great payoff for your time investment.
I haven’t seen a show so disliked by women ( maybe a vocal minority ) since Ally McBeal, which always seemed to me more a womans’ show ( ages 35-55? ) than a mans’ show. Marla’s is a very thoughtful dissent. I don’t watch it but it sounds like they would have been better off making it a dark, bittersweet commentary like the original Stepford Wives ( dark ) or AI or Bladerunner ( bittersweet ) than a Comedy Central ad. Buffy had legions of young female fans, and a good cast – is Whedon really a sexist or did he just screw up?
“is Whedon really a sexist or did he just screw up?”
Whaaaaat?!? I’d say Whedon is the farthest from a sexist as you can get. All of his shows have had strong female lead characters, and not the stereotypical femme fatale’s or damsels in distress.
I read the schedule for April 17, and it has the midseason finale of Prison Brek at 8:00 and then the new episode at 9:00. Is that a permanent change and Dollhouse is cancelled, or is that just for the premiere week?
Either way, I really doubt Dollhouse will come back. Prison Break is just getting its sendoff on Friday nights, giving the fans some nice closure to a show that is ending at the right time.
Mumbo, it’s just a one week deal, the final four episodes of Dollhouse will air on consecutive Fridays at 9pm beginning 4/24.
So FOX is setting up the perfect excuse for the fans when Dollhouse doesn’t increase significantly after Prison Break. IT WAS THAT DAMN ONE WEEK BREAK! And if it goes up .1 or stays the same, it’ll be just think of what it could have been without a week off, so it’s as if it increased .5!
Julia, yeah, but on the plus side I think a lot of attention will be paid to how the original episode of PB does in the 9pm slot. If it does a 1.7-1.8, I think some people will freak out. On the other hand if it does a 1.4 or 1.5 and then Dollhouse is in a similar range the following week, the commenting will happen as you predict.
Alex and other comments about promoting Prison Break:
I disagree, FOX has every reason to promote the final episodes of PB. First and foremost, there’s the PB spinoff. The final episodes are supposed to set up the platform for the spinoff so they need to make a good impression. Secondly, it is an established show finishing up its run. They have already started promoting it (I have seen several commercials already) so you’re wrong factually on that count already.
As for its numbers, I can’t imagine a major improvement for DH, but I do expect that PB numbers will hold to this season’s averages. Maybe some of those will rub off on DH, but even at that it wouldn’t look good for a new show looking for a renewal.
Actually, the X-Files comparison is not good. X-Files never broke below five million live viewers except for one 4.7 million night. And at that level it was considered “ratings challenged”.
Dollhouse and TSCC are WAY below that level.
Don’t be surprised to see an unusual investor in Dollhouse that keeps it around for a 13 episode run, because there is already consideration on that front.
Chris, you wouldn’t be talking about him, would you?
I don’t know anything about this website, but someone just sent me the link and this seems like the right place to post it.
Fox Leaning Toward ‘Dollhouse’ Renewal
http://www.airlockalpha.com/news426236.html
Fox is launching a Prison Break spin-off? That might be among the worst ideas I’ve ever heard. How the hell did that meeting go?
‘Hey you know this show we’ve moved to Friday to finish its run because no one was watching it? We should totally do a spin-off from that’
Jon, that’s the link that inspired this post.
Bill, a fictional character stepping in to save Dollhouse is amazingly not the most insane thing about the show.
On another note can I just say that I would be amazed if Prison Break held to its season average when it moves to Friday. Also a few commercials isn’t really the promotional push I was talking LJ.
Dollhouse is dead! no more talking!
I actually predict that the ratings will be worse with Prison Break as it’s lead in. At least with Terminator, you’ve got an audience that likes similar type of stuff and may tune into Dollhouse because it comes on after Terminator. Prison Break isn’t a fantasy show or Scifi – the type of people who like it aren’t the same as the type of viewers in my opinion who are interested in Dollhouse. I’m not interested in Prison Break at all so after Terminator ends next week, I won’t be watching TV at all at 8pm EDT. I’ll record Dollhouse and watch it later. I at least tried to watch Terminator live but I don’t consider Dollhouse must see TV. Since I was already watching Terminator there was a chance that I’d leave the TV on and watch at least some of it live. But when Terminator is over, I don’t see the point.
I don’t think that a lead-in show that had better ratings would have helped Dollhouse. Bottom line to me is that Dollhouse didn’t have a good concept and isn’t that good a show.
Also, I don’t think that you can compare Dollhouse to The X-Files at all. The X-Files was aired on Fox on Friday Nights at a time when that network was very young and willing to accept much lower ratings than they are today. Fox has now practically overtaken NBC ratings-wise. Fox now expects decent ratings from its shows. I doubt that they’re willing to accept the dismal ratings that the CW has.
Except for ‘Til Death, Carol – but Sony must have had Ron Popeil working on their sales staff, as there’s no other explanation I can come up with for why Fox would pick up Brad Garrett’s attempt to match Jim Belushi’s Guinness world record for “longest time acting on a television broadcast series with as much appeal as eating Elmer’s school paste” – all this for a show that can make Hole In The Wall seem like “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”…
…wait a minute – that was a 20th Century Fox film – they could run that one Friday night (or every Friday night, for that matter!), and get better demos than either Dollhouse, T:SCC, Hole, or ‘Til Death – and quite possibly, anything else on the other nets (save for Jo Frost in a bikini, or a real Wife Swap
).
I don’t think that a lead-in show that had better ratings would have helped Dollhouse. Bottom line to me is that Dollhouse didn’t have a good concept and isn’t that good a show.
Haha, you actually think ratings and quality have anything to do with each other.
Oh stop it already – neither TSCC nor Dollhouse is going to be renewed with the numbers they are pulling – the only thing that is going to save them is if DirecTV or Sci-Fi steps in to pick it up – which seems ridiculously unlikely at this point (It doesn’t help that sci-fi is starting to produce a lot of Reality cr*p and incredibly bad TV-Movies instead and apparently they are now going to be a “hipper” channel
)
No both these shows are Dead and so is “Better of Ted” and “Life” it may be good well-written television but when noone is watching it’s all just static and lost income.
Dollhouse may have had a shot If they had given it a proper launch and If they hadn’t “fridayed” it to death – but it’s too little to late now, remember FNL wasn’t picked up because it was “Critically Acclaimed” it also more importantly fit DirecTV’s marketing strategy incredibly well.
As for Whedon being sexist?? – where the ‘ell did that come from – there are both female and male dolls and the male “lead” is a rather impotent FBI agent whose weak bumbling around is no competition to the Strongminded and quite efficient Echo. Do watch the show before you comment – maybe a lot of the Women who dislike the show so vehemently – should watch a couple of episodes (objectively) and then comment on whether or no Whedon is sexist Dollhouse portrays the organisation behind the Dollhouses as evil bordering on demonic it isn’t “portraying rape in a good way” (as one particular miss-guided webiot remarked – quite the opposite), there aren’t exclusively female Dolls – actually the fact that Whedon exclusively portrays the “Buyers” as male IS sexist – TO MEN.
Sexist is quickly becoming a STOP word – the card you play to silence dissenting voices and that is dangerous (yes I know this is an unpopular argument and No I am not a cavedwelling male chauvinist just to get that out of the way – I believe all sexes and races are equal – I just don’t like one-sided arguments).
In Denmark where I was born Racism was a STOP word and didn’t that turn out well.
Generally agree with the assessment.
FYI, Friday’s episode pulled a 1.5 in finals.
Thanks Travis. 1.5 is better than 1.4! I’ve added the info to the post…
save the sarah connor chronicles by signing the petition. go to http://www.petitiononline.com/scc2009/petition.html and then spread the good word. We need to do our part as fans and watch it this friday. get people we know to turn their tv’s to fox during the shows finally! Buy the first season and download from FOX.com or DVR if you have to… we can do this if we all work together!!! WE are its future!!!
This lady dislikes dollhouse because it is boring, poorly written, and poorly acted.
Stephen, ratings and quality have nothing to do with each other, but ratings and the likability of the characters, people are more likely to give a show a second chance if they fall in love with the characters. In Dollhouse there is no one even likable, and they needed an actress with a stronger real life personality for the lead, that you could contrast the Echo against. Dusku is a nice person, but she never had the reputation of having a real life personality that made her popular beyond the characters she plays, she needs a character. She is a capable actress, but the role required a screen animal, someone you would want to watch reading the phone book, and that she isn’t.
NBC/Uni could pick it up for Scifi, but could NBC/Uni work out a deal with 20th Century Studios to somehow cover the 1.5m/ep budget? Remember, if it moved to a new network the studio would probably stay the same, which usually means the International/DVD/Digital Distribution/Syndication rights would probably be retained by Fox (the studio) and all NBC/Uni would have the rights to do would be to broadcast any one episode only a few times on their network.
Would ANYONE want to do that? If I had the $$$ and was a network I wouldn’t touch Dollhouse. It would be easier and probably cheaper to just contract Whedon out for a new show where I was the studio and I held all the rights.
This show lives or dies on FOX.
Petitions arent going to save TSCC. Neither will sending in 25 tons of some food product or other item. If it comes back I will be stunned. Perhaps someone might make a TV movie or something to wrap it up. But as a series its dead. Heck, Moonlight had nearly 8 million viewers went it died, and its totally dead. How could TSCC with 3.5 million hope to survive? FNL is a rarity, it has people with deep pockets, and NBC execs who want it to continue with 13 episode seasons for some strange reason.
it is better than doing nothing
It’s the same as doing nothing, actually.
Here’s my advice to all fans who wish to save their on the bubble or already cancelled show – cold hard cash.
Basically what I’m saying here is if DirecTV isn’t going to step up and cut the networks a massive check to keep your favourite show(s) on the air then you should do it yourselves. I guarantee you that stumping up the cash to pay for the show has more success than signing petitions, creating save our show sites and sending the network various foodstuffs.
And if one of the major networks won’t take a fan check then I bet a cable channel would.
How about this…. John Conner sends a robot back to destroy the Dollhouse.
After the episode last week, I decided to remove my season pass for Dollhouse. I was willing to give it a chance, but its just not that entertaining or well done on ANY level.
Can Direct TV cut someone a check to keep Kings on the air???
PRISON BREAK pulling more viewers than DOLLHOUSE means nothing, PRISON BREAK is in its last season, it can’t harm a new show like DOLLHOUSE. It can, however, help, since it’s the only way to fix DOLLHOUSES’s biggest problem. DOLLHOUSE needs to be sampled by more viewers. 4 Million TSCC-fans and a bunch (not even all) of Whedon-fans isn’t enough. Giving a completely new audience a chance to sample the show could be the thing it needs. Even if it loses most of them, some new people might stick around. And that could be the difference between a 1.6 and a 1.8., and that could be the difference between cancellation and renewal. While I’m not sure that will actually happen (I think it’s very unlikely that DOLLHOUSE ever reaches back to the 1.8-area), it seems to be one chance the show has to survive.
Now the real question would be…
Which unlucky shows will be on Friday next Fall? Will it go back to Cops and AMW, who both can do well there?
I’d hate to see Fringe or another new show premiere on Friday nights, leaving many viewers with the “who cares?” mentality. Why invest time in a show sent immediately to the graveyard?
“Don’t believe what you read”
So I’m reading this and thinking “don’t believe it” which means I should believe what I read, but then if I believe what I read, I should “not believe” which means I should believe, which means I should not believe…
I think I’m stuck in a Doctor Who episode.
But seriously, “don’t believe what you read” – except what I write? Interesting…
So much misinformation….
1. The cost of an episode of DOLLHOUSE is around $1.5M on average. That is CHEAP for an hour long drama.
2. FOX is currently considering renewing the show.
The above are actually facts. What, why, and everything else don’t really matter. Final numbers for the show are generally on average .1 above what this site posts. C3 numbers are much better, but again that is a result of REMOTE FREE TV.
I haven’t read the article about FOX considering renewing the show. I just know that it happens to be true. Kevin likes the show, and he doesn’t want to make a FIREFLY mistake. Peter came in and liked the work being done. He hated the first episodes but then who didn’t.
FOX wants Fridays to work. Fridays don’t live in the same universe as Sunday through Thursday TV viewing. The Renew/Cancel index frankly doesn’t work at all for Friday and Saturday shows. So the bar being placed by FOX is impossible for us to know, but only to guess.
I know my initial guesses were shot down by Kevin as being too high. So I thought that 1.8 would be a decent goal. However FOX is considering renewing the show right now. It’s on the bubble. Why? That is anyone’s guess. How? Again it’s guess work.
Will it get renewed? Last week I’d have said its chances were around 10%. This week I’d say 50% after learning that it was actually on the bubble with its CURRENT numbers. If it trends back up the show may be extremely safe for renewal.
Carol, THE X FILES was 1993 well after FOX had started taking steps of legitimacy. The ratings for the X-FILES were bad even for FOX. That is like saying that the CW could renew CW NOW because it’s a young network. X-FILES got bad ratings even for FOX. It wasn’t like the ratings were middle of the pack for FOX, but one of the worst 4 shows on FOX.
“Will it get renewed? Last week I’d have said its chances were around 10%. This week I’d say 50% after learning that it was actually on the bubble with its CURRENT numbers. If it trends back up the show may be extremely safe for renewal.”
That’s going to be one hell of a steep climb.
The X-Files was I imagine a heck of a lot cheaper to produce than Dollhouse. It didn’t have a large regular cast or any actors that really commanded a big salary when it started out. It didn’t have expensive sets like Dollhouse. And I imagine that Eliza Dushku in contrast to the paltry amount that Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny got isn’t paid chickenfeed. Also, it was filmed in Vancouver for its original 5 year contract which an article I recalled mentioned was about $225,000 cheaper per episode than in being filmed in LA. FOX hadn’t been around that long as a network. Fox took a chance on The X-Files and it paid off. Totally different in my opinion than Dollhouse. The X-Files had no built in draws to it. Few people new who any of the actors were or the writers. Gillian Anderson had 1 acting credit to her name before The X-Files and yet she proved that she along with David Duchovny was capable of carrying the show and being leads.
While I like Eliza Dushku as an actress, I don’t see her being able to carry a show or anyone else currently on the cast and Dollhouse is not an ensemble show. Some of the actors I consider good but they’re supporting actors. To me TSCC has the same problem. The major role is TSCC is that of Sarah Connor played by Lena Headly who can’t carry the show. Summer Glau is the only actor on it IMO (in my opinion) that might be capable of being it’s lead. I don’t see either the actor who plays John Connor or Sarah Connor being able to do it.
Josh Whedon hasn’t had a successful series on a major network. Buffy: The Vampire Slayer and Angel were on The WB, a minor network, and still they weren’t the top show on that network ratings wise. Buffy’s 1st season was also in the summer when there wasn’t any real competition back then for new programming.
Dollhouse had a lot of buzz unlike The X-Files before it aired because of Joss Whedon and Eliza Dushku. It was highly anticipated because of Buffy, Angel, and Firefly. In contrast, I didn’t even start tuning into The X-Files until the middle of its first season. From the ratings posted here for Dollhouse it seems that a lot of people tuned in to see it for a few episodes and then have tuned out for good. It doesn’t appear to be gaining viewers steadily.
From the promotion commercials it seems to me to be marketed as men being the target audience and not women. I do find it a very sexist show.
Carol, THE X-FILES wasn’t cheap even in the first season. DOLLHOUSE is the cheapest scripted hour long show on FOX right now. THE X-FILES had horrible ratings the entire first season. Both aired on Fridays. Dushku by the way is paid on the low end, but she owns a piece of the show. So she’ll make that money up in DVD sales and potentially syndication. THE X-FILES didn’t gain viewers until season 2. DOLLHOUSE hasn’t lost a lot of viewers, a 2.0 to a 1.5 isn’t that huge of a drop. So there is no way to paraphrase you that “a lot of people tuned in, and then have tuned out for good.”
DOLLHOUSE had bad buzz before it aired. THE X-FILES had no buzz, and mediocre reviews. THE X-FILES wasn’t a good show in the first episodes, but it did turn around in quality for the 2nd half of the season. The comparisons can easily be made. Many questioned FOX for renewing THE X-FILES when it happened.
The show is sexual, not sexist. There are male actives as well as female actives.
I don’t think you really want to be making that X-Files comparison as a reason for Dollhouse renewal. Yes, the numbers did grow a lot in the second season. But you are ignoring the fact that the last five episodes of the first season of X-Files were the highest rated of the season. Even higher than the premiere. What are the chances of Dollhouse doing that?
sparkx, the last 5 episodes had more viewers, but weren’t in the demo. I believe only 2 of the five you’re mentioning including the season finale had higher ratings.
You’re right though, that it did trend up at the end. Some think DOLLHOUSE might trend up. It doesn’t stop the fact that FOX is considering renewing the show right now, before the last episodes have even aired.
Part of the reason for that might be to give it good buzz.
I’m thinking they should have House repeats on Fridays as a lead-in to Dollhouse! Secondly, what does Nick C. make of this quote from Michael Hinman over at Airlock Alpha.com
http://www.airlockalpha.com/news426236.html
“Other factors in favor of the show continuing is that it’s not as expensive as other Fox shows. Much of its upfront costs, including the construction of the elaborate set that is the dollhouse itself, were covered by funds that normally would’ve paid for a pilot (no pilot was made for “Dollhouse”). Also, while Whedon’s Mutant Enemy Productions and star Eliza Dushku’s Boston Diva Productions are tied to the series, 20th Century Fox Television is still the primary production company involved, which means its licensing fee is not as steep as it would be if the show was produced by another studio.”
Actually, Fox aired a House repeat and the numbers were not better than a typical number of TSSC would have in demo:
Week Ending February 1, 2009
FOX Fri 8:00 60 min House [R] 4.330 1.3
This year previous Fox shows airing on Friday 8pm didnot have better numbers than TSSC, so its not TSSC’s fault dollhouse having bad numbers…
FOX just doesn’t like to see good well written shows succeed. I honestly think they gave up too quick on Tru Calling. They sabotaged it by putting it up against CSI. Friday nights aren’t big tv nights and FOX knows that. People go out with their friends and celebrate the end of the week…they don’t sit infront of the tv. The Prison Break audience will follow the show to Friday just because it’s necessary to see how it ends. Any boost in numbers at the 9pm slot can’t be compared effectively to the Dollhouse numbers I don’t think. I just hope they bring it back…it deserves more time to prove itself. If I had’ve only watched the first episode and completley written it off I wouldn’t have seen Eliza as a dominatrix last week lol. How can we still have that new 90210 and yet Dollhouse hangs in the balance? Maybe Joss should try their network?