Dollhouse deals with the aftermath of "Epitaph"

[Malcontent]

http://scifiwire.com/2009/09/dollhouse.php#more


Now that Fox is letting Joss Whedon tell a continuing story with Dollhouse, the season-two premiere will pick up where the season finale left off. No more standalone episodes. The continuation follows episode 12, "Omega," not the DVD exclusive episode 13, "Epitaph One," said actor Harry Lennix, who plays Boyd Langdon on the show.

"I can tell you that it both is directly sequential to 'Omega' and also references in rather vague ways what happens in 'Epitaph One,'" Lennix said in an exclusive interview on Aug. 6 in Pasadena, Calif. as part of the Television Critics Association fall press tour. "It's in between."

Dollhouse returns Sept. 25 at 9 p.m. on Fox.

[johnny99]

Sounds like an improvement from last season. Erasable characters reduce the opportunity for character development. Standalone episodes meant little plot development as well. I've already forgotten most of last season.

[mrdazzo7]

Thats awesome. I had read that they were gonna make *more* stand-alone episodes in an effort to make the show "more accessible" (my least favorite tv-related term of all time--simply means "dumbed down so anyone can follow it"). I'm on board for a big, serialized story.

I'm pretty sure the show will not expand past this 13 episode order. It had extremely low ratings and while the buzz surrounding "Epitaph" is almost universally positive, I just don't see millions of people tuning in because of it. Hopefully I'm wrong cause Joss rules, but I think the show would have to double what it did last year and I don't see how that's possible.

Here's hoping the second season is as promising as it sounds...

[Mike10]

Apparently the DVD sales have not been that great which might hurt the show because 20th century fox television's is probably giving it to the fox network for cheap because they were expecting to make tons of money from other places

[Peter000]

Bah. I'm not excited at all in the time between "Omega" and "Epitaph."

I'd MUCH rather see what happened after "Epitaph."

[Ment]

Yeah I thought a reboot would've been great after Epitaph.

[lambertman]

So, really, "Dollhouse DOESN'T deal with the aftermath of Epitaph."

And that's a shame.

[That Don Guy]

Thats awesome. I had read that they were gonna make *more* stand-alone episodes in an effort to make the show "more accessible" (my least favorite tv-related term of all time--simply means "dumbed down so anyone can follow it").
There's only one problem with a serialized show, which Fox learned almost 20 years ago: a serialized show is a non-rerunnable show. (Summer reruns of the original 90210 (and, IIRC, Melrose Place) were the lowest-rated shows of the weeks they ran, which is one of the reasons they actually made new "summer only" episodes one year. The fans of the show had already seen the episodes; the non-fans who didn't watch every episode soon got lost in terms of the stories.)

Then again, since Fox never reruns its drama series anyway (at least not on the Fox network itself), that's not really a problem, now is it?

-- Don

[Sirius Black]

There's only one problem with a serialized show, which Fox learned almost 20 years ago: a serialized show is a non-rerunnable show. <snip>

-- Don

Tell that to TNT who re-runs Bones, Angel, and Charmed non-stop. Each are serialized at their core. With Bones it doesn't work because they keep skipping around but with Charmed and Angel, they seem to run the episodes in order allowing non-fans to easily get into the show. SyFy is now re-running Lost which is probably the most serialized show of any in the last 15 years. A serialized show can work and get great ratings (Lost) if the network supports it. If not, then you get a show where the third episode is run first and the pilot is run later in the season (Firefly). My hope is that Dollhouse survives the stupidity that is reigning supreme over at the Fox TV lot but as it is condemned to Friday night, I'll be very surprised if it gets a third season. 13 episodes is already pretty insulting for a Network TV show where even the worst of the worst crap gets a full order.

[jlb]

Put it this way......

Any Dollhouse is better than no Dollhouse.......right?

And with the Summernator and all the other adds.......bonus......for as long as we get it.

[Rob Helmerichs]

Tell that to TNT who re-runs Bones, Angel, and Charmed non-stop.
But they don't show new episodes during the regular season, and then reruns during the summer, which is what That Don Guy was talking about. The problem is, the regular season takes up 8-9 months, so there's not enough time to do a full rerun between Season Finale and Season Premiere, and they can't just pick and choose without losing the audience.

(It's interesting to look at which shows get summer reruns, and which ones do not.)

[lambertman]

Put it this way......
Any Dollhouse is better than no Dollhouse.......right?


Ain't necessarily so.

[NJChris]

I just watched epitaph one...

I didn't really like that direction. On the run gun and shoot.. ehhh....

[Mars Rocket]

I just watched epitaph one...

I didn't really like that direction. On the run gun and shoot.. ehhh....

I agree. There's very little they can do in an environment like that doesn't soon become repetitive, frustrating, or boring. Or all three.

Whenever I see a show shift dramatically like that I think of War of the Worlds, which changed direction so drastically in its second season it practically became a different show. And a worse one in the minds of most viewers apparently, although I thought it became more interesting.

[Rob Helmerichs]

Bear in mind, however, that the reality is the exact opposite of the thread title. Epitaph is what the series is ultimately headed towards; the second season picks up where Omega (which aired as the season finale) left off.

[NJChris]

Bear in mind, however, that the reality is the exact opposite of the thread title. Epitaph is what the series is ultimately headed towards; the second season picks up where Omega (which aired as the season finale) left off.

We don't really know that's where it is headed... do we?

[mrdazzo7]

We don't really know that's where it is headed... do we?

I think it is... what else could it be? Epitaph I believe is a glimpse into the future... The second season will likely unfold in a way that leads to the "present day" scenes we saw in Epitaph, with the future scenes (2019 I believe) being the ultimate endgame.

I'm not sure if Joss was setting up as a "this is how things COULD turn out if Caroline doesn't save the day", or it's more like "this is how things DO turn out, now we just have to see how we get there..."

[spikedavis]

I think it is... what else could it be? Epitaph I believe is a glimpse into the future... The second season will likely unfold in a way that leads to the "present day" scenes we saw in Epitaph, with the future scenes (2019 I believe) being the ultimate endgame.

I'm not sure if Joss was setting up as a "this is how things COULD turn out if Caroline doesn't save the day", or it's more like "this is how things DO turn out, now we just have to see how we get there..."

I mean-you're absolutely right-I'm not sure why people are mis-interpreting this. The rest of the series is about filling in the blanks..

[Mars Rocket]

I mean-you're absolutely right-I'm not sure why people are mis-interpreting this. The rest of the series is about filling in the blanks..

I'm not misinterpreting it, I was just engaging in idle speculation. I actually like the idea of showing us how they get from the Dollhouse we left to the world of Epitaph. That could be very entertaining drama, even though you sort of know what's going to happen.

Of course, it could only be done really well if you limit it to 2-3 more seasons and know how to play it out. If you don't know how long you have to tell the story you end up telling it too fast or too slowly (and we never see how it all unfolds).