better than I expected.

edcsLover9 | December 12, 18:07 CET

Whats the point of posting these, anyway? It's already been cancelled, and it's not like there's going to be some crazy ratings spike.

Frick | December 12, 18:10 CET

Historical documentation.

VaughnOfTheDead | December 12, 18:12 CET

It was a 0.8 last week, right? I'm feeling hopeful. We could pull seven seasons with ratings like this. =P

Xantastic1316 | December 12, 18:15 CET

The slippage in the second hour can't mean much since there was major gliching in the broadcast of the first episode in some areas that could well have driven some viewers away. I lost at least 15 minutes of the first hour and very nearly gave it up.

If DH gets higher ratings as it goes out it builds the case for the claim that Fox was too premature in giving it the axe and that makes it more likely that someone (hopefully a cable network) will back a Whedon project in the future.

Maggie | December 12, 18:29 CET

"The Whedon Cable Network"

Has a nice ring, don't it? :)

quantumac | December 12, 20:37 CET

I stopped watching during the first hour because I couldn't stand missing that much of the story. The signal went out during the big dinner scene with Echo and Ballard, and I knew I'd have to pick it up on Hulu instead, which I did just now. I think it's safe to assume that Fox lost most of the larger Chicago area with that screw-up.

zoinkers | December 12, 20:55 CET

"WHDN. TV that matters, for your actual brain matter."

Or, "WHDN. Your head will thank you, your heart will punch you... in the head."

[ edited by kungfubear on 2009-12-12 21:21 ]

kungfubear | December 12, 21:18 CET

I love both of these, quantumac & kungfubear. Hey, if Oprah can do it, so can Whedon. :) Where do I sign my subscription?

korkster | December 12, 23:13 CET

Weird. Seattle lost signal during the second hour. I wonder if the two outages were related?

jkalderash | December 12, 23:15 CET

Odd that the ratings are going up slightly after the cancelation.

I wonder if they'll continue to go up once college students are home from break and people are staying in for the holidays.

At least with these number it won't get pulled prematurely.

nuccbko | December 12, 23:25 CET

I wasn't a fan of season 1 but I've been really intrigued the past few episodes. Too bad it's getting canceled just when it's starting to get interesting.

Hope there will be a new Joss Whedon project to enjoy soon.

kerfuffle | December 13, 00:39 CET

zoinkers, thanks for posting that the problem affected the Chicago area. I taped it last night (haven't had time to watch it yet), and probably would have cussed out the machine instead of the broadcast station.

OneTeV | December 13, 01:51 CET

As much as I'm saddened by the low numbers, I realize the cancellation news has driven away many potential viewers. People hate to invest in a show that they know will soon depart.

To which I say - the heck with those wimps! I know a good show when I see it. Dollhouse has not failed me. It entertained me, made me think about the moral implications and made me develop an affection for all the characters, the writers, the staff and all who worked so hard to make it happen. That's all I ask for a show.

I loved Buffy and I tried for years to get my girlfriend to enjoy the show and failed, and she tried to get me to follow X-Files with the same result. To each his own.

Riverine | December 13, 04:16 CET

TVByTheNumbers reported that the 8:00 hour had a 1.0 which tells me either the demographic of this show REALLY isn't in to staying home to watch it, OR the feed problems really cost them viewers in the second hour. However, it did have more viewers in the first hour last week than it did in the second hour last week as well so who knows.

That's as high as the season premiere. If the season could end at a 2.0 I would laugh SO hard.

azzers | December 13, 07:27 CET

@Riverine If anything, it looks as though the opposite has happened. These ratings are higher from last week's. Also, I don't think the cancellation has any affect on the people who are watching, which seems to be devoted Whedon fans. In fact, the ratings dropped on average before the show was canceled, which of course resulted in the cancellation. Cause and effect, I guess. I wish I could hold a consensus and poll the fans who left to see just why they did. It was about half the percentage of average viewers. Were all those people suddenly faced with other priorities? Did those early episodes of season two turn them away, or was season one the only amount of attention they were ever willing to give? It's a mystery to me.

Now, it seems that maybe some of those folks are coming back into the fold, either because of new and returning guest stars like Summer Glau, Ray Wise, Patton Oswalt and Alan Tudyk, or because they know this is the end and want to be around for what's left. Personally, I'm just happy with how things have dramatically picked up steam in terms of character development, plot points and story pacing. There are only a few episodes left, so they've kicked into high gear. No more standing around talking about exploring sexuality, human nature and personal identity, it's time for doing! Time for action! :)

kungfubear | December 13, 07:30 CET

Me too, azzers. And then I would wait around hoping that Fox would look at the numbers, and yell "psyche!" right as they were about to tear down the set. And then order 13 MORE episodes.

Yes, it is nice where my head lives.

Question: Do you think Dollhouse would have faired better if it was spun as a miniseries rather than a series, with the intention of going series 'a la BSG?

korkster | December 13, 07:56 CET

The broadcast was glitching in both hours here in Ohio.
If you factor that into the ratings...

It looks like the best lead in show for Dollhouse is Dollhouse.
:D

Loose Deckplate | December 13, 08:17 CET

Interesting idea Korkster, though with a mini-series you have to tell a compelling story and wrap it *mostly* up in 4 to 6 hours. Even dropping the assignment of the week episodes, I don't know how I'd rework the story lines to that format + a series option.
Of course, I'm not a story telling genius.

Loose Deckplate | December 13, 08:30 CET

A miniseries can be longer than that, but it's not often. Though it's called a season, I think I remember reading somewhere that the folks in charge of Harper's Island intended it to be more of a miniseries. Even with 26 (or 28) episodes, I find there is quite a bit of fat worth trimming from both seasons of Dollhouse. Maybe after season two hits DVD, I'll rework my own, Definitive Edition of Dollhouse and post it on fanedit.org. :)

kungfubear | December 13, 11:26 CET

My $0.02, it is cold outside across most of the country and the back to back episodes are two hours of good entertainment.

Wilhelm | December 13, 14:46 CET

kungfubear, thanks for your perspective, it reinforces my feeling that the Friday night deathslot had a lot to do with the cancellation.

TSCC was an interesting sci-fi lead-in for Season 1 but I would have much preferred Dollhouse lead and TSCC followed. The really crappy comedy show lead-in Dollhouse had this year didn't really set the pace for a sci-fi night and the premise of Dollhouse.

Korkster, a mini-series premise would have been better, but Joss Whedon's vision and storytelling tapestry would have been somewhat restricted within those constraints. What made Buffy, Angel and Firefly work for me is how seemingly minor plot points are expanded in later episodes and even seasons to become key elements of the mythology.

It's going to be interesting to see how he wraps this up. Fans are going to complain that it seems rushed, as in the "three months later" device, but blame Fox's cancellation, not Joss for that.

[ edited by Riverine on 2009-12-14 00:13 ]

Riverine | December 14, 00:10 CET

I've already heard (read) people online on other forums saying that these latest episodes have been better largely because they have been made with more Whedon/Mutant-Enemy control and less Fox input, since they had already decided to cancel it and were letting Ehedon et al wrap it up the way they wanted to. I don't know if that's factually true, but it feels like it. I can't imagine we're going to get any more standalone, mission-of-the-week episodes now. (Whether this accounts for the oddly good ratings... well, that's probably even more of a stretch, but I like to think it could be the case.)

Septimus | December 14, 04:01 CET

Ahhhhhh, The Whedon Cable Network. That would be like getting a pony, a plastic rocket, a new silver Jag, and a million bucks all rolled into one.

Tonya J | December 14, 04:11 CET

Riverine,
Give X-Files another try. If you like the vmaps tales, you could go for the 7th episode of the second season ("3") and then, "Bad Blood (12th of the 5th season). The last one being my fav for a crossover story/fanfic.

Brasilian Chaos Man | December 14, 13:09 CET