Monday, May 19, 2008

Dollhouse Countdown

There are only (very roughly) 175 days until Joss Whedon's new series Dollhouse premieres in November. 175 days of agony personalized just for Nathaniel (and other Whedon devotees). After the multiorgasmic seven years the writer/director gave us w/ Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the intermittent delights of Angel, and the short-lived but uniquely endearing Firefly... I'm more than ready for a fourth wave. You can see the new Dollhouse trailer @ io9.

As I've mentioned before, I'm going to add a once-weekly column on TV. Now I'm thinking perhaps I should just focus on this one. It's too late to start intense Battlestar episode postings, after all. I need TV shows with ambitions that are cinema-sized in order to inspire writing. Because even if Dollhouse isn't great, it'll surely be worth jabbering about. Uniting "Faith" (Eliza Dushku) and "Helo" (Tahmoh Penikett) and then pitting them against what teases like its a fine villainess turn from the normally sweet Olivia Williams (Rushmore, The Sixth Sense)? I'm ready.



Can we skip on ahead to November? That's when great movies start arriving too.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately, your countdown to a November premiere is premature. It will air alongside 24 beginning in January 2009. (Fandom wonders if the erroneous November date has popped up in numerous places because there is a recurring character named November?)

The Pretentious Know it All said...

I first read about Dollhouse a few days ago. As big a fan of BTVS I was (Every DVD boxset. My roomies think I'm a freak) isn't it kind of embarrassing that I didn't know about it? I was looking at the castlist like, "hmm...Eliza Dushku, Amy Acker...Whedon?" I'm pretty excited. I never got into Firefly too much, though I loved Serenity. (Nathan Fillion--who else wants a taste?)

I will watch Dollhouse, even though I was disappointed with the wham-bam, slapped-together conclusion they cooked up for Buffy. I still wonder how Whedon let himself get away with that...

Anonymous said...

oh why oh why do they torture us by making us wait till JANUARY on this one?!?!?!

how cruel!!!!!!!

we can only hope FOX will know how to respectfully handle a Joss Whedon work of art this time around...

Michael Parsons said...

As someone who is re-watching Buffy (season 7 y'all) and Angel (season 2) I am very very excited about this. I get the total feeling it will be (good) Alias action mixed with the Battlestar Cylons dramatic identity questioning.

I am so there. Plus how good was Amy Acker in Angel when she played Illyria! Made me do a complete 360 on her acting talents.

NATHANIEL R said...

the thing i'm most curious about in regards to this is how Joss Whedon's Battlestar Galactica obsession will change his work. He is over the moon about BSG... like calling it 'the best tv series ever' and whatnot.

it'll be interesting to see if it changes him at all. Because Galactica is actually quite different than his work although it does share some of the same fascinations (gender, identity, s&m, genre as commentary on actual life, etcetera)

Anonymous said...

I really wish Eliza Dushku was a better actress. She was a real drain on BTVS during her seasons there, and she only enlivened her few Angel episodes because David Boreanaz is even worse.

NATHANIEL R said...

wow. to each their own. she was my favorite character on BUFFY

Anonymous said...

Believe me, folks, waiting until January is absolutely the best possible news this series could get. This series will be paired with "24", building in a substantial crossover audience (the fans of "24" should also be the sort of folk who will lap this up). And the dialed-in commitment by Fox to a 13-episode production deal ensures that the show gets a fair hearing.

Really...can you imagine if "Firefly" had played in the correct order and been put in "24"s rocking chair when it came out? The show would have played on the airwaves forever.

Jason Adams said...

I worry the world might be over 24 though. I nearly am... the only thing keeping me interested after last season's disastrous run (which I never even got around to watching the last three episodes of because I stopped caring) is the divine wonder of Chloe. Sweet sour-faced Chloe.

Adam said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Adam said...

While Faith was far from my favorite Buffy character (there are just too many other greats to choose from), her character arc especially in Season 3 was pure brilliance. Eliza Dushku made Faith sexy, devious and total fun, plus a great counterpoint to the Scooby Gang. When Buffy and Faith had their showdown on the rooftop (all dressed up in big sister's clothes!), I was cheering like it was Thunderdome!

Dollhouse seems to have potential in its premise, but I long for the days when he'll leave Fox and get snatched up by the cable networks. He made a lot or risque content work in veiled ways, which I love, but I'd love it more to see what he'd do uncensored.

Anonymous said...

Faith is one of the best characters on Buffy, but her potential was always compromised by Dushku's very limited acting. The episode when Buffy and Faith switch bodies proved it: Gellar was so great at playing the Faith personality, but Dushku botched Buffy.