May 17 2008
Whedon welcomes us to his Dollhouse
With the Fox upfront taking place this week, all kinds of fresh buzz is floating around about Joss Whedon’s return to television. Here’s the first publicity still of the cast (note that the titular Dollhouse looks like a cross between a zen spa and the law offices in Eli Stone):
And if that doesn’t make you happy enough, the video played at the upfront is also making the rounds (though it does seem to getting pulled occasionally – hopefully this one lasts a little longer):
But wait, there’s more! I also found this other vid, a scene with star Eliza Dushku and Battlestar Galactica‘s Tamoh Penikett. This is definitely some new stuff from Ms. Dushku here. I mean, for crying out loud, she’s wearing pastels! Sadly, the site doesn’t provide embed code, so you’ll have to visit them to see it.
Dollhouse is set to air Monday nights on Fox, beginning in January 2009. It will serve as the lead-in for 24 (quite a step up from the graveyard of Friday evenings that Firefly received). In addition, Fox will be using Dollhouse and the new J.J. Abrams series Fringe to pilot a new less-commericals-are-better platform in which they intend the halve the amount of advertisements usually presented in an hour-long show. More show = better for me.
This week’s issue of Entertainment Weekly also offers a little bit of a closer look at the show. Fox likes the show because there is a promise of standalone episodes, but Whedon still promises larger (though perhaps subtle) arcs. The latter is hinted at in the article when its noted that, though Echo (Dushku’s character) and her fellow dolls constantly have their memories wiped and are essentially “blank slates”, apparently Echo is beginning to remember things that she’s not supposed to. I am intrigued.
While Whedon wrote and directed the pilot episode, Angel writers Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain (late of the cancelled Women’s Murder Club) are set to serve as the showrunners. Additionally, Whedon alum Tim Minear is also set to pen a two-parter around the episode seven mark.
Here’s hoping that this one makes it for the long haul and that Fox doesn’t kill it before it’s time like it so often does.
