Whedonesque : Comments on 15616 : Writers for Dollhouse confirmed.

Season 4 of The Shield was kinda meh in comparison to some of the others, but they wrote one of the best episodes. By that I mean episode 10. Some great lines in that one and the actors just owned them. So, I'm happy about this. Joss should populate the entire staff with ex-Angel writers. What's Jeff Bell up to?

The Sandy Llama | February 27, 18:58 CET

Great news

Buffyfantic | February 27, 19:15 CET

So, Dollhouse is television's most anticipated new show?

schaef | February 27, 19:16 CET

Certainly seems to be that way.

Simon | February 27, 19:22 CET

Can't wait!!

WheelsOfJoy | February 27, 19:27 CET

It's great to know they're on board! I wonder who Joss will get next.

Ameer | February 27, 19:32 CET

“Joss emailed and said ‘I’m really sorry — and is it too soon to ask you to work on “Dollhouse”?’ ” said Fain...

“It was all very quick,” Fain said.

Craft added, “That was literally as we got home from cleaning out our offices. It cushioned the blow.”

Yeah, I can see how it might./understatement

I'm glad - I liked their work on Angel - and I like to think of Joss and Tim quietly amassing all the talent in Hollywood while the the studio suits are busy running around in circles and trying to fix things that aren't broke, and breaking things that are already fixed.

Oh, I love my town... and I am so happy that this show is purring along on its merry way, if that's not somehow mixing metaphors, and I believe it is.

Anyhoo, these Missouri gals have landed on they feet, and well-deservedly so.

QuoterGal | February 27, 19:35 CET

Into production in 6 weeks! I imagine we're going to get a lot more news soon then...yay!

And obviously I'm glad about Sarah and Liz working with Joss again. Has Tim been confirmed yet? I'm praying for some Jane..and Ultimate Drew..and DeKnight..and well, ok, about 20 other Whedonverse writers...

Leaf | February 27, 20:07 CET

That's a mighty cushion, I would think. Yay for them!

Sunfire | February 27, 20:08 CET

Has Tim been confirmed yet?

Tim was brought in by Joss almost right at the start.

theonetruebix | February 27, 20:13 CET

Tim's words were something like "I'll be involved as much as I can" which seemed pretty ambiguous, so I wasn't sure.

Leaf | February 27, 20:20 CET

OH Fox do not mess this up..please do not pull a Firefly, or Wonderfalls or The Inside and cancel this too soon.

I am so darn excited about this show, I could dance.
Darn it..I will *dance*

I do not think we will get Drew, he is busy with Lost.

[ edited by SillyD on 2008-02-27 20:28 ]

SillyD | February 27, 20:28 CET

Wordy McWord!!! :-D

OzLady | February 27, 20:29 CET

Not at all surprised, as Joss certainly enjoyed picketing with them even through the haze of his former plaguiness. I'm awesome super very excited about this! :)

cabri | February 27, 20:37 CET

True SillyD, perhaps Drew will be available for S2..... ok, I totally went there... blame me everyone.

Leaf | February 27, 20:40 CET

Shhh, Leaf. We do not discuss Season 2 yet. No jinxes, cross all your toes, etc.

Sunfire | February 27, 20:41 CET

I'll cross them for a whole year if it means we get a full 22-ep season! Invest in special shoes and everything.

[ edited by Leaf on 2008-02-27 20:55 ]

Leaf | February 27, 20:54 CET

Funny how the article didn't even mention they were Angel writers.

CaptainB | February 27, 20:55 CET

I am the ultimate jinxer, whenever I get excited about something, odds are it is not happening. Therefore, I am now not even acknowledging the existence, near existence, affiliation to and the name of "Dollhouse".

Mirage | February 27, 20:56 CET

I'm not too familiar with their work (I still have to get to the later seasons of Angel :X) but it's a cute story, anyway. That would be quite the amazing e-mail to get.

nicola | February 27, 21:03 CET

:( I will let myself get excited, anyway. Part of that check the IRS says they'll send me Mayish is going toward a tv. That's how very excited I am. But I will not think beyond 6 episodes just yet.

Special shoes, eh? I don't think I could balance, though.

Sunfire | February 27, 21:07 CET

I got an email once nicola, asking me to help write something. From a person. Who was my boss. Okay, so he was actually asking me to do my job rather than piss about on WHEDONesque, but I'm sure you'll agree it's nearly the same as what happened here.

gossi | February 27, 21:09 CET

Well, Jane Espenson will be out of work in a couple of months after BSG finishes writing... would be brilliant to have her on board. So happy to have Liz and Sarah on board!

crossoverman | February 27, 21:23 CET

I think Jane may be contracted elsewhere. Unless I'm wrong.

gossi | February 27, 21:30 CET

You are not wrong, gossi. Warehouse 13 for the SciFi channel.

TamaraC | February 27, 21:34 CET

Squee! Production in 6 weeks. So much to look forward to!

Zannadoo | February 27, 21:37 CET

Great news! "Soulless" was one of my favorite episodes.

Dollhouse going into production six weeks from now is beyond shiny.

UnpluggedCrazy | February 27, 21:41 CET

Production in six weeks!

Gee. From Angel, straight to The Shield, straight to Dollhouse. Liz and Sarah get nooooo luck. (Although I guess you could say "Hey - talent.")

The First Weevil | February 27, 21:43 CET

The First Weevil, there was Women's Murder Club in there too. ;)

TamaraC | February 27, 21:50 CET

Aah, aah, toe cramp !

That's great news, their eps of 'Angel' were good 'uns, as a team they always brought the darkness (e.g. 'Supersymmetry' or 'Shiny Happy People').

I'm starting to get properly excited now, it's like the bit at the start of a TOS cast Trek film when they all come back together to save the world/Kirk. Maybe someone should warn Joss against Christopher Plummer ?

(does production in six weeks mean they start casting and such in six weeks or they actually have a fully assembled staff/crew/cast etc. ready to roll in six weeks ?)

Saje | February 27, 21:54 CET

I think it's time to steal our writers back (okay for the ones who got still got pretty good deals out there).
Great news about Fain and Craft, glad to have them onboard.

Numfar PTB | February 27, 21:55 CET

Maybe some special Dollhouse branded sandals are in order?

(I think casting is part of preproduction? But six weeks does seem like an awfully short time... unless you're a fan of course)

Leaf | February 27, 22:02 CET

I've been keeping an eye on the casting notices and I've not seen anything yet. I'd have thought it unlikely they could be shooting in six weeks.

gossi | February 27, 22:02 CET

I had actually made a list of the writers I would try to get for Dollhouse if I were Joss. To be honest, they weren't on it, but I'm totally thrilled that they're going to be involved, especially now that I've glanced at imdb and reminded myself of which episodes they wrote.

And six weeks? Very shiny happy news!

Lirazel | February 27, 22:21 CET

Brian K. Vaughan. Brian K. Vaughan. Repeat after me...

daylight | February 27, 22:49 CET

Yay for Liz and Sarah.

Next up: please get Espenson, Petrie, Fury, Marti, DeKnight, Goddard (yes, he has "Lost," but this show will be better), Jeff Bell, Mere Smith....

Aside: is Dan Vebber excrutiatingly awesome and overlooked, or did Joss do heavy rewrites on "The Zeppo" and "Lovers Walk"?

WilliamTheB | February 27, 22:49 CET

I'm like a trollop on a magic fingers bed, I'm so excited to hear this news! Looks like the series is shaping up quite nicely. You very, very wise man Joss.

Tonya J | February 27, 22:55 CET

Fantastic news! I hope more will follow...

I actually did a little research on IMDb and it seems, that among the possibilities could be Steven S. DeKnight, Rebecca Rand Kirshner, Drew Z. Greenberg and Jeffrey Bell, who are all currently not attached to any show or project.

Anuris | February 27, 23:13 CET

WilliamTheB said:

Aside: is Dan Vebber excrutiatingly awesome and overlooked, or did Joss do heavy rewrites on "The Zeppo" and "Lovers Walk"?

I've often wondered that myself! Based on those two episodes, it appears that he's one of the most talented writers to ever contribute to the show, but I suppose it is very possible that Joss did rewrites. If Vebber really did write them, they should totally make the guy part of Dollhouse. Can you imagine the awesomeness?

Lirazel | February 27, 23:17 CET

I'm really just hoping for Jane, though I know how unlikely that is all things considered. Still, *ponderland*.

cookiepartier | February 27, 23:20 CET

is Dan Vebber excrutiatingly awesome and overlooked, or did Joss do heavy rewrites on "The Zeppo" and "Lovers Walk"?

Joss has said in the past that he wrote most of "Lover's Walk," and I would personally guess "The Zeppo" as well.

On the topic in general, I think sometimes the Whedon fandom(s) have gone too far beyond the way most people are, which is to pay no attention to the writers at all, and instead get too fixated on who wrote (or was credited on) what episode. From the writing process as described in commentaries and whatnot, most of the writing staff (and Joss most of all) had at least a hand in every episode.

jlp | February 27, 23:22 CET

According to this rumour, Shonda Rhimes is considering hiring more Exec Producers for "Private Practice", will this mean that Marti is leaving as showrunner? Might this mean, that she'll also become available?

Would love to get Jane also, but she has the other half of the final BSG season to work on.

Ben Edlund (I know, Supernatural... Dollhouse better), Cheryl Cain and Jose Molina (I think I saw his name on this week's Medium) would be cool too.

[ edited by Numfar PTB on 2008-02-27 23:32 ]

Numfar PTB | February 27, 23:25 CET

I doubt Marti is going anywhere. PP has something like 6 exec producers plus 5 or 6 more co-exec/co-/supervising/whatever you want to call it producers.

TamaraC | February 27, 23:35 CET

TamaraC:
The First Weevil, there was Women's Murder Club in there too. ;)

How totally embarrassing would it be for someone to list the last few shows they've contributed to and neglect to mention the one they created? :(

The First Weevil | February 27, 23:48 CET

As a member of the now-defunct Institute for Advanced Diegan Studies, I wonder what Mr. Garcia is up to these daisy-day-day-days.

DaddyCatALSO | February 28, 01:12 CET

If you mean Diego Gutierrez, may I personally opine "A world of no" :)

But - we have had so many good writers involved in Mutant Enemy shows. Welcome to Fain and Craft! Let's get Drew Z. - "the forgotten Drew", I guess, in the wake of Lost and Cloverfield (which I really enjoyed and admired) and all. And DeKnight, Kirschner - Petrie if they can... Jeff Bell's just out there? If there's room for two former Angel-runners....Hell - I'd like to see most every Whedon writing regular.

And as long as we're bringing up short-termers, what about Tracy Forbes? One of her Buffy eps was hilarious...

LKW | February 28, 02:49 CET

Drew Z. Greenberg is on "Dexter" and Doug Petrie is on "CSI" (the Vegas edition), both shows that have been picked up for next season. So I think both of them may be unavailable. David Fury is on "24" for at least another year, so he's unavailable as well.

Shapenew | February 28, 02:57 CET

Shapenew, Drew Greenberg was only on Dexter in season one. I don't know what he's been doing since then.

electricspacegirl | February 28, 03:25 CET

This is such great news, I'm so excited. I really hope he can bring in more former ME people, and I really hope this is a big hit for them.

archon | February 28, 04:37 CET

Great news, looking to be such a good show. Not that Joss could create a bad show, but this line up is looking amazing.

Is it too early to start up www.savedollhouse.com?

windmillchaser | February 28, 05:21 CET

electricspacegirl, my bad re: Drew Greenberg. I could've sworn I saw him in this season's "Dexter" credits onscreen, but I checked the IMDB, and the 2006 season of "Dexter" is the last listed credit for him. So evidently he is available.

Shapenew | February 28, 07:45 CET

Oooh, I hope they get Doug Petrie.
Brian K. Vaughan will most likely be too wrapped up in Lost...

lordsketch | February 28, 13:40 CET

It not be such a bad idea to get away from writers he has used in the past, and pick up new talent.

Of course we want more of our favourite writers - but no point in making it a reunion.

angeliclestat | February 28, 13:56 CET

ES-PEN-SON!
ES-PEN-SON!
etc.

ZodKneelsFirst | February 28, 14:35 CET

DeKnight!!! Please please?? After all, I'm sure the show will need a touch of "light and fluffy" ;-)

Shey | February 28, 14:55 CET

February 27 2008