Why Dollhouse Is Failing

Usually at the beginning of a blog like this the writer will begin with a long, meandering preamble trying to convince the reader that he/she is a fan of Joss Whedon... not me. I mean, I am one, but whoever reads this blog is pretty much going to believe whatever they choose and I'm cool with that. However, since so many others have done it, I figured that I'd post my opinion as to why so few people are watching Dollhouse.

After watching the 2nd season premiere of Dollhouse I turned to my wife and said "this show is so doomed." And my wife promptly did the wifely thing which is to roll her eyes. And that's fair... but after watching last night's episode "Belonging" it demonstrated how this show, when it's at the top of it's game, is the best show on network television. It also demonstrated why it was always going to struggle though.

Think back... when was the last time that a television program took such an obscure sci-fi concept, dealt with such big questions (What's a soul? Where should lines be drawn morally? how hot is Eliza Dushku?) on network television and had 10 million viewers? For whatever reason, it just doesn't occur. If Joss and Co. had made the show into more of a procedural... like an involuntary-type Alias then it would have had a much better chance I think. And then it could pull a Fringe and forward it's mythology every few episodes and ask a big question every once in a while, and life would be a bit more merry Nielsen-wise.

The constant "big idea" nature of Dollhouse, however, does not seem to be able to keep viewers. Why? Are Americans too stoopid to appreciate a show like this one? A lot of people say yes, but me, I think it's just that Most people don't have the time to just stop and focus on television for a couple of hours every night. Or they just don't want to. American Idol kills Every Single Time it airs, and what is it really? Background music while America washes dishes, clothes or studies. The Super Bowl is the highest rated event every year, but who do you know that watched every second of it last year? I'm a big football fan, but those dogs playing football get some time on my television every year.

Procedurals rule all... the NCIS's, CSI's and OPP's. Add Survivor in there and all of these shows have the exact same formula every single week. Crime-investigation-wrong arrest number one-*insert cool bullet trajectory visual here*-wrong arrest number two-tribal council, wash, rinse repeat. You can watch, miss 8 minutes because that meatloaf isn't sitting well with you, come back and catch up with minimal effort. Skip 8 minutes of Dollhouse and see how long it takes for your brain to implode, I dare you. Just call the ambulance Before you attempt it. And lay down a tarp over your furniture so the cranial fluid doesn't ruin the sofa.

So, yes, that's my opinion as to why Dollhouse was always doomed. As I've tweeted, if Fox really does honor it and let it run 13 episodes, I will officially forgive them for the Great Firefly Debacle. As for the show... honestly I'd rather it have this limited run and stay as good as it is and as honest as it is to itself than to see it proceduralize itself for ratings. Yeah, I know that's not a word and I see all those red lines under it, but I'm a rebel so screw it.

And since Joss, at this point, could write a show about a tv show about an invisible-deaf-mute and it'd still get around 2 million viewers every week, I think that his next move should be to cable. Starz or Showtime. Then maybe we could get another 5 season show out of him. You could count me in... though probably not if it's the invisible-deaf-mute thing.

The World Needs More Dub Dub

I just got around to watching USA's White Collar. Originally I wasn't going to bother because goodness knows I have enough television shows on my schedule as it is, but after hearing good things about it (most notably from Matt Roush, one of the few television critics whose opinion carries weight with me) I decided to give it a shot. I figure I'll be able to find time for it every week now that the new Fall shows are starting to air repeats, so it's either watch the repeats, find news shows or spend some time outside so...

Yeah, not really much of a choice.

Well, if the rest of the episodes are as fun as the pilot then I'll make the time. It's sort of a Catch Me If You Can goes to television-type thing except that the Hanratty character is actually a brilliant agent in his own right. The FBI agent, Peter "I got Kelly Kapowski as my wife of the last ten years so suck it Zack!"Burke (Tim McKay) and the criminal Neal Caffrey (Matt "Chasing Will Traveler" Bomer) do great jobs with their roles and I will probably love this show even more when Natalie "Dub Dub" Morales joins effective next week. The world needs more Dub Dub.

Anyways, the feel of this show is a cross between the aforementioned Catch Me If You Can and more than a little Leverage. Both good things as far as I'm concerned. Oh, and Diahann Carroll has a small role in it also. The last that I saw of Diahann Carroll was about ten years ago, and the woman has not gotten any older. It's like on her 50th birthday she glared at God and said "alright that's enough now, don't make me hit you" and hasn't gotten any older since. I'm happy for her.

A Good Case of VD

One month into the new television season, I remain impressed that my favorite new show is not FlashForward, or the brilliant and sweet Modern Family... It's Vampire Diaries(what did you Think this blog post was about?). This show is hitting on every conceivable level right now. The romance is not over-stated (and that's a big surprise considering the show's promos and the fact that it is run by Kevin "The Real Dawson Leery" Williamson) the mythology is interesting, and the plot actually seems to be moving in some new directions instead of just copying Twilight or Buffy. Select townspeople know about vampires and seem to stand ready to destroy them...? Love it. There's assorted gems and herbs that can help level the playing field and protect humans/ harm vampires? Fantastic. My only concern going into last week's episode was that too much evidence was piling up for Elena to not have figured out about her "cradle-robbing, creature of the night boyfriend" (credit to Joss "the originator of this genre" Whedon for the quote from Buffy). But, as of last episode, it appears that she has it figured out, and even that was done well as we watxh her add everything up in her head.

Truly funny in parts, legitimately scary in others, and always interesting... I hope to be following these characters all the way to college and beyond.

Favorite. TV. Wedding. Ever

After 5 long years, Jim and Pam finally got married. I appreciate the writing staff for not doing the "Ross/Rachel 10 year shuffle" and just giving the two lovebirds their due. More than that though, it was actually worth the wait.

After watching it, I can't help but wonder how good it could have possibly been a year ago... or a year from now. It's blatant (and hilarious) use of a current pop culture phenomenon makes the whole thing seem like it was just Meant to happen this year. What video could have been used a year ago? Will there be anything as "appropriate" in the year to come? I doubt it, and that makes the entire affair all the better.

As great as the episode was (Kevin's shoe funk, Dwight gettin' his swerve on, Michael actually Not being the one who spills the beans to Me-Maw) I have to admit that I was disappointed in the episode for a while. Andy hurting himself Again just didn't do it for me... the lack of Creed, the missed opportunities of uncomfortable behavior between Michael and Stanley's wife considering what happened in the first episode of the season, and all of the vomit (I'm just not a vomit fan... can't even watch Stand By Me and I Love that movie) all left me wondering if this episode was going to live up to my lofty expectations. When I go back and watch this episode again (and in future years) I'm sure that I'll be much more impressed, but during my intitial viewing, I was concerned.

Then came the last ten minutes. Every single second of the last ten minutes or so is perfection and it became my favorite episode of The Office ever. This show has had more than a few classic episodes and whether this is the best ever, who can say, all that I know is that when all is said and done I will have seen this one more than any other. I'm watching it twice a day until Jim and Pam get back from their honeymoon.

Speaking of which, I'm going to go watch it again now.

Disappointed in Ebert

I'm pretty disappointed in Roger Ebert's review of the number one movie this past weekend, Zombieland.

It's not that I disagree with his assessment (I don't... As per usual) but in his review he gave away the "cameo" that's in the film. Now look, it's not a big twist or anything, certainly not The Crying Game-ish, but not knowing what the "cameo" is, made the moment of it's appearancr all the more hilarious. At least in my opinion anyway.

I keep putting "cameo" in quotation marks because, as anyone who's seen the movie knows, it's like a 15 minute appearance, not a usual blink-and-you'll-miss-it fleeting cameo like Stan Lee does in Spiderman and Iron Man or like a shirt on Sawyer on Lost.

Anyway, I loved the movie, which is slightly amazing considering that there's not a single other zombie movie that I like... And yes, I've seen Shaun of the Dead and 28 Days Later. Zombies have just never been my thing. But, Zombieland I'd recommend to anybody... Well, except for children. And the elderly. And zombies. Everyone else should see it, though.

What Did You See?

Flashforward is quickly becoming one of my favorite shows. The second episode "White to Play" (whatever that means) lightened the mood significantly from the previous episode. From Demetri Noh's (by way of John "Kobe Lobster" Cho) conversation about his future wedding to Stanford Wedeck's (Courtney B. Vance) Cardio Urinary Resuscitation, I really liked seeing more humor being injected into this show. Also, the ending was great again, even though the writers of this episode cheated pretty blatantly by never letting the Benfords ask her daughter the very simple and basic question that is the title of this blog post. It was unintentionally humorous watching them spend the entire episode fretting over and wondering what their daughter saw and why it bothered her and yet the option of just Asking the child never occurred to them. Not that it matters though, leap of logic aside, this was still a very fun episode.

There were yet more instances showing that the future that was seen in everyone's visions... wouldn't have come to pass if they didn't have the visions. The visions led the FBI to Utah, which led to the explosion of the building full of dolls, which generated the picture of a burnt doll that ends up in Mark Benford's vision. I maintain that it seems as though this show operates on the theory that the future cannot be changed, and in fact, trying to fight it, may very well end up being what brings it to pass. It's been executed very well thus far, and while a large part of me hopes that they stick to that premise instead of cheating somehow, I will also greatly miss Demetri Noh if he is to actually die in March. So, either the show stays on course and paints a beautiful "mosaic"... or it gets changed somehow and one of my favorite characters survive. So, I guess it's a win-win. Unless you're Demetri Noh, anyway.

Oh, and welcome back Lynn (ages slower that Richard Alpert) Whitfield!