Joss Whedon at SoHo’s Apple Store
Joss Whedon attended an event at SoHo’s Apple Store to promote his show Dollhouse. As an added surprise, Joss brought the star of the show, Eliza Dushku, to participate in the presentation with him. A sequence from the first episode was screened, in which we are introduced to the concept of Echo (Eliza’s character) being imprinted with a different personality each week, as requested by each customer who purchases her time.
Joss spoke about the optimism that he feels for the show, especially since he feels that Terminator (which stars Whedon alumna Summer Glau) is a great lead-in and companion to Dollhouse. TV Guide critic and moderator Matt Roush also pointed out that Friday has become the new Geek trifecta, with a triple treat of Terminator, Dollhouse and Battlestar Galactica (the latter on the Sci-Fi Channel). Joss explained that he was very encouraged by the way that Fox had promoted Terminator, and the fact that the network has stuck by that show, despite a drop in ratings. Their treatment of Terminator makes him optimistic that they will stand behind Dollhouse.
Because Dollhouse is a mid-season replacement, it will only present 13 episodes. In an effort to attract fans and appease the network, Joss made a decision to move up some storylines from Season 2 to Season 1. His reasoning is that he wants to invite viewers to commit to the show as soon as possible, something that would be more difficult if he stuck to his original story-planning. Nevertheless, he still wanted to break the season in such a way that people can join in after the first episode. He said that the season will reach a major narrative juncture in Episode 6, where the mythology of the show really kicks off. According to Joss and Eliza, there is a good arc in place for the first season, but he has also plotted out five seasons of the show, should it require them.
Joss also announced some casting decisions for this first season. Amy Acker is onboard as a guest, as are fellow Whedon alumni Felicia Day and Alan Tudyk (or as Joss referred to him: “some guy named Alan that I impaled that one time”). I should add that I geeked out when I met the man and asked him to plleeeeaaaase cast Alexis Denisof, to which he replied, “I really need to work with him again!”
Finally, the question was brought up (it was also brought up by The NPR) regarding misogynistic overtones in Dollhouse, a show that is, for all intents and purposes, about human trafficking. Joss answered that he had talked with the organization Equality Now about the themes of the show, and he maintains that it is important to explore these themes of exploitation, first of all in order to tell a story realistically (if the Dollhouse technology existed, it would be used in exploitative ways), and secondly, because Echo’s arc requires that she start in a place of helplessness. The fact that Echo is the weakest of Whedon’s heroines (she lacks superpowers, and even memory) means that her journey to empowerment will be that much more impressive.
The event concluded with a signing, and free Dollhouse posters. Almost everyone brought a Whedon-related item to be signed, ranging from comic books to DVDs. In fact, there were a lot of Buffy Season 1 sets and Angel Season 5s, as well as Firefly. The most surprising thing was that almost everyone in the room had some sort of Joss comic book. I saw one person with Serenity comics, several with Buffy and X-Men. I think I may have been one of the few with Angel comics in tow (I got him to sign After the Fall #12 Runge cover featuring Wesley and my Angel AtF vol. 2 set, also featuring Wesley….did I mention that Wesley is my favorite Whedon character?). His response to the Runge cover: “Wow, this cover’s awesome!”
Side rant: I was glad to see a lot of love for Angel in the room (one of the questions was about a possible continuation to the series), since the organizers of the event (and a lot of people who interview Joss online) all seem to have forgotten that Joss once made a show called Angel. Seriously, why is Angel treated like the ugly middle child? There was no mention of Angel by the Apple guys (who promoted Buffy, Dr. Horrible, and Firefly in addition to Dollhouse), but I saw many fans with the Angel DVDs (all Season 5, as I said). Personally, I like Angel as much as I like Buffy, and I consider them both superior to Firefly, though I know that popular opinion holds Angel in last place. As I said, I was happy to see a lot of Angel fans in the audience last night, so perhaps Whedon fans haven’t forgotten the series, even if the press has.
To end on a positive note, the Dollhouse footage looked very exciting. I also have a feeling that the momentum will build and build as the season progresses, so I’m looking forward to seeing the arc unfold. Hopefully, the show will stick around, and we’ll have ourselves a weekly Whedon treat! Watch Dollhouse Fridays at 9 p.m. on Fox, starting this week.
-Artemis
I agree about Angel. I liked that show as much if not more than Buffy. I guess it’s the fact that Angel is seen as a spinoff of Buffy that people don’t mention it. Sometimes when people refer to Buffy, I assume they’re talking about the Buffy-verse, which includes both shows. I also didn’t like Firefly as much as Whedon’s other two shows, although it had some good humor and characters.
I like all of Joss’ work. I find it strange that season 5 of Angel was the series which people took with them, as I found it a little disapointing, compared to trhe first four. I would have liked to have seen another two series.
I think S5 is one of the strongest seasons of Angel, since they got rid of the most problematic character: Cordelia. They wrote themselves into a corner with that one and I was really, really glad to see her go. I also like the changed dynamic and W&H. I think S2 and S3 are also very good, with S4 and S1 being the weakest (though still good).