I think Topping's episode guides for Buffy and Angel are the best. I recommend them to anyone who doesn't have them yet. Let's hope he'll be writing one for Dollhouse in several years!

fruit punch mouth | February 16, 20:56 CET

Not a review. He, like our friend from the Grauniad, has yet to watch it. This just discusses the concept. and yet again we have someone saying it's too clever for it's own good. Odd how noone ever says that about The Wire. Or Lost.

My 20 words or less summary: Pretty people become other people. Hikjinks ensue. :)

[ edited by spooforbrains on 2009-02-16 21:43 ]

spooforbrains | February 16, 21:02 CET

He says right in the first paragraph that he watched it.

The One True b!X | February 16, 21:08 CET

It is a review because he watched it. The opening line is

"So, I sat down to watch a review tape of Joss Whedon’s new show, Dollhouse, last night"

debw | February 16, 21:08 CET

I agree with him.

I wasn't blown away by the pilot. I was disappointed and didn't like it all that much, mostly because it really juggled too much things all at once. The engagement of the week (hostage negotiation in this case) would not have been necessary for the first episode and that's why I liked the original pilot script ("Echo") much better, because it took its time to introduce all of these characters (not just Echo), so that you can care about them and at the same time it felt like it moved the storyline forwards much faster.

BUT everyone who writes the show off just yet, well, is stupid. It still has an intriguing concept, good actors and good writers and I'm pretty sure it will improve a lot. All the right elements are there, the show just needs to settle in.

Donnie | February 16, 21:13 CET

My mistake.

spooforbrains | February 16, 21:35 CET

I like Keith, he's one of the good guys.

Simon | February 16, 23:23 CET

He makes a lot of good points. There is too much going on in DollHouse to describe in 20 words. But I think as it develops it will get better.

firefly4ever | February 17, 00:05 CET

I too thought the Pilot may have had a little too much going on, but that had FOX written all over it, like many other scenes, so I'm willing to give Joss the benefit of the doubt. Other than that, I really liked it and I agree with Donnie: you can't just slag off a show based on the first episode, especially not when it's a Whedon show. Tom Shales' review was pure, undeserved poison: any idiot can stick in pop culture references and fancy word but it makes him just that - an idiot!

Shep | February 17, 00:09 CET

We don't bash the reviewer at Whedonesque. Play the ball not the man.

Simon | February 17, 00:12 CET

Sorry Simon.

I felt his review was really out of line though!

Shep | February 17, 12:26 CET

...and yet again we have someone saying it's too clever for it's own good. Odd how noone ever says that about The Wire. Or Lost.

No, we don't. We have someone saying

I.e. he's saying some viewers might think it's too clever for its own good. And people do sometimes claim that (or similar) of 'Lost'.

It's entirely possible for something to be too clever for its own good IMO (a recent example from comics might be 'Final Crisis' which is, on every level IMO, probably the most ambitious 'event' comic yet written but which just bit off more than 7 issues let it chew and so wasn't quite an unqualified success). Again, IMO, 'Dollhouse' doesn't do that and it carries its cleverness lightly but opinions vary, as do reviews.

Saje | February 17, 12:56 CET