Screen Rant » dollhouse

Are Dollhouse Viral Sites Hinting at a Comic Book?

Bruce Simmons — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 15:42:04 +0000

As we all know, Fox did not order any more episodes of Dollhouse, and obviously they won’t be ordering a 3rd season of the Joss Whedon show.

But I can’t help but wonder if Joss Whedon might not continue with his world of Dollhouse in his favorite alternate medium, the comics?

He’s taken all his television series to comic form under the Dark Horse label: Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Angel & Serenity. It’s his vent avenue of choice when he still has something to say about his pet projects but no television studio will let him vent it.

How did I come about pondering the idea of Dollhouse becoming a comic? Besides Joss’s track record?

On November 9th, a viral website or two went live in support of Dollhouse.

There’s the creepy Rossum Corporation who is behind the processes that helped create the Dollhouse. It’s a fairly in-depth and functional site with lots of info to offer you about themselves.

Of course, the Rossum Corporation has its critics, but they aren’t as prolific with their websites and have a very short and creepy message about needing to stop Rossum. In fact, a web surfer from Whedonesque called a phone number on the Rossum website and later got a callback directing them to the website Ditch The Tech.

The video below is on Ditch The Tech, (Note / warning: the last few seconds get very loud!)

Then there’s a newer page, Wipe The Future. I’ve got no clue what the correct password is, but it is related to Dollhouse. All it says is “Find her! Hurry!” According to sources, it’s said different things. Previous statements noted were, “Rossum knows that you know,” and “They will be calling.”

Too Little, Too Late?

The Dollhouse franchise is suddenly growing, albeit quietly. It’s a shame that the viral components just started now, considering the show was canceled. This could have added an extra depth to the background that might have inspired others to understand this show better.

That is of course unless my suspicion about a comic is accurate; then this is just the beginning and these viral sites for Dollhouse were released with this exact timing in mind. Timing designed to help pitch a new comic title.

Reminder: I’ve heard no news about a Dollhouse comic from Joss Whedon or Dark Horse comics. This is a pure piece of conjecture, but the websites are real.

Sources: Whedonesque, Rossum Corporation, Ditch The Tech, Wipe the Future

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Fox Is Letting Dollhouse Go

Bruce Simmons — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 05:34:35 +0000

The headlines all around the internet are spreading word the word that Fox has canceled Dollhouse. To be more specific, Fox has chosen not to order any more episodes beyond the first 13 episodes of Dollhouse’s second season, sealing the fate of the Joss Whedon-helmed show.

Despite being overwhelmed in fan-voting websites by The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Fox went with renewing Dollhouse for a 2nd season, ignoring the cry for more Sarah Connor. Of course the popular theory is that Fox feared yet another long-term public lashing from how they handled the much superior Firefly space western of Joss’ years prior.

Fox letting go of Dollhouse isn’t a surprise. The show confused or creeped out fans in the first season with its core premise. However, when the show runners had a chance to capitalize on the flow of the story in the latter half of the first season, they kicked in the 2nd season with similar, fragmented episodes.

True, they started to dig deep into the inner workings of the characters. At times the developments were mind-blowing, but this premise of programmable humans just hasn’t caught on. And I’m not sure that you can blame Friday’s in this era of DVR viewing and ratings that account for in the first 7 days that an episode has to impress people.

As it is, I’m guessing Joss wasn’t surprised, but he did express his disappointment in the development. He said the show is getting better with each episode, as will be evidenced with the upcoming episodes that will be airing in December. If you remember, Fox booted Dollhouse off the air during the month of November for what they hope are improved sweeps stats.

At least Joss has time and will take advantage of the knowing about this ahead of time and he’s looking to give the show a proper send off. Joss said that by the end of this ill-fated 2nd season of Dollhouse, we’ll know what he’s up to next. But until then, he said “I’m off to pursue internet ventures/binge drinking.”

Is anyone out there actually surprised by this development? I’m not.

Source: THR (link 1, link 2)

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How Are Smallville & Dollhouse Doing On Friday Nights?

Bruce Simmons — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:18:31 +0000

Friday nights used to be the graveyard for television programs. If you were scheduled to air on Friday night, you were doomed.

Though that might still generally be the case, modern times are changing perspectives on how ratings are looked at by the advertisers. Now-a-days, ratings are considered by many to be the live viewing plus 7 days to be a growing statistic, and if you really think about it, it might even go longer.

But ads have a certain amount of relevant, useful time to their message. So for now, we’re sticking to 7 days. With that said, it’s interesting to see that of the top 5 shows in the top of the DVR tables, 3 of them are Friday night shows.

1- Smallville on the CW (1.3) (44%)
2- Dollhouse on Fox (1.4) (40%)
3- Fringe on Fox (3.0) (36%)
4- Castle on ABC (2.9) (32%)
5- Numb3rs on CBS (2.1) (31%)

Smallville, Dollhouse and Numb3rs are the Friday night shows from that list. Those numbers in parenthesis represent the household rating after 7-day DVR viewings have been added in and the percentage increase of viewers by DVR in those 7 days.

Now that looks like a great increase for both Smallville and Dollhouse, but we need to stay grounded in this new bit of exciting information. These numbers are 40-44% of already small numbers.

For example, Dollhouse’s live viewing came in at a 1.0 and increased to a 1.4 rating after adding DVR viewings. Smallville jumped to a 1.3 rating.

(Eh? A 1.0 represents 1% of all estimated households watching television. In 2008, total households were estimated at 112,800,000 households.)

That would guesstimate out to Smallville having roughly 1.5 million, and Dollhouse – 1.6 million viewers.

Looking at the numbers, admittedly we’re pretty prepared to watch Dollhouse be let go by Fox, and the scary aspect is that Dollhouse has better numbers than Smallville!

Even though numerically, the numbers tell all, The CW seems to have a different take on how well their shows perform. Their hits, though setting ratings records in their own books, still don’t really scratch the surface of the other shows. But they seem to accept that and move on.

This can’t be bad news for Smallville at all… but don’t ask me to hold my breath! Advertisers have a funny way of looking at things and pressuring the programming.

Footnote: These numbers were NOT TOTAL VIEWERS. They referenced the 18-49 demographic of viewers, one of the desirable spending demographics that watch television.

Source: TV By The Numbers

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No More Free Hulu?

Kofi Outlaw — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:08:53 +0000

Oh Internet, say it ain’t so!

Hulu – my utopia of free TV online – may soon become another run-of-the-buck paid subscription site (see header image)! (Sigh) It was only a matter of time, really…

Broadcasting & Cable brings us this chilling news, which supposedly originated from the mouth of News Corp. Deputy Chairman Chase Carey, who said during the Onscreen Media Summit that:

“It’s time to start getting paid for broadcast content online…I think a free model is a very difficult way to capture the value of our content. I think what we need to do is deliver that content to consumers in a way where they will appreciate the value. Hulu concurs with that, it needs to evolve to have a meaningful subscription model as part of its business.”

Aw heck, we all knew this day was coming when we’d hear those words spoken about our beloved Hulu – doesn’t it always happen that way with our favorite sites?

However… In my vast Internet experience our favorite sites stop being “our favorite sites” pretty soon after they start asking for membership fees. I know that more than a few of you out there have woken up one day to find your favorite online pop-in spot suddenly requiring you provide them a credit card number, sending you back to the search engine nexus typing in the words “free, streaming…”

…Aaaand I suspect that tradition won’t be changing for the small pool of TV shows and movies that Hulu currently offers. Despite all those clever commercials with celebrities posing as aliens using Hulu to mush our brains, there’s still enough solid cerbral material left in this guy’s skull to determine that Hulu would need to expand its range of content much, much, wider for me to consider buying into the service. I’m talking:

More popular cable series (even some premium channel shows for “platinum” members who pay extra).
Every network primetime show of the current season.
More GOOD movies (Better picks of old films; same-day and direct-to-video releases (at discounted cost); premium channel releases for platinum members).
Same-day airings of primetime TV shows (with ads, if necessary).
Bigger TV show archives (for when I go on an Arrested Development or It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia binge).
Exclusive “first looks” for movie trailers and making of featurettes.
Music videos and Popular news clips added to the lineup.
Make all content accessible to any digital mobile device or game system (ipods, smart phones, Xbox Live).
Embed and sharing capabilities on all shows/movies (at least clips).
Everything in HD.

Now THAT – combined with Hulu’s great interface – would be a service I would pay for.

While I agree with Carey in the sense that it’s time for companies to have a fair shot at pursuing profits in the online market, I do think said companies are still floating archaic ideas about how to convert their “digital dimes” into digi-dollars.

The Internet has always been based on one fundamental principle: Accomplish a lot with little effort. So, if I can have access to a bunch of movies and shows I watch; get sneak peeks on the hottest music videos or movie trailers; keep up with reports on the latest news clips everyone is talking about; spend my rainy weekends marathoning through old favorites; see everything in crisp HD and share it all with my friends… Why not fork out a reasonable fee to accomplish all that?

Try selling me Hulu as it stands now, and I’m going to tell you the names of all the TV network sites where you can watch the same shows for free (hint: just throw a “.com” behind the name of your favorite network) – or maybe the names of sites that will stream old movie favorites, legally, for free. Basically, I’m going to tell you that I really don’t need Hulu all that much after all…

What about you – is Hulu something you’d pay to keep? Or does the notion of shelling out for it make you say “Thanks but no thanks!”

Source: Broadcasting & Cable

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FOX Pulls Dollhouse From November Sweeps

Anthony Ocasio — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 01:29:04 +0000

Any dolls out there looking to have a “treatment” anytime soon had better make haste – that, or risk being stuck with a Swedish accent and the ability to put together an Erector Set blindfolded. Why? FOX has decided to pull Dollhouse off the schedule and put it in the attic. For the month of November anyway.

Sources in the know have stated that the month-long removal is because of November sweeps. The show will return to its Friday night time slot in December with back-to-back episodes.

This does not bode well for the fledgling series as FOX executive Preston Beckman, recently stated that while they’re committed to airing all 13 episodes of the second season, they’ll wait until the complete run is over before they decide on its fate. From the sounds of this, it doesn’t look that good for the show.

In the same statement, Beckman stated, “During [November] sweeps we might have to jack up the numbers a little [with other programming], but we plan on completing the order for this show.” When I had first read that statement, I figured they would move things around to give Dollhouse a better time slot or a big lead-in, but with the recent announcement everything is clear… and I’m not happy.

Sure, it’s great we’re going to be able to see all the episodes this season, but I wouldn’t really consider giving the show a chance when you pull it off for sweeps just to bring it back and dump all of the remaining episodes in one month.

It’s an empty gesture and you know it, FOX. Dollhouse never had a chance in the Friday night time slot. Everyone knows that CBS rules that night and has for many years.

I’m just going to shake my head at you FOX… and get my lump of coal ready for your Christmas stocking. (Yeah, that’s right FOX. I know Santa. You better watch out.)

Catch the last Dollhouse episode until December this Friday 9PM on FOX.

Source: The Ausiello Files

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Joss Whedon To Direct An Episode of Glee

Bruce Simmons — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:40:56 +0000

When you think Joss Whedon and musicals, it’s not with dread. His more creative and unique entertainment venues have generated some very popular products. Some examples of those, the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode titled “Once More, With Feeling,” and the latest, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.

Now, Joss Whedon will be adding Glee to his dossier of credits.

Fox ordered the back 9 episodes of the season of Glee and as a big fan of the show, Joss made sure there was so scheduling conflicts when asked by the studio to direct an episode. In fact, Joss had this to say about the news:

“Hey kids and parents of kids and super-old, like ancestor-old-but-not-dead-yet-type people, just poking my oversized head in to say that the rumors are true… unless something very odd happens in the next few months, I will have the privilege of shooting an episode of GLEE. Why GLEE? Because I love cops, serial killers and gritty urban drama (I haven’t seen the show yet). Why me? Because they’re struggling and can’t afford real directors.“

I definitely enjoy his style of side-stepping banter.

Dollhouse fans, DO NOT FRET. He’s lending his directing talent after he’s done with his work on Dollhouse this season.

On Joss Guest Directing

I don’t know if you know this, but Joss has guest-directed episodes of The Office and apparently, if it weren’t for scheduling conflicts, he was apparently super close to directing an episode of Battlestar Galactica.

Oh, By The Way

In case you haven’t heard, Jonathan Groff (Taking Woodstock, Spring Awakening) has joined Glee for up to 6 episodes.

Sources: Hollywood Insider, LA Times, Whedonesque

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FOX To Air All 13 Episodes of Dollhouse

Anthony Ocasio — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 02:04:00 +0000

With the news of the Dollhouse premiere underperforming in the ratings and the abrupt cancellation of fan favorite shows like Southland, I’ve been watching my txt’s and emails with baited breath expecting to hear about the cancellation of my favorite Friday night show, Dollhouse.

Now, it looks like I can, for the moment, comfortably peruse my inbox as FOX scheduling chief Preston Beckman spoke with The Hollywood Reporter and stated that the network will air all 13 episodes of the (Joss) Whedon-created drama despite their less than stellar ratings.

In an unusual but refreshing move, Beckman lays everything out on the table regarding the struggling show.

“We’re going to run all the episodes. We’re not saying we’re happy with those numbers, or accept them, but we don’t have to overreact. During [November] sweeps we might have to jack up the numbers a little [with other programming], but we plan on completing the order for this show.”

While FOX will be airing all 13 episodes, the future of Dollhouse after said episodes is still up in the air with FOX stating that they will make a decision on ordering additional episodes or a third season after all the current episodes air.

Considering that they’re currently filming the eighth episode, this means that production for Dollhouse would have been shut down for a couple of months by the time FOX ultimately decides its fate.

While the premiere only pulled in a 1.0 rating, recent news has revealed that the DVR ratings add an additional 50% to the Dollhouse’s ratings, bringing it up to 1.5. Add that news with the ratings most recent episode rising 11% and some more push from its vocal fans and we might just be able to pull out another season for Echo and her friends.

Although, if FOX does decide not to renew Dollhouse, Whedon promises fans that there will be a conclusion, of sorts.

“We’ll definitely have closure, but will leave some doors open. When we got our first numbers, which were bad, the first thing [FOX president of entertainment] Kevin Reilly said was, ‘You’ll have all 13,’ which was great. They’re not going to pull the rug out from under us.”

Thank you! For not only committing to air all 13 episodes ordered of Dollhouse, but for also being completely honest about what’s going on. We know the ratings aren’t great, they know the ratings aren’t that great, but at least they’re not going to suddenly pull the show off the air ala Firefly. (Yeah, FOX, we still haven’t forgotten about that.)

Here’s a little treat…. a photo of Summer Glau from an upcoming episode of Dollhouse.

You must watch Dollhouse at 9PM on FOX.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter [via: Ain't It Cool News]

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Friday Night Ratings: Dollhouse & Smallville

Bruce Simmons — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 04:17:18 +0000

The overnight ratings numbers are in for the premieres of Dollhouse and Smallville and they’re not as rosy-looking as we’d like. Then again, it is Friday night and our favorite returning shows are up against some heavy hitters.

CBS dominated Friday night with their shoe-in season premiers of Ghost Whisperer and Medium. Both shows raked in over 8 1/2 million viewers.

Even the encore presentation of FlashForward dusted our favored shows by bringing in an additional 4.6 million viewers.

Dollhouse premiered with 2.56 million viewers and Smallville’s 8 o’clock showing reaped 2.5 mil viewers. Not great numbers for sure – especially when they don’t lead into or have decent lead-in shows.

Smallville is the lead-in for America’s Next Top Model’s encore airing. Two 1/2 hour comedies, Seinfeld and a new comedy, Brothers, are the lead-in for Dollhouse.

The usual practice is to have like-genre programming follow each other. This is how Smallville got shoved out of Thursday nights, in favor of Vampire Diaries being paired up with Supernatural. Or at least put Vampire Diaries in the same time slot that viewers have been tuning into on the network. Again, another desirable factor.

At least Smallville and Dollhouse aren’t up against each other… as if that mattered.

Dollhouse is up against Dateline NBC, Friday Night SmackDown and Medium.

Smallville is battling Law & Order, Ghost Whisperer and what looks like encore airings of FlashForward. (Not sure that’s the regular schedule.)

As far as I see, neither network is probably expecting anything solid out of the overnight numbers and I hope, neither Fox or The CW would be looking to use ratings as an excuse to do anything drastic.

We can only wait… and see.

Source: TV By The Numbers

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Dollhouse Season 2 Premiere – Ratings & Discussion

Bruce Simmons — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 04:13:50 +0000

Fox took a chance – a huge chance – when they ignored all the social media hype about The Sarah Connor Chronicles and focused on Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse. At least at first glance, that is what it looks like.

Friday overnight ratings for the premiere episode of the fantasy TV series Dollhouse were rather miserable looking.

Which could make perfect sense if you count on the fact that it’s a Friday night and there were other shows premiering on other networks, but Dollhouse averaged 2.5 million viewers. At least they beat out the encore episode of America’s Next Top Model. LOL.

(Sadly, it also looks like Smallville only brought in 2.5 million viewers for it’s Friday night premiere… but that’s for another article.)

We still have the “Live + 7 Day” ratings to come in, but will they be reassuring? Who knows.

For me, the premiere of Dollhouse was fractured and yet satisfactory.

THERE ARE SPOILERS IN THIS SECTION. Skip Spoiler Section

Having watched last season, it was odd seeing what looked like a new feel of the relationships in the Dollhouse. The Dolls are having some form of subtle social interaction (Sierra (Dichen Lachman) and Victor (Enver Gjokaj) smiling and holding hands?) and that threw me for a loop, considering all of last season they just walked around between assignments in a haze, as they went to their yoga, swimming or other activities.

Echo (Eliza Dushku) was off on an assignment, being married to arms dealer Martin Klar (Jamie Bamber). If you saw the episode, that was not Jamie putting on an accent. That is his accent. It was refreshing to see… or hear, actually.

But Agent Ballard… sorry, former FBI agent Ballard (Tahmoh Penikett) was using Echo to bust the arms dealer and Ballard has an uneasy relationship with the Dollhouse. He was the client, of sorts, for this assignment. Eh?

As if that wasn’t hard enough, Echo’s mind programming started to snap and other personalities were sparking up in the middle of her assignment. At one point, in front of Klar, Echo asks out-loud, “What did they make me this time?” That is until Ballard fixed her.

You know how sometimes thumping the copier machine helps it work? Ballard thumped the copier machine a few times before it kicked it in gear. Literally.

Dr. Saunders (Amy Acker) is flipping out. She found out at the end of last season that she’s a doll and this information is not going over well with her. At all. To distract herself, she’s playing practical jokes on Topher. At one point, she tries to sneak into bed with Topher (Fran Kranz), which creeps him out… considering that he programmed her to be repulsed by certain aspects of himself.

There was some serious deep conversation between these two that revealed there’s more character to Topher than met the eye last season.

** END SPOILERS **

Unfortunately, from what I can tell, you had to have watched last season to understand this first episode of season 2 of Dollhouse.

What I mean by that is not everyone is as involved in the show as some fans are. Not everyone cruises the internet looking for back episodes. Not everyone is a fan of Whedon. Sometimes, shows have to be able to grab uninitiated viewers and gently pull them along, as well as keep the seasoned viewers engaged. It’s a very hard mix to accomplish.

I get where Joss is coming from in this premiere episode as everyone is still picking up in the aftermath of Alpha’s attack. Yet I fear potential new viewers could be confused.

I asked a friend who watched this episode (at my bidding) and I think I’ve created a distant shell of conservative trust. He said it was an odd, dark and fractured episode. Too many things happened for him that kept him off-balance.

It was truly Dollhouse / Whedon as we know it. It did not disappoint this fan and yet the ratings are scary. The episode was dark and angst-filled for me, but that’s what I’d expect at this point in the story.

I just hope all those other ratings commodities help keep Dollhouse around for it’s full 2nd season run.

Did Joss make a mistake by shoving the uninitiated viewer into the show like this? Was he just focused on the veteran fan of the show?

Speaking of fans, Was Dollhouse all you expected it to be? Or have you even seen it yet? Let us know your thoughts. Screen Rant wants to hear them!

Ratings info source: TV By The Numbers

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Fall 2009 TV: Premiering Tonight – Sept. 25

Anthony Ocasio — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 20:59:44 +0000

Ghost Whisperer, Law & Order, Smallville, Dollhouse, Medium & Numb3rs are all returning tonight… and then we have the premiere of a FOX comedy with a retired football player?

Friday hasn’t been this popular for television since ABC was in its hay-day with TGIF and Boy Meets World (Feeny!). With seven hours of new and returning programming stuffed into a three hour block, you’re either going to have to make some tough decisions on what to watch, or be a DVR master.

Let’s take a look at tonight’s lineup.

What’s New?

8:00 PM

FOX - Brothers: “Pilot/House Rules & Anniversary”
(one hour special)

Mike Trainor seemingly has it all – he’s a good-looking, wealthy and recently retired NFL player living the high life in New York City. With one phone call from his mom, Adele, Mike’s life changes in an instant. He comes home to Houston to find that his brother Chill, whose life changed drastically after a car accident left him in a wheelchair, is struggling to keep his restaurant afloat and that his father’s memory is not as sharp as it used to be. When Adele reveals everyone’s secrets, the family decides it’s time for a fresh start.

Later, Mike’s date spends the night at his parents’ place propelling his mom, Adele, to set specific house rules for her very grown sons. As all the family members try to find their way living together again as adults, Mike and Chill are taken aback at their new assigned daily chores and strict limitations on overnight guests. Meanwhile, Coach forgets his and Adele’s anniversary and lands in the doghouse, forcing him to come up with a creative way to make it up to her.

I’m not really putting much faith in this show lasting the season. I don’t care if you were a fan of Michael Strahan on the Giants, there’s no way you can tell me this show looks great. The only thing that redeems it, IMHO, is Daryl Mitchell being part of the cast, but even then, he can’t hold the entire show on his own. If you’re interested in this, watch it now because I suspect it might be gone soon. Oh yeah… and thanks for the wonderful lead-in you’re giving Dollhouse, FOX.

What’s Returning?

If you’re not tempted by the former Giants’ comedy series on FOX, it’s a good thing the other networks have stepped up and premiered all your favorite Friday night primetime shows at once.

8:00 PM

CBS – Ghost Whisperer: “Birthday Presence”

Melinda gives birth to a baby boy who also has the gift of seeing spirits, but with one important difference which will have far-reaching consequences.

After Jay Mohr left this show to start his own sitcom, I’ve fallen behind in the whole Ghost Whisperer mythology. The fact that they believed Jamie Kennedy could replace Jay Mohr was ridiculous and now that Kennedy and Love Hewitt are dating, it means he’s not going to be gone any time soon. ‘Til that happens, I’ll take a pass.

NBC – Law & Order: “Memo from the Dark Side”

The body of a young war veteran is found in a parking garage and the murder is connected to a law professor who used to work for the Department of Justice.

For some reason, I’ve never been a fan of Law & Order. I don’t know why, I enjoy CSI and all the other procedurals. I guess back in the day when it was Law & Order or NYPD Blue, I was a Blue-man.

The CW – Smallville: “Savior”

Clark (Tom Welling) tells Jor-El he’s ready to start his training, but Jor-El sends him back to Metropolis to cut ties with Lois before he can begin. Chloe (Allison Mack) is shocked when Lois (Erica Durance) suddenly reappears after having been missing for weeks, but Lois has no recollection of vanishing into thin air with the Legion ring.

While investigating a monorail crash, Lois meets John Corben (guest star Brian Austin Green), a new reporter at The Daily Planet, with a negative attitude toward the Red-Blue Blur. Chloe begs Clark to use the Legion ring to go back in time to save Jimmy, but he refuses, driving a wedge into their friendship. Meanwhile, Oliver (Justin Hartley) continues down a dark road, and Zod (Callum Blue) arrives at the Luthor mansion.

Oh, I’m very excited for this. While I don’t enjoy Smallville as much as Supernatural, I’m still caught up in it. Even with Michael Rosenbaum leaving the show I’ve stayed a fan because I love Green Arrow and find his portrayal on the show extremely entertaining. Mix in Brian Austin Green guest staring and the addition of Callum Blue (Dead Like Me, Secret Diary of A Call Girl) to the cast and you have me sold. Keep an eye out later for a full write up and discussion of tonight’s episode. If interested, you can check out a sneak peek at tonight’s episode.

(pg. 2 for the 9pm & 10pm slots)

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Dollhouse Season 2 Discussion

Bruce Simmons — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 10:37:36 +0000

Joss Whedon has been making the rounds in various media forms and chatting about the upcoming 2nd season of Dollhouse. I’ll talk touch on some generic issues then a little bit later. Beware, there’s a section marked spoilers, you can pass over that part and onto more good stuff with the skip/jump link I’ve included.

Joss truly didn’t expect to be working on a 2nd season of Dollhouse, but all the non-traditional ratings numbers such as DVR viewing added up and the idea that fans will gravitate to the show in such a way that the revenue stream from DVD sales and such won’t dry up were all factors that nudged Fox towards renewing the show.

Even though some of the writers, Sarah Fain and Elizabeth Craft, that worked on season 1 headed off to work on the show Lie To Me, Joss nabbed the creators of Reaper, Tara Butters and Michelle Fazekas, to join the writing staff as replacements. Despite Reaper being as different as it was, Joss doesn’t think their past will affect the show adversely, but rather will be a boon as they’re very story-driven kind of folk.

As far as how they’ve approached season 2, Joss took note of how the audience responded to the episodes where they showed the inner workings of the Dollhouse and the development of the characters therein. Hence, we’ll be getting much more of that angle going forwarad.

He also said that even though he’s hard to pin down, we will be seeing Alan Tudyk next season. Sweet!

What Will be Coming Up? (SPOILERS IN THIS SECTION. Skip Link.)

We’re going to be getting the dark, noir-ish tone that we had in the pilot.
Sierra and Victor (Dichen Lachman & Enver Gjokaj) are going to go at it like monkeys. (Those were Joss’ words!) The actors are downplaying that much exuberance, but it will be there.
Paul Ballard (Tahmoh Penikett) is now under an uneasy truce with Adelle DeWitt (Olivia Williams) and is deep in the Dollhouse. If you can call working for the Dollhouse as deep. He’ll be acting as Echo’s handler.
Echo (Eliza Dushku) has issues. The mind wipes after each mission aren’t erasing everything anymore. This will have its own side affects during missions. Some good and some not so good?
We’ll get to see just how fearful Adelle DeWitt is of her bosses… the folks above her in the Dollhouse hierarchy. We’ll see why people are working for the Dollhouse.

End Spoilers

The “More On That Later” Section

First you need to know that I’m jazzed that Joss’ show got renewed. I’m happy for him, his staff, the actors and the fans. I’ve missed his consistent presence of story telling on the tube.

But I have to be pragmatic about this and wonder out loud how this show got renewed over The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

In various, impromtu polls around the web, Sarah Connor seemed very popular with the masses, versus Dollhouse which didn’t fare so well.

In addition to budgetary concerns with the higher costs of producing TSCC, I think Fox feared the retribution if they cut another Whedon project off at the knees like they did with Firefly and totally ignored what looked like a massive wave of fan desire to have TSCC come back for a 3rd season.

Will this be a mistake? Probably not. Whedon fans like you and me will make up for it in the short and long run, I’m sure.

In the meantime, Whedon fans win while TSCC fans wander the endless wasteland of wishing and missing their show. Are there any TSCC fans out there that converted over to Dollhouse?

Dollhouse premieres Friday, September 25th.

Sources: IF Magazine, Sci Fi Wire

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Ray Wise Joins Dollhouse

Bruce Simmons — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:24:13 +0000

Ray Wise will be joining the cast of Dollhouse. I’m pleasantly surprised by this cast addition! Jazzed and surprised.

Ray will be playing Howard, a higher up in the staff of the Dollhouse who has a “huge presence.”

Reaper fans will recognize Wise as Lucifer himself, but I remember Ray from one of my favorite horror franchises, Jeepers Creepers. He was in JC 2 as Jack Taggart Sr. I love those movies. The demon creature in those films ranks right up there with Predator for me.

But don’t forget, Wise was also on Fox’s 24 as Vice President Hal Gardner back in the ‘06 season.

I think this is a great addition to the cast of Dollhouse, which premieres Friday, September 25th.

Source: Whedon Info

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Joss Whedon On Dollhouse, Cabin In The Woods & Goners

Bruce Simmons — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 14:49:44 +0000

Joss Whedon chatted with Sci Fi Wire about a few things, all of which I’ve been looking forward to: Dollhouse, season 2. The Cabin in the Woods. Goners.

Joss said that in the premiere of Dollhouse’s second season, we’ll get to see Echo cycle through a few imprints during an assignment. I can’t say anymore of what I do know without possible SPOILERS. So we’ll leave it at that.

As for being left alone by Fox to do what he wants with Dollhouse? Joss says he’s afraid to be alone (joke) but that the show is finally more of the collaborative effort between creator and network that it’s supposed to be.

On Alexis Denisof coming to Dollhouse:

Oh, didn’t we mention that before? If you remember, they made note of it at Comic-Con. Alexis Denisof is coming on board to play a politician whose looking into Rossum. (The corporation that runs the Dollhouse.)

It will be awesome to see Denisof on screen again… it’s been too long and he’s been too quiet.

On Summer Glau Coming To Dollhouse:

We’ll be seeing Summer somewhere around episode 5, working for the Dollhouse – and she won’t be a killing machine, a bit different from what we’re used to seeing.

On The Cabin In The Woods:

Right now they’re talking about what to show in a trailer for a movie that they’ve been so secretive on the details about.

Should be interesting, considering the posters that have been out give me a feel of snarky, slapping-the-genre-in-the-face kind of feel for the movie… so far.

And the biggest question I’ve had for a long time:

What About Goners?

All Joss said was that he needs Universal to release Goners so it can be free “into the wild.” I’m guessing we have rights issues despite many many people wanting Goners see the light of day.

I’ve been hovering. Very quietly, but hovering over the entire Internet… Every day, waiting for a constructive peep about Goners. A day doesn’t go by when I look for any tidbit of news. Sigh.

Joss wrote this fantasy thriller spec script that treads on a similar turf that Buffy and Angel did. Unfortunately, Universal Pictures paid a 7 figure sum for the rights. I’m not sure we’re going to be seeing the rights run free anytime soon for that kind of money.

Source: Sci Fi Wire

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Looking Forward To Season 2 Of Dollhouse?

Bruce Simmons — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 10:59:15 +0000

Now that Joss Whedon has control of Dollhouse on Fox, we aren’t going to get any more stand alone episodes. Instead, the story will start making sense as Joss tells his tale the way he envisioned it.

Season 2 is going to pick up where season 1 left off, in the aftermath of how Alpha left everything. The Dollhouse will continue with business as normal, but the staff will be waiting for the other shoe to drop because they know that Alpha is out there.

It will also be nice to see what Joss does from here on out. Even being on Fridays, my hope for its success is not diminished. In the meantime, enjoy these season 2 promo pictures.

Dollhouse season 2 premieres on September 25th on Fox.

Source: Sci Fi Wire, Photos: Whedonesque

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Brandon Routh Joins Chuck & Summer Glau Enters The Dollhouse

Rob Keyes — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 11:17:59 +0000

Today in TV news, two returning shows acquire major new additions for their upcoming seasons. Read on to find out about Brandon Routh in Chuck and Summer Glau in Dollhouse.

Over last few months, there’s been talk about Summer Glau playing a part in the next season of Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse. Although, Whedon shot down a lot of folks’ hope by saying these reports were exaggerated, it now turns out that Summer is in fact joining season 2 of the show that barely survived to get its second season.

All sci-fi fans will know Summer from her role as the troubled girl from Firefly and the bad-ass fembot in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. This time around, she’ll be playing a different sort of character.

According to Entertainment Weekly, the character she will play is Bennett, an employee of the Dollhouse who happens to share a past with the protagonist, Eliza Dushku’s Echo. This is not surprising as it was speculated she would play a character different from what we’re using to seeing her play. That meant, more talking, less action for a change.

So, it looks like they’re trying to gain some more geek cred going forward. With Summer Glau joining the cast and Battlestar Galactica’s Jamie Bamber guest starring, that should draw in some new interest.

Switching gears to the show Chuck, they have a pretty big casting announcement as well. Brandon Routh, the star of Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns, has just been announced as a recurring character for the upcoming season of Chuck.

According to Michael Ausiello at EW, Routh will play the character of Shaw, a new spy to head Operation Bartowski. Making his first appearance in the fourth episode, he’s set to play a mentoring role for Chuck but at the same time, competes for the affections of Sarah.

What do you think of the major additions to Dollhouse and Chuck?

Dollhouse hits the airwaves again on September 28th but Chuck fans have to wait a while as it doesn’t return till next March.

Source: EW

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TV News & Notes: 2009 Fall Schedule, The Office & More

Kofi Outlaw — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:17:15 +0000

Just a brief update on this Monday: Plan your prime time with the 2009 TV Fall Schedule; Smallville is getting another new guest star; A certain “Foxy” lady might be kicking off SNL this year; Learn how to catch up on all the NBC shows you missed last year (for free!); and speaking of NBC, how about a first-look photo of Jim and Pam getting married on The Office?

And as a bonus (because I love you) I let you know about the government’s “Cash for TV Clunkers” program.

Let’s get to it!

The Office

So we recently let you Office fans know when you can expect Jim and Pam to walk down the aisle – four episodes into the news season. And now we have the first official wedding photo!

The scene was shot at a church in Van Nuys, California on this past weekend and from the photos below you can see that Pam (Jenna Fischer) will be a lovely bride and Jim (John Krasinski) will be every girl’s hometown-sweetheart Prince Charming.

Pam as a beautiful bride.

Krasinski and Fischer shooting the wedding scene.

The Office Season 6 kicks off September 17 at 9/8c on NBC.

Source: TV Guide

Smallville

Actress Steph Song let it be known on her Twitter account yesterday that she will be playing the role of Roulette on the sixth episode of Smallville’s upcoming 9th season. In the DC Universe Roulette is a kick-ass madame of underground fighting tournaments, often using super heroes and/or villains as combatants.

Not sure how the character will be portrayed on Smallville, but I’ll sure tune in to find out!

The show returns on September 25th (that’s Friday now) @ 8/7c on the CW.

Source: Twitter

Saturday Night Live

Life & Style is exclusively reporting that “actress” Megan Fox will be the host kicking SNL’s 35th season on September 26th. Fox would naturally do the gig in order to further promote her upcoming high school comedy/horror flick Jennifer’s Body, and has reportedly been prepping to bring the yuck-yuck by doing a digital short with Andy Samberg.

I’m I the only one who thinks SNL could potentially be off to a bad start this decade year?

Source: Life & Style

NBC TV Rewind

Were there any NBC shows you missed and have been waiting to catch up on? If so, forget about renting the DVDs and just head on over to NBC.com – you can catch up on episodes from many of NBC’s TV lineup for free on the website.

Shows being offered include:

30 Rock
America’s Got Talent
Chuck
Days of Our Lives
Friday Night Lights
Great American Road Trip
Heroes
Kings
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
The Listener
Merlin
The Office
Parks and Recreation
The Philanthropist
Southland
The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien
The Wanted

(I know I’ve been waiting to catch up on Days of Our Lives )

Source: NBC

2009 Fall TV Lineup

As Summer winds down many of us will be reluctantly returning to the indoors with only the anticipation of our favorite shows return (plus a few good looking new entries) to brighten up our end-of-summer blues.

But where and when do we find our long-lost TV friends and family in the new TV season? Luckily, we have a list of the shows you want to see, as well as where and when you can catch them.

[Note: Shows are listed alphabetically]

Show (Net), Date time
20/20 (ABC), Sept. 11 at 10 p.m.
30 Rock (NBC), Oct. 15 at 9:30 p.m.
48 Hours Mystery (CBS), Sept. 26 at 10 p.m.
60 Minutes (CBS), Sept. 27 at 7 p.m.
90210 (The CW), Sept. 8 at 8 p.m.
Accidentally On Purpose (CBS), Sept. 21 at 8:30 p.m.
Amazing Race, The (CBS), Sept. 27 at 8 p.m.
America’s Funniest Home Videos (ABC), Oct. 4 at 7 p.m.
America’s Most Wanted (Fox), Sept. 12 at 9 p.m.
America’s Next Top Model (The CW), Sept. 9 at 8 p.m.
American Dad (Fox), Sept. 27 at 9:30 p.m.
Beautiful Life, The (The CW), Sept. 16 at 9 p.m.
Big Bang Theory, The (CBS), Sept. 21 at 9:30 p.m.
Biggest Loser, The (NBC), Sept. 15 at 8 p.m.
Bones (Fox), Sept. 17 at 8 p.m.
Brothers (Fox), Sept. 25 at 8 p.m.
Brothers and Sisters (ABC), Sept. 27 at 10 p.m.
Californication (Showtime), Sept. 27 at 10 p.m.
Castle (ABC), Sept. 21 at 10 p.m.
Cleveland Show, The (Fox), Sept. 27at 8:30 p.m.
Cold Case (CBS), Sept. 27 at 10 p.m.
Community [moves to at 8 p.m. on Oct. 8] (NBC), Sept. 17 at 9:30 p.m.
COPS (Fox), Sept. 12 at 8 p.m.
Cougar Town (ABC), Sept. 23 at 9:30 p.m.
Crash Course (ABC), Aug. 26 at 9 p.m.
Crimetime Saturday (CBS), Sept. 26 at 8 p.m.
Criminal Minds (CBS), Sept. 23 at 9 p.m.
CSI (CBS), Sept. 24 at 9 p.m.
CSI: Miami (CBS), Sept. 21 at 10 p.m.
CSI: NY (CBS), Sept. 23 at 10 p.m.
Dancing with the Stars (ABC), Sept. 21 at 8 p.m.
Dateline NBC (NBC), Sept. 26 at 8 p.m.
Defying Gravity (ABC), Already Started! at 10 p.m.
Desperate Housewives (ABC), Sept. 27 at 9 p.m.
Destination Truth (SyFy), Sept. 9 at 9 p.m.
Dexter (Showtime), Sept. 27 at 9 p.m.
Dollhouse (Fox), Sept. 25 at 9 p.m.
Eastwick (ABC), Sept. 23 at 10 p.m.
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (ABC), Sept. 27 at 7 p.m.
Family Guy (Fox), Sept. 27at 9 p.m.
FlashForward (ABC), Sept. 24 at 8 p.m.
Football Night in America (NBC), Sept. 13 at 7 p.m.
Forgotten, The (ABC), Sept. 22 at 10 p.m.
Fringe (Fox), Sept. 17 at 9 p.m.
Gary Unmarried (CBS), Sept. 23 at 8:30 p.m.
Ghost Whisperer (CBS), Sept. 25 at 8 p.m.
Glee (Fox), Sept. 9 at 9 p.m.
Good Wife, The (CBS), Sept. 22 at 10 p.m.
Gossip Girl (The CW), Sept. 14 at 8 p.m.
Grey’s Anatomy (ABC), Sept. 24 at 9 p.m.
Greek (ABC Family), Aug. 31 at 9 p.m.
Hell’s Kitchen (Fox), Sept. 29 at 8 p.m.
Heroes (NBC), Sept. 21 at 8 p.m.
House [2-hr] (Fox), Sept. 21 at 8 p.m.
How I Met Your Mother (CBS), Sept. 21 at 8 p.m.
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FX), Sept. 17 at 10 p.m.
Jay Leno Show, The (NBC), Sept. 14 at 10 p.m.
Law and Order (NBC), Sept. 25 at 8 p.m.
Law and Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC), Sept. 23 at 9 p.m.
Lie To Me (Fox), Sept. 28 at 8 p.m.
Mad Men (AMC), (In progress) at 10 p.m.
Man Vs Wild (Discovery), (In progress) at 9 p.m.
Medium (CBS), Sept. 25 at 9 p.m.
Melrose Place (The CW), Sept. 8 at 9 p.m.
Mentalist, The (CBS), Sept. 24 at 10 p.m.
Mercy (NBC), Sept. 23 at 8 p.m.
Middle, The (ABC), Sept. 30 at 8:30 p.m.
Modern Family (ABC), Sept. 23 at 9 p.m.
Monk (USA), Already started! at 9 p.m.
NBC Sunday Night Football (NBC), Sept. 13 8:15 p.m.
NCIS (CBS), Sept. 22 at 8 p.m.
NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS), Sept. 22 at 9 p.m.
New Adventures of Old Christine, The (CBS), Sept. 23 at 8 p.m.
Numbers (Numb3rs) (CBS), Sept. 25 at 10 p.m.
Office, The (NBC), Sept. 17 at 9 p.m.
One Tree Hill (The CW), Sept. 14 at 9 p.m.
Parks and Recreation (NBC), Sept. 17 at 8:30 p.m.
Private Practice (ABC), Oct. 1 at 10 p.m.
Project Runway (Lifetime), Aug. at 10 p.m.
Psych (USA), Aug. 7 at 10 p.m.
Sanctuary (SyFy), Oct. 9 at 10 p.m.
Saturday Night Football (ABC), Sept. 5 at 8 p.m.
Saturday Night Live (NBC), Sept. 26 11:30 p.m.
Saturday Night Live Weekend Update (NBC), Sept. 17 at 8 p.m.
Scare Tactics (SyFy), Oct. 6 at 9 p.m.
Shark Tank (ABC), Sept. 29 at 8 p.m.
Simpsons, The (Fox), Sept. 27 at 8 p.m.
Smallville (The CW), Sept. 25 at 8 p.m.
So You Think You Can Dance (Fox), Sept. 9 at 8 p.m.
Sons of Anarchy (FX), Sept. 8 at 10 p.m.
Southland (NBC), Sept. 25 at 9 p.m.
Stargate Universe (SyFy), Oct. 2 at 9 p.m.
Supernanny (ABC), Oct. 16 at 8 p.m.
Supernatural (The CW), Sept. 10 at 9 p.m.
Survivor: Samoa (CBS), Sept. 17 at 8 p.m.
Three Rivers (CBS), Oct. 4 at 9 p.m.
Til Death (Fox), Oct. 2 at 8:30 p.m.
Trauma (NBC), Sept. 28 at 9 p.m.
Two and a Half Men (CBS), Sept. 21 at 9 p.m.
Ugly Betty (ABC), Oct. 9 at 8 p.m.
V (ABC), Nov. 3 at 8 p.m.
Vampire Diaries (The CW), Sept. 10 at 8 p.m.

Source: Cinemastatic

BONUS ITEM: Cash For TV Clunkers

Need a chuckle to get you through this current political/economic turmoil? Head over to TV Tango and have a look at their “Cash For TV Clunkers” program – a listing of the top 10 famous TV cars that could stand to be sent to the scrapyard.

Hilarious!

Source: TV Tango

That’s it for now. Talk to you again during the commercials.

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TV News & Notes: Warehouse 13, Lost, Star Wars & More

Kofi Outlaw — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 13:41:50 +0000

Today we got news for you on a former Deadwood actor whose getting Lost this season; the gang at 24 are wondering if their eighth day will be their last; Syfy will be re-opening the doors to Warehouse 13 next season; Heroes has a new poster; Apollo plays in the Dollhouse; Star Wars will soon be on TV; and ABC gets room at Clive Barker’s Hotel.

All that, and we bid farewell to a TV News Legend (see above). Let’s get to it:

LOST

Lost will be adding a new cast member to its sixth and final season. Deadwood’s John Hawkes (he played Jewish entrepreneur Sol Star) will join the Lost crew as Lennon, a ““Scruffy, edgy, charismatic, and slightly stir-crazy…spokesperson/translator for the president of a foreign corporation. He’s a wily negotiator, and far more powerful than his lowly position would seem to indicate.”

Hmmm… Could he be working for the nefarious Charles Widmore? Or perhaps the mysterious Hanso Corporation?

Guess we’ll find out for (semi-)sure when Lost returns next year.

Source: THR

Apparently, the 24 cast and crew are preparing Jack Bauer’s next day out to POSSIBLY be his last. In the event that Fox chooses to ax the show after its eighth season, the producers are filming several alternate season-enders that will either tie off the saga of Jack Bauer for good, or leave room for the show to live to fight another day.

Said producer Evan Katz: “We’re flexible. We have a scenario that would work well if the show ends. But we also have scenarios where it could go on.”

Hmmm… when DOES Jack Bauer start to overstay his welcome? If this upcoming season is as good as the last one, maybe it would be a good idea to go out on a high note. Judging from his nervous behavior at the Comic-Con 24 panel, star Kiefer Sutherland may be ready to move on…

24 returns in January.

Source: IMDB via Slash Film

Warehouse 13

Syfy’s Summer series Warehouse 13 has been something of a hit: after debuting in July to 3.5 million viewers, the cable series has managed to steadily however around the 3.7 million viewers mark every week.

Those strong numbers have made it a no-brainer for Syfy to order an additional 13 episodes of the show; Warehouse 13 season two will premiere next summer.

Sorry W13 fans, I know that’s a long time to wait – but you got to give the rest of us time to catch up / catch on!

Source: TV Squad

Heroes

We’ve already posted a preview trailer and a super-speed fight clip from Heroes’ upcoming fifth volume, “Redemption”, in the hopes that at least SOME OF YOU out there are still on board for this show [cue crickets]…

Well, to add to your “Heroes Mania” (sarcasm alert!) here is a THRILLING new promo poster that lets you know all about Heroes:Redemption:

[Volume on crickets increases...]

Season 4 (Volume 5) of Heroes debuts with a 2-hour premiere Monday, September 21st on NBC.

Source: TV Squad & UGO Movie Blog

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TV News & Notes: Dollhouse, Lie To Me & More

Bruce Simmons — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 03:47:49 +0000

We here at Screen Rant have so much TV news that we need to break it up into a few articles this week.

With that said, I thought in this extra chapter (or off-shoot of my weekly article), I’d bring some early news and information about Dollhouse, 24 and Lie To Me. I’ve also got some bits of news about the FX network shows Damages & Lawman. I finally wrap it up with some King of the Hill info, The Office news and a question to you, our faithful readers.

Dollhouse

This is an FYI to the faithful fans of Dollhouse: The 13th episode, called “Epitaph One” is now available on the US and Canadian iTunes sites.

More Battlestar Galactica Cast on 24

Watch out Jack, a Cylon is coming your way!

Callum Keith Rennie, (The Cylon Leoben Conoy from Battlestar Galactica) has been cast as Vladimir Laitana, a Russian mobster who shows up around episode 6 or so in the upcoming new season of Fox’s 24.

Vladiir is expected to team up with another mobster named Bazhaev, played by Jurgen Prochnow.

Source: TV Guide

Lie To Me

In the first season of Lie To Me, we watched the show develop its legs and tell us the tale of Cal Lightman, (played by the ingenius Tim Roth) the human lie detector, and his work group. We came to understand the science behind the premise of the show.

This upcoming season, show runner Shawn Ryan (The Unit) has come on board and will be taking the show towards a more character driven story. Some of the things coming up in relation to the character developments, or what we’ll learn more about are:

Lightman’s past.
The [Gillian] Foster-[Cal] Lightman relationship.
Foster’s (Kelli Williams) divorce, and her continued pursuit of the adoption process.
Lightman’s ex-wife (Jennifer Beals), will be back for a few episodes.
Mekhi Phifer will return as a series regular.

Lie to Me is inspired by the scientific discoveries of psychologist Dr. Paul Ekman, who can read body language clues to determine the truth of the matter in criminal investigations as we follow Dr. Cal Lightman, the world’s leading deception expert, as he solves cases.

Source: Chicago Tribune

FX Network Understands Nielsen Methodologies

If you remember, I loved the insidious nature of the legal drama Damages with Glenn Close. It was even recognized as an Emmy nominee. Yet the week-to-week ratings were low and FX president John Landgraf recognizes that people play catch up with their recording instrument of choice. Unfortunately, Nielsen doesn’t even acknowledge shows that are watched outside of a 7-day window. Other than that, he didn’t say much more, but I have to wonder if that was a precursor to kissing Damages goodbye? I hope not, I do happen to really enjoy that show!

Aside from that, FX is looking to extend their episode order of Rescue Me to a 22 episodes while they push more into a comedy based line-up for other nights and time slots. They seem prompted in this direction by the success they’ve had with of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, which is starting its 5th season.

Personally, I think Sunny is a great fluke of comedic writing that’s pulled together and delivered by a great group of actors. I’m not sure they’re going to get more out other comedies. We’ll see what they have up their funny sleeves!

Despite their new comedy-based focus, they are looking to launch a new drama called Lawman starring Timothy Olyphant. Lawman is based on the Elmore Leonard stories and follows a U.S. Marshal who returns home to Kentucky after spending time in Miami.

Source: Variety

King of the Hill

FYI: King of the Hill is coming to a close after a 13-season run and its final episode will be a 1-hour series finale that will air on Sunday, September 13th.

Source: TV Guide

The Office

During a recent media get together, NBC let out some snippets of info about The Office.

Finally – Pam and Jim are going to head down the aisle after how long? 5 years! In fact, it’s going to happen pretty quickly and take place in the 4th episode of the new season.

The sixth season of The Office begins September 17 at 9/8c on NBC.

Now you know!

Source: E! Online

ABC’s Defying Gravity

I’ve completely overlooked the ABC sci-fi effort called Defying Gravity. I mean completely overlooked it as in not even watched it yet.

The show is set in the near future where 8 astronauts from 5 different countries are on a 6-year mission that covers an 8 billion mile journey.

I actually have a question for you, our readers! Has anyone taken a gander at this show? What’s your opinion? I’d love to hear if I should change my viewing habits to catch some episodes or not. Now’s your chance to give us at Screen Rant a review on Defying Gravity.

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Joss Whedon Gets Control Over His Dollhouse

Bruce Simmons — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 04:50:01 +0000

When Dollhouse premiered, the show was received with enthusiasm by Joss Whedon fans. Yet as the show’s first season kicked it in gear, many of us were confounded by what we saw.

The diehard Joss fans stuck it out because, well, it’s Joss. But others were getting their minds muddled and weren’t surviving the first few episodes. For some, the first half of the season seemed disjointed as each episode acted as a stand alone event in the Dollhouse mythos.

The Dollhouse premiere opened to only 4.7 million viewers while time-shifted viewers increased the numbers by a whopping 30%. The following month, viewership dropped to 3.5 million viewers.

As it stood, Fox did stick their nose in the mix and pulled the original episode that was supposed to be the pilot and just plain interfered with Joss’s vision and the episode order (Firefly, anyone?).

But as the second half of the season wore on, things picked up and the story was starting to flow. I feel that this happened because Fox backed off and let Joss actually run the show. Which is nice, being that he has a proven track record of pretty decent success.

If you aren’t sitting, you may want to… Fox is now saying that they will be leaving Joss Whedon alone to do his thing in Dollhouse’s second season. For me, that means let him do what he does best, and that’s bring damn good entertainment to the tube.

A statement that did annoy me though, which feels like they were passing the blame, was “I think in the second half of the year, he found the show and started having fun with it. I don’t think he was having a lot of fun early on…”

Of course he wasn’t, Kevin Reilly, president of entertainment for Fox. He didn’t have any control over his own show in the front half of the season. I’m sometimes amazed at what comes from the spin machines of networks.

So for the moment, Fox says they’re backing off and letting Joss have the freedom he needs. Of course they’ve renewed Dollhouse with cost concessions and only gave it a 13-episode run. I can’t help but wonder if they’ve just tossed Joss overboard to flounder, and if it’s a hit, they’ll probably point to themselves and say “See, we had faith!”

What I do know is that after seeing “Epitath One” at Comic-Con, which kicked some serious entertainment butt, I have hope that Joss can really pull one out of the hat, even for a Friday night show.

Bonus Joss Whedon Opinion:

At a Comic-Con party, Joss was asked who would win in a fight: Angel or Edward from Twilight. Joss’s answer: “I think Robert Pattinson’s really cool; Angel would kick the s— out of him…” LOL.

Nice. Sorry Twilighters, but I have to back Joss on this one.

Sources: Sci Fi Wire, EW

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Weekly TV Wrap Up – July 30th, 2009

Bruce Simmons — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 11:25:44 +0000

This week, we’re going to chat about a new website for Chuck, an award bestowed upon Doctor Who and a bit about Syfy dominating Tuesdays with Warehouse 13. We also delve into some news about Burn Notice, Royal Pains & Dollhouse.

Some cast members have been added to Steven Spielberg’s unnamed alien pilot on TNT, we have an interesting tidbit on Disney and a quick, condensed look at last week’s Summer TV ratings.

Doctor Who Recognized By Guinness

The series Doctor Who has just been recognized as the most successful sci-fi series by the Guinness Book of World Records.

They base this on quantifiable items such as ratings, sales of DVD’s, iTunes traffic and books sold. Longevity of the series was also part of the recognition process.

Doctor Who premiered in 1963 and has had a sporadic but continued successful existence.

What sci-fi show has the longest consecutive running record? Stargate SG-1. It had a consecutive 10-year run.

Source: Variety

Syfy Channel News

Warehouse 13 is proving itself a solid starter for the newly renamed network.

Warehouse 13 (WH13) hit new highs for a scripted series on the network. They pulled in 1.8 million adults between the ages of 25-54 and 1.4 million adults aged 18-49.

In the 9 p.m. hour of Tuesday, Syfy actually delivered more viewers between that ages of 25-54 than ABC did, and more male viewers than both ABC and Fox.

It was the top scripted drama on cable to boot.

But that’s not all.

As numbers come in from the Live+7 ratings, (That’s live viewers plus DVR playback over the course of 7 days), the premiere of WH13 brought in approximately 4 million viewers. Both WH13 and Eureka are doing some serious ratings numbers.

In fact, with both WH13 and Eureka, Syfy pulled in their best July numbers ever in its 17-year history. Even Ghost Hunters International is doing its part and bringing in 1.9 million viewers.

Right now, it seems that their plans are on track to grow the network. We just have to see if it will hold up over time.

If Warehouse 13 keeps going strong like it has, they’ve got a chance.

Source: NBCUMV

Burn Notice Gets Renewed

Michael Westen is going to continue to give us instructional guidance on how to make things for another 16 episodes.

That’s how many episodes USA Network has ordered for Burn Notice. USA also ordered 16 episodes for the show Royal Pains.

Both shows are doing great, pulling in between 4 and 7 million viewers each.

Source: Variety

Dollhouse Guest Star News

Jamie Bamber (Captain Lee ‘Apollo’ Adama in Battlestar Galactica) is going to be a guest star on the season 2 premiere of Dollhouse.

Bamber’s character will be engaged in an assignment with Echo (Eliza Dushku) and her new handler, Paul Ballard (Tahmoh Penikett). Wha!? That’s all we have.

Season 2 will premiere on Friday, Sept 25th 2009 on Fox.

Source: E Online

Spielberg’s Alien Invasion Gets More Cast

Steven Spielberg’s unnamed alien invasion project that’s coming to TNT has more cast hoping on board.

Moon Bloodgood, Jessy Schram, Seychelle Gabriel and Maxim Knight will be joining Noah Wyle on the alien invasion pilot.

The show takes place just after aliens have wiped out most of humanity and focuses on a ragtag group of soldiers and people led by Noah Wyle as they struggle against the occupying alien invasion.

Is it me, or does this sound like something from Battlestar Galactica?

Source: Sci Fi Wire

Disney To Charge For Content

Disney is looking to start charging for it’s online content that ranges from movies to games and TV shows.

The premise is that they’re looking at a single web site that may be subscription based that will provide these products.

They’re already making revenue off their ventures on Hulu and iTunes and I suspect that the performance of these two outlets is what prompted this decision.

In what I find to be a rather insightful statement by CEO Robert Iger, he said:

“consumers spend $5 an hour at theaters to see movies, 75 cents an hour to read books, newspapers and magazines and 50 cents an hour to watch cable and satellite TV, but only 25 cents an hour to surf the Internet.”

“There’s plenty of room for people to spend more money on things that they’re doing online.”

Plenty of room? Is that how they see us. Web surfers with plenty of room to spend more money? Nice. Real nice.

Source: Media Week

Summer TV Ratings

Of the top 20 broadcast shows last week, NCIS was the best rated scripted drama in 3rd with 9.7 million viewers. The Mentalist was 4th with 9.6 mil viewers & CSI: Miami brought in 8.5 million viewers.

Outside the top 10, CSI was 11th with 7.8 mil viewers, Law And Order:SVU was 12th and CSI:NY was in 15th.

On the cable side of things, Burn Notice was the top dog with 6.8 million viewers, The Closer was 2nd with 6.6 million viewers. NASCAR was 3rd, Royal Pains 4th with 6.2 mil. and NCIS was 8th with 4.9 mil. viewers.

Source: TV By The Numbers

Chuck Online Hangout

During Comic-Con, the new website called ChuckMeOut.com launched during the Chuck panel at Comic-Con.

At ChuckMeOut.com, you can get behind the scenes clips from cast and crew, blogs from the set and social networking tools.

So go, enjoy and let us know what you think!

Source: NBCUMV

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