For those of you who are fans of Dollhouse, you’d better get in as much of it as you can, because Entertainment Weekly’s Michael Ausiello says that the brainwashable, sci-fi-ish actioner is getting benched during November sweeps.
This is not the sort of move a confident studio will pull on a profitable property — as Ausiello notes, this is the kind of move a studio will give to let a show go die quietly in a corner. Sadly, this wouldn’t be the first time that a Whedon show has been pulled by Fox, as there was a lot of anger after they pulled the plug on DVD cult classic series Firefly.
And considering how by-the-wire Dollhouse came at the end of its first season — see this cartoon from Hijinks Ensue for a more detailed look at it — it’s not looking like Dollhouse will be running for much longer.
October 22nd, 2009 at 12:44 pm
I never get tired of this picture.
October 22nd, 2009 at 1:33 pm
Out here Dollhouse is up against SGU, Sanctuary, Monk, Psych, and ton of other good shows Friday nights. No wonder it’s ratings are slipping. I only get to watch it on Hulu these days.
October 22nd, 2009 at 2:00 pm
Just a heads up, it is Michael Ausiello, not Mark.
October 22nd, 2009 at 2:05 pm
1. I’m really not surprised that FOX is doing this – airing reruns of highly-rated House will bring them more ratings during sweeps than any stunt on Dollhouse will, and ultimately (especially in smaller markets) the ratings during sweeps are the only thing that matters…
2) It’s HijinksEnsue, not HijinksEnsure. Just a little slip there!
October 22nd, 2009 at 3:18 pm
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: The executives at Fox (and let’s remember that these executives are almost certainly not the same execs that canned Firefly–TV and movie exec positions change hands faster than a lot of comic books do) are unfairly demonized for yanking these shows. Terminator lasted two seasons. Dollhouse has gone at least a season and a a half. Would either of these shows gotten past the pilot stage anywhere else?
October 24th, 2009 at 1:31 am
@Wesley Smith – I think there’s an element of truth to what you’re saying, but right now broadcast TV is a crapshoot. I think that the continued lease on life given to underperformers like THE OFFICE (in its first season)and CHUCK (and the resurrections of FAMILY GUY and FUTURAMA) shows that there are some executives who can take a chance on quality programming that they think is likely to succeed on DVD; that’s probably where more predictable money will be coming from in the near future anyway.
January 17th, 2011 at 3:31 pm
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January 17th, 2011 at 4:43 pm
I have kind of a diffrent outlooks on this article. I agree with the author but some points I have diffrent views on.