Comic-Con 2009 Part 2: Dollhouse

So we made it to the Dollhouse panel (if you kept up on our Twitter you saw that we waited in line for about 2 hours but we were lucky enough to get in updated in 140 characters or less). We were thrilled to see Joss Whedon live (now we have to work on getting an interview - Joss, if you're reading this Geek World loves you, same goes for you Eliza). We had the opportunity to see "Epitaph One", the unaired episode of Dollhouse. While I'd like to tell you all about it I'd rather you go buy the DVDs so that we can ensure future seasons of Dollhouse!

Any of you who listen to our show know how strongly we felt about keeping Dollhouse alive. We encouraged everyone to participate in the various campaigns to keep it alive. We were thrilled when we learned that somebody finally made the decision to check the TIVO ratings on it which revealed that the show had a huge viewership even if they didn't choose to stay in on their Friday nights to watch (that's right Fox, even the Friday death slot can't truly kill a Whedon creation). Any studio head should know by now that Joss Whedon is beyond golden. Aside from being an incredible writer and story creator he makes characters and shows that bring the kind of fan base that doesn't just go away. They are the kind of fans that watch the show, buy the DVDs, buy the soundtracks, buy the toys. They are the kind of fans that join together to form groups (there are Browncoats all over the world - for those of you who don't know those are Firefly fans, that's right 6 years after the short lived show went off the air & 4 years after the movie Serenity the fans still go so strong they can have a Comic-Con booth). Even his web musical, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, had dozens of fans in costume. There are plenty of people that will never forgive the networks for cancelling Angel and Buffy! So it's pretty clear that Joss Whedon brings in the audience even when it's not obvious and with new media and DVRs it's of the utmost importance for networks to observe the trends and not rely entirely on Nielson and other ratings that don't take new media into account. From personal experience we rarely watch anything when it's actually on, we DVR all the primetime shows we watch because work gets in the way of watching TV when shows are actually on. We know plenty of people that download their TV shows and others that wait till the DVDs come out (which we do for all cable shows since we are poor and can't afford cable). If you download a show espeically if you have to pay (as for shows downloaded from itunes) it is about 99% certain you will watch it. Same goes for shows recorded on the DVR, a DVR has limited space so if you use that space you are very likely going to actually watch what you have recorded. So if I haven't made it clear we are so pleased that Dollhouse is coming back! And we are even more pleased that perhaps studios and networks will be looking at more factors before deciding to cancel a show!

So we went to the Dollhouse panel and following the screening of "Epitaph One" Joss Whedon & Eliza Dushku took to the stage to talk about the upcoming season and answer questions. The one thing I will mention about "Epitaph One" is that it has a very special guest star from the Whedon-verse, Felicia Day from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. Joss told the audience that there would be more special guest stars and specifically mentioned Summer Glau (I called it!! It seemed only logical that if Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles was cancelled she'd be showing up on Dollhouse, and I hope she's a long-term character, she could make a great doll and they could use it as an opportunity to show off her dancing) as well as Alexis Denisof. I'm still hoping that they can get David Boreanaz or James Marsters or Nathan Fillion or any of our other favorites from all over the Whedon-verse (yeah, I know some of them are busy with their own shows but that doesn't mean they can't show up for an episode or two).

One of the most fun parts of the panel was when Fran Kranz (Topher on Dollhouse) & Dichen Lachman (Sierra on Dollhouse) unexpectedly showed up and joined the panel. It's so nice to see when the cast of a show really seem to like each other. They all seem to be friends which I think rocks!

I can't wait until the next season starts and I recommend that all of you pick up the DVDs to get ready!!

--AnnaMay