Dollhouse promo photo outtakes - Dollhouse

Is it just me or does anyone else now want to go out and buy a gun?

So far its just you. I wanna watch Dollhouse. I quite like the middle one. If I ignore her silly shoes, that is.

Satai (with Punsch) | September 16, 12:25 CET

In the first and third her face is so photoshopped that she doesn't look human - perhaps that is the point?

They're very high-res images, if you download them then zoom in* she looks quite normal (you can even see - *gasp* - minor blemishes, freckles etc.). They've been touched-up of course, as has pretty much every other deliberately produced static image you see today whether it's in magazines, billboards, whatever but I think the high-res combined with small display size makes it look worse.

Is it just me or does anyone else now want to go out and buy a gun?

Yep, me too. They're cool and make me feel funny in my gentleman's lower tummy. I'm just glad the photos don't show her smoking, reckon my quit has just started to take, don't need to be reminded how sexy and cool cigarettes are.

* because you're bored at work BTW, not because you're some sort of photo zooming weirdo. Ahem.

Saje | September 16, 13:02 CET

I really like the first picture. I'm not sure if it's deliberate, but Eliza looks like a toddler holding a gun. It kinda reflects her Doll state as well as the idea that the Rossum corporation and the Dollhouse tech is like a child with a loaded gun.

Alternatively it's just a really awkward pose...

nonbeliever93 | September 16, 13:32 CET

In my experience, most toddlers don't dress like her.

baxter | September 16, 13:37 CET

Is there ANY promo pics where she's not holding a gun?

maxsummers | September 16, 13:45 CET

Well, in at least one she's holding a sword.

In my experience, most toddlers don't dress like her.

Have you seen Toddlers and Tiaras?

[ edited by Ildeth on 2009-09-16 13:44 ]

[ edited by Ildeth on 2009-09-16 13:44 ]

Ildeth | September 16, 13:46 CET

Have only seen promos for T&T but I believe it only underscore the revulsion I would feel for blurring those particular lines. Sincerely hope that DH isn't heading in that direction !

baxter | September 16, 13:58 CET

Have you seen Toddlers and Tiaras?

Hee! The very concept just makes me go "Uh..."; seems creepy in a stolen childhood/eroticization of minors sort of way to me. Don't tell Joss, though, or we'll end up with a Toddlers and Tiaras ep of Dollhouse.

P.S. - I looked at the images fullsize and don't see this massive Photoshop effort that some are seeing.

zeitgeist | September 16, 14:01 CET

In my experience, most toddlers don't dress like her.

I specifically meant her expression and pose as well as the angle, in case you're not bein' jokey :).

Although now I have creepy images of tiny children in leather pants....

nonbeliever93 | September 16, 14:09 CET

Would the images be less creepy if they were children with pituitary disorders* in leather pants? I think not...

(specifically I am referring to growth hormone regulation and yes, that is a George Carlin shoutout)

zeitgeist | September 16, 14:11 CET

Is there ANY promo pics where she's not holding a gun?

I know of 1, 2, 3 (well, that's unless she's hiding a gun under her hair in #3... ;)

She's also gun-less in the group photos in the warehouse (1, 2, 3).

wiesengrund | September 16, 14:32 CET

And there's the sword one. Though it may have a gun in it.

Although now I have creepy images of tiny children in leather pants....

Dear The Internets,

Please, please, please can people stop spoiling leather trousers (or "pants") for me ? The area of my mind set aside for their appreciation is becoming polluted.

Thanks in advance,

Yours,

A Fan.

Saje | September 16, 14:59 CET

I've got to say, I think they're going entirely the wrong way about promoting Dollhouse with these kind of pics. Echo is the lead character and should be the (main) drawcard, for sure, but due to the nature of her situation seeing her with a gun doesn't evoke the same kind of excitement in me that seeing Buffy with a stake would, for example. Truth be told, Echo hasn't yet done the necessary time as a badass. If she was regularly imprinted with something like the assassin we saw in Man on the Street, that would be different.

Not sure what I'd promote as an alternative... maybe the chair? Only so many ways you can do that, though. This is why I'm not in advertising.

ThorpeWithoutShrimp | September 16, 15:27 CET

Yeah, I think with the chair it would quickly become the Rossum Furniture Fall Collection.

zeitgeist | September 16, 16:28 CET

I would like to see some trippy advertisement that would remind me of when the terminator was melting in the end of T2. Promo #3 is the very first DH promo pic I didn't think was utter crap.

FaithsTruCalling | September 16, 16:50 CET

I really don't understand FOX's thinking with these promo shots. The show is called DOLLHOUSE. There are all kinds of unique marketing possibilites. What does leather, guns, and warehouses have to do with the title? Nothing.

They almost got it right with the few Eliza pictures IN a Dollhouse, but should have done more with it. Have Echo be a barbie. Dress her up in all kinds of crazy outfits: Assassin Echo, Policewoman Echo, Dr. Echo, Party Echo, Ballroom Echo, whatever else Echo... and put them all together.

hitnrun017 | September 16, 17:05 CET

I'm so glad Dr. Horrible didn't have a corporate marketing machine behind it. There would've been a bigger shinier Death Ray and Penny doing her laundry in a low cut shirt and stilettos.

Sunfire | September 16, 17:14 CET

Penny doing her laundry in a low cut shirt and stilettos.

I could live with that.

VaughnOfTheDead | September 16, 17:21 CET

Make the ads sexy, that's fine. But when sex and violence are the only information in the ads, I don't see why I'd want to watch this show versus another one. They all have very pretty people in them. Many with guns. The marketing approach seems entirely removed from the show concept. I just don't get it.

Sunfire | September 16, 17:27 CET

Penny doing her laundry in a low cut shirt and stilettos.

She only wears those to dates at the homeless shelter.

hacksaway | September 16, 17:33 CET

Hot chick with gun could be a million shows. I wish the ads would hint at the scary power of the Dollhouse and show the ensemble more. Multiple actives heading out on assignment or looking out of dollhouse windows or getting out of their pods or something. [Yeah, I'm not in advertising either.]

jcs | September 16, 17:58 CET

It's not a particularly creative campaign so far but if it gets bums on seats and those bums give it at least an episode to grab them then job done.

At this point I don't see the advertising putting off anyone that's stuck with the show up to now and maybe i'm cynical but I think 'sexy violence' will grab more of the people not already watching than 'intriguing ensemble'. Time will tell I guess.

Saje | September 16, 19:33 CET

But..it's supposed to be all about me & the pictures I want for my desktop!

jcs | September 16, 22:19 CET

Well, I actually am in advertising (don't hate me), and while I grudgingly agree the promo photos have very little to do with Dollhouse mythology, storylines, supporting actors, arcs, and the like... for cryin' out loud, people, you're complaining about too many photos of Eliza in black leather pants?

Comparable to bitching about... oh I don't know, too much free beer. Too many sunny days. Too many twenties in the wallet. This is a windfall, in my book. Keep 'em coming.

Tin Ear Tom | September 17, 00:21 CET

Just curious...how were the ads for Buffy when it was on? How did the WB and UPN promote it? I was a late Buffy watcher (only watched the dvds), so I'm curious.

Harmalicious | September 17, 00:41 CET

These ads grab the wrong end of the wrong stick for me. Why not have Eliza holding an Eliza doll and looking questioning at it and the dollhouse or something like that which can actually be construed as a metaphor for the show as opposed to b/a chick will f u up.

silent knight | September 17, 01:12 CET

That's ultimately why the approaches they've been taking disappoint me, regardless of whether or not they succeed (and maybe they will, and I'd hardly object to them succeeding).

On a purely personal level, I remain confused why they shy away from intrigue, which can be visualized in perfectly striking and attention-grabbing ways. "Girl with a gun" just seems obvious, pedestrian, artless, and overused.

b!X | September 17, 01:33 CET

Meanwhile, confirmed Dollhouse ad -- a new one -- during Glee tonight. But not where I am because the local news preempted that break to advertise itself. Fairly likely that most affiliates did the same.

But if you managed to not only see it but record it, please share.

b!X | September 17, 06:02 CET

At least one affiliate in Ohio did not preempt that ad break and aired the ad. Anyone here in Ohio and have Glee on their VCR or DVR?

b!X | September 17, 06:15 CET

So what would be a successful example of a 30-second TV blipvert promoting a dense, mythology-laden show? "LOST" does it well, on occasion--but there are plenty of times when they have resorted to sweaty bosoms, fisticuffs, and guns.

There is so little time to engage. Yes, girl/gun/leather pants is an easy, obvious choice. But I'm sorry: Eliza looking at an Eliza doll? No offense, but that would scarcely register in the average viewer's mind. They aren't making these for us. They're trying to rope in new eyeballs.

Tin Ear Tom | September 17, 06:18 CET

This ad started with the text "it is a house of love" and then Amy Acker starting to say something. That's when my affiliate preempted the break to advertise its news.

b!X | September 17, 06:21 CET

Hmm...I didn't notice one, but I wasn't paying that much attention. (Off topic: does anyone else think Finn looks like a young Tahmoh? Particularly the eyes.)

hacksaway | September 17, 06:41 CET

How weird, b!X, that they would let the commercial begin, then supersede it. Pretty un-professional.

Tin Ear Tom | September 17, 07:09 CET

They aren't that adept, our local FOX affiliate.

b!X | September 17, 07:10 CET

If it takes them 2-3 seconds to press a button then i'd say they're ... what's the opposite of adept ? Or maybe drunk, do they seem like a particularly heavy drinking Fox affiliate ?

C'mon tubes, deliver the advert unto me.

Saje | September 17, 07:23 CET

C'mon tubes, deliver the advert unto me.

Or, you know, to most of us here in the U.S. who technically never got it either even though we were supposed to. ;)

b!X | September 17, 07:24 CET

I dunno, it's just self, self, self with you B!x.

Oh OK, tubes you can give it to America too. Just give it to me first and/or better in some way.

Saje | September 17, 07:29 CET

It also aired somewhere in Maine.

So between Maine, Ohio, and Utah, someone had better upload the damned thing for the rest of us who never had it air at all.

b!X | September 17, 18:00 CET

Since it's normally the same old people capping and uploading the previews online, I doubt these will escape.

gossi | September 17, 20:22 CET

September 16 2009