My Savage Fandom (in which I recommend podcasts)

A few years ago I finally broke down and got an iPod nano. It wasn't my first mp3 player, but I had gone a long time without one and I was working at a job where sometimes you needed the music playing in your head to help focus. (Later I learned that that is a classic ADD behavior...but that's a different point).

Through the iPod I was exposed to iTunes and through iTunes, podcasts. I now rarely listen to music on my nano, or my iPhone. It's all about the podcasts.

My listening range goes from the podcasts of Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann to fanboy podcasts for Fringe, Lost (two favorites), Joss Whedon to Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me and This American Life. Other favorites include Polyamory Weekly and I Want Your Sex and more.

One of my big favorites is Dan Savage's The Savage Lovecast, which is the audio version of his sex advice column. I've been reading him for years in The Village Voice and Time Out Magazine and watch him whenever I hear he is going to be on some show or another.

Savage is the kind of writer that I wish had been around when I was a teenager. We are about the same age so I assume part of why he does what he does is because he was aware of the same vacuum.

Dan has a great mix of humor, patience, outrage, compassion and tough love. He's not afraid to tell a caller that they are being selfish, or stupid or some general ass...but he is filled with understanding no matter the situation. He's also snarky as hell, and I love snark. But his advice, I have found is 99% spot on. There's no dogmatic approach to anything. His only agenda is to get the best information and most helpful advice and resources out there. Invariably my mind and heart will be changed by the points he makes. Without revealing details left by a caller he will research resources in the areas they are calling from and give them hints...sometimes he will even call someone back and broadcast the actual conversation on the cast.

We are where we are in life and generally I tend to believe that "the universe unfolds as it should". But for so long I was flying blind when it came to sex and relationships and at the less than tender age of now 48 I cannot tell you how many "aHA" moments I have listening to this podcast. I don't dwell on it but I am keenly aware of the very different choices I would have made in my life had there been someone like Dan to read and listen to 30 years ago. Oh sure there were resources, but you had to go to them..and the things I was thinking about were less obvious.

Having gone to the High School of Performing Arts I experienced many friends "coming out" during that time. But I'm not gay, my thoughts and "theories" and ponderings were different. My desires were different and I was too shy to express them or explore them at that point and I wasn't learning from watching my gay friends as they braved the waters of a more public life. (Remember that 30 years ago, even in "Liberal" New York, coming out as gay could get your ass killed or at the very least seriously beaten. Yes it still happens, but not nearly with the kind of frequency or general acceptance as it did then.)

My daughter's generation is so much more aware of what is out there and in there than mine was. They're more informed, in general, than we were. Oddly in this "post AIDS" environment, I think that people coming of age have more understanding, more education and more awareness of sex, sexuality, it's rewards and dangers than human beings have had in a long time. They aren't perfect, there's plenty of mistakes going on. But it all stems from ignorance (cough, Bristol Palin, cough cough). Dan's on the frontline of that war.

He is fun, funny, forthright and clear. He begins every cast with a rant of one kind or another, generally at Right Wing hypocrisy, and that is always massively enjoyable. And lest you think he's a partisan hack, you should hear how he lays into President Obama on Don't Ask Don't Tell.

Listen to it, tell your teenager to listen to it , tell your friends to listen to it. Spread the word.

As an addendum, when I tweeted about writing this entry yesterday I was tweeted by someone recommending Dear Redhead. I'll check her out. Apparently she's been described as Dan Savage with a vagina. The more the merrier I say...I'll let you know.

Sex is who we are and how we got here. We need to embrace it, own it and feel good about it. And that's why I listen to Dan.

Did I Fall Asleep? I'm afraid not...it's really over.

Warning: This is fairly spoilery if you haven't seen Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly/Serenity or the series finale of Dollhouse. 

Dichen Lachman, Tahmoh Penikett, Fran Kranz, Olivia Williams, Harry Lennix, Enver Gjokaj
Eliza Dushku

It can definitely be argued that Joss Whedon tells pretty much the same stories with each of his projects, or at the very least, revisits the same themes while messing with the way he tells the story. This is not a complaint. I love how he does it.

For this blog I'm just going to focus on the main one;  Female empowerment out of victimization. Buffy is strong but only because the first slayer was violated by a group of male high priests with demon energy, Cordelia is also imbued with demon energy, and yes she does so willingly, but later we learn that she was tricked, in the same series Winifred Burkle becomes the embodiment of an ancient and long forgotten god only through being made a sacrifice to that very god, and River Tam is tampered with to the point that all that is done to her by the Alliance Government brings out her genius and super powers and perhaps ultimately the end.

And then of course there is Caroline who through the manipulations of the Rossum Corporation and the Dollhouse becomes Echo, a high powered Matrix like hero but embodying the opposite of Neo's cluelessness.

All of these women rise from the ashes of thinly veiled metaphors for rape.

In the early part of the first season of Dollhouse many women, including fans of Joss Whedon's work complained that the show seemed to glorify the exploitation of women. This was nonsense. If you know anything about Joss Whedon you know that he is more of a feminist than my mother, who was a vice president of a local chapter of NOW for several years.

When it comes to Joss, you have to stick around for the long view. I learned this in Season 5 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer when Joss had Buffy meet the infamous Dracula in the season premier. That episode ended with the sudden and seemingly shark jumping introduction of Buffy's younger sister. When I saw this I was furious, not only was the actor who played Dracula abysmally bad, but the introduction of a sister out of nowhere?!!!

What.The.Fuck. (a)


BUT, I learned quickly, there's always a longer story, and a few episodes later we learn that the sister's existence has a purpose and that while badly acted, the character of Dracula introduces aspects of Buffy's being that we do not fully understand until the Seventh Season and that echo the warnings that came to us in the finale of Season Four. Further, a few years later as I introduced my daughter through the series on DVD, I saw how the coming of Dawn was foretold in the end of the Third Season, by none other than Faith (played by the ever hot, Eliza Dushku) in a shared dream with Buffy.

I am being wordy here because it brings up how the Fox Network has now twice failed the fans by their nearly militant refusal to appreciate good storytelling. Even if it happens to be a similar story to the last time.

They did it with Firefly, and they did it again with Dollhouse. And in the same way that Warner Brothers screwed Angel at the last minute, Fox left the Dollhouse crew precious little time to wrap up their story in a completely emotionally satisfying way.

And yet, like the ending of Angel, the Whedon crew managed to pretty much pull a small rabbit out of their hat. A small one, but a rabbit nonetheless. A lesser crew would have had Sierra waking up, walking to the bathroom seemingly disoriented only to find her loving husband Victor in the shower..it was all just a bad dream....except Victor is a Replicant....and isn't that Bob Newhart's wife in the bed? (ok, that last one was an awesome finale actually).

I just finished watching the Dollhouse finale, "Epitaph Two" and I am indeed sad and a bit teary eyed. To be sure, the impact of E2 is best appreciated if you've seen "Epitaph One", and if Fox were worth half a dog turd they might have screened that episode last week before showing this one. But that's asking the impossible.

Earlier today I was chatting with @2MuchPerfection who had seen the Dollhouse finale already. She is also a fan of Buffy though never liked Angel (I still think she's cool though) Her words "Joss is so predictable. Someone sacrifices, someone you don't want to die is killed and the world is alright again....not that I didn't like it. I can just see it coming"

She was right, but because Fox gave Dollhouse 5 episodes to wrap things up, I find it easy to forgive that certain parts of Whedon's formula are repeated so blatantly. And the unwanted death happens so fast and so without closure, that it still has impact.

As I watched tonight's episode I mourned for the stories we will never see. Alpha's struggle and eventual redemption (not unlike Spike's at the end of Buffy. Topher's sacrifice as well had echoes of Spike and even a touch of Wesley), the continual attempts that Paul makes to reach Echo/Caroline. The adventures that Meg, the girl Caroline and Zone as they make their way from Los Angeles to "Neuropolis" (Tucson, where I was born, by the way, just for the fun of knowing it), what does Dominic do and what is his journey after he is set free from The Attic, how long does Echo suffer through headaches before she makes peace. So many journeys so many variations on the story that could have been explored if the Powers That Be just let Joss be Joss and just.let.him.tell.the.fucking.story.

Parts of this finale were disappointing, but only because so much had to be covered in so little time. For me it was emotional and sad and the very last moment broke my heart. How even more heartbreaking if we had had time to learn more about Caroline/Echo's loneliness and isolation (again, themes embodied by Buffy, Angel and Malcolm Reynolds before her).

I loved this show from the start. I didn't need time to warm up. There were dips here and there, but I knew Joss was leading us somewhere somewhat new. (I will blog in detail soon, episode by episode.)

But his messages are the same. We can be stronger for our suffering, we should stop tampering with ourselves unnaturally to make ourselves better, and saving the world always, ALWAYS requires sacrifice.

Also...we like love adore lust after hot chicks with super powers.

(a) just a side not in the form of a footnote, Garry Marshall, producer of the show Happy Days, from whence the phrase "jumped the shark" was created, likes to boast about how high the ratings were for the episode where Fonzie, in a bathing suit and leather jacket, does the water ski jump over the shark, earned that show the highest ratings ever. But what he fails to understand, and I admire Mr. Marshall, is that even though it got high ratings, it was still the beginning of that show's spiral into utter stupidity

Sent to the Attic (without any supper)

So, as I suspected it would, Fox canceled Dollhouse this past week. So, as a result, I will be canceling Fox from my viewing activities.

Whining Fanboy you say? Over reacting? Well, maybe. But losing Dollhouse is really the final among many straws.

Dollhouse was not a perfect show. It took a few episodes to find its voice. Get its leggings. But this is true for every other Joss Whedon show, with the possible exception of Firefly, which I will get to in a minute.

Here's what Fox has/has not done, that has me deciding to tell them to go fuck themselves.

1-They put Dollhouse in exactly the same time slot where they put Firefly a few years ago. Friday nights...WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING TV!

2-They barely promoted the show themselves. This year alone on Twitter we counted hundreds of official Fox tweets for Glee, a show that was already a hit, and about 20 for Dollhouse which was strugging ON FRIDAYS.

3-They then blamed poor ratings.

4-They promoted upcoming episodes coming in November, but only as coming soons, very rarely on other time-slots, then within days they pulled the show OFF November for sweeps, thus playing a sort of game with fans. They assured us that this was a way to keep the show safe and help their numbers (the replacement, re runs of House, garnered a tiny tiny teeny weency improvement for that slot. Why? BECAUSE NO ONE WATCHES TV ON FRIDAY NIGHTS for network broadcast numbers to be worth anything.

5-Then after a week they cancel the show, demonstrating that EVERYthing they said previously was flat out, in your face, bald faced bullshit.

They treated Dollhouse marginally better than they treated Firefly, which is to say that they treated it like less stinky shit, holding it 3 feet away from their noses instead of 4. And they spoke to fans in condescending and again, lieing tones.

What they should have done, if they really wanted the show to hit, if they really wanted to give it its best opportunity like they said they did, was keep Fringe on Tuesdays (I'll get to that in a minute too) and have Dollhouse follow, giving the show a significant and popular lead in. If Dollhouse failed to garner an audience then, the network would have had a legitimate case on its hands and would actually be able to honestly say they tried.

I've written about this before. Gone are the days that network executives gave shows time to find their audience. Time for their audience to find them. No more. Everything has to be Lost now. Everything has to be Desperate Housewives (I just vomited a little into my mouth). Everything has to be Glee.

BTW, I have nothing against Glee, it doesn't interest me, but it sounds like a good show IN A GOOD TIME SLOT.

Firefly was probably Whedon's greatest creation for television. It was mature, featured the strongest cast that's ever been on one of his shows and it had a great premise. Sales of its DVDs continue to sell brilliantly. Fox claimed to learn a lesson from that. Their actions proved that to be bullshit. They did absolutely nothing for this show.

The pulled this same kind of half hearted nonsense on Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles too. I wasn't a fan of the show for a number of reasons. But it clearly had a loyal base and its ratings on say FX (which Fox owns) or SyFy (Which Fox doesn't, and God I hate writing "SyFy", so fucking stupid)would have made it a smash. Given that Dollhouse's ratings were even better, that same action would have been even more successful

And finally.

I love Fringe too. It's on Fox so my giving up on Fox means I am giving up on Fringe (yes there are ways to watch it under the radar, I'm not going to advocate that). But they are doing it to Fringe too.

It was a hit on Tuesdays last year. It started slow and built really well. So what did Fox do? They moved it to Thursdays...OPPOSITE CSI AND GRAY'S ANATOMY. Two huge ratings giants. What the fuck did they think was going to happen?!!!

And now they are saying that they are unsure of the ratings and we will see about renewal.

And then of course there's Arrested Development. A brilliant show that yes, they stuck with but never did a single thing to improve its ratings. They played the martyr with it and also fucked with its fans.

Well guess what? FUCK YOU FOX. FUCK YOUR DISDAIN FOR GENRE TELEVISION and FUCK YOU FOR TELLING ME FUCK YOU. The Simpsons is boring now and you have nothing on that interests me. Much as I like Seth MacFarlane I have yet to get a single good laugh out of Family Guy (I know, I know....I just don't think its that good). I'll watch the remaining 7 episodes and then I'm done with you. Oh, and if I haven't said it enough already, FUCK YOU.

(Monday update) I forgot to mention that I think web shows are the future anyway. Like Dr. Horrible or The Guild. I don't think it's a bad idea to begin making clear to networks, both broadcast and cable that they are moving into irrelevancy as far as we are concerned.

I encourage you to join me in my boycott if you've had enough.

Congratulations!

Dollhouse is saved thanks in no small part to our efforts as fans.

FOX said the took a good hard look at DVR numbers as well as HULU and Fox On Demand orders. They don't seem to have mentioned iTunes but I'm sure that had an impact as well.

I do wish they'd have gone for more than 13 episodes and moved them to Tuesdays with Fringe (except they moved Fringe to Thursdays...that's another issue altogether, grrrrr). But I'll take Friday night over no night any day.

Good work on us all, I say.

Now come September we need to keep it up. Encourage our friends to buy the DVD that will included the unaired Pilot as well as the infamous 13th episode, "Epitaph:One" Spread the word...

There is a rumor that the 13th ep may be aired after all.

My encounter with the Master

Several years ago I was dating fairly heavily. Nothing to write home about, but I was learning to enjoy the process for its own sake and even when dates did not lead to more, I was having a good time.

One early summer I met someone and we hit it off very well. She was very much my type and had a certain wit about her that charmed the hell out of me. The feeling was quite mutual right away and I thought there might be something here to look forward to after a long time of loneliness and (quite honestly) sexual frustration.

Such was not the case. As is common in NYC dating circles, things can turn on a dime. Without going into detail, a slew of plans were suddenly called off and it was all done with no real explanation or logic. It left me in a very sour mood for a week. Not that things ended, mostly because I had felt misled and taken for a ride.

A few days later I had my weekly visit with my daughter in Queens and had a lovely time with her. We had dinner and watched an episode of Buffy I think. I had spent the last couple of years acquainting her with Buffy and Angel, or possibly Firefly.

It was then time to head home, a fairly involved trip that required a couple of train changes.

This was a nightmare. Once my night with my daughter was done I was back to my foul mood and the sluggish train system was no help. At one point I waited for a particular train for 45 minutes. Then it hit me that I was being a complete idiot and could get out of that station, walk 5 blocks and get on another train without it costing me an additional cent.

So now, I was also pissed off at myself as well as the girl and the universe.

Stomping up Seventh Avenue over to Broadway, I began to pass an old diner that had been there for decades and in my mood managed to feel grateful that it was still there. One of my few old haunts that hadn't been demolished or swallowed up by the Yuppie onslaught of the last 20 years.

And there, sitting outside in the corner of the outdoor section of said diner, sat Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy, Angel, Firefly etc.. He was with someone, an older man, I imagined they were discussing post production details of Serenity which was due in a few months.

I stood stock still a few feet from him. Total fanboy geekdom took over.

I've met and known many famous people. Including Charleton Heston and several other greats. This was the first and thus far only time I was spellbound.

I had been a fan of Whedon's for years. I admired his play with words, his storytelling and his perspective. And there he was in the flesh.

Finally I spoke and offered my hand, not expecting him to return the favor or thinking that he even should. I'm a stranger after all. I told him that I was a great fan of his work and admired him and had been turning my daughter on to his work from the time she was 11 and that she was now enjoying Firefly on DVD and it was the first time she liked anything that had anything to do with spaceships.

He was extremely gracious and kind and I can't even tell you how many times he said thank you. Then I got my shit together and remembered that I was a straight man in my early 40s and had to stop being such a girl. I thanked him for letting me talk with him and wished him a good night. Nodded to his friend and thanked him too and then walked on.

When I was a block away I called my daughter. "Guess what just happened to me"

Non chalant "I have no idea"

".............................I JUST MET JOSS WHEDON"



Suddenly Screaming "ReALYY!!!!!????"

And then I told her what happened.

I forgot about the woman, the subway and my crappy life and ended up walking for another 30 blocks before finally getting on the subway home, grinning the whole time.

Joss Whedon story tomorrow.

Hello folks.

Fantastic promotion for the Dollhouse DVD here. I want to give you the link again for the Echo Alert store, but their server is down today. They get a small percentage of the profit from Amazon.

Ah well. Their blog can also be found at www.echoalert.blogspot.com.

The new week

I wanted a lazy day. But I really needed to straighten out my little room. But between the weird weather in New York, then up to New Paltz where it was warm and dry, then cold and dry and then today rainy and cold, my hip has been killing me.

I have to find a way to make more money and I need to figure out what the next act of my life is.

I suspect that it has to do with writing. Beyond that...I haven't a clue.

Finally saw Dollhouse today. BRILLIANT episode.

Please hear us, FOX. KEEP THIS SHOW.

Maybe I'm supposed to write for Joss Whedon...I WISH...actually, I just want to act in his shows...say his words. THAT would be bliss.

Tomorrow I'll tell the geeky story of how I met him.

Reminder

Be sure to go to Fox on Demand and watch an ep of Dollhouse. Or at least run it in the background.

Sunday Almost To The Park With John

As is usually the case with New York, we went from early spring straight into summer with near 90 degree weather today.

I was going to spend the day doing laundry but it was too good a day and after yesterday I needed to just do a kind of nothing, so to speak.

Here are pics of the walk a took. A shortened walk because I left with so much enthusiasm for the day that I left my wallet, and thus my ability to snack and water in the part, in my room.


Two more of the several Victorian mansions in my neighborhood. It really makes me happy knowing that they are still intact and in communities that want them. Not as elaborate as the one from my previous blog,but very beautiful.




A very interesting entrance. In need of TLC, these kinds of places make me wish I was rich.



These are the greatest sandals in the world. Kamiks. Incredibly comfortable and the next best thing to being barefoot. Got them out of storage yesterday and my feet are born again. That's my cane in there too.


The Brooklyn Museum, where I realized Mr. Wallet was sitting on my desk at home and it was time to turn back now or my hip and knee would make me suffer the consequences. That's my stupid finger just above the shooting fountain. It was glary and I haven't quite mastered the lense on my iPhone yet.

I then went down Eastern Parkway, back to my street.

You rarely see these old black glass and neon signs anymore in New York. They go back to the 30s. I was thrilled to see this on an otherwise unremarkable street. So nice to see a pharmacy in the city that isn't Duane Reade, CVS or Rite Aid.

I love Bay Windows and this row of apartment buildings charmed me. I also loved the small, very homey entrances. It felt almost storybookish to me.

After that I was getting tired from the heat and no water and indeed, my hip and knee were expressing their displeasure with me. So I went back home, rested a bit and got to some laundry eventually.

All in all, a good Sunday and a pleasant end to an all too short weekend.

By the way, this last episode of DOLLHOUSE, entitled "Haunted" was the best yet. Ok, that wasn't so by the way. But hey, its me.

Echoes of a River being Buffed by Angelic Evil Leagues

WARNING: There are spoilers here if you have not seen all of Joss Whedon's TV ouvre.

I had a few free moments and decided to finally take advantage of my roommate's wide screen TV and popped in Serenity for a few minutes. The movie begins with a flashback dream and then moves into a scene where River, the 17 year old psychic is being manipulated with some sort of device injected through her forehead into her brain.

Immediately I thought of Dollhouse and the Mind Wiping device which of course led me to think about Joss Whedon's recurring themes of female empowerment, family, sexuality and language.

But for Angel, all of Joss Whedon's shows feature young women who mostly through involuntary means are given extraordinary abilities of one kind or another. I take that back, even in Angel, Cordelia is granted certain abilities and made half demon in order to accommodate those abilities.

Buffy, the chosen one. Selected from an array of 16 year old girls from around the world to fight vampires and demons alone. Towards the end of the series we learn that Slayers were created by ancient medicine men in Africa embueing the chosen young female with demon strength. The rape allegory is not lost here. Buffy eventually finds a way to harness that very energy and transform its ability to empower potential slayers all over the world.

Cordelia, see above.

River (Firefly), essentially lured by The Alliance into a phone school and experimented on to enhance her abilities, those abilities later lead to a potential downfall of the Alliance. The series was not allowed to run its full course, but by suggestion in the movie "Serenity" I get the idea that that was the direction of the story.

Echo (Dollhouse), coerced to become an "Active" with abilities that can be altered for any mission. Like River, her abilities may be developing in a way that will ironically take down the Dollhouse organization.

In all of Whedon's series we get to know a disparate group of individuals who become close and dependent upon eachother through extraordinary circumstances, which leads to Joss' recurring theme of there's the family you are born with and the family you find yourself in. Joss always seems to express a preference for the latter. Paging Dr. Freud.

This is not a criticism, just an observation. God knows I love Whedon's storytelling and all prolific TV writers end up revisiting ideas and concepts all the time. I've mentioned I am a fan of Fringe and I know at some point we will learn of Olivia's complicated relationship with her father, a theme that runs through all of JJ Abrams' series. (Whedon has this two for Buffy and Angel but far less prominently)

I was raised by a feminist through the 60s and 70s. My mother was part of Consciousness Raising Groups, all sorts of therapy, etc and down to being a regional VP for the National Organization for Women.

I think that's why I've always found Joss Whedon's shows so resonant for me. Also I tend to relate to the characters of Xander and Wash deeply. (Hell I even took the Facebook test of which Firefly character are you and I came up Wash. I should have known). Female empowerment has always seemed important to me. I think as I've gotten older I've come to understand too that the empowered women are, the more empowered men are. I can get into what that all means to me another time.

I write all this to say why it is that I love Dollhouse. That is comes back to the themes I always love in Whedon's work. Also, as I've said, Eliza Dushku is the guiltiest pleasuriest guilty pleasure I have. Why else would I have posted that hot picture of her the other day.

Tomorrow, when I have time, I'm going to post more links about Dollhouse and a podcast I listen to weekly where they have a Dollhouse store through Amazon that will enable us to continue to do what we can to make sure FOX understands that there's money in it for them to keep the show going.

I leave you Joss' immortal words. "Always be yourself...unless you suck"

Ways To Save Dollhouse

Above photo from Allure Magazine

Ok, first a couple of things to know:

Eliza Dushku will be on Bonnie Hunt this Tuesday talking up the show. WATCH IT. Can't watch it? DVR it. Don't have a DVR? ask a friend to DVR it for you. There's even a little something extra if, like me, you are also a LOST fan.

Second, FOX was supposed to release its lineup for Fall yesterday, but they didn't. I am hoping this means that they are holding off on a few decisions...like maybe....DOLLHOUSE.


So...here's what I think we can do.

First. The obvious. Watch the show and tell your friends to watch the show. If you happen to own a DVR and watch the show as it airs, DVR it anyway if you don't already. Fox is really paying attention to DVR numbers now and not just relying on lame Neilson reports.

Ask your friends who own DVRs to DVR the show. They don't have to watch it, though I obviously recommend they do, just so long as they DVR it.

Maybe you've already seen the show, but did you know you can watch full episodes on HULU? And Fox pays attention to those numbers too. So play the eps on Hulu...ALL of them. Tell your friends to do it too. Too busy? So what...play them anyway in the background.

I am saying to do this in addition to getting people to watch the show. Let them see what potential the show has...Have them start with Episode Six: Man on The Street. It's written by Joss, really sets everything up well for people who haven't seen the previous episodes and is a damned good story. Plus the following episodes in many ways are even better.

If you haven't already, sign here!!!!

As well, Amazon is already set up for pre-orders of Season 1 DVDs. Order yours now. Let Fox see the potential for more seasons. They are still seeing how DVDs of Firefly continue to sell.

If you have more ideas or resources, post them in the comments below.

Lastly, we can take up a collection to hire Echo and Sierra to go to Fox and kick some executives' asses. We can hire Victor to shrug and be the nice guy and make them a counter offer to avoid further damage.

Seriously, lets hope this works. Tomorrow morning it might all be too late. I hope not.

↑ Grab this Headline Animator

There are three flowers in a vase....

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.

The Return of The Master

Tonight is the premier of Dollhouse!!!!!

This is the much anticipated return to TV by Joss Whedon who created Buffy the Vampire Slaver, Angel and the criminally shortlived Firefly.

I miss Whedon's twisty sense of humor and idiosyncratic dialog. I'm very psyched.

The show stars Eliza Dushku, one of my guiltiest pleasuriest guilty pleasures and several other terrific actors including Tahmoh Penikett from Battlestar Galactica and some guest spots by Amy Acker who played Winifred on Angel.

I am very very very psyched and this will definitely help pull me out of the February Blues.

However FOX has demonstrated its habit of not promoting its shows when it doesn't feel like it. There's barely been any publicity even here in New York City. So I'm hoping they don't pull the same nonsense they did with Firefly.

Watch it tonight on FOX.