Maybe Fox should stop fracking with their midseason scifi/fantasy possibilities. Look at their track record with Lone Gunmen, Firefly, Brisco County jr., Strange Luck, Profit, and VR-5, to name but a few.
Why anyone would put a new intelligent show on Fox that isn't "Are You Smarter Than Your Cheating Spouse On An Island Made of Money?" is beyond me.

Fox should take both shows off Friday and maybe make them a Thursday night block cause God knows nothing is really on Thursday nights. The only show I watch and think is worth while still is “30 Rock” but I miss it most of the time cause “The Office” just sucks now (though Jenna is still hot).

Of course, THR isn't the only source out there commenting on what the ratings mean and don't mean, and while the other sources aren't necessarily a lovefest on the issue, I see you've picked the worst of the bunch to be your story.

Fox needs to die in a fire. It's as if they are trying to prove that no one wants to watch scifi shows by putting them in crappy time slots and then parading that around as "proof". Why does Wheedon keep selling his soul to Fox? Probably for the money.

I enjoyed Dollhouse, even if its very similar to My own worst enemy. At least there's hot chicks in this one.

TV Week takes the opposite viewpoint and has a fairly positive take on Dollhouse's numbers: http://www.tvweek.com/news/2009/02/viewers_give_warm_welcome_to_w.php

Seriously, Friday night? I am not getting caught watching TV on a Friday night! TiVo that stuff and watch it later. All sane persons do that and you have your reason why nobody tunes in.

Fox should make a show: "Do you have more common sense than your customers?". A show in which TV execs try to guess what people are doing with their lives. Especially on weekends.

Even Joss Whedon is not talented enough to make me watch Eliza Dushku

When are the networks going to learn that the nations' viewing habits have changed. I have never been in a Nielsen household or been asked to keep a diary, and very few shows I watch ever do well in the ratings. Even though I watched Dollhouse, TSCC and BSG all live last night that is a rare occurrence for me and I know many other people whose viewing habits are similar.

As for Eliza, I'd be content watching her watching paint dry. :)

Come on! Crusoe is such a mess! And i watched the series premiere of Dollhouse and i won´t continue to watch, cause the sheme for the series is quiet similiar to former series.

die die die, garbage garbage garbage, die, die, die.

Nielsen DOES take into account later viewing, they track if a show is watched for up to 7 days after the show has aired. We were selected to participate, but thought it was too intrusive (putting physical listening devices INSIDE your TV ).

So, "day after" reports are like "exit polls"... they only represent the selection sampled (say the East Coast)... but word of mouth affects the way (or more importantly WHEN) other viewers (say the West Coast) tune in (vote). Blame the internet (just kidding).

I have it on my DVR but have yet to watch it. After getting burned with Firefly and other series on Fox, I don't watch anything Fox puts on until it looks like it will make it.

I watched it but can't say I was really blown away. It didn't seem to have the zing to it that Firefly did.

I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for Sarah Connor though!

Count me in. Torrent, realtime,or Hulu. I like Whedonesque works and Dushku has the acting chops. I think Joss needs to shop his ideas somewhere other than FOX. Not a good partnership time after time. I think the show is promising and I will continue to watch. And I never watch television!

I'm sorry, I love Joss Whedon, but the whole concept of Dollhouse not only sounds extremely stupid to me, but I don't really like Eliza Dushku either. I'm avoiding the series.

I think all of FOX execs are on crack, as soon as a shows ratings dip, its cancel time. then later they realize they had some good shows. Honestly i would love to watch Fox burn to the ground, then maybe some good shows would stay on the air that arent "reality tv"

Reality shows will be the end of scripted television and will bring about the down fall of mankind. Why anyone who has had a show canceled by Fox would go back to that network is beyond me.

That all being said I watched Dollhouse and I honestly expected more. There are a ton of great actors on this show and yet it was pretty “blah”. The only scifi thing about it is that people have their memories wiped and have whatever skills/memories they need for missions installed. *yawn*

I don’t know, I guess I was expecting more from the people that brought us BtVS, Angel, Firefly, and Dr. Horrible.

Not a bad show, but it seemsto be under somekind of pressure that confines it from flowing with an easyness for the viewer. the storyline was sound, except I think Echo having a flashback that almost disables her and gte ker killed was too early in the series. She should have been to performe flawlessly for a while anyway. A flashback in a noncritical time would be ok, just to get thre drams of her suspecting something might be amiss. I have a season pass programed into one of my DVRs so I am with Eliza Dushku as long as it is on. Folks give the show a chance before you throw her under the bus. As for FOX they are likely reading all these downer comments and will bee much faster killing the show if viewers are fast to write the show off. Terminator was ok as well but I am concerned for this show as well. If yu want more SCIFI type programs maybe amre support would get us more shows. Remember if a little old lady sitting in a rocking chair netting could draw a crowd of several million folks every week it would be on tv . It is the crowds viewing not the programing that the suits at the networks are interested in. So watch the programs we have and more a better programs will follow. I want more scifi type programs so I will continue to support everyone available to help build a support base.

I watched the premiere and found it rather interesting. I liked it and look forward to future episode to see where the story goes.

I am surprised that Joss Whedon would make a show for Fox again after the way the mistreated him during Firefly (showing episodes in the wrong order an' the like). He should make his shows for the other big three or even the CW.

Wow, SCI FI, do you feel just a little bit threatened when a competing network offers up a night of REAL science fiction, and not lame grade Z lensed-in-Romania movies? Every *single* article on "Dollhouse" has been written from the viewpoint of a catty high school girl mad because she got stood up. Quit with the bias, lay all your cards on the table, and admit the professional jealousy. Your house of cards is falling down, and viewers realizing that your network is the antithesis of its moniker.

I'm a huge Joss Whedon and Eliza Dushku fan, but even I have to put myself in the "unimpressed" column. I enjoyed the pilot mostly, but knew immediately, that I would be in the minority. If this were a SciFi Channel show, it would likely get a full season fun and then get cancelled. But in network territory, the ax falls very fast. And it has nothing to do with fan loyalty. It's all about numbers. Numbers of viewers translates into dollars in advertising. And I find it sad to say, but reruns of some shows, CSI for example, may do better numbers than first runs of a new show - especially a genre series - since CSI's starting potential viewer pool is larger.

I'm first in line with the tar and feathers for the Fox execs over Firefly, Futurama (Bender is great!) and many other Fox casualties, but this time, I don't know. It is a whole new regime these days. They've promoted the heck out of it, teamed it with a good lead-in, and otherwise given it a chance. Let's see how the next few episodes pan out, no pun intended, since it seems the pilot was reshot, it might just be a week start.

The best commentary I've ever seen came from Peter Griffin on Family Guy in the opening of the very first new episode after the series was "uncancelled." Find and watch.

The only reason the numbers are poor is because the promotion has been poor. I didn't even know Terminator was coming back until just three days ago. Until then, had no idea what was happening. Interesting that we get nothing but American Idol ads, as if no one knew that was gonna be on every night, but nearly no heads up about a new show. Hopefully I won't have to boycott Fox like I have with CBS after the Jericho fiasco.

This is stupid, one episode "The show is in the tank" Geeez give it a chance, let it develop the characters and the fan base. As far as Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, trim down the different Terminators and people coming from the future the show would do fine. ....Shoot ..Fox, look Sci Fi made Farscape, Stargate and Battlestar work.

Fox should've pre-empted the umpteenth repeat showings of Family Guy and American Dad, and premiered this instead of trying to throw this off a dock and hoping it would swim.
And yeah, it stars a hot chick, but what else does it have going for it?

Dollhouse did badly in ratings??? I am mystified and dumbfounded. I watched the show and enjoyed it enthusiastically. What's this "super-nanny?" Enough with the reality shows, America. Reality shows are the worst possible programs that can be broadcast. And yet we get excited over seeing how Joe-Shmo acts in reality. Seriously folks, anyone watching them I absolutely refuse to understand. As for Dollhouse, besides the fact that Eliza was in the show, its premise sounded quite interesting and after watching the show, I find it really enjoyable. I look forward to next Friday’s episode.

the premise of the show was stupid. finding the shows voice makes me cringe. joss wheadon had no idea what he was doing and pushed forward on a project that should have been shelled. i mean, how old is this idea?? cyberpunk got it done years and years ago

How stupid do you think we are?

Yes, FOX has done Dollhouse no service putting it up on Friday nights. Yeah, I thought even the new, FOX-forced pilot episode was better than a lot of other things out there. And no, it is not a good idea for a website that´s related to a direct competitor of FOX to break the news about bad ratings.

Shame on you. This site sinks to new depths. Again.

to compare Dollhouse with a reality show is unfair, but the Dollhouse really isn t a hit!

@Nick: SciFi Wire is a news-center and bad news are also news. in any way the producers of the show will see, how Dollhouse s ratings will be in the future.

Well, how come then that we rarely hear about BSGs ratings? Wouldn´t that be "news" as well?

Don´t get the wrong idea here. A studio-driven website will always be biased, but when it´s apparent as this, it sucks.

I think the real problem with this article is that there are a lot of different takes on what these ratings mean. As I noted above, TV Week, just for example, focused on Dollhouse's strong performance in the key demographic. It also mentions the important fact that Dollhouse even built upon T:TSCC's lead in. It interprets this is a "warm reception" for the show from viewers. A *much* different take from what's being regurgitated here.

I'm not so much upset that SciFi Wire reported on the ratings -- that's totally fair game -- but the fact that you're doing so without offering any of the more balanced interpretations out there by other reputible sources seems, to put it kindly, sloppy and unprofessional.

Whoever it was that said this article reads a little like a "catty high school girl" was, unfortunately, more right than not. And I say this as someone who's a huge fan of SciFi Wire and the service you provide as a great source of news. Honestly, this is not your finest moment as a website.

Don't feel bad. 'The Ulimate Imposter' only got 1 episode.

I thought the Dollhouse episode was good. I hope that Fox, for once, let's a series run for awhile, to find it's audience.

(NOTE TO FOX!)
February 15, is an aful late start for a January show! You just told the audience, every negative thing about this show is true, even if its not!!

I DVR everything and very rarely watch it the night it's actually on. I get around to it later. So I do have this show on the DVR and i'm looking forward to watching it.
Fox also has a habit of cancelling every show that I like. As soon as I start watching it. Yet they always seem to keep the crappy shows.

i didnot care for dollhouse.it doesnot interest me but i will watch a few more episodes before it isnot shown on my TV again.
boring show will go no where and does nothing for me.

and we all know friday night is where you put shows to die.probably both fox shows will be dead in a year.

Dollhouse was medicore. I was expecting a lot more from Joss Whedon.

Friday night is death night for tv shows that are shown on regular network tv. FOX should have kept Terminator on Monday night and put Dollhouse on right after Terminator.

Tvweek can say whatever they want but this show will be off the air in no time. I think Hollywood reporter has the more accurate take. I hope this does not take terminator down with it.

I enjoyed the pilot, as did my wife. Production dramas aside: the Friday night timeslot will be the true death of this show.

The show was not Whedonesque, unfortunately. I'll watch Eliza Dushku in anything and will continue watching the show. But with the exception of Amy Acker, the casting was off. The writing and directing were also very iffy. Too much La Femme Nikita meets. . .well. . .meets something not particularly entertaining. Oh, yes. Meets Alias. But, I'll keep DVRing it for as long as it's on.

Fox really has NO IDEA how many people watched Dollhouse because their system for measuring is broken. I did a quick survey of my circle of friends that watched Dollhouse between airing time and 24 hours later, and 19 of 20 people did not use a method of viewing that is counted by Neilsen or DVD tracking. Dollhouse is a show watched by advanced users of tech; if were were talking Ghost Whisperers, I'd agree that Neilsen was pretty close because the oldest demos watch traditionally. Suggesting Dollhouse wasn't widely watched is totally false - it was the most universally watched show this week among my (40 year old male with many 18-40 year old wired, geeky high-tech friends). Everyone knows Neilsen is useless now; why do they keep trotting out this useless, crappy data?

A quick Google news search on the Dollhouse premiere and they are pretty much all positive...to tell you the truth the headline from Scifi wire is the only negative one I saw...they all say the same, the numbers weren't astonishing but very decent...

I am a huge Joss fan but I thought Dollhouse was very mediocre. I really liked My Own Worst Enemy and thought that was better then Dollhouse. They are pretty stupid to think Dollhouse is going to last when MOWE already failed. I am at the point now of not ever wanting to watch anything new on network TV because it doesn't last.

It's obviously all about ratings, and ratings are based on scheduled viewing (not recordded). TIVO actually harms the ratings because then they know people fast forward through the commercials. If FOX was smart, they wouldn't put it on Friday when most SciFi people are watching the SciFi channel and then they record Dollhouse to watch later. They would be smarter to put it on a night scifi isn't aired on other channels, then more people would tune in and watch.

Hopefully Dollhouse will get better. I thought it was an OK start, though it did pick up towards the end. Ratings could have been worse, since it was a fri night...

Where was the promotion???? I have been looking forward to this show for months, am an avid tv watcher, and even I almost missed the premiere because there was absolutely NO promotion! I don't usually watch FOX, but I would have tuned in for this show because I love Whedon. They need to promote heavily on cable channels, ads, etc. I also agree that Friday is a bad night for a new show; I think Tuesday would have been a much better night for it, myself. The only channel that ever seems to have good original programming on Friday nights is Sci-Fi.

Not an impressive start to a show, but its got potential. So I will carry on watching the show.

As for FOX, they only look at the Nelson rating but not other mean that are covered by the Nelson Rating. I saw a site yesterday that had over 20,000 viewing of the pilot episode of Dollhouse, but this number of views will not be counted by FOX.
They got a bigger audiences than they think. Also US big studios don’t take into account the internal market, If they did some show could actually make it past it first season. Baywatch is the best example of this That would have been cancelled If it was not for the European market.

Fox really tried to push for more action. so that's why the pilot got re-written. Josh typically doesn't write that way in that he wants to explore the characters/ But Upper management feels that's the best way to get the show started verses the JW way.

Fox has a tendency to meddle in production of TV shows. They feel that they know what the audience/viewing public wants and don't take into account what the show is about sometimes.

I found this at the pittsburgh post-gazette

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09044/948785-67.stm

[ As for throwing out the original pilot and creating a new one, Whedon said it was an attempt to satisfy the network, which, rather than an introduction to the series, wanted the premiere to be an example of what the series will be on a weekly basis.

"There was definitely some differences of opinion about what was going on and what we were going to stress in the show," Whedon said in a teleconference with reporters last week, "but mostly it was about how do we bring the audience in."

"Dollhouse" attempts to explore notions of identity through the Actives, particularly Echo, who will slowly recover memories of her past.

"They're supposed to be empty vessels and the constant struggle with 'Dollhouse' is that they're not quite," Whedon said. "Echo is clearly evolving in a way that they had not imprinted her to do."

Whedon said as the season progresses, the show gets to where he initially intended as the mythology builds. That process of revealing character bits begins in earnest next week, but it will be surrounded for at least seven episodes by mission-of-the-week plots mandated by network execs. ]

See... Mandated by network execs at the end... which for me as a producer or Executive producer would rile my feathers a bit. But maybe that's how he has to play the game to get it to air. So the show's gonna be something different for 7 episodes then change it's colors....ummm... so beyond those episodes. Fox didn't say you need more mission-of-the-week plots?

I'll give it 13 episodes...and see what Fox really has planned.

I love the Dollhouse, definitely more engaging than 'My Own Worse Enemy', and throughout the episode, it really made me think about the nature of identity and also about the nature of our own morality, about what can be considered an acceptible practice.

I think word of mouth will probably be the key, when you consider that ratings actually went up from Chronicles to Dollhouse, I think those same people who tuned in will probably get others to tune in as well.

The situation and scenario being presented seems rather horrific, the idea that people would willingly submit themselves to have their identity erased and subject themselves to being implanted with false memories and experiences, and then when they're a blank slate, they're little more than children in grown up bodies.

Not to mention the way the people working for the Dollhouse seem so accepting of the situation of what they put the Actives through.

The opening moments of the episode itself I found rather interesting in that, when you consider Eliza's track record with not so successful shows, the opening moments seem almost like a comment and slightly satirical jab at Eliza's situation leading up to being in Dollhouse. The idea of her making 'poor decisions' in the past could be a slight dig at some of the films she's done or even at 'Tru Calling' itself.

I say, give this series a chance, tell your friends, tell your co-workers, spread the word. This show has got potential.

I'm not a Whedon fan but I thought the premiere was okay. I'll watch it again when it's on... It's decent TV. Not sure what some fans want here.

I enjoyed the show. I was expecting more action and was glad to see that they didn't start that way. As for the low ratings I have yet to see a single advertisement for Dollhouse. If it wasn't for the internet I wouldn't know it existed.

I have shifted more to OnDemand viewing and/or online viewing through hulu.com, and abc.com. Can you post numbers of those viewings? That should be interesting to see.

I even record BSG and view it later. Usually TWICE.

The Sarah Connor Chronicles sucks because I just can't stand this wimpy kid playing John Connor. This is going to be the person that will lead us all??? Come on, leaders are born with leadership abilities and the show early. If they would make this kid hardcore it would be a much better show.

Time to leak the original pilot on the net, I say. I want to see what he would have put out without studio input.

Dear Sci-fi Channel,

Why is it you continue to giveth and then taketh away some of the greatest shows ever made for what seems NO good apparent reason. I applaude you for taking risks and giving us amazing series like Farscape, Dresden, Stargate Atlantis, Battlestar Galactica and more, and then when I fall in love with the show you yank them! UURRGGHHHH

What a surprise, the show is failing already. You would think Whedon would have learned his lesson after Firefly, but no, he went with Fox again. Firefly was even a better show and failed, did he really expect something better this time with Dollhouse?

Well, expect to collect all 13 episodes in the "Dollhouse: The Complete Series" DVD set coming out next year.

Dollhouse is a fine show that will hit its stride and blow us all away. Watch it now and there is hope for more than 13 episodes of it to come into existence. Now is the worst time to "wait for the dvd release" so don't do that.

You shouldn't let online reviews form your opinion for you anyway. Watch Dollhouse and decide for yourself.

Hey Joss.. Two words "SCOOBY GANG!" Bring em back... lol. Seriously stop messing with the shows and leave one on long enough for people to get into it. And fire the Fox BOD.

Why would Joss do a show again with Fox? well, probably he doesn't have many options. Doubtful ABC, NBC or CBS would do a Joss show based on Buffy, Angel or Firefly. They need BIG audiences, not dedicated small ones. CW? No one's even sure what will happen with that. Cable? HBO ain't gonna do a show with him. USA? Prob not their kinda show. TNT? Seems like the next best fit after Fox. Anywhere else, the audience just isn't big enough to be enticing for him. Fox at least has a shot at giving him a big show, not just a "big small" show at a cable network. So, that's why Joss is back at Fox I should think. Nowhere else to go.

Dollhouse was truly godawful, but I'll give it another chance because of Joss. I would have run screaming from anyone else's pilot had it been that bad, and that offensive.

Crusoe got axed???? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Dollhouse was a train-wreck if you ask me. I will probably watch it though because there will be little to watch on Friday nights anyway and I do watch TSCC before DH. I just know this. When I am thinking how cool it would be to remodel my house to be like the dormitory in Dollhouse and actually thinking up prices and furnishing sources instead of really concentrating on the drama, then this is not the show I really wanted to see.

Awesome post! I love The Dollhouse so far. Fran Kranz (who also does amazing character videos on showbizzle.com) is so awesome! He's everywhere I guess! How do you SAY showbizzle?

Wow, I enjoyed the premiere of Dollhouse so much I'm surprised that there are negative comments here! Best thing on Friday nights since, well, Firefly! It's an odd concept, but I thought it was VERY well thought-out and performed. All the actors did GREAT jobs, in particular Ms. Dushku and Harry Lennix, whom I've enjoyed since he had an on-going guest shot on ER (back when it was good). It was very cool and surprisingly NOT what I expect from Whedon, at least at this stage. The writing's good, but there's none of the sassy, satirical repartee that I've come to expect from him. Still, it was a first shot and as far as I'm concerned, it scored!

...'course, that means it'll die soon, but you gots to take the shots, right? That's why I call BS on the idea that Fox somehow has it in for SF/fantasy efforts. Who's green-lighted more SF/fantasy shows than Fox over the last 10-15 years? I think they eclipse even the mighty SCI-FI itself! We can argue about scheduling till the sun comes up, but you can't say that this network hasn't given genre shows MANY different opportunities. NOW all they need are programmers that lack itchy trigger fingers and we'll be set! ;)

I like Whedon so I was going to give whatever he did a try.I was not real impressed with the Dollhouse premire(my teenage daughters even less so),it was somewhat confusing and disjointed.But I thought the 2nd episode was much more satisfying and we will continue to watch.Anybody who can put together as good a movie as Serenity deserves a chance!And I do agree that Fox takes more risks that the other major networks.

i actually looked forward to this show when it came out and I loved it. To bad I missed the second episode though. I loved the plot and the story line, it all mixed in together very nicely! :)

NASA is asking the public to choose the name for Node 3 of the International Space Station.
"SERENITY" is in the lead!
Let’s vote !!
http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/name_ISS/index.html

The show's pretty weak compared to other Whedon shows. That, and Whedon must have Stockholm Syndrome since he keeps selling his shows to FOX. I mean, really? I thought Whedon was furious over how FOX fubared Firefly.

I guess $ is king though :)

I really liked Dollhouse, I bought the series after finding it in my Amazon "recomendations for you".

I loved it, I've watched the first three episodes, staying up late because I just had to watch another. Already I can't wait to get home and watch more.

I hope this isn't slated like most things Fox discards without giving the appropriate audience a chance to watch it. I hate how the idiots that watch reality tv effect anything.

I live in England so every time I get into a new series like this, I end up missing out because boring people would rather watch someone argue about marital problems then watching quality television.

Keep Dollhouse on!!!!

I love the plot! I think it could be so great if it was given a chance! - Come on People!

I wonder how many of you gave it your full attention?!