New Dollhouse TV spot - Dollhouse

Yep, I saw it too. Hot girl! Action! On Fox! Ya, wasn't one of my favorites. At least they left in "From the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer". That will at least draw the Buffy fans, and all the other stuff will draw all the others hopefully...shrugs

Harmalicious | January 28, 18:03 CET

What bad quality - it looks like someone has taped it on their mobile phone or something. It's really not that difficult to rip live TV, especially in the age of the internet and DVR.

flugufrelsarinn | January 28, 18:32 CET

So there've been spots during AI, Bones, House and Fringe. Did 24 have any? Two more weeks to go. They should start up some dual SCC/Dollhouse ones soon too.

hacksaway | January 28, 18:39 CET

hey, not all of us have fancy equipment - so I'm happy for something rather than nothing (no, it wasn't me).

I'm all for the promos attracting people who aren't Whedon fans. In fact, I'd rather they do that. After all most Whedon fans (not all, I know this because some Whedon fans are so heartbroken and upset with Fox they won't tune in).. but most Whedon fans will tune in. To keep this show on air we need to get the people who'd never tune in to want to.

BrownCoat_Tabz | January 28, 18:40 CET

Yep, reaching out = good. I'm glad there's a few promo's running now, but I'm still not expecting stellar numbers. I'm hoping for numbers equal to or slightly better than T:SCC, which would probably be just about enough of a basis to build upon in the weeks to come, when the show starts finding its feet and better reviews start coming in and we can hopefully get something of a positive buzz going. Maybe. (Or, alternatively, replace everything I just said with "Heh. I dunno. *shrug*.)

GVH | January 28, 19:01 CET

some Whedon fans are so heartbroken and upset with Fox they won't tune in

"I'm so angry with Fox for canceling that one Whedon show I'm going to do my best to make sure that this one gets canceled too! That'll show 'em!"

I think those people may not be thinking their cunning plan all the way through.

snot monster from outer space | January 28, 19:04 CET

Shows almost never improve over time. 99 times out of 100 the viewers they get on the very first episode is the highest it will ever have. There are very few exceptions to this rule in the last 2 or 3 years.

ps. If one more person brings up the ancient fossil of X-Files when talking about Dollhouse I may scream.

IrrationaliTV | January 28, 19:07 CET

Ah, good, I'm glad someone caught this one. I had complete fail despite being ready to record it last night. There's also one that's very similar to the original 60-second promo released online, that's been playing sporadically late at night and also on FX.

The One True b!X | January 28, 19:14 CET

Shows almost never improve over time. 99 times out of 100 the viewers they get on the very first episode is the highest it will ever have.

I find it very hard to believe that this is correct. Anyone know of a good break down of 'premiere' vs. 'regular season' ratings?

Or are you saying this in the sense that 99 times out of 100 the shows fail to gain any kind of audience and get canceled? If so, then the statement would be true but also kinda meaningless.

snot monster from outer space | January 28, 19:24 CET

What commercial break was it, does anyone know? I'm still recording Fringe, even though I don't think I'm going to watch any more. So, this paid off.

sumogrip | January 28, 19:31 CET

It was the final break of the show. So, somewhere in the last 10-15 minutes.

The One True b!X | January 28, 19:32 CET

I think they aired also one during a Family Guy re-run last weekend.

Is the 60-seconds version that aired on FX during Nip/Tuck yesterday already online somewhere?

wiesengrund | January 28, 19:33 CET

Not that I've seen. I haven't even seen a description of what's different in it from the original online promo it's based on.

The One True b!X | January 28, 19:41 CET

In terms of Friday night ratings, the main competitor (Flashpoint) has been doing very well for CBS. CBS is actually now dominating Friday nights with numbers greater than 10mil in the 8, 9 and 10pm slots. In addition, Flashpoint has been consistently building its audience every week.

On the other hand, Friday Night Lights started off this season with 4.54 mil viewers, and was down to 3.96 this past week.

The shows that T:TSCC and Dollhouse will be replacing (Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? and Don't Forget the Lyrics) are currently operating in the range of 5-6mil viewers. Terminator and Dollhouse will presumably need to exceed those numbers. Also factor in that they are more expensive to produce than either of those two game shows, so they'll most likely need even higher ratings to make up for the difference.

Terminator's ratings on Mondays were typically in the low to mid 5mil range. Can they grow beyond that for Friday nights? And has anyone seen ads for its February 13th return yet? 'Cuz we're getting some pretty decent airtime for Dollhouse ads, but without a strong lead-in from Terminator, there may be some problems.

JMaloney | January 28, 20:00 CET

So there've been spots during AI, Bones, House and Fringe.

The first one I saw was during Family Guy.

edcsLover9 | January 28, 20:12 CET

snot monster, I don't have the time to do the research for you, but a site like pifeedback.com has all viewer numbers and 18-49 rating shares by night back to 2006. You can find the info there. I look at those rating everyday and so I track how shows drop week over week and season over season.

A great exception to this rule is How I Met Your Mother which is shockingly increasing in ratings year over year.

IrrationaliTV | January 28, 20:26 CET

I think Dollhouse has a decent chance of renewal if it wins the night in the 18-49 demo and doesn’t fall under 5 mil. in total viewers. However, without being too unrealistic, the most optimal would be, if it could open with about 7 mil. viewers and afterwards regularly stay at somewhere over 6 mil.

Anuris | January 28, 20:27 CET

'Dollhouse' is going to struggle to win the night in anything I think so i'd be happy with it just being in contention. Even though CBS skews a bit older 'Numb3rs', 'Ghost Whisperer' and 'Flashpoint' are pretty tough nuts to crack (only 'Flashpoint' is actually in its slot but if we're talking the entire night ...). Not a bad show 'Flashpoint' BTW, feels a lot like the show 'Standoff' could've been if it hadn't, instead, been a bit 'meh'.

I think those people may not be thinking their cunning plan all the way through.

I'd go as far as saying it may not even be that cunning. I know, I know, controversial could be my middle name (but it's Allan).

Also factor in that they are more expensive to produce than either of those two game shows, so they'll most likely need even higher ratings to make up for the difference.

Yeah but they also have a much better life on DVD (i.e. they have a life on DVD). I'm still a bit unclear on how much Fox TV makes from 20th Century TV's DVD sales (on paper they're separate companies obviously) but it has to be a factor.

Generally a bit of a nothing promo IMO but at least it's pushing the show.

Saje | January 28, 20:45 CET

Well, I didn't get to watch any FOX last night, because our local station was "experiencing technical difficulties."

Pooh!

Not that I would've seen the ad, since I don't watch Fringe. But...YAY! New ad! Yay!

ShadowQuest | January 28, 20:52 CET

I saw a Dollhouse spot last night on a show other than the ones mentioned; I think it was the local news. It wasn't compelling,
but any spot is better than no spot. It's really difficult to do word of mouth if the person one is talking to hasn't ever heard of the show.

janef | January 28, 21:13 CET

Saje, it isn't a factor. FBC makes nothing off 20th's DVD sales. 20th, however can adjust it's license fee to FBC based on anticipated DVD sales.

IrrationaliTV | January 28, 21:21 CET

Sorry...the promos are horrible...they look like amateur night...I saw it in HD and the whole thing just had a very cheap quality to it...its hard to get people to watch the show when the promos look so cheesey

lax01 | January 28, 21:23 CET

Saje, it isn't a factor. FBC makes nothing off 20th's DVD sales. 20th, however can adjust it's license fee to FBC based on anticipated DVD sales.

So it is, potentially, a factor? Would 20th significantly reduce license fees if they saw a possible DVD bonanza?

snot monster from outer space | January 28, 21:25 CET

its hard to get people to watch the show when the promos look so cheesey

Yes, because no one ever watches anything on TV that's cheesy.

The One True b!X | January 28, 21:26 CET

Maybe if one of the "Dolls" gets imprinted as a mall cop we can get some Paul Blart crossover?

chazman | January 28, 21:33 CET

So apparently the DTV switch is still on track for February 17th. How much effect will this have on Dollhouse?

hacksaway | January 28, 21:34 CET

All the characters will start talking in binary on that date.

Saje, it isn't a factor. FBC makes nothing off 20th's DVD sales. 20th, however can adjust it's license fee to FBC based on anticipated DVD sales.

Heh, yeah just to echo (ahem) what snot monster said, that sounds pretty factorish to me ;). I realise that FBC doesn't make anything from it directly but News Corp. does, right ? I mean, there's separate and then there's separate.

Saje | January 28, 21:36 CET

The Digital TV Switch will be, I think, a lot like Y2K: a lot of worrying and little to no actual problems.

From this article: "The Nielsen Co. estimates more than 6.5 million U.S. households that rely on over-the-air broadcast signals, or 5.7 percent of the population, are not prepared for the transition and could see their TV sets go dark next month."

Unless, of course, those 6.5 million people happen to be the exact viewing audience of Dollhouse, in which case, expect to see a tremendous drop in the ratings for Episode 2. ;)

[ edited by JMaloney on 2009-01-28 21:52 ]

JMaloney | January 28, 21:50 CET

I'm guessing that most of the households that will be affected by the DTV thing will be ones that TV Execs don't give two hoots about, and which won't be watching Dollhouse in any case--the elderly. I'm also guessing that once people's TV's turn to snow, they'll go out and buy the converter box pretty quickly.

Wait--will they turn to snow? I'd have thought that the obvious thing to do would have been to shut down normal programming and play an short clip explaining how to get a converter box over and over for a couple of weeks. That's what they'll do, right?

snot monster from outer space | January 28, 22:04 CET

Or maybe just a test page with a website and/or real address detailing what you need to do.

The Digital TV Switch will be, I think, a lot like Y2K: a lot of worrying and little to no actual problems.

Hmm, this idea is trotted out a lot now (i.e. in retrospect) but in fairness to Y2K, something like $300 billion was spent globally on making sure it ended up with "little to no actual problems". It's difficult to impossible to work out what might've happened without the massive effort expended and pretty easy to say now that it was a lot of fuss over nothing.

Saje | January 28, 22:14 CET

snot monster: I was about to say that that's far too sensible for it to actually happen, but in Hawaii (who are doing it early) that looks like exactly what's happening (link):

"By Thursday at noon, all stations should be transmitting their digital signals at full power, and analog TV towers will be airing infomercials about the transition instead of regular programming."

NotaViking | January 28, 22:25 CET

The Dollhouse ad not only was shown during Fringe, but I also saw one on F/X's NIP/TUCK. I can't wait for Dollhouse to start!
I'm glad the the Digital Switch has been delayed, because there are a lot of people (like myself) that don't have the digital converter box yet.

Little Green Kid | January 28, 22:30 CET

TamaraC: I also don't have the time to do the research, but I know House started off with lousy ratings too. And there is the X-files ofcourse ;)

I think those people may not be thinking their cunning plan all the way through.

On the other hand, they would gain followers every time. Growing in power till they can fullfill their master plan...

the Groosalugg | January 28, 22:30 CET

I'm not saying that the transition is as simple as flipping a switch and being done with it. We've been preparing for a digital switch in the US for about a decade now, and news about the switch has been in people's faces for probably about two years. A lot of money has been spent making sure people are ready for the switchover, and I think it's been successful. I wasn't suggesting that it's been time/money wasted, just that the end-user experience is going to be fairly transparent: hence, little to no actual problems once it happens.

JMaloney | January 28, 22:32 CET

Little Green Kid: You may want to go get the digital converter -- the switch isn't being delayed (as of right now). The House of Representatives voted against the delay earlier today.

JMaloney | January 28, 22:36 CET

Ah, I get you. Your wording made it sound (to me) a bit like "Pfft, stop worrying, nothing's gonna happen" when, as you say, the only reason nothing's gonna happen is because a lot of people have been "worrying" for years ;).

Saje | January 28, 22:36 CET

I'm glad the the Digital Switch has been delayed, because there are a lot of people (like myself) that don't have the digital converter box yet.

This reminds me I should go spend my coupon like, now.

Sunfire | January 28, 22:54 CET

We finally got our converter box (for the tv upstairs - the one downstairs will be completely useless except for movies, which, oddly enough, is all we use it for) after a failed pre-order attempt during which Radio Shack lost the order and we lost the receipt. Dad wasn't going to bother - ours is really not a TV household (and in fact, he turned down the Nielsen people several years ago and refused to send back the diary they'd already mailed) - but he likes to be able to watch the news if something important happens. Maybe he'll watch the Dollhouse premiere with me though...

Rachelkachel | January 28, 23:04 CET

Thanks for the news JMaloney. I just noticed that the House voted the bill down.

Little Green Kid | January 28, 23:12 CET

Well this thread's evidence enough that there are people who intend to watch Dollhouse, but aren't prepared for the switch. And presumably aren't elderly. Besides, I imagine you have to take what you can get on Fridays. I know the demo generally rules all, but hey, CBS makes it work...

I also think a delay wouldn't do anything but give people 4 more months to procrastinate. But even a small drop is a drop.

hacksaway | January 28, 23:17 CET

Well this thread's evidence enough that there are people who intend to watch Dollhouse, but aren't prepared for the switch. And presumably aren't elderly.

Well no, I'm not elderly. I'm also planning to go get a tv this weekend. I figure I shouldn't buy the box before I have a tv I know I'll need to use it with.

Sunfire | January 28, 23:29 CET

Pretty much any new TV (if you're planning on buying a new TV) will have a built-in digital receiver.

snot monster from outer space | January 28, 23:39 CET

I'm going to shop used first and see how the prices compare. I don't mind an old clunky tv as long as I can actually pick up a few stations with an antenna and the converter box. That's where the iffiness lies.

Sunfire | January 28, 23:56 CET

My converter coupons never came so I went out a bought a new 47" flatscreen. Yes, I could have just paid full price for the damn box but now I'll get to see Dollhouse on a screen that is really much too big for my tiny living room.
If I get it hooked up before February 13th that is.

deadbessie | January 29, 01:05 CET

I don't imagine that FBC takes DVD into consideration any more for Dollhouse than they do for TSCC (which is produced by and DVDs sold by WB) or House (produced by and DVDs sold by Universal).

I assume that 20th has already factored DVD into their calculations for the show. I mean they released Buffy, Angel, and Firefly so they probably have a clue what Dollhouse has the potential to do on DVD.

IrrationaliTV | January 29, 02:14 CET

It is possible that some of that 5.7% are happy to move to internet viewing too, and saw no point to getting the set top box. whether by legal or illegal means, many people are turning to the internet, which they already have, than getting a DVR.

Ivalaine | January 29, 02:15 CET

On the promotional front, noticed Eliza is scheduled for Letterman on the 11th, and Regis/Kelly on the 12th

chazman | January 29, 02:24 CET

"We're in a situation. The kind you need to shoot at."

Nice.

UnpluggedCrazy | January 29, 02:30 CET

I liked that quote as well, UnpluggedCrazy. But it also seemed to be the only new thing in the commercial. Every time I see a Dollhouse promo now I get a little too excited... :)

korkster | January 29, 03:40 CET

I saw the promo last night, and I was wondering: Why not put Tahmoh in more of the promo? Have you SEEN him? Talent is awesome and all, but there are plenty of people who would tune into a television show just to see pretty people (and be surprised at the awesomeness in the process), and showing mainly Eliza probably isn't going to cover that segment of people.

Or yeah, I just think Tahmoh should have more promo time.

the ninja report | January 29, 04:21 CET

Yeah I rather liked that quote too. :)

Rhodey | January 29, 05:53 CET

Well this thread's evidence enough that there are people who intend to watch Dollhouse, but aren't prepared for the switch.

Actually, I think this thread is evidence that there are people who intend to watch Dollhouse and who are fully aware of the upcoming switch and have plans to take action.

I don't see any "switch? what switch?" questions here.

snot monster from outer space | January 29, 17:24 CET

January 28 2009