I am often frustrated by the shows I like that don't make it to a second season, or even get to finish their first. In the past year my list has included Dirty Sexy Money, Journeyman, Moonlight (though it took almost the whole season to get REALLY interesting, it was Angel for chicks with some really great potential) and My Own Worst Enemy. There are more, but these are the ones that come to mind that really didn't get their opportunity to grow.Anyone that knows me even just a teense knows I am a big Joss Whedon fan. Indeed, the only time I ever went fullgoose gaga over meeting someone was when I happened to pass Joss Whedon a few years ago on the street as he was enjoying a late night meal in Broadway in NYC. And I've met Charlton Heston.
Seriously, Joss Whedon made me gaga, but Moses I could handle.
From Buffy the Vampire Slayer, through Angel, Firefly, Dr. Horrible's Singalong Blog and Toy Story, I have loved Whedon's use of language, his truthful explorations of the human condition and brilliant sense of humor and irony. The Buffy Season 5 episode dealing with death is (as far as I'm concerned), the best episode of any show in the history of Television. Nothing I have read or watched or talked about has ever covered the process of surviving the death of a loved one as brilliantly as it. And that's just a single example of Whedon's genius.
Dollhouse is the latest in his ouvre. I will let the video speak to what the show covers because this blog is about the suckiness of the FOX network.
It looks as though Joss Whedon's Dollhouse is going to be added to that list. FOX has announced that it will not be airing Episode 13 of the 13 episodes shot for this mid season replacement.
The reasoning given is lame. The 12th episode is really the season finale with the 13th as an added ep extra. Joss' people confirm this but it feels like they are just kissing FOX's ass in hopes of not being screwed over.....AGAIN.
The writing, as they say, is on the wall.
If 12 is the finale and 13 presumably sets up Season 2 and FOX isn't airing it?... They clearly aren't planning on giving a go to Season 2. A show they barely promoted except a few lame internet ads and a plentiful lack of current ads, aired on Friday, when NO ONE watches Television and those numb-ball fuckbrains at FOX wonder why the show isn't getting the ratings they "expect".
Not to mention the pre-airing meddling that they did with the show before hand. It's Firefly all over again.
Whedon has a contract with FOX, which I guess includes a clause requiring him to come up with a great idea and then get fucked royally once it airs.
We fans knew it was coming. Save Dollhouse sites started almost a year before the show even aired. FOX tried to placate us, but we knew better. We could see already that they were simply giving lip service.
Dollhouse is not Joss' greatest show...not yet. That place is held for Firefly which really would have been his greatest show ever had FOX not tampered endlessly with showing episodes out of order and barely promoting it, as well as airing it on a Friday.
FOX decided to pair Dollhouse with The Sarah Conner Chronicles, a fairly lame but not terrible retelling of the Terminator story. The better choice would have been J.J. Abrams' Fringe, which is rather brilliant, has a following, and airs on Tuesdays, a much better night for T.V. viewing. But you only do something like that with a show you actually intend to be successful. FOX, to my mind, never had any intention of doing so. By the way, I'm not convinced that FOX is all that hyped about FRINGE either. They seem more excited by the series finale for JailBreak, a monumentally stupid show that should never have been green lighted in the first place.
Their news networks suck, their programming (with one or two possible exceptions) sucks, and they suck. The Simpsons while still somewhat entertaining is a pale reflection of what it once was; subversive, thoughtful and unpredictable. I'm not a big fan of Family Guy though it does have a following. They did put some effort into Arrested Development but eventually gave up. They kept it going but also didn't really promote it the way they should. I guess FOX only advertises its "reality shows" and sensalitionalistic fake news reporting.
Meanwhile NBC has renewed that insulting piece of shit, Heroes, for a fourth season. Seriously, that show makes me want to fly to Los Angeles find where Tim Kringe lives and punch him in the face, then go to the execs and NBC and punch them as well.
Back in the 80s a guy named Brandon Tartikoff was running programming on NBC and Steve Bochco created a show called Hill Street Blues which Tartikoff aired mid season.
Hill Street reinvented the cop show and hour long drama entertainment by giving us stories that ran over more than one episode, great characters that weren't cookie cutter Dragnet cops. They had flaws, and desires and dissapointments. It was a cop show that America wasn't used to and its ratings were lackluster.
Brandon Tartikoff loved the show, he believed in it and he ordered a second season. Ratings improved and the critics joined suit. By the third season, Hill Street Blues was a hit and it changed T.V. forever. Without it there would be no E.R., no L.A. Law, no Grey's Anatomy, etc. There might not even be a Buffy The Vampire Slayer, another show that needed a season and a half to really catch on.
The critics didn't fall all over Dollhouse at first, but many have changed their tune in the last few weeks and written glowingly of the show.
FOX should change its tune too. But I doubt it will. Fringe is FOX's last chance for me. If that goes too, I'm done with them.
Here is where you can sign an online petition to save Dollhouse if you are a fan, or if you just want to spare yourself my ugly rantings. The numbers on this one are low. Spread the word.
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