Seems unlikely, but interesting...

snakebyte | May 08, 23:21 CET

The Five Reasons to Watch Dollhouse is already on the front page so I tweaked your entry to make the second link the main one. I have no idea what this news means but I'm very interested.

Simon | May 08, 23:21 CET

Ah. I tried to tweet this and failed. Very interesting indeed.

US version, in case that matters for anyone's access.

[ edited by Sunfire on 2009-05-08 23:23 ]

Sunfire | May 08, 23:22 CET

Well, they also reported the episode was set 30 years in the future and had none of the main cast, and were wrong on both counts. We'll see. I can see how you could argue the template in the episode could have an entirely different show (but yet, oddly the same) - however since FOX don't even want to air the episode, I really can't see that happening. Also, I don't want to be the anti-santa, yet I am.

gossi | May 08, 23:25 CET

I took the wording to mean it's really unlikely but hey, wouldn't if be nifty if Plan H of A-K in Joss's head happened? And not Hey everyone! Santa has presents! Until gossi points out they're not real.

Sunfire | May 08, 23:29 CET

That's just awesome.

Pointy | May 08, 23:31 CET

I wonder what it would should be called? Dollhouse 2? Dollhouse 616? Bizarro Dollhouse?

Simon | May 08, 23:32 CET

Return To Dollhouse
Dollhouse To The Future
Redrum
The House (Not M.D.)

gossi | May 08, 23:38 CET

"The Show Retooled for Failure By Fox" Fridays on FOX later to be spun-off into "Joss Whedon's The Show FOX Didn't Want You to See" as a DVD exclusive series.

;)

didifallasleep | May 08, 23:49 CET

So Joss used FOX'S money to make a new pilot that he could possibly shop to other networks?

I SO hope it's true and if it is, well played, Mr Whedon.

missb | May 08, 23:54 CET

I love the idea of Dollhouse getting a couple more seasons, then this one starting to run concurrently with the show. Maybe with a few crossover episodes...

NOSTALGIA!

Jobo | May 09, 00:11 CET

"So Joss used FOX'S money to make a new pilot that he could possibly shop to other networks?"

That would only be the greatest thing ever.

JustNick | May 09, 00:11 CET

I can;t see this. In fact, it really makes no sense. They are not going to broadcast that ep, yet that is the one that will be the link to an entirely new series set in the Dollverse at a different point in time? When the original one may not get renewed due to poor ratings? Well, I will believe it when I see it.

But having said that, try this: While DH has not engaged me, I believe it will get a second season. I think the buzz on it has worked to its benefit.

Dana5140 | May 09, 00:23 CET

Dana, the buzz hasn't worked to the benefit of the ratings, which is what pays them old bills.

gossi | May 09, 00:27 CET

But FOX could look at it from this perspective: lots of people stopped watching after the first few episodes. Over the summer, critics and internet folk rave about how great the last half of the season was. This, plus a new crowd of people who join in because of the promotion for season two, minus some of the budget because let's face it, DH can't keep costin' lots--in this case, a summer of buzz could do a lot.

I dunno. I know nothing about anything that's something, so, yeah.

Jobo | May 09, 00:30 CET

Buzz is not lost on some execs, however...

zeitgeist | May 09, 00:42 CET

Get the hell out.

madmolly | May 09, 00:44 CET

Buzz, buzz, frickin' buzz, already...

Arsenal | May 09, 00:47 CET

Nevermind.

[ edited by NYPinTA on 2009-05-09 01:05 ]

NYPinTA | May 09, 01:03 CET

gossi, I know. But I keep having this feeling that somehow, this show will be renewed. And again, I'm not invested in it, so this is not wishful thinking on my part. I just think that the positive comments from the past few weeks are not lost on Fox, who in the end really has nothing new to put in that time slot.

Dana5140 | May 09, 01:35 CET

It's my understanding they want to clear both slots for original drama, or at the very least move away from the Sci-Fi Friday idea.

That said I wouldn't be entirely surprised if Dollhouse got renewed. The ratings suck a very sucky thing, but if there's a way they can swing it, it would pay off for Fox overall longer term.

gossi | May 09, 01:54 CET

Maybe a decent network will buy the spin-off show, therefore releasing Dushku and by extension Joss from Fox's talent-holding contract?

Liam Mars | May 09, 02:36 CET

I don't get how it could be renewed. I just don't. Is there a precedent for something with ratings this bad getting renewed? Has it happened ever?

I totally forgot to watch tonight's episode! Is it on Hulu yet??

Squishy | May 09, 05:35 CET

The greenlighting of a spin-off series based an unaired (and apparently deemed unairable by the network) episode seems an inordinately crazy idea. What's up with eonline? That's not saying I wouldn't want this to be true. I do. I want it all. I've totally fallen for Dollhouse and anything related to it.

Speaking of which, I've unavoidably missed the airing of "Omega" on TV. Anyone know when it usually goes up on Hulu and iTunes? I'm on the fast train to Desperation City. Must see this. Must.

phlebotinin | May 09, 06:01 CET

I just cant see any true basis in reality for this one. It makes no sense at all.

John T. Folden | May 09, 07:05 CET

Joss would only be using 20th Century Fox's money (the production company he's been loyal to since the beginning of his TV career), not FBC's. Fox (the network) didn't finance that ep, Fox (the studio) did.

I don't get how it could be renewed. I just don't. Is there a precedent for something with ratings this bad getting renewed? Has it happened ever?

Well, this year had the miracle that was "'Til Death". Pulling really bad numbers (slightly better than Dollhouse, but it was on Wednesday) it was pulled off the air in October. But Sony made Fox such a cheap deal that ratings simply didn't matter. Not only will they air the remaining eps of this season, they also bought a new one. I know, it's a completely different situation with Wednesday, half-hour-sitcoms and different budgets, but it just points out that ratings are not the only criterion FBC bases it's decision on. If 20th Century Fox are clever, they will look at the buzz and at the DVD push and adjust their price for Season 2. If we're lucky, FBC will agree to that price.

wiesengrund | May 09, 07:28 CET

Having not seen Epitaph One, I can only hope that how season two would play out, we'd see what will happen if this technology gets into the wrong hands, and then we go back to 'present day' and watch how it gets there - or hopefully how Ballard and Boyd stop it from happening. Unfortunately, this starts looking too much like the Terminator series for my taste. I'm not quite sure if I could stay for that particular ride. The only reason I tuned in to the Sarah Connor Chronicles was Summer Glau, and bless her, she wasn't enough to keep me on board. Time travel has become such a hackneyed and misunderstood plot contrivance. When it's used on Lost, audiences keep expecting something to happen that will change the future, but the paradox that would occur would make the last four seasons of viewing obsolete. They don't know what they ask for, but if they don't get it they'll feel let down. There's really no way to properly satisfy today's audience.

The series was doing fine the way it is. We don't need to revamp it with Epitaph One. The network just needs to trust Whedon knows how to tell stories, and pay him to do just that. Then get the hell out of his way. It's not too much to ask.

As for whether or not the ratings are the reason FOX won't renew Dollhouse, the fact is placing the series on Friday nights was a death knell from the get go. If they actually wanted it to get good ratings they would have given it a Tuesday or Thursday night. Also most fans of Whedon are Net savvy, and would use the multiple ways of viewing the series online to better work into their schedule. So a lot more people are watching the series than is revealed in their blessed Nielsens count.

It's ironic. Dollhouse is about how the future of technology could render the very concept of humanity obsolete. The network broadcasting Dollhouse can't even understand the technology they're wielding now in the real world! Or wait, is that irony or just ..sad?

[ edited by ZachsMind on 2009-05-09 09:54 ]

ZachsMind | May 09, 09:27 CET

I think that would be brilliant. It could essentially be another 13 episode chapter.

IMMORTAL | May 09, 10:32 CET

Well, wasn't Epitaph One shot on video for about 1/2 the cost of a regular episode?

Perhaps the idea is that a spinoff on a different, cheaper (i.e. cable) network could work the same way. (There may be some licensing distinction between a spinoff - i.e. derivative work - and an actual continuation of the series that could make this a more viable prospect on a different network. I wonder if it would include the same cast at all?)

Septimus | May 09, 12:44 CET

Is Eliza's deal with Fox the NETWORK or Fox the STUDIO? (and, re Tim Minear: same question). Would this affect the ability to do something like the writer of this story suggests? And, if so, do you think that Paul Ballard could break in and demand that they be let out of their contracts early and given back their freedom?

doubtful guest | May 09, 13:54 CET

I'm not 100% positive on how Eliza's deal works so I won't comment, but Tim's deal is absolutely with the studio and not the network.

TamaraC | May 09, 14:08 CET

The Actives

dr kongker | May 09, 17:03 CET

The episode isn't, if any of the previous articles about it are correct, unairable. It was simply an add-on to make it more saleable in non-US DVD markups, err markets.

DaddyCatALSO | May 09, 18:14 CET