Supporting Cast Members

While I was initially looking forward to seeing Eliza Dushku head-up a show of her own, I was left a bit disappointed. Thankfully the supporting cast more than made up for a weak leading actress. Pre-Dollhouse airing I was really looking forward to seeing Harry Lennix. I’d previously seen him in 24 and thought he was brilliant. Sadly, I think the character he was playing didn’t give him much to do. The same goes for Tahmoh Penniket. Awesome in Battlestar Galactica, though Paul Ballard? More like dullard.

So I was surprised then to find other supporting cast members who stole the show.

Miracle Laurie, Dichen Lachman and Enver Gjokaj are the ones accused of stealing the show. Initially I was skeptical of Dichen’s role in Dollhouse. The only thing I had seen her in was an Australian soap opera called Neighbours and she was far from Kylie! But as her role of Sierra grew she clearly outshone Eliza, for me. She played her characters all very differently and they were clearly different characters. There might have been a few dodgy accents thrown in there, but those can be easily swept under the cover.

Talking of dodgy accents, I think Enver was guilty of a few of those. But again, it didn’t matter, as he was a real find for the show. Though I think it was only really in the latter part of the first season and beginning of the second season where he really shone through. It was fun to watch him, either as a blank doll or in whichever character he was given.

Miracle Laurie has to be my favourite out of all the supporting cast members. From the ever so gentle, kind hearted and timid Mellie to a silent killing machine. She nailed it all. She made the relationship between her and Paul so real that even for a split second I believed it. She had a good on screen presence and, like Enver, it was fun to watch her onscreen.

It was only into the second season of Dollhouse that I began to appreciate Fran Kranz as Topher. To be honest, Topher annoyed me so much initially in the show, that I couldn’t even think as to whether I liked what Fran was doing. It was only after we’d got over who he was and what he was doing there that I thought, ‘Fran’s kinda brilliant.’.

The Guest Stars

From the supporting talent to the guests, they were always fun to see onscreen. More recently it has been the likes of Jamie Bamber (who I think made the premiere episode of season 2 really work), a small part for Michael Hogan, Alexis Denisof, Keith Carrdine and how could I forget – Alan Tudyk!

Alan really gave the few episodes that he was in, a real spark. It felt like a Whedon show, given the dialog he was given and how he used it made me think that Dollhouse was on track. It didn’t last for me, but it gave the last few episodes of season 1 a nice lift.

I was looking forward to seeing more of Alexis and Summer. Alexis, cruelly, not on our TVs enough. Then there’s Summer who, what sounded like, was going to be a very interesting role and somewhat less like River from Firefly or Cameron from Sarah Connor Chronicles.

The Sets

I ask anyone who’s seen this show to not be in awe of the sets somehow. Sure they had a bit of the Wolfram & Hart vibe, from the fifth season of Angel, but they were brilliant. It all looked like a real place. It didn’t look like a set that was used for 50% of the TV shows currently airing. It was unique to the show.

The Premise

While I didn’t intially gel with the premise of the show, I thought there was potential in it to really go beyond what was being told. Some intrigue. Mystery. A bit of humor. And while we were given some of it, I don’t think the premise was fully explored in the show. You could put this down to us not seeing much of it. True. But, it was a good premise. A unique one. It’s definitely not been done before.

So yes, I can say a few nice things about Dollhouse. It’s not all negative. It had a lot of potential in it, though sadly only some of what could have been, was seen. Thanks for the good times, Dollhouse!

Well, I guess I was never much of a super fan of Dollhouse in the first place, so there’s one reason why I don’t miss the show that much. But right now has been the only time I’ve sat down and thought about Dollhouse. I don’t umm and ahh about what’s to come. I don’t drool over new clips, news, spoilers or anything related. I’m trying to figure out why now.

Though maybe I shouldn’t try and miss this show too much as it is pretty much dead in the water. Returning on December 4th, the final 6 episodes will be dealt out in quick succession – 2 episodes a week for 3 weeks. This show isn’t going to be coming back.

I could play Devil’s Advocate and use that beautiful thing called hindsight and say, had the majority of the show’s run be like Belonging, maybe things would be different right now. That was the one episode which, I believe, showed the true morality of the Dollhouse and complex issues those who work within the Dollhouse go through. That is what I thought I was going to be getting when I sat down to watch the pilot.

It is a disappointment. You could say another failed show for Joss Whedon. And it is. Though I really can’t judge. Give me a TV show to create and I’ll end up bagpiping things up pretty well! Those die hards out there will blame FOX. Again. Barring some major miracle they’ll be no Dollhouse in 2010.

So I’ll say my goodbye to Dollhouse now. Maybe a bit pre-emptive, but we were never on great terms to begin with. I’ll catch up with you in December and see how you’re doing, but I think come the New Year, we won’t see each other again. So long.

What’s been keeping me away from Dollhouse? Well lots of things really! From the utterly trashy to some great TV. I’ll gloss over the fact that America’s Next Top Model new season has started over here recently and that I am, in fact, Sky+’ing that on a weekly basis. Moving on, here’s a brief run down of what I am watching, what I’m enjoying and what I’ve dropped.

The New

• Eastwick: It’s not exactly the most intelligent thing on TV at the moment, but for some reason I’m really enjoying it. Something about it keeps me watching it.
• Community: I had no plans to watch this, but I was curious. Curiosity has paid off and I’m really enjoying this. Extremely happy that it’s been given a full season. It’s funny and the characters make me laugh. Although, I’m getting tired of Chevy Chase in it. I was expecting more from him!
• Glee: Glee is probably my favourite new show. I LOVE it. Sure the when they sing it’s blatantly obvious it’s all pre-recorded studio stuff, but the show itself is so funny, witty, sometimes dark, that I can’t help but love it. The songs are the icing on the cake. If I had to choose a favourite song so far it could be the It’s My Life/Confessions Pt II mash up. Loved it! Oh and the news about Joss and him directing an episode? Sure it’s good news. I think Joss’ directed episodes of Buffy and Angel have been fantastic. But please – you hardcore Joss Whedon fans – don’t ruin this fandom for me.
• Stargate: Universe: I had no real intention on watching this. But then Sky said they were going to air new episodes mere days later than they aired in the States. So I climbed onboard and I am shocked to say that I am enjoying it. The first couple of episodes were hard to take. The typical sci-fi stuff, Stargate fandom cliches, from the characters to the storylines. It’s sometimes a bit painful to watch to see how much they’re trying to be like Battlestar Galactica, and well, not. But I like the change of pace for the Stargate universe. It’s an interesting turn.
• Flash Forward: The much hyped brand new ‘Lost’? Maybe. It’s clear that this show is a slow burner and that it will, hopefully, pay off if you stick with it. (Thank you LOST!) Sadly, it’s becoming hard for me to stick with it. The last episode was a bit better. (Last episode being Black Swan for me.) So I will stick with it. I can see it has the potential to be brilliant.
• White Collar: The pilot has just aired and I can tell this will be my kind of show. A bit light, fun, with a really good feeling to it. Can’t wait to see where they’re going to go with it.

The Returnees

• Dexter: Dexter’s back and as awesome as ever. I think that the Trinity killer might be the best killer since the Ice Truck murderer. Though someone do something about Rita.
• Grey’s Anatomy: I feel slightly ashamed that I’m still watching this. I can’t say I’m loving it, but I feel as though I should watch at least one generic hospital drama. And this will do. Nothing has shocked me, annoyed me, or made me ecstatically happy about this show so far this season. But I’m still watching. If anyone knows why, please let me know.
• How I Met Your Mother: My favourite comedy is back and it makes me laugh. While I’ve not been totally impressed with this season, there have been bits in every single episode which have either made me nearly laugh out loud or have done. But really, it’s not about Ted anymore is it?
• Mad Men: A show with a run away ride-on lawn mower is nothing more than awesome. I can’t say how much I am loving this show right now. I do wonder where this season is going though.
• Sanctuary: It’s back with it’s second season, with a death! Please tell me that they’re not going to pull the old ‘It’s sci-fi and people are never really dead’ thing! While I am sad to see Ashley gone, and annoyed at her apparent replacement – Kate, I’d like to see people who have died, actually be dead. Am I wrong? Also, someone give Tesla a spin-off!
• Supernatural: Still going so very strong. The start of this season hasn’t taken any really strange directions. Though splitting the brothers up nearly gave me a heart attack! So grateful it wasn’t for long. Just waiting to see what the long awaited war will be like and where the brothers will stand.
• Fringe: I love this show. Every little bit about it. I’m still not overly keen on Anna Torv, but she’s got a lot better since the beginning of season 1. The two main draws for this show for me are Walter and Peter Bishop. Their relationship, Walter’s sheer madness and well.. Peter just being Peter! Though I am severly disappointed at what they did with Charlie! (PS. UK Sky One pace here – don’t spoil me!)
• House: I am so glad that House is out of that mental asylum. Don’t get me wrong, there were moments in there that were brilliant. Though there’s only so much of House, himself, I could actually take. He needs to get back on that horse at the hospital.
• Lie to Me/Bones: I’ve grouped these two together because they’re both shows that I enjoy watching, but I don’t know why. Lie to Me’s getting stronger for me, while I think Bones is slipping away. It’s still a good hour of TV, just it’s no where near how good the first couple of seasons were. There I said it. Meanwhile Lie to Me has got stronger in the second season, but still needs some ongoing arc. I like my shows to be arc driven. At least a little bit. Same with Bones!

The Dropped

• Castle: I feel bad about dropping this show. I did enjoy it. But I don’t miss it now that I don’t watch it. It was dropped purely for lack of time! Sorry!
• Ugly Betty: What has happened to this show. It really did peak when it had Alan Dale in it! Betty – I really don’t like you anymore. Goodbye.
• Heroes: Right now I’m saying I’ve dropped this show. I *might* watch when it airs on the Beeb, but currently, as it stands, I don’t have the will to get into the current season. Sure there have been reviews saying it’s better, the Carnie folks are brilliant. But there are so many people on that show who just need to be dead. Characters! Not cast.

There are still a few shows which I’m sure I haven’t listed as I’ve forgotten. But that’s the gist of my TV viewing schedule. While also still trying to catch up with Burn Notice and Being Human. Oh and watching 100 movies this year. Of which, I am up to 69.

So now I feel as though I should sit down and catch up with that show called Dollhouse. I hear it’s got better!

True Blood
True Blood ended its second season run on Sunday night and wrapped up its Mary-Ann story quite nicely I thought. However I was still left wanting more from that plot line, even though I know that nothing more could have been stretched out from it.

The season was a good one for Sam. He really turned it around and I’m hoping he’s heading towards a happier season in season 3. Jason still remained the comic relief, to the end. After his time with religion. And Sookie I liked no more than I did when I started watching True Blood, and yet I’m still watching, so they must be doing something right.

There were some nice things cliffhangers which will keep me waiting impatiently for the next season: why in the hell is the vampire queen getting Eric to sell her blood? What really is up with Sookie and her weird, random ‘electric’ power? And what has happened to Bill? Well something to do with Eric I presume!

All in all, a brilliant new TV show that’s still a firm favourite for me.

Glee
I first watched the Glee pilot, way back when, with just a sense of curiousity about it. I knew practically nothing about it other than singing and high school and possible humour. After watching the pilot I had one of the biggest post TV show grins on my face that I’ve had in a very long time. It was just such a fun show! And with all the not so fun and entirely depressing things I tend to watch I thought it’d be nice to watch something with a bit of fun injected into it.

Two episodes in and I’ve no doubt that this is a show I’m just going to love more and more. It’s funny, fun and the songs are just amazing. Who knew Matthew Morrison could rap?

It’s just a great mix of the awkward teenage years, adults still dealing with their teenage years and singing I can’t help but love it.

Supernatural
Our boys are back and they’re as broody as ever! Things haven’t let up at all for the Winchester boys and things are getting more and more depressing for these two. It tears me up inside that the boys are stepping further apart from one another. Though with what they’ve been through the past couple of seasons it doesn’t surprise me.

Thank god Castiel’s back to help them out though. God knows how he is back and how the boys managed to escape from Lucifer himself.

Talking of Lucifer Mark Pellegrino’s popping up everywhere. Here he’s playing Lucifer’s vessel but I first saw him as Rita’s ex-husband in Dexter, but since then I’ve seen him in Chuck, Grey’s Anatomy, Lost and Burn Notice.

It’s awesome seeing the boys back. Forgot how much I missed Supernatural. I just hope it’s not all doom and gloom for them.

What shows are you watching at the moment? Any recommendations or things to stay away from completely?

Monday 6th July was the day that the special Comic Con Exclusive Dollhouse DVD & Blu-ray was to go on sale. There was plenty of excitement about this. This limited version of only 5000, split between the DVD and Blu-ray version. Limited in the sense that it has a ’special’ letter from Joss.

Though when the time came to order the DVD everything went a little bit to pot. For one thing it hit 6pm (UK time) and while I had asked a very nice family member to order mine for me, anticipating some kind of rush, I get home to find out that the cunningly displayed timer on the special Dollhouse pre-order page was counting upwards! A small glitch which the people at FOX cleaned up in good enough time.

Then the shit really hit the fan. Numerous people who were trying to order weren’t getting anywhere. Me included. After a few tries I came to the conclusion that despite me being at Comic Con, my living arrangements were hindering the process. Ah well, I thought to myself, saved me some money there.

Meanwhile people who were getting somewhere were finding their credit cards charged a few times. More than once, less than 20, I think is accurate.

Today FOX put out a press release claiming it was actually the fans that crashed the server – read all about it here.

That’s interesting, because people were actually able to get through, just having major issues with the form and there after. One issue which I found totally bizarre was that I couldn’t have the same email address to receive a confirmation email and the person who’s picking it up. Which funnily enough is me. Others were finding out that even though they themselves wanted a copy and were due to pick one up for a friend, who’s not going to Comic Con, weren’t able to, as that one person can only physically pick up one DVD. Oh the flaws!

And through all this stress according to the website there are still 2160 DVDs and 2259 Blu-rays left (At time of writing). So no real reason for any big rush. Could be that those figures aren’t entirely true, who knows.

And, whilst I’m not the biggest fan of Dollhouse so I’m still wondering why I wanted the DVD quite so much that I tried more attempts than I’m willing to admit, can’t help but feel this situation could have totally been avoided. After all this isn’t some fly-by-night operation. This is FOX we’re talking about. Hell, maybe even using Paypal as a payment authorisation place would have been better!

Well, as I’ve noted, there are still plenty of DVDs and Blu-rays up for grabs. Take your pick! No rush.

When were you first introduced to the works of Joss Whedon? Very flowery question. Or rather it was phrased a bit flowery, but you get it, right? Did you start off with Buffy, Angel, Firefly/Serenity, Dr. Horrible or Dollhouse?

I’m not asking where you went after, but what did you start with. What was the first Joss Whedon related ‘thing’ you saw?

For me, it was Buffy. And sadly I can’t claim to be one of those who saw it from the beginning. I was actually one of those who poo-poo’d the whole idea of someone called Buffy who slays vampires! I didn’t like the sound of it. Sounded horrendous. Sounded, being the operative word. A friend of mine wanted to prove me wrong, and I wanted to prove her wrong. So I sat down and watched an episode. It was season 1, first time it was broadcast here in the UK on BBC2. The episode was The Puppet Show. Not the best episode ever huh? But even at that point, I was pretty much sucked in!

Don’t ask me how or why but I really liked this. Kept with it and watch the end of the season with Nightmares being another favourite. From then on I’ve followed pretty much everything Whedon related.

Reason I’m asking this now is that with the dawn of Dollhouse I’m guessing this Joss man may garner a few brand new fans. I wonder if those fans will track back and watch Buffy, Angel or even Firefly. I know a fair few Firefly fans who claim to be ‘Joss Whedon fans’ and yet refuse to watch Buffy or Angel, citing them both as being too childish. But then Firefly/Serenity will be the only thing they’ll have seen. Can you call yourself a fan of someone’s work if you haven’t seen their full range?

I guess that’s a question for some other discussion, but i’m wondering here where did you first start with Joss? If you’ve got a story to tell please tell. But otherwise pass this poll around, I’d like to get as many people voting on it as I can!

*sigh*

I know, I’ve yet to actually write my thoughts of Dollhouse here already, and I will. But this little topic has angered me just a little bit. Well maybe ‘angered’ is too strong a word, but it’s lit a fire under me! What exactly has had this reaction in me? It’s this post at Whedonesque. Seems harmless enough right? Well maybe not. It feels like the ‘browncoats’ all over again. I understand what they’re trying to accomplish – help give Dollhouse some kind of chance and at least get Fox to air all the episodes initially contracted. But for some reason I still think it’s all led by blind faith.

What really spurred me onto writing this right now was the fact that so many of the commenters there are so willing to pin the blame on Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles! I had a feeling that if Dollhouse’s ratings were a bit poor that show would be an easy scapegoat. I may be a bit bias – I love Sarah Connor, think it’s a fab show, if a little bit up and down in terms of quality sometimes. I was more upset that that got moved to the Friday night slot instead of Dollhouse getting it.

One commenter mentions that there was too much Sarah Connor in the episode, which might have put viewers off after seeing Summer and Eliza doing the promo for the Friday night. Erm … it’s called The Sarah Connor Chronicles, not the Cameron Chronicles. Though that’s not the first time I’ve seen someone complaining there wasn’t enough Summer in the show. Something I still fail to understand the reasoning of.

Then there are the fans who are just blaming the timeslot. Sure it’s not the best timeslot, but other shows can survive in it. Different shows. Not anything quite like Dollhouse.

You could say that this is fans just going into blind panic. Which I think at the moment. We don’t really know what this will mean for Dollhouse, so we’re assuming. And we all know what happens when you assume something, right?

I don’t claim to really know anything about ratings and what this all really means but this is a TV show. Personally I didn’t think they were terrible, just that fan expectations were a bit too high! Dollhouse is a well produced show with a good deal of excellent promotion done for it. It’s up to the regular joes out there who watch TV to decide what happens to it – not the fans. If anything let’s not go to the block-voting, campaign starting fan groups that tainted the ‘browncoats’ for me so much.

Last week there were promo videos out daily, interviews with Eliza, Tahmoh, Joss, and practically all of the cast and crew members involved. I don’t think there’s an aspect of the set of Dollhouse we don’t know about. And if I see another article telling me how important the set of Dollhouse is, I won’t quite explode, but my eyes will roll into the back of my head and definitely not come back out again.

Is that a bit too honest? I really don’t care. I’m intrigued about Dollhouse but there’s been so much on the topic of it in the past couple of weeks I just want to see it for myself and make my own judgements. Scratch that – I just want to see it!

But is this kind of hype really all that beneficial for Dollhouse? Well any TV show, but in this case I’m looking at Dollhouse. We know so much about the show and what we’re meant to be thinking when we see the first episode, is that going to influence what we actually think when we finally see the first episode?

Well take me for example. I’m so sick of seeing anything promoting Dollhouse now I’ve got a bit of a sour taste in my mouth because of it. I’d like there to be a few mysteries surrounding Dollhouse, and I’m sure there still will be, but I’m at a loss to see them. See you’d think being teased with all these trailers and interviews I’d be salivating and wanting to see more. Sadly not.

What about you? Is the hype working for you, or are you feeling a bit eh towards Dollhouse because of the hype? There’s a poll just down there on the right.

Still there are six days left. Let’s see what those six days bring in terms of the Dollhouse hype machine.

See I’ve been having problems with both comics. The biggest was falling way behind on both series. It had got to the point where I just sat myself down and read the last four issues of both comics. That’s how long I’ve been neglecting reading either. I was losing interest in both, but for very different reasons in each case.

With Buffy season 8 I’ve never been all that ‘into’ it. Everything seemed to be made big in it for the sake of it and the fact that it was a comic and it wasn’t controlled over TV budgets. Which is fine, but I felt it was taking over from what Buffy’s all really about. Secondly I was frustrated by the series insistance on just bringing back every single past character rather than giving us some new character and new challenges. It seems to have been catered for the fangirls and fanboys. And while I have been a fan of Buffy from day one and I appreciate bringing the old characters into the comic, I was just frustrated with it. Any time an old face popped up instead of having a grin on my face, like so much of the fandom, I was gritting my teeth!

With the Angel comics I didn’t have so much of a problem. I didn’t really mind that everything was massive with dragons and armies and the scale of everything increasing exponentially because I felt that it’d kept the essence of the show and the characters. I was actually enjoying the comic.

Now things have taken a bit of a turnaround. The end of the Fray arc actually left me very satisfied with the Buffy comics. Although it still feels like a hodge podge, seeing Fray again made me forget about the hodge podge of it all. Even though I thought at times they were upping the Fray-speak just because they thought they had to. But I enjoyed the last few issues of that run. And then the couple of standalones. I was surprised I liked the Harmony focussed comic because I never really liked Harmony and it was yet another character from the past brought back …. why? Well, there’s now a bit of purpose for her being there. Which surprised me.

The Angel comics … well, I found it hard to get my head around them. I didn’t enjoy reading the last four issues (before #16), to be honest with you. So much was going on, and it all felt rather confusing to me. Reality switches and everything just felt totally haphazard. I’m not totally sure what’s going on or what’s going to happen in the next issue, but I’m going to stick with it. The one thing I still think the Angel comics are getting right are the characters. Could be because I prefer the Angel characters, or Angel as a whole anyway, but the characters have stayed true to the TV show and that’s more important for me.