Why did it Fail?

[Buffyverse Fan]

I liked Dollhouse enough to catch every episode, but if I didn't have a DVR, I doubt I would have seen more than a handful.

I agree with Joan about the dark subject-matter, but personally, I think that kept Dollhouse from gaining fans, but had little to do with its lackluster reception.

I believe three big issues killed the show:

1.) Time Slot - this was a big one, because I don't know that any show can do well in a Friday night slot. The exception to that rule is if a series gets replayed throughout the week (ie - Cable shows). Dollhouse didn't have that advantage.

2.) Echo - I love Eliza, and like Echo, but this was a bad choice all around. Firstly Eliza is not a character-actor. I doubt that she claims to be, and few popular actors are, but the role called for an amazing character actor like, well Enver (Victor). Eliza's just not believable as a Senior Citizen. But even that aspect aside, because it could have been worked around, Echo had no personality in the beginning. The whole premise was her lack of personality, and as everyone knows, personality is what gets viewers hooked.

3.) It just wasn't believable - When watching the absurdity that is the Buffyverse, a fan can't help but think from time-to-time if this stuff was real, I could see it all going down like this. This was not the case with Dollhouse, premise aside, it was still absurd. The show contradicted itself, and we're lead to believe that eventually a corporation gunned down (so to speak) not just every American, but also the entire US Military. Absurd.

 

[MergedLoki]

honestly im blaming fox.

they have a history of cancelling GOOD shows.

also (if im wrong correct me) didn't dollhouse's airing time move around?

i mean anything on a fri or sat. is basically a 'death slot' as MOST people aren't home watching tv on weekend nights.

 

[Misty]

Also, Echo the main character, was pretty boring. That was a bad choice.

Agreed. I love Eliza, but I'm not into Echo. I thought that the other characters were more interesting and I thought that Echo was a boring main character. So I think that's one of the reasons why it failed, because it was kind of boring to watch in season 1.

 

[XandersEye]

I liked Dollhouse enough to catch every episode, but if I didn't have a DVR, I doubt I would have seen more than a handful.

I agree with Joan about the dark subject-matter, but personally, I think that kept Dollhouse from gaining fans, but had little to do with its lackluster reception.

I believe three big issues killed the show:

1.) Time Slot - this was a big one, because I don't know that any show can do well in a Friday night slot. The exception to that rule is if a series gets replayed throughout the week (ie - Cable shows). Dollhouse didn't have that advantage.

I actually agree with you on that. Friday night is a death slot and only one show has ever really succeeded there, The X-Files. That and the show was never really promoted. I don't recall seeing a single ad during the second season.

2.) Echo - I love Eliza, and like Echo, but this was a bad choice all around. Firstly Eliza is not a character-actor. I doubt that she claims to be, and few popular actors are, but the role called for an amazing character actor like, well Enver (Victor). Eliza's just not believable as a Senior Citizen. But even that aspect aside, because it could have been worked around, Echo had no personality in the beginning. The whole premise was her lack of personality, and as everyone knows, personality is what gets viewers hooked.

Here's where we part ways. Yes, Echo had no personality at first. But one of the major story arcs was her developing one. Also at first it seems like Eliza wasn't given much to work with. Most of the imprints were fairly similar, but towards the end when Echo is switching between them, you can actually see the range she had. Plus if she had completely disappeared into a role like Enver could, there really wouldn't be anyone to connect to. Even through the imprints, we saw some glimpse of Echo in them. Don't get me wrong, I thought that he was amazing and deserves more work, but wasn't what was needed for the role. I see it slightly similar to Sam Beckett in Quantum Leap, we had to know he was always there.

3.) It just wasn't believable - When watching the absurdity that is the Buffyverse, a fan can't help but think from time-to-time if this stuff was real, I could see it all going down like this. This was not the case with Dollhouse, premise aside, it was still absurd. The show contradicted itself, and we're lead to believe that eventually a corporation gunned down (so to speak) not just every American, but also the entire US Military. Absurd.

Given the way they did it, it isn't so unbelievable, tossing in suspension of belief to accept the technology. One mass phone call wiped the world at the same time. It isn't like they marched through the streets doing it over a long time.

But even in the real world, one company can do a lot of damage before anyone notices. Just go look at the Gulf of Mexico.


What killed the show was a lack of marketing and the timeslot. Fox didn't help by forcing them into doing about five different pilots instead of letting the actual story start. Most of the problems I read about people having on other forums come directly from those first few episodes. The show was a slow burn in a world of fast paced shows. Combine that with most shows still deal with black or white issues, Dollhouse went with grey and grey without any shades. Caroline was a terrorist, Paul who was the closest thing to a hero was completely torn down during the series, and the characters with the biggest focus were more or less the villains. I can see why some people don't like it.

 

[caitaintdead]

Ugh. I hate it when people insinuate that a show isn't popular because people aren't intellectual enough to get it.

Anyway, to answer the question - I thought Dollhouse failed because people weren't interested enough. Myself included. It just wasn't very good in my opinion and I found it boring. The last thing I want to do in my hour between getting home from soccer training and going to bed is sit through a TV show that I find dull because apparently it gets better...

 

[Flannen]

Ugh. I hate it when people insinuate that a show isn't popular because people aren't intellectual enough to get it.

If that was directed at my comment about it going over people's heads then you've misunderstood me if you think I'm suggesting people aren't intellectual enough to 'get it'.

What I meant by that, kind of relates to what TheVoid said about why and how people enjoy TV shows. If someone watches television at surface value then they're not going to be particularly interested in the more complex, underlying issues of the show which is what intrigued me and personally defines Dollhouse as an extremely good television show and if there are more of those television watchers out there I'd say that's a reason why it failed. THAT is what I mean by it going over people's heads. At no point was anyone's intelligence questioned.

Interestingly, this thread and the responses to it are odd in relation the EW poll about Whedon's best work...

 

[Willow-Tree]

Mainly because FOX lacked faith in it, and therefore basically refused to advertise it. And when they did, all they advertised was Eliza Dushku's body. So when a potential viewer did tuned in hoping for a show with "beautiful women and car chases", he was let down (on the car chases part. ;P)

 

[Black Eye Guy]

I really don't get how people blame Fox for this one, other then its crap time slot and messing with the plot at the start, I don't think Fox can be blamed.

I saw the original pilot, didn't find it that impressive compared to the re-shot one, it did move faster so that may have helped it, but I think Dollhouse had to many other problems!

Didn't Fox give it more then enough chances, it paired it with a show of a similar genre, it advertised it with that show and it gave it a second season when it really didn't deserve one IMO, and they weren't messing around with the plot of season 2, and yet Joss still ran the story like a snail "running" a marathon.

I really liked Dollhouse, but I think it was the weakest of Joss's work.

 

[Buffyverse Fan]

I really don't get how people blame Fox for this one, other then its crap time slot and messing with the plot at the start, I don't think Fox can be blamed.

I saw the original pilot, didn't find it that impressive compared to the re-shot one, it did move faster so that may have helped it, but I think Dollhouse had to many other problems!

Agree with you so far.

Didn't Fox give it more then enough chances, it paired it with a show of a similar genre, it advertised it with that show and it gave it a second season when it really didn't deserve one IMO, and they weren't messing around with the plot of season 2,

Yes and no. FOX never gave the show a decent timeslot. But as I've said since before the first episode aired, this premise never had a shot on Network TV. Sadly, it would have thrived on FX, USA, TNT, or Syfy. Even if it only kept half its audience, and picked up another 18% on replays, it would have been considered a strong show.

The reason some genre shows survive on the Networks is because people often relate to them. Chuck is presumably familiar to a lot of people who work in retail, Buffy was familiar to people who were teenagers. Dollhouse was not especially identifiable, and the slow pacing was really a nail in the coffin. That meant a dead show regardless of timeslot, but the Friday night slot could easily have shaved off another 1/3 or more.

and yet Joss still ran the story like a snail "running" a marathon.

I really liked Dollhouse, but I think it was the weakest of Joss's work.

I didn't really like Dollhouse, I loved the last few episodes, but 25-40% of the episodes are ones I'll probably never watch twice. I can't say I've seen everything Joss has done, but compared to BtVS, Angel, and Dr. Horrible, this show was pretty bad.

 

[Kerri with a K]

I think FOX did play a part in the ultimate failure of Dollhouse. When you put a lot of pressure and no faith in the creator of a show, you don't get good results. I, for one, loved Dollhouse. It was a slow-goer, and if given the chance it could have done great things - maybe.

What I'm about to say goes against a lot of what I believe in and my loyalty in Joss...but the concept of Dollhouse was good, but only mini-series good. Not full multiple seasons good. It could have gone a little further, but I fear the story may not have been able to hold up.

 

[zobothehobo]

I loved it... everything about it. I mean, I really enjoyed that the main character changed personalities every episode... I found myself liking season 1 better than 2 because I didn't like Echo having a personality in her "doll" state.
I did find some of it really confusing though and I can see why the average viewer didn't catch on. I watched it for the first time online after it was all done and when I saw the season 1 finale, I thought maybe the website messed up and put season 2 instead of season 1. I had no idea what was going on... and I still wonder how Alpha got better. I'm guessing it's that stuff that made the average viewer go "uh... no." It also would have been significantly worse if I had watched it as it aired rather than in a marathon like I did.

 

[Fusions2]

I think one of the reasons why the show didn't become a big success was because of the first 4-5 episodes of the show. I've heard multiple times how the network asked for certain things and the pilot had to be re-shot. When we hit the middle of season one when we know that was Joss in complete control thats when everyone was trying to stick by it finally felt like DH woke up. If that had happened from the beginning I think the show would have stood a better chance of just lasting 2 seasons. Also it was in the crappiest time slot on the network.

 

[DarlingVioletta]

I think the early episodes really had some long term consequences. To have every episode work as a reboot of the main character didn't really leave any room to get attached. I didn't really come to understand what he was trying to do with the series until part way into season two but once I did it was too late.

I think the characters are the best part about Whedon's work, and if you can't easily connect with them then it just seems sort of intimidating.

 

[slayerpower]

FOX will cancel any show that does not get at least 8 million viewers. Joss' shows have never gotten high ratings by FOX standards. His shows get about 4 or 5 million viewers, which is great for The CW, but not FOX. If Dollhouse was on The CW, it would not have gotten cancelled. I don't know why Joss puts his shows on FOX or why FOX expects his shows to get great ratings by their standards.