You know, maybe it was because I had heard some mixed reviews and had low expectations going in. Maybe it was because I saw it on Netflix and thus didn't have to wait a week in between shows. Maybe it was just because I love Eliza. But I simply do not get the criticisms leveled at Dollhouse. I thought it was excellent from beginning to end. And I didn't think it was slow at all: I thought the pacing was perfect, really. Again, that might be the advantage of being able to watch the episodes right in a row, but man, it was a blast from beginning to end.

Mr. E | January 25, 20:23 CET

I would like to see the middle of Dollhouse.

Simon | January 25, 20:25 CET

Well - at least they didn't call them epithets... and it's wreaked, not wrecked (yes, I know I'm asking for it, but still...)

brinderwalt | January 25, 20:29 CET

I never understood the criticisms either - until the second half of the second season, I thought it was great. Couldn't stand Ballard. Apart from that, I loved it. There were many great stories, characters, and I actually liked the whole "identity of the week" thing and thought Eliza Dushku did quite well with it. I'm not sure what people were expecting, but to me it's just pure Whedon. Probably not always as nuanced as he'd intended it - studios will do that to you - but definitely Whedon. I would have loved to see more of it. Too bad the finale was so, well, final.

prettymaryk | January 25, 20:32 CET

Speaking of Dollhouse, did any of the comics ever reveal the pre-Dollhouse connection between Whiskey and Topher? I really wanted to see more of that storyline, especially since Acker and Kranz worked so well together, particularly in Vows, which cemented Claire as my favourite Dollhouse character.

manbearpig | January 25, 20:48 CET

The inclusion of MST3K is odd, given that we have Rifftrax (from the Sci-fi era cast of the series), and they have actually riffed the Transformers and Twilight movies mentioned.

I would love to see more Dollhouse or Pushing Daisies though.

AnotherFireflyfan | January 25, 21:30 CET

After reading a couple of the comments here, my saddened heart has been uplifted! Dollhouse is my absolute favourite of all the Whedon works and i do truly consider myself a hardcore fan, i had myself questioning my own taste when the entire world seemed to criticise it. I sincerely hope Joss never saw it in such a negative light as a great deal of the media.

WakingUpASlayer | January 25, 21:51 CET

Rifftrax just isn't quite the same, though, as MST3K. It misses the commercial breaks/interludes where you could leave the room to use the bathroom/recover from the bad movie/recount favorite one-line jokes with the people you are watching it with. T:SCC and Dollhouse I agree with, especially after seeing the amazing second half of Season Two of Dollhouse. Community has had ample chance to win over viewers, yet it doesn't. It's not NBC's fault, nor Dan Harmon's (though his Harmontown podcast is downright hilarious). It's just streets ahead of John Q. Public's comedy taste... I would have loved to see Fables, and Terriers was just low rated on FX, a Fox owned network.

spidyredneckjedi | January 25, 22:10 CET

I don't buy the Fables excuse about why it didn't progress:'most likely due the difficulty of adapting comic story arcs to a TV script structure."

IMO, that's what good writers are for. Let them do their thing, and stand back. Right? Lightning in a bottle, on command, on time and under budget. It's what they do.

Oh, and I'm a Dollhouse fan too. The difficulties the series had seem network-inflicted to me.

[ edited by Scraggles on 2013-01-25 22:32 ]

Scraggles | January 25, 22:31 CET

I was late to the show myself (the advertising put me off), but Terriers was amazing. It's a real shame it was cancelled so soon.

the Groosalugg | January 25, 23:24 CET

Given much past debate here about the problems of DH, I am not sure what everyone is saying here that it was "network inflicted" (of course, a Friday night time slot was a problem, but even so...), or they don't get the criticisms? There were so many.

Dana5140 | January 26, 00:56 CET

I understand the criticisms, thanks. I much prefer it when a show is allowed to develop without 'advice' and 'notes' and whatever else passes for wisdom amongst the network executives when they get nervous. Interfering with a writer's vision in an attempt to broaden the demographic appeal of a show usually doesn't work. The only bits of Dollhouse that I genuinely dislike are the parts when I can tell it's been tinkered with. I'm no expert, just a viewer with strong opinions.

Scraggles | January 26, 01:10 CET

@Dana5140, one thing Joss has mentioned in the past was that the network kind of quashed his original vision because it was too out there, or something to that effect.

Personally, I enjoyed DH but I think it had a fair enough run of it and I found the end to be satisfying

pk fire | January 26, 18:07 CET

Add me to the list of Dollhouse fans. It's the one Whedon show my spouse actually got hooked on. Where was Firefly? I agree with Sarah Connor Chronicles, and it would be fun to see some more MST3K. Didn't see Blood & Chrome, but I would have included Caprica. Loved the show, loved the pacing, loved how it made me think. I did not miss the big space battles.

ActualSize | January 26, 19:19 CET

The film crew, cinema titanic, rifftrax; that's the definition of a second life for MST3K... like how Drew Carey keeps remaking Whose Line is it Anyway.

Community on that list seems REALLY premature considering S4 hasn't even started airing yet and they already have a syndication deal for it with Comedy Central, enough to get at least one more season.

The Dollhouse story was wrapped up so...why exactly does it need a second life?

Avatar the last Airbender...the creators finished their storyline, ended the series on their own terms, and created a spin off so...why?

Kinda a terrible list.

guardian_owl | January 26, 22:30 CET

I definitely agree about Dollhouse, was a huge fan from the start. What can I say I am a sucker for Eliza. I would love to see more Pushing Daisies too. I have to say though that I would've included both Firefly and Caprica on the list. Both shows that were only around for one season, but it was an amazing season for each of them.

comfortador | January 27, 02:39 CET

Epithet 1 and 2 were what I was often grumbling during "Dollhouse" commercial breaks :)

No, not to rag on the show, I think maybe it should have done better had it been aimed at being a cable series where the ratings bar is lower for something so very high concept. Or were, before cable shows ranging from TNT to USA to AMC starting blowing the curve.

My opinion on T:SCC is that it's wounds were mostly self-inflicted in the second season. I did love that show, but I was like "needs less three dots" and... well, I won't spoil, it's still a Netflix pleasure I think, but Shirley Manson's character should have been used in entirely different ways than she was used.

I kinda miss "Drive", personally. Quite a few flaws in it, sure, but strong supporting cast to say the least and I kinda thought the unaired episodes were pretty boss.

KingofCretins | January 27, 15:33 CET

KingofCretins: TNT and USA dramas have not blown the curve for any show EVER!!! Not compared to shows on FX, AMC, Showtime, and HBO. The dramas on TNT and USA are lightweights compared to those on other cable networks. I mean has TNT or USA ever produced anything close to "Mad Men" or "The Shield". I don't think so.

comfortador | January 28, 02:19 CET

Commercially. The ratings curve, on which conventional wisdom had long held that you could be a primetime scrub and make it on cable even if you'd have been cancelled on a broadcast network. But then "The Closer" and "Burn Notice" and various other ratings bonanzas happened, coupled with critical water cooler darlings like ones you mention, and even now the just unheard of popularity of "The Walking Dead" in 18-49.

[ edited by KingofCretins on 2013-01-28 05:26 ]

KingofCretins | January 28, 05:24 CET

I was saddened at the demise of Dollhouse, but am grateful we were given a second season. It was a tough idea to execute, but the actors cast did phenomenal work every week.

Playing with the idea of identity and what makes a person a person was fascinating to me. It led to a lot of deep post-viewing discussions.

I would love to see the middle of Dollhouse too, but I think they did a decent job of wrapping up the series in the time frame that they were given, while hinting at what we missed. Watching that last half of season 2 was an intense, crazy ride!

Whiskey and Topher's relationship background would have been nice to see. A friend and I would like to have our theory we developed after watching "Omega" of them being siblings verified.

Tech-Head Delta | January 28, 17:37 CET