Season two becomes 13 eps, season three in balance
The good news is Fox have said, on the record to The Hollywood Reporter’s Live Feed that all 13 episodes of season two will air. Dollverse has additionally confirmed this, so it isn’t some crazy network person doin’ their own thing.
This decision had waited until the DVR numbers rolled in yesterday, which showed a 50% gain from people using TiVo (etc). Tim Minear’s latest Dollhouse episode also showed a gain of between 10-20% in live audience.
The bad news is it looks like we will only get 13 episodes this season (originally 22 episodes looked a possibility), and a third season hangs in the balance. Let’s tell people about Dollhouse, yes? But, well, a week ago it wasn’t even certain we’d SEE the 13 episodes. And now we know we will.
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Dollverse (c) 2007-2009 Kevin Beaumont. Dollhouse (c) 20th Century Fox.
I know the cast and crew would prefer a regular 22 eps, but for this show with the death watch it’s been on, I’d rather have 13 eps with a conclusion over 14 eps and a sad cancellation.
Dollhouse is on a death night on a death time. As a viewer, I’m not greedy about how much Dollhouse I want a season.
Anyway, this’ll cut down the “date of the week” stuff and we can hopefully focus more on characters and the greater Dollhouse organization. RAY WISE!!!!
well, i think it’s good to know for sure one way or the other, re this season.
As for a third, well maybe, if the numbers keep growing, albeit slowly.
But fox aren’t fools – they know what the fanbase is like – dvd, comics, even the giant puppet from smile time – if we can buy it, we will – why shoot the money cow?
ooh, and lemon cheesecake my personal fave…
I have to say, as a refugee from teh UK living in Canada and counting my blessings, I don’t care what night or what time Dollhouse is on – I go and watch it. For the first time in my life I’m living somewhere that shows a Whedon creation when it’s being broadcast, instead of me reading about it on the internet and then havig to wait six months. The BBC would interrupt their Buffy seasons for cricket matches, Snooker, weather forecasts and live floor-cleaning demonstrations. There may be more adverts during the programme than actual programme here, but at least I get to see it. And I agree with Vichus, 13 and a conclusion wins over cancellation, though if the latter happens, put me down for a dvd box set now.
Goods news!! i love dollhouse,and this is great.I will see the second season complete.And i hope(if the hearing stop) i hope in a future probably we’ll see the third season.Dreams is free
Sorry for my bad inglish,i’m Spanish.Yes! in Spain there are people that follow dollhouse.
I following for internet whit subtitule in spanish.
i hope taht understand me at all xd
Good news. So we have 10 episodes in which to try to boost ratings with no promotional help from fox.
One word: WAHOO!
I can’t help but think that Dollhouse would really be helped by pairing it with another sci-fi type show. such as Fringe….just saying….
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That’s crazy talk.
It obviously belongs in the 1:00am slot sundays, behind the milk and next to the mouldy cheese.
If it can’t get ratings, then why should we spend money advertising it?
*sigh*
I’ve been telling all my students to watch it.
I figure every little bit helps!
Thank god; I was really afraid that FOX was going to pull another “Tru Calling” and cancel it six episodes in. Personally, I think that the 13 episode format is a bit of a blessing — if you get more of the engagement-of-the-week episodes, “Dollhouse” is the type of show that could quickly become very formulaic.
With a shortened format, the overall season-spanning story arcs have to be shown quickly and effectively and helps to cut down on extraneous storytelling. Also, it’s cheaper to order a 13-episode order than a 22-episode order, and even though “Dollhouse” makes huge jumps in terms of next-day viewing of all kinds, it’s still not what you’d call a hit TV show.
Still, Whedon and Co. have been shooting this season of “Dollhouse” with a markedly reduced budget and I, for one, have yet to see any real signs of lack of money, so it gives me hope (not much, but some) that DVD sales and next-day viewing will convince FOX that they have the potential for a cult-TV hit that will give them something to broadcast on Friday nights, which is usually the worst night ever for FOX.
If “Dollhouse” had a 50% jump with next-day viewing, then that puts the actual figures for “Belle Chose” from a little over 2 million to more like 3-4 million. I know for a fact that the “Dollhouse” DVD/Blu-ray packs sold more than 65,000 in the first week alone — and that’s not counting the thousands of people who bought the special edition version at Comic-Con. If we can continue numbers like this as well as buy DVD’s, not to mention those of us who downloaded the Virtual Echo application, then we can perhaps convince FOX to give “Dollhouse” at least a few more 13-episode runs, at least enough for Whedon and Co. to finish Echo’s story and let us see whether or not the dark, apocalyptic future seen in “Epitaph One” is absolute or changeable.
On the flip side – while yes, engagement-of-the-week gets potentially formulaic and unentertaining fairly quickly… it also could help keep things somewhat plausible.
As it is, I’ve already noticed the rate at which Things Go Badly Wrong on engagements (every single time this season so far) – with associated consequences to the reputation of the Dollhouse, and presumably to their income (since at the very least the professor from last time out would be due a refund, if he survives) – and begun wondering, A, just how they can keep getting fresh engagements, and B, what it must look like to the higher-ups that they have this many problems and this few routine successes.
More engagement-of-the-week episodes would give them some normality in these respects, and would make the whole thing feel more plausible. Might not be worth the tradeoff, but there is that benefit.
Not to mention all the *other* dollhouses out there… Are they experiencing similar problems?
I disagree strongly with the OP. There’s no such thing as “too much storytelling”. I’m not turning my nose up at 13 episodes, but I certainly lament a full season of 22.
i personally hope this show gets viewers, it actually is the smartest on telivision, it truly makes one question what it means to be a human. Lets hope it lasts for 5 seasons like Joss wanted, i want to know how this ends, and a two sesaon run is not enough for me….just sayin
Gossi,
Based on what I’ve read while lurking at Whedonesque, then it sounds like you have a lot more info then the average Dollhouse fan. So if you say that a Back 9 is not going to happen, or is extremely unlikely then I’ll believe it. But I can’t help but hoping that there’s a way to make it happen.
By far my biggest concerns regarding that are:
1) The number of people who are saying that the most that they had hoped for was that all 13 be made. So they are now stating that they are happy with that.
2) The people who are reading that we’re getting 13 total, stopping there, and don’t continue on to see that this could well be all that we ever get and are going to be quite shocked when “unexpectedly” there aren’t anymore episodes.
Based purely on speculation, then I can’t help but think that the next two Episodes are hugely important to Dollhouse’s future (or lack thereof). The fourth Episode set to air on the 23rd looks like it will be quite good, but after a week off will everyone remember to come back?
And I have to guess that Fox is thinking that Summer Glau is the best hope to bring in more viewers on the 30th (hopefully they aren’t all celebrating Halloween early). If that doesn’t happen (whether that expectation is reasonable or not) then it sounds like the show will be pulled from Sweeps and burned off later on.
I think that we really need to double our efforts and try to make the next 2 Episodes as much of a success as possible.
Is there any chance that they could find a way to get the die-hard fans to support a few sponsors, in the same way that the Chuck fans did with Subway? While there aren’t very many obvious tie-ins between most stores and Dollhouse, what about some sort of scavenger hunt? Maybe a contest of some kind that would encourage DH fans to check out 1 or 2 or 3 Brick & Mortar stores. Win an on-set visit by sending in a copy of a receipt from Store X, Store Y and Store Z? Or win an e-mail from Joss. Win a phone call from Eliza Dushku? Have your name written into an episode? Win some autographs?
There are things that they could do that would cost them little to nothing, but would encourage however many die-hard Dollhouse fans there are to get out there and spend a little money for the cause.
One more thing, what about Felicia Day?
I have to think that if she were to appear in an Episode and get the word out, then that might cause some more people to check the show out. I know that she already Twittered and it’s probably not feasible to change the scripts, but billed in the right way I think that it could help and I can’t imagine that an appearance by her would hurt.
Yes, more Felicia Day… never a bad idea.
I always thought that a pairing of Fringe and Dollhouse would make for a night of television magic. I love Dollhouse and it convinced me to give Fringe a chance and I’m glad I’m sticking with both shows.
i swear the latest episode of fringe used the set of dollhouse lol!
william bells office looks quite familiar =)
I like the Dollhouse.
They try to be their best.
Wow, I am shocked. Hope Joss comes up with a good way to wrap the series and leave it open for the slim chance there is a season 3.
It looks like Fox is continuing to issue press releases including Dollhouse in their November plans:
http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?id=20091015fox01
at least that sounds like good news….i pray the live ratings go up so that Fox can actually renew this series. Im kinda bummed that alot of ppl arent watching it. Its very different and Maureen Ryan hit it out of the park with why we (the viewers that are watching) love this show.
First off I hope this isn’t true, but the folks at http://www.tvbythenumbers.com are saying to expect dollhouse perhaps as early as next week. They will stay true with their promise of producing and airing all 13 episodes for this season, “but who knows when.”
Ok, so i misread the article and I commend someone for checking up on it. I’m deeply sorry, really I am. But the article does state and i quote “I think it’s probable that yesterday’s announcement will be followed in the next week or so by an announcement that Fox is removing Dollhouse from its Friday schedule for at least the November sweeps period, perhaps without an indication on when it will return. Fans will see the last 10 episodes sometime, but who knows when.”
http://tvbythenumbers.com/2009/10/13/dollhouse-death-knell/30382
cybercontroller, no problem. I was interpreting your tweet very literally.
Bill G. definitely did write what you quoted but we weren’t aware at the time that FOX wanted to be able to boast it didn’t cancel any shows in the fall (which according to Nikki Finke is the case).
I would’ve expected Brothers and ‘Till Death to be pulled for sweeps too, but it didn’t happen.
While for a number of reasons I am rooting for a back 9, I’m sticking by the prediction made at the beginning of the season, all 13 episodes will air, but that’s it.
I’m just curious, why do you think it’s a bad thing that the season be just 13 episodes instead of 22?
Here’s why I ask: For the past 3+ seasons, I’ve been watching Dexter, a series that is, *by design*, 12 episodes per season. And you know what? They’ve never aired so much as a *single* bad episode.
For some kinds of shows-particularly serialized ones-I actually think that a 12(ish) episode season might be the better fit. Why? Simple: When you’ve got to fill 22-24 episodes, if your story isn’t just amazingly complex you’re going to have some filler in there, some fluff to cover up the spaces where you don’t want to “blow your wad” too soon.
Now, maybe it seems counterintuitive to some, but I say jump at those 13 episodes, pace yourself according to it, don’t do so much as a *single* “filler” episode, and watch the fans rejoice.
Dexter is the most amazingly well written show on Television, and following its model, I’m confident Joss and friends could *easily* be just as good, and who knows-maybe even better.
glad the season gets to play out instead of cancelling a couple of episodes in.
i wouldn’t mind if each series is only 13 episodes long, yes i still have faith for a season 3 and more.
oh thank GOD! haha i have to admit, i was one of those people who did not see it live last night (it’s just a REALLY bad night to have it on TV!!), but i will be sure to keep trying my hardest to watch it live in the weeks to come!
You didn’t miss anything – it didn’t air last week.
Sad face!
I want more Dollhouse!! Just two seasons isn’t enough!
Me and my roommate here in the Netherlands, (yes, Dollhouse has dutch fans) watch it every week on the internet (no live broadcasting here yet). Maybe Fox should take the fans outside the US in account, when they consider cancelling?
But still very gald they air a complete season 2.
I think if we spread the word then we can defintely make an impact. I’ve shown this show to quite a few people and they all love it. My housemate is Neuroscience student so he obviously loves it……. altough there is a small chance he might be a Topher in the making….. so yeah thats kinda worrying.
I’m so happy the whole season will air. I live in Scotland and I feel completely useless in helping out the show. I’m telling all my friends to watch but that isn’t much use to American ratings. Anyone know what my friends and I can do to help??
Buy box sets of season 1 maybe? Hard to say…
Hey.
The Dollhouse is very cool!
I Live in Hungary and I always watch the show.
In Hungary there is a very big fan club!
We love it! :]
” The dollhouse is real “
Dollhouse pulled for november sweeps
this is it.
personally i think the only way to save the show and get further series – is to give fox what they really want – money!!!
so buy the dvd/ buy episodes on itunes etc.
im not too worried about the sweeps because nearly all the new shows got put on hold to be replaced by repeats of long running shows to bring in advertisers.
It seems that Dollhouse is being pulled of for November and it returns with double episode each week… FOX really wants it off air quickly :/