It seems a bit weird recommending a television show that’s already been cancelled. But check out Dollhouse. While Fox is currently playing out its final 6-7 episodes, airing them back-to-back so as to presumably get the whole affair over with, fans like myself are left with a couple questions.
For the uninitiated, Dollhouse is Joss Whedon’s newest series since the infamously short-lived “science fiction western” Firefly. The show centers around an organization that wipes human’s brains and inserts new personalities for top dollar services. Participants are called “actives” and can conceivably be turned into anyone, or anything. Dollhouse deals with issues of consciousness and mind over matter, that a human brain can be programmed and reprogrammed like a computer. Various moral and ethical objections are raised, ignored, and exploited, often to maintain the Dollhouse’s security and anonymity.
But the show was cancelled in November due to exceptionally low ratings. As is becoming something of a trend, Joss Whedon’s shows are often met with difficulty in securing a large audience and ultimately network confidence. Which is too bad; he is an excellent writer and brilliant filmmaker in general. Maybe television as the distribution medium isn’t a great for him, at least anymore. His mini-film Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog has become wildly popular and that was done on the cheap, directly for the internet. If only Joss Whedon could just find a way to get his actors and production crew to work for free every time, then his problems would be over.
Tags: Billy Buzz, Dollhouse, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, Eliza Dushku, Firefly, Joss Whedon
