I’m aware of the vigor and blind devotion possessed by the average Whedonite. Most are jovial and intelligent nerds, but they harbour an at times indiscriminate and blind devotion to anything Whedon has lain his hands to. And not without due cause; Firefly was terrific, the bits of Buffy without Sarah Michelle Gellar (mostly) worked, and Angel was funny as hell, at times. But Dollhouse, thus far, is a bit of a bowel movement. If you ARE obsessed with Whedon, and if you have somehow convinced yourself that Dollhouse is utter genius in the making, find a good pharmacist. And let them hit you with a brick.
Let the flaming… BEGIN!
/Paul
10 responses so far ↓
1 Taylor // Mar 2, 2009 at 6:21 am
Pah, no flames. I dug Firefly…and I enjoyed Buffy (when I was in my early 20s)…but Whedon’s no genius.
2 Destructor // Mar 2, 2009 at 9:17 am
Well… I don’t think I am blind. My Whedon history goes thusly: I watched Firefly and genuinely loved it for a huge number of reasons, not the least of which was it’s extreme oddness. I’ve listened to all the commentary tracks and am convinced that he has a great passion for stories, a great sense of humour, and a fierce intelligence (I maintain that the commentary track for the last Firefly episode, ‘Objects in Space’, is at least as good as the episode itself), which is more than you can say for a lot of television producers- he seems to give a shit.
My Significant Other made me watch all of Buffy in exchange for her watching all of TNG (who won that deal?) and while I never loved it with the blind devotion of a fan, I certainly enjoyed it a lot and there were some pretty great individual eps in there.
Dollhouse… I think I am in the same boat as a lot of people- I very much WANT it to be good, to feel as happy as I felt when watching Firefly for the first time. I don’t. I think it is, three eps in, not great. That said, my hope has not yet died. I think there is a tiny kernel of potential that may yet be tapped. I think the show will almost certainly be cancelled at the end of this season, but I hope that by the time it gets to the finale, it’ll be good enough for me to miss it.
Penny Arcade, on the other hand, I have never once laughed at. At least I chuckled when Echo decked that singer chick with a metal folding chair last night.
3 Aegis // Mar 2, 2009 at 9:20 am
wow.. that was wierd – to come from PA and load your blog.. I thought my browser was screwed.
4 obsidiantears83 // Mar 3, 2009 at 9:38 am
“joshwhedonTHANK YOU for supporting DOLLHOUSE!!! It’s still a tiny crying newborn which needs all our love and patience.”
^Just thought I would share Joss’s latest tweet..
okay, i am a massive whedon fan – he is my golden calf. I am obsessed with firefly (which is no news to my nearest and dearest, as I infected them with the fever), and i love buffy and angel. Dr Horrible rocked my socks, and i also love a lot of his other projects. When i heard he was making Dollhouse, and that Eliza would be in it, i gave a big girly *squeeee* (hey, i am a fan girl! Im entitled! LOL) – but with the disapointment of Ch 10 dropping it, and it being screened on Pay, I kinda lost the enthusiasm. (I was willing to upgrade my tv to HD, but i cant justify foxtel for one tv show). I guess i will just have to wait for dvd.. I will watch all of it, because i am such a fan, of both Joss and Eliza, but im not jumping on the edge of my seat for it anymore..
5 Ryan // Mar 3, 2009 at 10:02 am
I ‘appened upon the Dollhouse pilot last night, funnily enough (On my computer. After I’d downloaded it. Purposely.) and thought it was a powerful load of meh.
I read this interview the other day though with Eliza Dushku on the AV Club, and thought it might be worth sticking around for. Most TV shows take a while to get going, they can’t all be insta-classics like Two and Half Men
AVC: It isn’t like Joss is some new kid on the block, though. He has a lot of shows under his belt, and he’s got this large cult following. Is it frustrating when you get that kind of feedback?
ED: Honestly, yes. I understand it from a business perspective, and from Fox’s view, but at the same time, we’ve now done 13 episodes, and people have said that the show took off once they finally realized that Joss is best off left alone to do his thing. That happens around episode six—six through 13 are just extraordinary. I love one, two, three, four, and five, but Joss’ first script that he did after the pilot is number six, which is called “Man On The Street,” and it is just unbelievable. From that point on, the world unfolds in Joss’ way, with Joss’ speed, and it’s really remarkable.
6 K // Mar 3, 2009 at 10:05 pm
I agree the first three so far, blah. But the first one was a rewritten pilot due to Fox and the other two haven’t been written by Joss. So…I reckon we should actually wait to see how he brings the thunder to an interesting concept. And Buffy’s suckass pilot wasn’t an indication as to how awesome the show could be.
Also: http://hijinksensue.com/2009/03/02/a-crisis-of-faith/
7 Reckless // Mar 9, 2009 at 8:51 am
4 eps in and Dollhouse isn’t pushing any buttons for me.
I’m not going to follow it blindly because it’s one of Whedon’s creations, his involvement will keep me watching longer than I normally would before I give up on it entirely.
You remember the Firefly pilot right? I’m just gonna view the first five episodes of Dollhouse as an extended pilot and hope for the best.
8 Erinys // Mar 10, 2009 at 10:25 am
I hate Buffy. Admittedly I’ve never seen it, but that can be said for most… all of the programs mentioned.
I LOVE DEXTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
9 sneppo // Mar 12, 2009 at 7:49 am
Paul, while I am a fan of his previous works much like yourself, I am not going to sit through excrement just because Joss delivered it into the bowl………..or am I?
After watching the first episode, my wife and I were reluctant to watch another and were ready to give up on it as we thought it was garbage.
For some reason I got the next ep and said “It’s Joss. It’s sure to get better.” Right at that moment I realised I was a Whedon Fanboy. I am now up to episode 5 and can see that it does have potential and seems to get better with each episode.
I think it could either explode into something spectacular or just plateau at the ordinary show it is now.
Either way it is headed for the Whedon curse: AXING!
10 Destructor // Mar 23, 2009 at 10:53 am
This just in: Episode 6 was totally awesome and completely justified the blandness of the previous five.
“…while the Dollhouse plays with fantasy that is not its purpose…”
Creeepy! Whatever it’s real purpose is, I’m pretty sure it can’t be good.
Leave a Comment