Related Sections: Fandom Interviews News TV Video
Joss Whedon speaks candidly about Dollhouse and has a message for haters.
Joss Whedon, creator of Fox's upcoming sci-fi drama Dollhouse, has a message for the haters out there: Give the show a frakkin' chance!
Responding to my questions for the first time about the swirl of buzz surrounding the much-anticipated show, Whedon said in an exclusive interview on Tuesday, Dec. 6, that the show's found its groove, that he's very happy with the way it's going and that he's confident viewers will like it.
But with characteristic candor, Whedon also admits that the negative buzz—based in part on reports of reshoots, a scrapped pilot, production halts and a Friday night "death slot"—weighs on him and that he also struggled to find the show's voice during a lengthy development process.
"You do [think about it]," Whedon said in Los Angeles during a Fox press day. "I mean, you notice things. The fact is, it's not a seamless birthing process. But ... it seldom is. For me, never. And the only difference is now everybody in the world knows everything about everything. But that doesn't really change what's going on. And it's been hard, and I've had despair, and I've had joy and excitement, and, ... ultimately, it has nothing to do with whether or not you will respond to the TV show." And he has more to say.
Eliza Dushku plays Echo in Joss Whedon's Dollhouse.
The chatter about the show's development—including, we admit, our own speculation that it may be doomed before it hits the air—has been premature, Whedon says. "All the business speculation is just that," he says. "So when people start saying, 'Well, clearly this is an attempt to ... ,' and they actually start deconstructing the show before they've seen it, and I kind of go, 'Well, wait a minute.' But ... it's just part of how it works now. You notice [the bad buzz] just to make sure that you know what people are thinking, and then you shove it down."
Dollhouse tells the story of a group of people, called "dolls," whose minds have been wiped and who are implanted with artificial personalities—memories, skills, even physical abilities and infirmities—in order to perform tasks for hire by a secret organization: escort service, assassination, kidnap negotiation, etc. The show stars Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer cast member Eliza Dushku, former Battlestar Galactica cast member Tahmoh Penikett, Olivia Williams, Harry Lennix and former Angel star Amy Acker. It debuts Feb. 13 and will air Fridays at 9 p.m. ET/PT, after Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
Following is an edited version of Whedon's interview with SCI FI Wire.
How happy are you with the way the show is now?
Whedon: I'm happy with it. It's been hard for me, too. There was a point where I literally was, like, "What show am I making? What's going on? Wait, which part did I like? Why did I let Eliza buy me lunch?" [Whedon hatched the idea for the show at a lunch with Dushku.] But now it's gotten really exciting for us. We feel like it's found itself. You know, all the pieces are there, because the ensemble is extraordinary, the premise is really challenging and fun, and now, as we're working on the episodes a little further in, those episodes are becoming more than the sum of its parts. Which is exciting.
At what point are you in the process right now?
Whedon: We're shooting the 10th episode. We have the last three, which are being written by Jane Espenson, Tim Minear and myself. And Jane's finishing a draft, Tim's working on his, and I'm working on mine, because we're actually going to shoot it simultaneously. It's a very weird production thing that we're doing, partially because we junked the pilot, so we're creating these other episodes.
[At this point in the interview, Dushku—dressed in a slammin' tight black dress—comes up behind Whedon and says hello.]
Dushku: Wanna make out? [laughs] ... I'm a little sick.
Whedon [to Dushku]: I like you, I mean, I love you, as a friend. ...
[She laughs, they exchange more pleasantries, she runs off to do her own interviews.]
Whedon: Oh, sorry. Now I remember why I'm making the show. Forget all the stuff I said about interesting storylines. Have you seen her in that dress?
So, how is the show sort of coming together? It seems like you were trying to find the show's core for a couple of episodes.
Whedon: Fox came down with the mandate of stand-alones, and ... higher stakes and adventure and stuff. And all of that was part of the show, and so we just had to bring it to the fore. And ... this is a mistake that I often make, which is I'm interested in what's underneath, and so that's where I start, and you sort of can't. You kind of have to start with, "Well, you know, here's how it works, here's what you do every week, here's the adventure," and let the questions, ... the humanity of the thing, really sort of sneak in under. And ... now that's sort of happened, and after a few episodes, all of which are stand-alones, we're at a point where ... we know the characters well enough that there's a little bit of shorthand, and the interactions start to become really, really fascinating. And ... we hint at a lot of stuff in the early episodes, while we're doing stand-alones. We're sort of laying out threads, and now we start to get weaving some of them, and, ... without getting too caught up in its own mythology, that's where it starts to get really exciting. ...
How do you feel about the timeslot?
Whedon: You know, I feel fine about it. I know that it has a bad reputation. But so do the executives who built the sort of Terminator/Dollhouse entity, and they've been very up-front about a different expectation about audience numbers and slow growth. I think that they get—in a way that they really didn't back in the days of Firefly—that genre is ... something where a small group embraces it, and then it bleeds out. I mean, occasionally you get something like Lost, where it's like, "Bang! America's watching!" But that doesn't usually happen. So these are both shows that ... have, ... in their own way, kind of complicated premises. Even though Terminator has a sort of slam-dunk of, "There is a Terminator." And there are some real similarities between them, so I really like that pairing. I was never comfortable being paired with 24. That's not exactly the kind of thing that I'm behind. ... And I'm a devotee of Terminator, and I feel like the only problem I have is in the case they do something so much like what we're doing. ... Sometimes we'll come to the writers' room the day after it airs, and all look at each other and go like, "OK, back to work. We've got to change that."
By yeahyeah at 4:16 PM ON 01/07/09
this has "suck" written all over. i say, abandon this and work on more Dr Horrible
By jen at 4:55 PM ON 01/07/09
This project sounds awesome. Joss Wheadon is a genius and I believe in his ability to make this show freaking wonderful.
By Harley at 5:14 PM ON 01/07/09
Anything created by Joss Whedon is genius. And Eliza is a brilliant actress. Jane Espenson is also a great writer,
This show will be amazing!
By numfar at 6:13 PM ON 01/07/09
Funny thing is, Fox is right about the stand-alones. You can't jump right into the mythology if you want anyone that's not already a browncoat to be down with it.
It's very funny how commenters all already know whether this will suck or be awesome. It could be great. It could be lame. Why don't we all try actually watching it, and, you know, see for ourselves? Rather than guess, and pronounce our guesses to be true?
Just a crazy idea.
By yeahyeah at 6:39 PM ON 01/07/09
I didn't say I already knew how it was, just that "this has 'suck' written all over" which clearly means it sounds like it's going to be bad. Obviously no one has seen it, we're just expressing opinions. Firefly was pretty lame IMO.
By eqs at 2:33 AM ON 01/08/09
People thought Dr. Horrible would suck too, now look at how awesome that was. Oh, oh, or that 'cowboys in space' thing! How long did it take a lot of people to get on board with such an outlandish idea as Firefly? Well it was cancelled before most people realised it was a great series, so I guess that answers that.
I have faith in little, but Joss has rarely fallen through. Buffy was good, Firefly was good, Dr. Horrible was good, hell, even Roseanne during the time he and Palladino were on it was good. For me, that pedigree's why I'm giving him a chance.
By Fobok at 6:50 AM ON 01/08/09
I believe the show will be great, as with all of Joss Whedon's shows.
I fully admit skipping Firefly at the time, as it looked too much like Starhunter, which I despised. Once I gave the show a chance and saw what it was like, I decided I wouldn't let previews decide for me again.
By budgethero at 10:16 AM ON 01/08/09
did u notice how FOX wanted them to "raise the stakes"? Which i'm guessing means that instead of the person we're trying to save this week dies, 40 people die. Something like that. As though millions of people can't care about one person dying. Is it truly all about the numbers with us? "20 people died in Iraq today", "5 people died in a bank robbery today", "bad-killer-guy, whose death toll reached 10 people yesterday, killed another one." Are we all so shallow that we can't be interested unless there is a bomb waiting to go off, or hostages in mass, or a terrorist attack waiting to be stopped? Is that ALL we expect from our action shows? (if so, more people would give a damn about Darfur)
And does FOX have to make everything into 24? Yeah yeah yeah i get it. It's a smash hit that gets the ratings. But do u have to force ur other shows to follow the same formula? Have u so little trust in the story and crew? And i get it, it's a business. But this isn't the cold, heartless stock market, where if something is losing money, u do whatever the anayists think needs to be done post haste . Cold, soulless business decisions disguised as "advise for making the show better" makes the show frigid and with a gap in it soul.
By fergmaster at 11:30 AM ON 01/08/09
This sounds awesome, I'm glad things seem to be OK after the production troubles etc but I love pretty anything Joss Whedon does (Buffy is my favourite show) so I can't wait for this!
By Greg Andrew at 12:00 PM ON 01/08/09
I watched the first episode of Firefly and was disappointed, so I didn't really bother watching again on a regular basis. When I finally saw what Whedon originally meant to be the first episode, I liked it a lot. Fox's mishandling of the show lost them a viewer. The first show should not be a sample; it should provide a reason to care about the characters on the show.
By Lutheran at 5:14 PM ON 01/08/09
yeahyeah after reading your firefly comment I dismissed all of your other words. I would bet my left nut that this show will be good. A lot of good actors are involved and whedon/minear/ means it should be pretty interesting.
By Kdez at 8:14 PM ON 01/08/09
You either like a show or you don't , but don't be so naive and judge something before you understand it. Most well written genre pics aren't for the masses, there originally intended for a specific niche-- if more peeps like it then grrrreeat! Firefly was like that, but it WAS GREAT! It's amazing to me how a lot more people are like "oh yeah, now that makes sense" or "I didn't like it then but i do now" or they were haters back then, but now watch it all the time in syndication. It's just a shame dumb people really are, when there is something with such potential.
I agree with Whedon- give dollhouse a chance-- the Friday time slot does sucks and are they trying to get terminator canceled??? these should be monday night shows!!
By kdez at 8:15 PM ON 01/08/09
You either like a show or you don't , but don't be so naive and judge something before you understand it. Most well written genre pics aren't for the masses, there originally intended for a specific niche-- if more peeps like it then grrrreeat! Firefly was like that, but it WAS GREAT! It's amazing to me how a lot more people are like "oh yeah, now that makes sense" or "I didn't like it then but i do now" or they were haters back then, but now watch it all the time in syndication. It's just a shame dumb people really are, when there is something with such potential.
I agree with Whedon- give dollhouse a chance-- the Friday time slot does sucks and are they trying to get terminator canceled??? these should be monday night shows!!
By feldspar at 12:02 AM ON 01/09/09
"this has "suck" written all over. i say, abandon this and work on more Dr Horrible"
That comment shows a really open mind. Really insightful. Does anyone else here picture The Simpsons' "Comic Book Guy"?
The pedigree of "Dollhouse" doesn't ensure it will be awesome, but it certainly bodes well. Whedon & Co. are three for three in my book and I'm hoping for/betting on a fourth.
By Jill Florio at 2:46 PM ON 01/09/09
You know, I simply have "Faith" in Joss.
That wasn't originally intended to be a pun; it just slipped out. ;-D
By bobbidigital at 3:46 PM ON 01/14/09
I guess my fear is the same fear I always have with sci-fi shows. How much does the creator get to do his thing and how much of it is bogged down in network exec BS. I trust Joss to deliver the goods, but I don't know that suits know exactly what I want. Joss is a nerd, so he understands what nerds want. I'm hopeful for the show and I think going behind Terminator is great. But I imagine in a Friday time slot most people will be watching it in some time shifted manor.
I just hope time shifted television gets accounted for in the ratings.
By Solo at 5:56 PM ON 02/02/09
Sounds very similar to the series starring Christian Slater, My Worst Enemy. It got cancelled.
By Dancer at 1:26 AM ON 03/07/09
Well now that I've seen the show and read this article I think I understand more.
The writers are brilliant, joss is brilliant, eliza has an undeniable personality which balances out the fact that she is supposed to be an "echo" half the time.
But I can see why the pilot wasn't what I expected, it seemed like "hard hitting fast pace oh look eliza's in a short skirt!... and she was raped! and she has athsma! and there's a shoot out! OMFG what is happening!?" when I expected him to focus on characters first.
I admit I wasn't as drawn by the premise as I am by the theme and wanting to see joss's take on ghost in a shell... or echo in a shell or... eliza in a hot crazy kick but black outfit wheeling katanas and doing back-flips while cooking omeletes and saving the dolphins!
By theKRELL at 3:43 PM ON 04/08/09
....this has suck written all over...
...Firefly was pretty lame IMO.......
I have a feeling you know what you're talking about, sounds like you know a lot about SUCKIN!!!
Visit mobile.syfy.com/wire on your mobile device.
theKRELL:
....this has suck written all over... ...Firefly was pretty lame IMO....... I have a feeling you know what you...More »