I knew that Dollhouse would sell less than BSG, but it didn’t bother me as DH only needs to move a lot of units. If it did that then everything would (probably) be fine for the show and it’s fans.

As strictly a fan, I don’t know what expectations are or what level would need to be achieved to be considered a success, but these numbers definitely seem worrisome.

I still am wondering if they include the 5,000 ComicCon Exclusive DVD’s and BR’s sold directly by Fox. If those weren’t included then it makes the results a bit better looking, though not significantly so.

AO, I don’t think another $100,000 or so either way is very meaningful in this case.

My understanding is the data is gathered from a variety of sources and includes input both from retailers and the studios, but I have no idea whether the ComicCon DVDs were included.

i am watching BSG as we speak (from the BSG complete series box set – which is FRAKKING amazing btw)

that is all.

Are Canadian sales included in that number? Everyone I know bought their set from Amazon.ca because they offered the Blu-ray for around 22$.

Robert,

I know this may be asking a lot of the archives but would you still have the figures for Firefly’s DVD sales anywhere, and maybe even the Serenity movie, just to compare them with how Dollhouse’s DVD sales are currently doing?

@Samuray, the numbers are only for US Sales and do not include Canada or any other country outside the US. (edit: but I assume in the event that there were orders placed at amazon.ca that were shipped and billed to addresses the US — if that’s what you’re saying — would be counted).

Dave, unfortunately not. All we have access to is the-numbers.com, and their weekly charts only go back to Feb 2006 and I think Firefly was released on DVD in ~2003.

A couple of people have made the mistake of using the-numbers.com’s search feature to conclude Firefly grossed over two BILLION in revenue, but the way that feature works unfortunately is to add up the sales of every DVD the actors listed have been in (it only lists a few of the actors if I remember right).

I think its more meaningful though to compare Dollhouse’s (or ANY show’s) sales to how other TV show DVDs are selling now. If Dollhouse had sold 300,000 units, I’d be looking for a renewal announcement soon. Especially given past ratings, the first week sales strike me as more in the “enjoy the 13 episodes while they last” zone.

Thank you very much for the response Robert

I have heard that this was the first time that Fox ever tried anything like this program, so it’s not surprising that some of the details are unknown.

That is one of the reasons that I was interested in finding out more info. Since Fox sold these Sets directly to the public themselves, for full MSRP of $49.99 (2500 DVD) and $69.99 (2500 BR), then I would assume that they retained all or almost all of that nearly $300,000 generated.

If that was the case, then those Discs represent a fair amount of the overall revenue generated. Again, I know that no matter which is the case then this was not a good debut, but I find the subject interesting and I appreciate your allowing me to speculate on it.

Well, I did my part. I bought both DH and BSG. I think DH has promise – I’m only up to episode 5 now – so hopefully it won’t have a “sophomore slump,” but will instead improve. If it doesn’t, I’m not hopeful for anything more than the next 13.

I do love all the Firefly talk, having just become addicted to the series and the Serenity movie from all the chatter on this and other web sites. I never knew about the show when it was on – was in the seminary and TV time was a premium – so I watched ALIAS and Smallville and that was about all I could find time for. It’s too bad that series got cancelled. It was just SO GOOD and SO ENTERTAINING. The cast was FANTASTIC and the mix of characters on that ship/boat was simply GENIUS.

I was curious. I know that the likelihood of the series being resurrected is probably nil because it would be so difficult to resurrect the cast, but what about another feature film. Did “Serenity” the movie do well at the theater, or was is mediocre or I would hate to think, a dud. The movie was GREAT. I’m just not sure if the public responded or not. If you have any info. regarding Serenity’s $$, that would be interesting to note, especially in relation to other sci-fi movies of the recent past. I know it wouldn’t compare to the blockbusters, but I’m wondering how it compared to other more “midle popularity” sci-fi flicks.

Thanks guys, and keep up the GREAT work!

Peace, all!

Bought BSG. Waiting for the great Black Friday DVD sales to get Dollhouse & Psych.

Dollhouse’s renewal was unexpected, so the DVD might have legs and actually hang in there and not do the expected “the first week is always the biggest week in sales”. Who knows, but it’s just plain fun to watch and debate the show. I can deal with the fact that the Nielsen meters aren’t ticking off the charts for the show. I’m sure the show will last in fan fictiondom to infinity after these 13 possibly last episodes are aired.

Anybody have a clue how the 2nd season of Knots Landing did?

Dollhouse has always destroyed expectations! I am confident that the number of DVDs will continue to grow, grow, grow!

I have bought SO many copies of the DVD that I’ve lost count! I know for sure it’s more than twenty, because I use my fingers and toes to count that high, but after that, who knows?! Let’s see: I have a DVD playing at all times in my bedroom, obviously! And one in my kitchen! I have another DVD playing in the bathroom, for two reasons: one, because Joss came up with Dollhouse in the bathroom, which makes it the most awesome of all the rooms! And two because when I’m in the bathtub watching the DVD it’s like I’m naked with Joss and Eliza and all of them! Then I have another DVD playing in my car! Some people might think it’s unsafe to keep my eyes on the TV there instead of the road, but those people are fools! After all, I’ve only been in 3 accidents since getting that DVD player in my car!

As someone who wants to make sure the ratings grow, grow, grow, I’ve also bought LOTS of copies for other people! I made sure my local library has a copy! I sent all 2 of my friends a copy! I think it’s ideal to reach kids when they’re young, so I’ve tried approaching small children at playgrounds, but you’d be surprised to learn that sometimes their parents don’t like that! I’ve randomly left copies around outside, knowing that someone would come along and pick it up and go home and watch it and become a Joss fan for life! There are SO many places where a conscientious Joss fan can go to spread the word of Joss, and I’ve just begun the fight!

Dollhouse returns in 45 days! Watch it or else!

Dollhouse is one of those shows I can watch once and forget about it. On the other hand, I am snatching up the BSG DVDs as I see them in costco ($20-30 vs $50-60 at Best Buy). I like both shows, but BSG is the one I remember. Good for True Blood, though, I enjoy it every Sunday!

I feel it’s worth noting that 20th likes Whedon shows because they’re steady earners in the long run. I doubt if any of his shows have had DVD releases that were a smash success in the first week. But I’d put money down that the Dollhouse DVDs will continue to sell well (though indeed, probably not better) beyond the first week.

“I still am wondering if they include the 5,000 ComicCon Exclusive DVD’s and BR’s sold directly by Fox.”

It’s doubtful that 5,000 copies were sold. I’d estimate only 20% were bought online, no idea how many were actually purchased on the day at Comic Con.

Rick Holy Serenity was not a box office success, sadly. It was a great movie but the public just didn’t come out for it. I don’t have numbers but if its important to you I could probably find some for you. End result is it didn’t make enough to justify a sequel.

I am without a doubt a Browncoat, but I am not one of those that are living in the world of denial that thinks the show or a second movie is going to happen. Its not that Joss or the cast wouldn’t love to do it but the funding is never going to happen. I honestly wish it would, but realistically I know better. So instead I do my best to support the BDH current and future projects such as Dollhouse, Chuck, V, Goners and Castle.

Dollhouse really wasn’t doing well on amazon anyway, True blood was #1 at amazon for weeks before its release…it seemed like it would blow up. It needs to be pretty high on amazon or bn to have a major impact. It can’t be sitting at 20-30 ranking.

how do the sales for 24 Season 7 compare to previous seasons? this is the first season for the DVDs to be released right after airing, so i am curious how it compares.

Well compare Dollhouse to the CW last year offerings on DVD

1st week sales
Gossip Girls 92,196 units
One Tree Hill 97,239 units
Supernatural 104,979 units
Smallville 202,000 units

And what sales in units they were at when they fell off the list.

Gossip Girl 135,719
One Tree Hill 141,709
Supernatural 180,606
Smallville 336,760

When all of the CW offerings beat you, that can’t be that good (though in all fairness the CW does do better then many shows, probably due to the fact that parts of the country dont get the CW).

If it weren’t for Epitath I would believe that these rather small DVD sales would spell the end for the show. Now I’m not sure. That episode is a bit of a game changer.

Well its just one revenue source, but it is an important one (more important in dollar value then internet viewing and probably DVR viewing). And the other large revenue stream (overseas broadcasts) I don’t think have happened yet (though I coul dbe in error).

It looks like Pushing Daisies is off the list. I’m kind of disappointed Dollhouse didn’t get more sales, but season 1 was just not that great.

And of course, this is going to be a front-loaded DVD sale because of the zealots out there. This week represents everyone who ran out and pre-ordered it over the last month.

What is the studio’s take of a $30 DVD sale? Ten dollars? Fifteen? This doesn’t seem like an amount of many that’s going to give Dollhouse its own set of rules regarding the ratings required to survive. That was the fanbase’s hope, right?

Okay, I’m going to maybe break a cardinal rule of this website and admit that movies exist. Because I have something for you Dollhouse fans to consider. Instead of buying the Dollhouse DVD and putting it under an electron microscope and reading the bits backwards to see if it tells you why Topher programmed Dr. Saunders not to like him, maybe instead use the money to take two friends to see G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra.

G.I. Joe is also about a bunch of people who work out of a secret base and get in lots of fights. But G.I. Joe is upfront about the fact that it makes no sense. So, unlike with Dollhouse, you can sit back and watch the gratuitous violence and look at the pretty girls (lots of them, even a supermodel!) without trying to figure out the important message about human identity that is supposedly being imparted.

There are other advantages as well. Once you are done watching G.I. Joe, you don’t have to download it six times on Hulu to deceive the world about how many people like G.I. Joe. You don’t have to bombard Paramount’s switchboard with messages telling them you’ll never watch a Paramount movie again unless they keep showing G.I. Joe. Because lots of people like G.I. Joe. So you can just watch it and then live your life. You don’t have to take on a second career trying to keep G.I. Joe from being canceled.

G.I. Joe is the number one movie in America!! No, it won’t get nominated for any awards. But then again, neither was Dollhouse. It just seems like a happier existence for everyone. Think about it, won’t you?

G.I. Joe, in theaters everywhere!!!

Interesting note was “Torchwood: Children of Earth” sold 41,542 about 66% of Dollhouse. Considering this is a cable show thats pretty good.

Ok, I’ve gotten used to blaming horrible ratings on movie releases, but horrible sales, too, now?

I know (think?) you are mostly joking, Natalie, but the sales charts on the-numbers.com are a week behind. This chart is for sales ending August 2nd. A week before GI Joe came out.

Wow, that’s pretty low…I didn’t think the DVD sales would’ve been a phenomenon, but I would’ve guessed Dollhouse would land around the 100,000 mark. To be fair though Whedon’s stuff tends to grow more than show.

Natalie, why would I spend $10 to watch a two hour toy commercial? They should be paying me.

Were people really expecting big numbers from Dollhouse? I am actually quite surprised THAT many people bought the DVDs. After the poor ratings and the constant parade of people on here and other sites who branded the show as just plain awful I’m quite amazed it did that well.

I was guessing around 100,000 too. Something TheNumbers.com doesn’t have: I’d be really interested to know how this compares to Firefly’s DVD sales. They don’t have them for 2005.

In its own way, G.I. Joe is, like Dollhouse, a study in moral complexity. Sometimes when unscrupulous producers can’t really figure out what they’re trying to say, they load up the show with beautiful girls and start killing people. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

And G.I. Joe works!!!

I agree with you Julia. I don’t think there can be any real damage to DVD sales linked to a movie release. I don’t buy that. I don’t even really buy it when it comes to TV ratings.

Natalie, when beutiful girls start killing people, it always works.

I mean ‘beautiful’.

does this chart include bluray units in sales totals?

I believe the bluray data is kept separate, but it would only be a small fraction of total units.

star title, my understanding is that the numbers are estimates based on information from retailers and studios that DO include Blu Ray

The best part of all of this is, I can now purchase the action figure of Courtney “Cover Girl” Kreiger, the supermodel-turned-unlikely-warrior who so perfectly represents nine months of perhaps the most supremely wasted time in all my illustrious history of procrastinating while writing.

G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra! Look for me in line to see it again!

_

@JBF

I have full confidence in Dollhouse eventually rising to the top also!

Considering the fact Dollhouse has already killed several shows,i.e., The Robot Show, Kings and retroactively wiped out Firefly as well as DH will totally nuke Caprica next Spring, jumping ahead of BSG should present no problem.

:;

~Lanie~

If you include DVD sales (and ONLY if you include DVD sales), Serenity made money. Not a lot, but some. The DVD was successful enough that they have reissued it several times in several formats, even recording a new set of special features for the Blu-Ray disc, but it didn’t make anything near like what would be needed for a sequel to be made.

However, Austin Powers didn’t make that much money the first time around either, so you never know. Certainly it would not be a big risk to make another, but no one is chomping at the bit to do so. So maybe one day, but don’t hold anyone’s breath on it.

As for DH, much like ratings, next week will be interesting. Will the second week drop be large, normal, or tiny? What it won’t do is increase. That’s not happening, because no one is running around screaming at their friends and family to rush out and get DH like they did with Firefly. But coming in second in DVD sales when you are a miserably rated TV show ain’t bad. Certainly FOX will recoup their investment from Season Two, and that’s all they really care about. The show will be made cheaply, and it will sell several million dollars worth of discs, at least, so it’s got that going for it, which is nice.

Me, I’m not particularly into it. I’m a Whedon fanatic, and I enjoyed the show much more the second time around on DVD, but it’s simply not fantastic. It’s good, and it’s much better than most television, but it’s not something I’m jumping up and down over. So I take the numbers for what they are: decent. They aren’t poor, and they aren’t off the charts. They are decent. Next week, as it is for a show’s ratings, will be interesting. Because if FOX could budget something north of 10 in DVD sales, then that back nine probably will happen. Ten million in DVD sales will alone cover the cost of production, without even factoring in ad sales and net profits.

Again, Dollhouse isn’t exactly the show I had hoped it would be, and it’s not the one I would have picked to trumpet a new business model, but right now it still looks to me like making a profit off a Friday show is all broadcast nets can ask for right now, and DH will liklely do that.

So much for Dollhouse dominating!

Woo hoo for True Blood! Perhaps last week’s 11,800 units were an aberration and demand is still strong.

the real reason Dollhouse was renewed was that Fox saw House in the title and they thought they were renewing House M.D., one big mix up

Was 4.5 BSG’s final season? It’s a geekdom juggernaut and would naturally put Dollhouse to shame. I’m sure if they found out Caroline/Echo was a cylon more copies of Dollhouse would’ve been imprinted into everyone’s engagements. I have a feeling that if Dollhouse was actually canceled DVD sales might have been a little stronger. But as for #1, I don’t think it has the rabid fanbase to do that. I’m not a Whedon-verse populate at all, but Dollhouse really caught my attention. And I eventually fell in love with Firefly and Serenity, but was never an Angel fan and lost interest in Buffy. But I have an affinity for low-rated, much discussed shows out the gate, since I’m a long time Knots Landing fan and CBS barely renewed that show after it’s first season. Fourteen seasons later the rest was history. I’m all about the underdogs and the “little shows that could”, as per Michele Lee.

If i were to buy either of those two, it would be Dollhouse – which i’m not going to buy, too many crap episodes in season 1. Not worthy of reward.

[...] sales for season 1 are still doing well after 11 weeks of release. It’s sitting at #3 for last week, behind new releases for [...]

OK, I’m disappointed, but I wouldn’t read it as a death knell. The DVD set had one thing going for it and a lot against it. For it was the unreleased and much hyped Epitaph One. Against it was the fact it was $30ish-40ish (street price) for what everyone knows is really only eight or nine episodes worth watching – and that includes E1 and the “good” (unbroadcasted) pilot.

So I wouldn’t necessarily assume Fox is looking at these figures thinking “We better cancel this, there’s no way we’re going to make enough money from DVD sales to make it worth it.” A second season that’s consistently good should gain higher sales than the first season, and it may even mean the first season sells better in the long run anyway as the show picks up fans.

The real test will be the second season. I think Fox will, barring a massive collapse in ratings, show the entire 13, and will base the future of the show on that, not season one.

Robert: this is a non-starter. There is absolutely no network that will make a decision on whether to extend a series based upon possible DVD sales. The lifeblood of a network literally belongs to a 7 day window and the viewer numbers for a particular show within that time frame.
I am sure you know enough folks that work within the industry who can set you on the path to knowledge when it comes to the how`s and why`s of renewals and extensions. Of all the people in the industry that I have some contact with, DVD sales don`t even show up on their radar.

DMP, generally speaking I agree with you, but in the case involving FOX & Whedon you’re wrong. The FOX broadcast network doesn’t care about DVD sales (or apparently ratings!) as long as it gets Dollhouse dirt cheap. But if Fox Studios which produce/fund the show has to cut costs to the bone and practically give it away to FOX, there’s not really much in it for them if they can’t make up the money via the alternate revenue streams.

Call your friends at 20th Century Fox Studios and have them set you straight.

Of course bsg’s sales are bigger. They certainly threw enough marketing and advertising at it. There didn’t seem to be a web site I could go to that didn’t have some banner/pop-up/flash animation ad telling to buy bsg 4.5(haven’t and won’t). Then there the TV ads that seemed to be playing for months before its release week.

On the other hand, I’ve only see TV ads(they looked pretty slick) for DollHouse about 2 weeks before the release date. And hardly any web advertising. If sales can remain steady, the studio should see a good profit since they feel the need to spend a lot on advertising.

I am deeply afraid that Natalie is under the impression she’s amusing. I certainly hope I am wrong.

If I had any money this week, I’d certainly go see GI Joe – can’t miss with Sienna Miller as the Baroness and Karolina Kurkova as Cover Girl. Karolina has legs so long they need the Hubble Telescope to see where they end.

And it’s nice to see Ray Park and Gerald Okamura, two excellent martial artists, in the movie. Ray was great in Star Wars and Ballistic. Haven’t seen Gerald since “Big Trouble in Little China”, one of my favs.

Unfortunately I may have to wait for this movie to come out in DVD since I’m broke at the moment.

On topic, I don’t think Dollhouse will make any great number of DVD sales. The show just isn’t up to the likes of Firefly. It’s OK, but it’s no Firefly.

Finally some sanity in this thread. Isn’t Karolina special, Richard? She did a charming interview in USA Today this week in which she said her only complaint with her G.I. Joe role was (SPOILER ALERT) she’s the only person in the movie who doesn’t get to kick any ass, and she wants to kick more ass in her future movie work. Which is such a lovely sentiment coming from a world-class beauty. Although I think she fails to appreciate how perfectly she fills the role of the super-sexy personal assistant.

Jennifer, you are not the first person to question the comedy value of my witchy blog-writing voice. And I haven’t even hit you with my dead-on personification of Rupert Murdoch that made a world-famous sci-fi writer pound out misspelled hateful insults at me on the internet.

But I must stand by my general point. G.I. Joe contains all the entertainment values Dollhouse actually contains, and it relieves you of the obligation to go on the internet and expend your life force making tangled excuses for its performance. Because G.I. Joe ROCKS!! Everyone loves it!

There’s KK and way more! Does anyone here object to Sienna Miller in a black leather catsuit firing a machine gun? And it introduces America to Byung-Hun Lee, one of the stars of The Good, The Bad and The Weird, a legitimately terrific Korean shoot ‘em up that’s just been released on DVD here. Richard, you seem like a smart guy, if you’re looking for something fun give that a shot.

You guys are all excited about $1.8 million in DVD sales over a month! G.I. Joe made $6 million MONDAY!! SOMEBODY agrees with me!

Enter the Terror Drome! Fight the nanobites! Climb into your accelerator suit and run at super-speed to your nearest theater to see G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra TODAY!! That’s a direct order from General Hawk! This is Private Natalie Smythe-Prentiss, special assistant to Corporal Courtney “Cover Girl” Kreiger, special assistant to General Hawk, over and out!!

You guys are all excited about $1.8 million in DVD sales over a month!

It’s over a week and no one is excited. But, seriously, what does GI Joe have to do with anything? It’s not competing with Dollhouse. The only person who seems to think it is is you. The reason some might question your humor is because it is completely misplaced.

On the contrary, Julia. Discussing G.I. Joe with me is a completely legitimate Dollhouse subject. You guys like it when Joss gives you Dollhouse mysteries without giving you enough information to solve them, why the anger when I do it?

This is hardly the sky is falling. A show that ran for four or five years, based on a pop-culture favorite from two decades ago, releases its everything but the kitchen sink magnum opus and that outsells season one of a hit-and-miss series from Friday nights. Where’s the shocker?

Shouldn’t we all be more worried that “Fast and Furious” almost outsold everything else in the top ten combined?!

Torchwood: Children of Earth also made it to the chart at #24, selling over 41,000 units.

@ Mikos, well said.

Seriously, the fact that it was #2 TV and #11 overall is amazing considering the fact that even folks in the Whedonverse are torn over the show.

[...] Uh oh… looks like Dollhouse isn’t exactly lighting up the DVD sales. Where are all the Whedon fans?! I’m starting to feel a little worried about the show’s prospects of getting a back 9 order this season. Let’s start campaigning now! As I said before, the unaired episode Epitaph One is quite good, so it’s definitely worth forking out money for the DVD (TV by the Numbers) [...]

[...] “Battlestar Galactica sells more DVDs than Dollhouse; True Blood still biting” Retrieved on [...]

New chart.

7 (-) Flight of the Conchords: The Complete Second Season 108,978 -.-% 108,978 $2,123,981 $2,123,981 1
17 (4) Battlestar Galactica: Season 4.5 57,959 -66.6% 231,538 $1,825,129 $7,353,620 2
23 (21) True Blood: The Complete First Season 49,570 12.3% 1,270,466 $1,847,970 $44,150,954 12

So two of the three this week are headlined by New Zealanders.

Dollhouse fell out of the top 30, and TB went UP a little, and is at #11 in revenue.

24 is just hanging on the revenue list.
49 24 – Season Seven 554,524 $17,995,618 5/19/2009