Not a bad quote. But honestly, I'm more concerned with what Abrams may or may not do to my beloved Star Trek than whether Dollhouse will be any good. (Of course it will. Now watched...that would be another question, eh?)

BAFfler | February 02, 05:11 CET

WE. ARE. WHEDONITES!

Oh, I just had to go there.

Anyways, nice little article.

crazygolfa | February 02, 05:12 CET

So, is this Sparta?

NYPinTA | February 02, 05:42 CET

Don't know what it means. But screeee!

[ edited by Anonymous1 on 2009-02-02 05:58 ]

Anonymous1 | February 02, 05:43 CET

Yeah, that made me pause. I think he might mean that everyone is working on finding the time to do another Dr. Horrible

Let Down | February 02, 05:46 CET

This is best article that I've seen for a long while. I'm going to have to reread it several times, and ponder.

So, is this Sparta?

Why not? It's not like anybody's currently inhabiting that name.

dreamlogic | February 02, 06:18 CET

Proud to be a 300.

kazzmere | February 02, 06:35 CET

Is it Valentines Day already? Cos' that article sure brought the love!

I particularly found the end of the article really interesting, in that Joss is concerned that TV execs will 'ruin' the internet. While they have certainly tried, (damn your international restrictions *shakes fist*) what the net does have is ingenuity and kids who are an awful lot smarter and more savvy than the corporate suits. As soon as they attempt to impose rules, someone finds a way to circumvent them. (He- Gob moment!)

I mean, it's obvious that the action against Napster did nothing to stop torrenting. So I hope Dr H's success at Amazon made marketers stop to ponder that offering a quality product for free online can actually serve to stimulate sales. Which provides cashy money for the sequel. *Hint*

missb | February 02, 07:36 CET

I just find the Mr Whedon thing very weird. I'm shallow. But a good read all the same.

Simon | February 02, 08:13 CET

I wish that I could like Abram's work better, since he's being so nice, but I know I can't.

dreamlogic | February 02, 08:20 CET

Also we're not a forum.



This is the worst question ever put to Joss (from what he said in an old interview).

Simon | February 02, 08:23 CET

What about the excess of "Mr. Whedon" in the article?

So we're spartans now?

Numfar PTB | February 02, 09:26 CET

missb: You're absolutely right, and this model has been pursued before Dr. Horrible. I mean, the guys over at Red vs. Blue have made a ton of money selling DVDs and merchandise, even though 90% of their artistic output can be found online for free, at their own website. (You can buy a sponsorship to get higher-quality versions of the videos, a day or so ahead of everyone else, and the privilege to view special sponsors-only videos.) People will pay for this stuff just to support the artists and get a few cool extras, and while I doubt anyone will get Hollywood-level rich marketing their products this way, a comfortable profit is not out of the question.

BAFfler | February 02, 09:30 CET

So we're spartans now?

I feel more an Athenian myself...

I love what Joss said about culture starting to rot if the studios have their own way on the Internet. And I'm right there with BAFfler on Abrams and Star Trek. I want to stay positive but, man, I'm scared.

nyrk | February 02, 09:37 CET

That was indeed a great article, and it's nice to have Joss explain why he still likes network television (which is always shocking after Firefly and alii) and still be convincing about it.
Also, I think the DH part is a misunderstanding, as Joss has already said he is not currently working on a sequel. But well, everyone had already figured that out :) Obviously, it won't be on the internet.
Which brings to my next brilliant idea for the Whedonverse (I have a lot of those, and they are usualy tremendously stupid, so I like to post here about them !).
What about .... a Firefly radio extravaganza ? Putting the crew together once again for an audio only adventure (that's gotta cost almost nothing) seems unrealistic enough to make a lot of us laugh.
Well we won't be seeing that anytime soon, I guess, but well, us 300 like to dream.

Léo | February 02, 09:39 CET

Abrams is such a gent.

Andy Dufresne | February 02, 10:01 CET

I think i'd rather be a Theban, some of them survived right ?

Nice comments there from Mr Abrams, i've long felt that Mr Abrams is a nice guy in a town of more than a few Mr not so Nice Guys. And probably also a fan of popular 80s beat combo Mister Mister as well as 'They Call Me Mister Tibbs', 'Mr Deeds', 'Mr Roberts', 'Mr Mom' and Mr Ed.

... what the net does have is ingenuity and kids who are an awful lot smarter and more savvy than the corporate suits. As soon as they attempt to impose rules, someone finds a way to circumvent them...

Trouble is, ISPs, being businesses, are at the mercy of the suits or rather their corporate tools, the lobbyists (who probably also wear suits, suits are actually surprisingly popular ;) and we, being humble end-users, are at the mercy of the ISPs. All it needs is for a law to be passed forcing your service provider to prevent the work-arounds and they'll either implement it or be subject to lawsuits/criminal prosecution etc.

Wise not to sit on our laurels basically, thinking the net will always be (relatively) free is a dangerous assumption.

Saje | February 02, 13:01 CET

Too true Sage, and timely given there has been some talk in the Australian media lately about the Govt implementing a mandatory internet filter that will block copyrighted or questionable material. (Seems there are too many kiddies spending their time online learning to be terrorists, cyber-bullying their peers and looking at pron.) Free Speech activists are up in arms of course, and there's a lot of opposition to the idea and talk of a 'Nanny State', and much more of people scheming how to bypass it if it is approved!

I have no doubt that proxy servers are on the hit list of many of the entertainment companies, but I can't help but think that for each one that gets taken down, you'll just get five replacements. I just wish networks would realise that info and entertainment is a instantaneous, global industry nowadays and that if they'd just play it smarter, there'd be plenty of the pie to go around.

And now I'm reminded of when I was a wee lass and used to hold my Tape Player up to the radio to record the Top 40. Which is my way of saying that people will find ways of accessing what they want- even if the quality ain't all that!

missb | February 02, 13:48 CET

Heh, I remember doing the same thing (I also used to hold my old mono tape recorder up to the telly to record theme tunes. For some bizarre reason 'Airwolf' is one I specifically remember trying to get properly and, slightly less embarrassingly, MASH ;).

Fair point, if you can play a file you can create a copy, even if, as you say, the quality's a bit naff (even the most stringent DRM isn't going to stop someone sitting a camera in front of their screen for instance).

Saje | February 02, 14:01 CET

I also had a cassette tape of TV show themes. I also taped the sound track of Cinderella with Stuart Damon. Now I own that musical on DVD.

[ edited by redeem147 on 2009-02-02 14:25 ]

redeem147 | February 02, 14:24 CET

Joss seems really satisfied with the later episodes, which is good. I had no doubt the show would deepen and find its groove. But it sounds like maybe the first six eps or so, they're still trying to find their voice. Those are precisely the episodes that will determine whether the show succeeds with a general audience, no? Even here, people have been saying they'll give the show only three episodes or so before they decide if they'll stick with it.

shambleau | February 02, 18:53 CET

(Wrong thread.)

[ edited by The One True b!X on 2009-02-02 19:21 ]

The One True b!X | February 02, 19:04 CET

Ah, sweet memories of VHR and cassettes! Are we that old now?

korkster | February 02, 19:44 CET

Yeah, shambleau that has had me slightly worried as well. On the other hand: if the show is 'just good' and easy to get into those early episodes, it might get viewers regardless. In fact, as soon as it starts firing on all cylinders - this being a Joss show - it probably also becomes harder to get into cold. So maybe it's not a bad thing after all.

GVH | February 02, 20:31 CET

The second episode that will be airing is supposedly pretty kick-ass. So I think if people are intrigued enough by the pilot to keep watching (and most reviews seem to say that the pilot, while not fantastic, is good enough to bring them back for ep. 2), they'll definitely get hooked in week 2. They seem to be going in the right direction in the episode order.

I was recently watching the first season of Buffy, since my wife gave me the box set for Christmas, and it seems that the first several episodes were ok, but it wasn't until episodes 6 and 7 that they really kicked it up a notch ("The Pack" and "Angel" -- the revelation that Angel was a vampire was pretty shocking...and I already knew that he was!)

I don't doubt that, given the time to grow, Dollhouse will prove itself in front of an audience.

JMaloney | February 02, 20:54 CET