Whedonesque : Comments on 21635 : Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles dominates Tubey Awards.

Were people able to vote multiple times by any chance?

Progressive_Stupidity | September 14, 16:29 CET

Yay, Summer!

Glad to see Alan Tudyk in there as Best Guest Star!

Haha, great to see Battlestar Galactica won best performance by an inanimate object! Wonder what she was up against... Don't get the Daybreak hate though.

Aviva | September 14, 16:45 CET

Sounds like too many people didn't watch past the first few episodes to me. It also looks like Terminator fans are too rabid for their own good. From what I saw I liked it but it wasn't that good. Also, I keep hearing that the middle of the season was god awful so I don't know what's up with that.

The Xan Man | September 14, 16:46 CET

The Dollhouse outcome does not intrigue me. The show is compelling!

Donnie | September 14, 16:55 CET

yet dollhouse got picked up and terminator didn't

[ edited by mortimer on 2009-09-14 17:16 ]

mortimer | September 14, 17:18 CET

"It also looks like Terminator fans are too rabid for their own good." I've never heard that applied to any fandom before....

Unless of course you were being more ironic than me, which you know, is very possible. :)

fmwt | September 14, 17:39 CET

Don't forget TSCC fans actually got skynet after the show was cancelled so they could sabotage all internet polls :D

maz | September 14, 17:39 CET

Be awfully nice if this thread didn't descend into bashing other fandoms.

Simon | September 14, 17:54 CET

Atleast Alan Tudyk's victory is nice. And so is all the Neil Patrick Harris love (shouldn't that be mentioned in the header too?) Don't agree with a lot of the further choices.

Dexter I'd say is a particulary villainous hero, not a non-villainous villain.

the Groosalugg | September 14, 17:56 CET

I didn't think it was Simon. I mean, every time there's something Whedon related in a poll or what have you everyone immediately "braces for Whedonesque," nobody expects Sarah Connor though. She seems to come from nowhere and yet everywhere in the most inexplicable of ways. I salute the fandom for being so organized (also, if you read the runner ups, Supernatural also seems to be the same way).

The Xan Man | September 14, 18:06 CET

And it may be that the fans of thse programs are the kinds of fan who also read enough about their program to know when a vote is coming. Had Dollhouse come up roses, most of you guys would be smiling big, forgetting that we would have done the same thing and not questioned it. Personally, for the most part, I thought they got it right- and I am not a member of the TSCC fan community and have never read a single post on any board about the program save for what we have posted here, which is mostly about Summer Glau or the program's failure to catch on.

Dana5140 | September 14, 18:45 CET

To be completely honest, I'd be upset if Dollhouse won a best show award. Don't get me wrong, I loved the second half of the season but with shows like Lost, Dexter, Chuck (although I think it counts as comedy), and Battlestar Galactica I don't think it's quite as deserving.

The Xan Man | September 14, 19:09 CET

I liked moments in Dollhouse and Terminator, but even though I thought the last season of Dexter was weak compared to the others, it was still better than just about anything on TV. Chuck and Dexter were far more consistently entertaining than either Dollhouse (whose first five episodes I can't bring myself to watch again) and Terminator (whose bright moments were few and far between, despite good performances).

Terminator didn't fail because it wasn't good, but because it wasn't what people expected a "Terminator" show to be. And Dollhouse may yet face the same failure in its sophomore season, because it certainly is not what most people expected a new Joss Whedon to be.

ern | September 14, 19:44 CET

Oh, Dollhouse doesn't deserve the worst new show award at all, after epitaph one and the original pilot I think they might be right about the wasted potential though.

But S2 is going to be here soon and hopefully realizing all of that.

Changeling | September 14, 19:44 CET

The award was worst new and the corollary category would therefore have been best new show, so Lost, Dexter and Chuck wouldn't be in contention. Nor would T:SCC, which was already hanging on by the skin of its teeth and a lowball offer by the studio to keep it on the air. That happens when you premiere to 18.3 million viewers and dip under 3 by the last third of season two. This is in no way a slam on T:SCC, which I watched every episode of. At times it was utterly brilliant and at times it lost its way - sound familiar? I suspect there was ballot stuffing in favor of T:SCC and against Dollhouse and I suspect a lot of crossover between those voting patterns. Do I care? Not really, aside from the vague sadness about yet another lame and avoidable inter-fandom skirmish. I'm also confident that if we'd bothered to post the poll here, I'm sure Dollhouse would not have been worst new show.

I understand the lashing out; at the network, at other shows that were perceived (rightly or wrongly) to have continued because of this one's demise. We've all been there (Dark Angel v. Firefly, etc.). It doesn't help that Dekker implied it (classy) while everyone else involved denies that it's the case. You grab the evidence that agrees with you and you shut your eyes and hold tight and yell "No no no no no!". Then you tell your friends that Serenity happened because of DVD sales :). Apparently.

zeitgeist | September 14, 19:52 CET

I didn't even know about this poll and I'm happy TSCC won cause I loved it because it really was underrated and a very painful cancellation and it was improved and everything the poll says, but I'm also sad to see Dollhouse in such categories as 'worst new show' and being compared to 'I'm a celebrity get me out of here' which is just ridiculous. Yes, it took a few eps to catch on and I agree not all of its potential has bee explored but it doesn't seem quite fair. I'm also Happy Roslin and Adama won in best romantic relationship.

okelay | September 14, 20:36 CET

I don't think all the winnings for Terminator was deserved. The second half of this season was more or less boring with nearly no use of Cameron and the stupid three-dots-storyline. Great finale though.
I think Dollhouse came in this bad, because people were just expecting more, to be swept away. That didn't happen, so they reacted like this.

Akela | September 14, 20:47 CET

Ballot stuffing ! Oh noez, how could anyone do such a thing !

Have to say, in that regard I think we're a bit deficient in the legs to stand on department. The shoe's on the other foot for a change so we take our kicks and move on, simple as that.

That said, for me T:TSCC was never "Most Improved Show" in a million years mainly because even though the best episodes were arguably in season 2 the worst episodes also were (IMO) and WRT consistency I wouldn't say S2 was an improvement on S1. But of the rest a lot were pretty much my picks too - "Most Wrongly Underused Character", "Best Onscreen Death", "Best Finale" and probably "Most Painful Cancellation". And "Best Smack-Down: Cameron vs Police Station (which was actually a prison IIRC but let's not quibble ;)" is at least a contender, that made me want to applaud or bounce around in simple fanboy glee ;).

I'd also have to add Awesome and Morgan to Chuck's family, they help make it what it is, genetic relationship be damned.

Saje | September 14, 21:10 CET

Being a fan/watcher of TSCC & Dollhouse , Terminator was a chore to watch mid-season (girlfriend plot) but it did pick at the end.. Maybe To late .. the can order was already issued. While Dolhouse improved during that slump and was cheeper to make. This was not Dollhouse fault, give Fox the fail not Dollhouse TSCC fans!

demon magnet | September 14, 21:34 CET

The best tv show of the last season was Breaking Bad.

Which apparently has no online fanbase.

Donnie | September 14, 21:36 CET

*waits for Donnie to go register BreakingBad-esque.com* ;)

zeitgeist | September 14, 21:43 CET

I actually think Torchwood was the show of the year. I haven't been gripped like that emotionally in a long time. I tried watching TSCC but it just became background noise.

Simon | September 14, 21:49 CET

Random aside - I saw RTD at Comic-Con. Somebody asked him if they would ever do a Torchwood musical. He just stood there and went 'Joss Whedon. Buffy The Vampire Slayer musical'.

[ edited by gossi on 2009-09-14 21:53 ]

gossi | September 14, 21:53 CET

Well, there was more to what he said than that :). He said that the tone of the show didn't really suit it and that in any case there was no way anyone would outdo the Buffy musical. He was also confronted by a fan wanting him to apologize for remarks he hadn't actually said and for a character death that upset many many hundreds of thousands of people who had no doubt sent a specific item to the BBC to show their hurt feelings. RTD said that he had been misquoted and then explained that things on fan forums tended to seem more epic than they were in reality as the BBC had received exactly four of the protest item in question.

zeitgeist | September 14, 21:58 CET

Hah. Yes. Coffeegate. Although I felt sorry for the Ianto fans, it did make me laugh out loud.

I like Russell. He is so very Joss influenced. So he gets a lot of similar anti-Joss style hate amongst his fandom.

gossi | September 14, 22:00 CET

:) He is vastly entertaining; I did really enjoy "The Writer's Tale" with all of the back and forth with he and Ben Cook as well. Now, I shall endeavor to remain on topic ;).

zeitgeist | September 14, 22:02 CET

I agree with ern that Dexter, while weaker than the previous year(s), still was the best thing on tv. But I haven't seen this year's Torchwood (I never got past the third ep of S1) nor Breaking Bad (which I hadn't heard of before, seems to be lacking online presence indeed). I also haven't seen TSCC yet. Which of those should I try out first? Not that I'm really short on series, since the tv-season is already starting again and Dexter season 4 seems to shape up to be better than it's 3rd season and Dollhouse S2 also seems like it will offer some tougher competition.

I think True Blood should have been most improved show, because of the huge improvement from season 1 to season 2, though I have to admit it would seem a bit silly, because it's also the best new show of course.

Sad to hear there is such a thing as anti-Joss hate. When this site is your perspective on the fandom, you don't really come across that a lot.

And thanks for incorporating NPH to the header Polter-Cow!

the Groosalugg | September 14, 22:12 CET

In Treatment- best show of the last year.

Dana5140 | September 14, 22:42 CET

I thought the link for voting in this was posted here, because I voted in it and don't know where I found out about it otherwise.

rehabber | September 14, 22:58 CET

Kinda of odd for a canceled show to do an almost clean sweep like that but alright I am happy for them, just hope this doesn't widen the divide for T:SCC fans and Dollhouse fans (but i'm sure it will somehow).

In addition, I agree Donnie. I loved Breaking Bad this season but never heard of nor read anyone else who was even watching it.

silent knight | September 14, 23:17 CET

Jerks.

ShanshuBugaboo | September 14, 23:51 CET

What, is there a Terminatoresque site out there shamelessly skewing poll results like we may or may not have been known to do? Honestly...

RaisedByMongrels | September 15, 01:00 CET

I was mostly referring to TWOP's choice of Eliza as worst actress. I don't get the point of the whole "Staff Pick" in a poll like this. I'm not upset about Terminator winning at all. I'm upset by the "bitter" vibe I'm getting toward Dollhouse. And that's all I have to say about this.

ShanshuBugaboo | September 15, 02:45 CET

Yeah, we've never poll-stuffed ;).

zeitgeist | September 15, 03:03 CET

I'm sensing bitterness.

Zoic_Fan | September 15, 03:59 CET

Shanshubugaboo, if you read some of the recaps of the show, you will see, that they raised pretty much the same questions we did here. Meaning, they pointed out, what was crap and praised the show were necessary. I guess, they were disappointed at first, but then found it great at the end. Sounds familiar to me. They also made Dollhouse a thing to watch this fall, mainly because of the terrific "epitaph one".
And come on, Eliza really is the weakest link among the actors and plays Faith half of the time.

Akela | September 15, 06:36 CET

And come on, Eliza really is the weakest link among the actors and plays Faith half of the time.

I really disagree.

ShanshuBugaboo | September 15, 06:58 CET

I'd just like to say that I think that the 2nd half of the first season of dollhouse should have won the non-existent award for 'best 2nd half of a first season'.

I'd also award it the 'best 2nd half of a first season of a Joss Whedon show' award.

mortimer | September 15, 07:38 CET

Hrm, there seem to have been a few more awards that I missed when I was skim reading. It is interesting that a show could still win most potential even if it also irked enough people that it won some of the losing categories.

In any case, I'm just a bit more disappointed in the Pushing Daisies lobby. -_-' From 13 Emmy nominations to canceled 13 episodes later?

orangewaxlion | September 15, 09:19 CET

I really disagree.

There's a world of restraint in that sentence. And I also, really disagree.

This poll made my shit list when Eliza was only nominated for worst actress – no option to vote her as best. The staff's picking her for worst actress only confirms my suspicion that they were trying to steer in this direction... but I like to think it gives them a little bit of anguish that the fans didn't back them up on it. For the record, I actively boycotted – went to the site each and every week throughout the voting period... checked out all the options... formed my opinion on every category... and then didn't vote. A totally meaningless gesture, but very satisfying in the pettiest sense possible.

BringItOn5x5 | September 15, 15:42 CET

September 14 2009