Posts Tagged ‘ Dollhouse ’

Deadline is reporting that Joss Whedon is in final negotiations to direct Marvel’s The Avengers movie.

Given that Cap (Chris Evans), Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr), Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) are already cast, and it seems likely that Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Bruce Banner (Ed Norton) may turn up in some capacity – not to mention the possibility of the Abomination (Tim Roth) and General Ross (William Hurt) putting in an appearance, can we just go ahead and cast some of Whedon’s regular gang as the other Avengers?

I mean, it should keep costs down a bit…

Like…Alan Tudyk?

Summer Glau?

Enver Gjokaj?

Please?

Updated with another suggestion that I particularly liked…Dichen Lachman.

You know if there’s a way to get Fran Kranz in there…

Posted via web from Comic By Comic’s Wonderous Posterous!

…so…it’s, er, not very good is it?

Look, I’m a fan of Whedon’s stuff. I love Buffy. I love Angel. I love Firefly and Serenity (even though on my first attempt to watch the pilot I bailed after ten minutes) and Dr Horrible.

But Dollhouse…

I saw Whedon talking about the show at NYCC. He seemed to know that the show was going to be controversial, that it was going to get people talking. He seemed to know that he was going to be facing an uphill battle.

And you know what, the show is controversial. The Dollhouse itself is basically renting out sex slaves and wiping their memories – and let’s face it for a creator who talks a lot about women’s rights and the mistreatment of women (even though he’s also managed to piss off some feminists), it’s a tough stance to make.

But that’s not the problem with the show. The problem is that it doesn’t engage. It’s difficult to root for a character that’s virtually non-existent. Dushku’s Echo is clearly beginning to remember some of her past, but that doesn’t make up for the fact that she as a character doesn’t have much going for her. Sure, she looks good in a tank top but so what?

Of the rest of the cast, only two are actually close to being likeable – Harry Lennix’s conflicted handler and Tahmoh Penikett’s FBI agent. The problem with these two is that Lennix’s Boyd Langton is so obviously conflicted that you wonder why he signed up in the first place (although I suspect he’s a Doll himself), and that Penikett’s Paul Ballard is on the periphery of the show. I understand that’s going to change but right now, it’s distracting.

The show’s ratings didn’t start well then dropped off for the second episode; Whedon has said that Dollhouse is probably the last TV show he’ll work on and that in the future he’ll concentrate on online work (and I suspect movies).

Honestly, that may be for the best – because Dr Horrible is a hell of a lot more enjoyable than Dollhouse.

I’m going to keep watching, though. Partly because I’m a glutton for punishment and partly because I want to see Alpha Doll in action…

You know, Alpha. He’s like a leaf on the wind, you know.

Well I guess it appeals to a core demographic.

Edited to say: Curse you YouTube, why can’t I resize your embeds?!?!

Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse has shut down production for a few weeks. According to Zap2It, the hiatus is to help Whedon get ahead on scripts:

…because Joss directed two of the three episodes already shot, he has not had sufficient time to be in the writers room and tailor the upcoming scripts to his liking. A rep from 20th Century Fox — the studio behind Dollhouse — said Joss came to them asking for a couple weeks to regroup and they were happy to give it to him…

And…

Said the rep, “We have every confidence that will allow Joss to make the show the best it can possibly be. It’s very rare that you have a head writer who is also directing two episodes in a row. But we are happy that Joss is directing, because this is his vision.”

Sounds good right?

However, according to TV Week, there may be more to it.

However, some executives at the Fox network are worried that Mr. Whedon may not have his “Dollhouse” in order.

A person familiar with the thinking of some Fox executives told TelevisionWeek that there have been concerns raised inside the network about the fundamental underpinnings of the show.

Specifically, because the heroine of the show, played by Eliza Dushku, has no free will or ability to do much beyond what she’s told to do, viewers might find it hard to root for her. In addition, some executives have expressed concerns that early episodes of the series have been confusing and hard to follow.

The report goes on to say that Fox has denied that there are worries over the show.

But then, Fox are the same network that screwed over Firefly years ago by showing the episodes out of order, starting with the weakest of the series and ending with the pilot that explained who everyone was.

And this is the same Fox that gave the promising-if-not-amazing Drive three episodes before announcing cancellation.

And this is the same Fox that continues to churn out enjoyable-but-unchallenging fluff like 24 and Prison Break. I like both shows, but neither of them suffers from an over-abundance of complexity.

So…I’m cautiously worried.

Then again, I’m surprised that Fox showed something like Fringe, which appears to be heading towards Lost-like complexity, given the ARG over at Massive Dynamic (I’ll be damned if its not related to the Hanso Foundation), so what do I know?

You may – or may not – have seen Alicia Klein’s slightly painful YouTube video where she explains why she should be in Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse. She not only portrays a few ‘dolls’ but also shares with Joss (and us) a little bit of her ‘career concept’…

Joss Whedon has confirmed that another familiar face will be joing the cast of Dollhouse – Amy Acker.
Acker previoulsy played Fred and, later, Illyria on Angel. She’s also starred in Supernatural and Alias since Angel ended, where she didn’t look like this:
One more reason to watch…

Hollywood Reporter is reporting that some key roles have been cast in Joss Whedon’s new show, Dollhouse alongside series star Eliza Dushku.

Amongst a bunch of people you don’t know is one familiar – if unusual – name: Tahmoh Penikett.

Yes, everyone’s favorite Cylon-lover has been cast as FBI Agent Smith, potential Doll-lover.

Wait a minute…isn’t Battlestar Galactica still filming the back half of its final season? What does that say for the fate of Helo??

Other people cast include former Neighbours (an Australian soap that’s a British institution which, to be fair, did produce Guy Pearce, Radha Mitchell and – sigh – Natalie Imbruglia – aswell as Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan and, er, Craig McLachlan*) actress Dichen Lachman, Welcome to the Captain‘s Fran Kranz and Enver Gjokaj.

Hollywood Reporter’s casting news is here.

*Yes, this was mainly an excuse to inflict terrible music videos on you, although you should really watch the Natalie Imbruglia one as its mimed and fantastic- and the Kylie one isn’t a music vidoe… Now if only Rick Astley had guest starred on the show…

The title got your attention, eh?

Whedon and cohort Tim Minear have signed to new show Dollhouse, starring Eliza Dushku.

Bad news is that it’s on Fox and there’s a seven episode commitment. But its better than nothing.

Sounds like the show will be an actioner with a sci-fi bent, with Dushku playing Echo (Joss, that’s Marvel on the phone…), an agent sent on missions where she’s imprinted with personalities and abilities which are wiped – along with her memory – when she returns to base. Naturally enough, Echo starts to become aware.

This sounds good – very good – and my only worry is that it’s on Fox.

Because that worked out so well for Firefly, Drive and New Amsterdam. But it’s better than nothing!

Read TV Week’s article here and EOnline’s interview with both here. And I totally stole the image at the top from EOnline. Just so you know.