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Updated: Dollhouse reportedly renewed for a second season

Updated: \<i\>Dollhouse\<\/i\> reportedly renewed for a second season

[Update: The End of Show blog reports that the renewal is a done deal: Fox offered Joss Whedon a 13-episode new season with a budget slashed and episodes cut to 42 minutes from the current 50 minutes (part of Fox's failed experiment to limit commercial breaks in this series and Fringe). The move will also mark a shift in creative direction of the show, the site reported; official news to come on Monday.]

Once given up for dead, is Fox's Dollhouse actually on track for a second-season pickup?

That's the buzz as of Friday afternoon in anticipation of Fox's upfront presentation of its fall season lineup to advertisers and the media on Monday.

The Hollywood Reporter's Live Feed blog reports: "Sources say Fox is—and this could change before Monday's upfront presentation—leaning toward bringing back Joss Whedon's Dollhouse next fall."

Usually in-the-know Entertainment Weekly columnist Michael Ausiello confirmed the rumors in a tweet: "I'm hearing this as well," he said, adding that the network will probably order 13 episodes of a second season.

Live Feed says the reasons Dollhouse has a chance are many: Its DVR numbers are strong, online streaming is strong, and as a sci-fi show, it has the potential to bring in nice ancillary revenue such as DVD sales.

More surprising, the site says that Fox executives actually like the series, "especially the latter half of the season."

A renewal would be a big surprise, especially since the show's ratings declined over the course of its first season, concluding at a dismal 1.0 among adults aged 18-49.

As they say, stay tuned ...

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(38) COMMENTS

Fox picks up knightrider too:
Alright re-tool this and let people know its canceled after those next 13 shows. ...More »


Comments

By Deano at 5:00 PM ON 05/15/09

Are you frakking serious ???That show was terrible! If Fox is willing to greelight a second helping of this I better see some Sara Connor this fall or I will be pissed!

By thebonafortuna at 5:01 PM ON 05/15/09

Woo-hoo!

By gorehound696 at 5:40 PM ON 05/15/09

thius show is so bad I will never ever watch another episode of it.
FOX you betternot cancel TSCC cause if you do I will frak you for a lot of potential sales you won't be getting in my pocket.

By Bewildered at 5:49 PM ON 05/15/09

I hope it is renewed. Dollhouse is one of most original shows we've had on TV (especially network TV) in a while, and one of the most thought-provoking (slavery, prostitution, consent, identity, and self-determination are just a few of the issues raised by the Dollhouse).

It's not perfect of course, but definitely worthy of the chance to prove itself!

It's recent low ratings were probably because fans realized that Fox was probably going to cancel it and didn't want to waste their time (yet again) with a doomed series...

By SFDex at 5:51 PM ON 05/15/09

Wow. Angry much, Deano and Gorehound? I really enjoyed TSCC, yeah, but I'm not angry at Fox if it gets cancelled. I wouldn't be angry with Fox if Dollhouse (which, by the way, is in my opinion one of the most engaging science fiction shows in memory) gets cancelled. Disappointed? Sure. Angry? Life's too short to get angry of things over which I have no control.

Relax folks. It's only TV.

By Spork at 5:57 PM ON 05/15/09

This is great news! I didn't enjoy the first few episodes but I'm glad I stuck with it. The second half of the season was awesome. I like TSCC as much as Dollhouse. Lets hope they're both renewed.

By Doc Sloth at 6:32 PM ON 05/15/09

Fantastic news! The season finale left the door open for so many possibilities to be explored in another season...even if its another short one.

By Shaddoe at 6:46 PM ON 05/15/09

This is great! Got my fingers and toes crossed for this. If they do renew the show, it'll definitely be the smartest move on the network's part.

By Omen at 6:50 PM ON 05/15/09

I enjoyed the series & would love to have it back to answer the questions it left.
I'll miss Miracle though.
She looked good in that men's shirt:)

By MrBender at 7:04 PM ON 05/15/09

I hope it comes back as well. Took me a while to warm up to it but it got better as the season progressed. Plus, having it only 13 eps a season keeps the stories progressing. TSCC I believe was hurt because of the 22 ep order. They stretched the story out to long and kept repeating things in episodes and took to long to conclude them.

By Tempus13 at 7:17 PM ON 05/15/09

It's clear the Fox executives are clients of the Dollhouse. They don't want to lose Echo :)

By MichaelK at 7:29 PM ON 05/15/09

Too bad for all the naysayers that didn't seriously watch Dollhouse(INCLUDING YOU SyFy), the last ep was pretty interesting. Now let's see where Joss takes us......

By whatthewhat at 7:31 PM ON 05/15/09

I agree with the other hundreds of comments how can you greenlight this crapperrfic show and now bring back TSCC which is a far superior show? Cmon Fox do the smart thing after terminator salvation people are going to want more terminator....This is a no brainer!!

By singhi dog at 7:49 PM ON 05/15/09

great ! as a father of one of the actors in the show it is great to see a second season. i dont even watch sci fi generally but the show is not bad - GREAT NEWS ! .... but better wait till Monday before having a party.

By SgtMug at 8:02 PM ON 05/15/09

Doll is a fine show, they just had to give it time to hit its stride. My biggest worry is that there will be too many sleeper Dolls out there. I would have stopped watching it, if they made Agent Ballard a Doll.

By Not Bewildered at 8:17 PM ON 05/15/09

@Bewildered:

"...one of the most original shows..." Are you kidding me? Um, Alias, Buffy, Dark Angel, Bionic Woman, using males in the lead--My Own Worst Enemy, Knight Rider, The Hulk, Magnum P.I. all heroes helping someone else from week to week etc...a femme hero with special powers of some kind or other (in this case pretending) is not original. My main problem with this show is that it looks and wants to be like Alias but is nowhere near as good. Even if I liked this show, by no means is it an ORIGINAL concept.

By Larry at 9:32 PM ON 05/15/09

First off I don't get this nerd thing of attacking Dollhouse because you like TSCC better or visa-versa. Like it's an either/or thing. There could be room for both shows. I like TSCC a little better but Dollhouse improved quite a bit as it went on.

And it is a pretty original idea for a show. I was a fan of Alias and Buffy and neither of those shows was about people who were blank slates who had different personalities or skill-sets imprinted on their brains.

By lophius at 9:36 PM ON 05/15/09

Any Fox execs reading? I am one potential viewer who WILL watch if you bring Dollhouse back! I love Joss' shows. I'm re-watching Firefly even now... for the 4th time! But, I did NOT watch Dollhouse while it aired. Why? I was tempted, but also very wary. I had fallen in love with Firefly while it was on the air, only to have it canceled after a half-season, just as it was getting REALLY good! So, I figured I'd wait to see if this was going to happen again and, until recently, it appeared Dollhouse was going the way of Firefly. So, Fox execs, if you DO bring Dollhouse back, not only will I immediately go out and buy the season 1 DVDs, I will also tune in when you begin airing it again in the fall! I may only be one little customer, but I would bet there are many others out there who feel the same - and will spend the same - as I...

By Davie at 9:40 PM ON 05/15/09

I'm a huge fan of all of Whedon's previous work, but the posters here are right, the show was mostly terrible.
The first 5 episodes were awful, terrible, just plain B A D.

Episode six was good, but episode 7 went right back to the previous awfulness. Episodes 8, 9, and 10 were not terrible, but they weren't good either. They were very mediocre.

The final two episodes, 11 and 12, were *very good*, perhaps great, 11 a bit better than 12.

So out of twelve episodes, six were AWFUL, three were mediocre, one was good, and two were great. That's a terrible batting average, far, far below Joss's previous work. On Buffy, Angel, and Firefly, Joss didn't always hit a home run, but he rarely delivered the kind of terrible garbage that made up a full half of Dollhouse's season.

Alll the better episodes have one striking commonality, in none of the good or great episodes was Eliza Dushku given a challenging role to play. Her severely limited acting skills do tremendous harm to the show.

If they bring back Dollhouse and give Dushku a static character that's within her range, I'm all for it. If they bring back Dollhouse and have Dushku continue to make awful attempts to play against her true character, the show will continue to have a huge rate of awful episodes.

Since Dushku is one of the show's producers, I can't see this happening. Because I love Joss's work so much, , I hope Dollhouse is canceled so that Joss can spend his time making the kind of TV he's known for, GOOD TV.

By Deano at 10:36 PM ON 05/15/09

First I am so not angry.My point being that if Fox can let Dollhouse live I would be very upset if the let TSCC go.Neither was done any favors by the marketing,timeslots or the newtwork which promotes 24 and American Idol ad nauseaum.
Not an either or guy .I just happen to be a big fan of TSCC.Dollhouse which I tried to like was just very poor in my opinion.I love Eliza Dushku and Tahmoh Penniket (Helo was one of my favorite people on BSG) but I just ddnt really like or really care about any body on the show except the girl that shared his apartment building.
The Topher guy completely sucked and the way Amy acker was not used is criminal .I liked Joss on the Xmen comic ,was a huge fan of Angel and Buffy and enjoyed Serenity.This show was just not very good and I dont give a free pass cause its Joss Whedon.Many peole that have posted have already expressed some of my other probs with the show so no need to rehash.

By mister_d at 4:33 AM ON 05/16/09

This is just my opinion but I think Dollhouse is Joss Whdeon's best show. I also think it's one of the best genre shows of recent years, second only to Lost and BSG.

Let's hope TSCC gets some love as well!

By Sylver at 5:26 AM ON 05/16/09

I find this hard to believe considering the kind of shows that Fox have cancelled over the last couple of years. Shows that had a far stronger fan base and were more widely appreciated. I stuck with Dollhouse till the end and the season finale was just 'is that it?' Whereas shows like Lost and Fringe have endings that totally floor you the Dollhouse finale was akin to watching paint dry. Even Whedon fans have found little to redeem the show and despite it picking up in quality half way into the run it soon tailed off again towards the end. Despite also losing it's way at least Sarah Connor Chronicles deserved another shot over Dollhouse surely? Still fair play to Fox for doing something (in theory) totally unexpected. I say in theory because the above doesn't sound set in stone.

By Penfolduk01 at 5:53 AM ON 05/16/09

Budget Cuts? And a "change in creative direction"?

I must admit those two phrases make me a bit worried that they will compromise the whole basis of the show. And does it mean Joss Wheedon has lost control?

It being renewed seems good news. But as the Pussycat Dolls sing "be careful what you wish for, as you might just get it..."

By MattLive at 5:57 AM ON 05/16/09

So is this a good or bad sign for The Sarah Connor Chronicles possibility of being renewed. And if it comes back will T:SCC only have 13 episodes ordered - like Dollhouse - but perhaps with a chance of getting a back nine?

By camaro at 10:11 AM ON 05/16/09

This is great news! I love Dollhouse and was really disapointed that it looked like it was going to be cancelled.

By Mikul at 10:53 AM ON 05/16/09

Ignore the shows in the topic here, the one core thing that if true will get every sci-fi show a decent run without crackpot cancellations. The fact that they are considering the DVR, streaming figures and also the post season DVD sales. If these were taken into account with shows such as Firefly it would of continued for many seasons. FOX might be the first network where common sense has entered the office. The core thing they have failed to realize over the last 10 years is that 18-40 age group they are so wanting to attract will never again sit down and watch TV week in week out on the sofa at X time. We'll do it when we want via DVR and streaming and so Nielson in its current form its totally and utterly useless.

By EMA96 at 4:11 PM ON 05/16/09

I am glad the US networks are now patterning themselves more closely to their British cousins in ordering a 13 episode order as opposed to 22 in the case of dollhouse. 22 episodes of Sarah Connor was just too much this last season (lots of stupid dream and expostion episodes the 1st season told a story and got out) and the 12 of Dollhouse told a nice tight story. I hope more networks follow suit.

By susan pugh at 4:16 PM ON 05/16/09

i am glad that DOLLHOUSE will be back

By jordansolid at 4:21 PM ON 05/16/09

I love TSCC, but I've watched on regular TV only once. I watched the first season on DVD rented from Blockbuster, then the second season online. I loved the fact that it was on the FOX website because I could watch it on my schedule.

After I heard TSCC was due to be canceled I started a Facebook group to help save it and within the last two weeks 500 people have joined. There are fans from all over the world and they are all shocked that FOX is threatening to cancel the show, as am I.

I hope that the executives at FOX don't think Dollhouse is an adequate substitute for Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

By LegendZero1 at 5:10 PM ON 05/16/09

I have tried to watch every episode of Dollhouse. I usually found myself laughing at how lame it was and changing the channel. FOX, keep the crap, cancel the good. I guess it's about tradition.

By duneboat at 6:20 PM ON 05/16/09

PLEASE, say it isn't so!!! Dollhouse returns and TSCC does not. something is ver wrong here.

By Gail Cooke at 9:06 PM ON 05/16/09

This is pretty typical of Fox....keeps the crappy shows and cancels the good ones....I love Joss Whedon, but Dollhouse is utter crap!

By jth at 11:30 PM ON 05/16/09

Thank you FOX!
I don't see why this is an either or situation. I think there will be a lot of interest drummed up by Terminator Salvation. I liked my Friday nights with Terminator/Dollhouse. Hopefully that will continue.

By severus09 at 8:46 AM ON 05/17/09

You know, I'm happy that Dollhouse got renewed. After the crappy way in which Firefly was handled, Fox owed Joss. But TSCC is a far superior television show, and it's fans have proven to be downright passionate and committed to the show. TSCC ratings are better, and TSCC have a huge catalyst in terms of Terminator Salvation. There are so many reasons why TSCC should be given a third season also.

By severus09 at 8:49 AM ON 05/17/09

I'm happy for Dollhouse, but TSCC is truly on the verge of becoming a major franchise show for Fox. I hope they realize that.

By Leroy at 10:51 AM ON 05/17/09

So the executives thought the second half of the season was better than the first half? In case everyone has forgotten, the reason those episodes weren't as good was because those same executives forced Joss to rewrite them to their specifications. The show became really good only when they turned him loose to do what he wanted in the first place.

The simple truth is that these people don't know what they're doing. In the last 10 years Fox has cancelled more great shows than all the other networks have even produced. In my opinion Firefly would still be running if they had just let Joss run the original pilot in place of the mess they forced him to use as the first episode.

By Ariakis at 7:32 PM ON 05/17/09

I watch TSCC and Dollhouse and it'd be cool to have it not cancelled ... I think it'll get better as seasons go on but TSCC was a far better show and if it's one or the other should be TSCC.

By Fox picks up knightrider too at 1:19 PM ON 05/18/09

Alright re-tool this and let people know its canceled after those next 13 shows.


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