Dollhouse reactions and The Guild Season 2 Finale!

So, did you watch it yet?

Dollhouse, I mean. My DVR didn't record the last 15 mins so I had to watch the first bit on TV then switch to Hulu. For anyone outside the US who wants to use Hulu you can get and IP switcher (see this post for more details). Now there are NO SPOILERs HERE, so you can read on without fear.

Was it any good?

That's the questions everyone is struggling to answer. I waited until I saw it to look at any opinions because I wanted to have my own reaction to it. Given that we know that this first episode is actually the third attempt at a pilot, it was hard to have an open mind. Given the dark cloud of cancellation has been there is people's minds ever since the series was announced, expectations were bound to be high. So....did it deliver? Yes. And no. 

I will be tuning in!

This was not the single most inspiring, exciting, unexpected, breathtaking piece of TV I have ever seen. But how could it be? I knew more than I wanted to about it before it had aired anyway. I knew the premise, the actors, had seen the sets, the clothes, the technology...But it was a good, solid start. The storytelling was sharp, the acting believable and it looked like a polished series that was set to grow. No wobbly sets or crappy camera work. There has been some disappointment, despair and hand-wringing in some quarters but - guess what? That's been going on since day 1 and it's unlikely to change. Give it a chance. Cowboys in space was a hard concept to grasp and, for some, it took a little time to get into. Dollhouse looks like it's a real grower, and I can't wait.

(Picture from Felicia's blog)

The Guild Season 2 Ends Tomorrow!

The waiting and gnashing of teeth has started already. Felicia - get writing Season 3! Felicia - stop swanning around doing other stuff! Felicia - ooh Dollhouse! Yes, Felicia has started blogging a bit more frequently (don't you hate it when your fav bloggers get busy and don't keep you updated? Really ticks me off, that...). In her last blog post she talks about Season 2 and her impending part in Dollhouse. And she also mentions that she might be doing a Live Chat to coincide with the season Finale. Yay! I hope this happens and as soon as I hear I will post details. Exciting, huh?

Are you ready? DOLLHOUSE premiere (and BSG grinds on)

Dollhouse parties - are you going to one?

There is one tonight in Vancouver but I won't be able to make it due to various other child-related commitments (anyone with kids will tell you they have a much more active social life than their parents!). So, this evening I will be off the Internet (shock! Horror!) as I struggle to avoid any spoilers about Dollhouse and Battlestar Galactica.

No Spoilers!

For many months there was a steady trickle of information about the new Joss Whedon/Eliza Dushku series on Fox. Most of it not from Fox itself but from interviews with Joss and Eliza and the other stars. Information from Fox was hard to come by and trailers scare. Little advertising was done on Fox and this heightened fans' fears that the show was about to outdo Firefly by being cancelled before it had even aired. But in the last two weeks - holymoly! There has been reams of interviews, trailers posted, Joss and Eliza have been here, there and everywhere promoting the show. So much information, in fact, that there is far too much for me to process. And, in the midst of this it's hard to stay spoiler-free. Every interview has people asking about the show - of course! But then do you read it or not? I have started a couple and then stopped because I just want to be able to watch. I'll catch up with everything afterwards. For now I'm basking in the anticipation.

But if you want to know more...

Head over the Whedonesque.com. As always it's the go-to place to find out where all those interview, articles and videos are. Mostly they are flagged if they have spoilers so knock yourself out. Yesterday Joss himself posted a message saying he would answer 5 questions of those posted within a half-hour window. His rationale being that he had given time everywhere else so the loyal fans at Whedonesque.com should be rewarded, too:

February 13 2009

For You Guys. I'll check this in 30 minutes and pick five questions to answer.

I'll have to be brief, but since I'm talking to everyone that should include you.

joss | Purple prose | 06:24 CET | 237 comments total

As you can see, as of this morning there were 237 comments in reply to his post - many containing multiple questions. Yes, I think you could say that interest was high.

There's even an article about the science basis behind Dollhouse in 'Dollhouse's Memory Science Mixes Fact with Fiction' article in PopularMechanics.

(Picture from PopularMechanics article)

Could it get any better?

And to top it all Felicia Day confirmed via Twitter yesterday the rumours that had been circulating - she is going to be in Dollhouse later in the season:

For those inquiring minds, I got the ok today to confirm that I'm going to be on an episode Dollhouse later in the season! So exciting

BSG - I'm loving it?

Well you can never say that Battlestar Galactica shied away from violence, mayhem and sheer, bloody-minded refusal to face facts. No, no spoilers but if you haven't already caught up on the happens then do it! Unless you don't like being put through the emotional wringer. Wimp.

Nathan Fillion and Dollhouse updates

Some development news about 'Castle'
TheFutonCritic.com have published some updated development news about 'Castle', a new ABC show that will star Nathan Fillion. It gives some plot outlines for the show which certainly sound very promising and, best of all, is news that a pilot has been ordered. It would be really fantastic to see Mr Fillion in a lead role on a show like this. I tuned into 'Desperate Housewives' just to see him in the season finale and it was a real shame he didn't have more screentime. Can't wait to hear more.

Dollhouse: Eliza is a real Producer
In quite an in-depth interview on scifi.com, Joss Whedon talks about how the reduced ad-breaks will affect the timings for the shows and then he moves on to Eliza's roles:

"I said, 'Oh, wow, I've come up with a show, and I’ll do it with you, but you have to know, though, this thing about you having a producer credit: I'm going to make you earn it. I'm going to want your input. I'm going to want ideas. I'm going to want you to help me work out certain problems. This is our show.' She and I came at it from a very similar aesthetic view, a very similar political view and a great mutual trust. So, to me, it's an essential part of what the show says about people and about her, that she should be a producer."

This is the real deal for Ms Dushku and it speaks volumes about the respect Joss has for her as an artist and co-worker. It makes Dollhouse even harder to wait for!

Fox gets Foxy with the marketing
In a bold attempt to stir up blogosphere (yep, that's a real word) Fox launched their marketing for Dollhouse, Fringe and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. I have mixed feelings about this, but I admire the idea behind it. And they have also headed off the Dollhouse cancellation rumours while simultaneously almost apologising for Firefly's ignominious treatment. Well, I'm choosing to interpret it that way. You might have other ideas...

Dollhouse starts filming - today!

The excitement is high, folks!
After months of waiting for preparation, followed by weeks of nothing but preparation, the day has finally dawned on the first day of filming for the new Joss Whedon/Eliza Dushku series, Dollhouse. Conceived by Joss Whedon while talking to Eliza Dushku in the week before the WGA strike, Dollhouse marks a return to TV for Joss. Yes, it's on Fox and yes, fans are concerned about that (after 'Firefly' was ignominiously canned by Fox), but there is every reason to be hopeful. There will be at least 7 episodes and the cast is looking awesome.

Highlights run-down
As might be expected, the Interweb is awash with Dollhouse tidbits today, so here's a selection of the ones that caught my eye:

Whedonesque: two Dollhouse related posts (this morning, anyway!)

• Dollhouse now on IMDb
• Link to Dollverse which has a good summary of why we should be excited

AfterEllen.com: Has a great rundown (with photos) of the cast members and summary of the Televisionary (who have seen the first script) and E! Watch with Kristen (who gives a great summary of the Dollhouse premise) reports.

Dollrific!: Has a summary of the Dollhouse Forum Q&A with Dollhouse writers Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain (insightful and with no spoilers!) and the news that brother Jed Whedon and Jed's fiancee Maurissa Tancharoen are also writers on Dollhouse. Jed and Maurissa, along with Joss' other brother Zack Whedon and Joss himself, are the writers on the hopefully-soon-to-be-released Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.

Looking forward
With official promotional material due within a month, there's going to be a whole slew of information about the series soon. Which can only be a good thing! We might hear more about Dollhouse in tomorrow's Joss Whedon's Journal extract - you can only read it here...

Joss' thought machine

In your head
What would you give to know what Joss is thinking? Money? A minor organ? A major organ? Yep, it's a tough old question. Imagine being able to see into the Master's mind (I mean Joss', not, you know, The Master from Buffy). To follow the complicated and inspiring thought processes, the higher levels of intellect that undoubtedly reside within that revered cranium. A tantalising prospect, I think you would agree. A tempting prospect.

Heart is taking over
So what I have to share is something a bit, well.....you'll have to read it and draw your own conclusions I guess. Everyone in fandom has done something a bit mad/weird/borderline legal in pursuit of their quarry. And so many are pursuing Joss. He has become almost mythical in his own lifetime. His latest series, Dollhouse, was dreamt up during a bathroom break while at lunch with Eliza Dushku. Truly he is a Titan (AE) amongst us.

Who are we mistaken
So let me present, for your delectation, delight and diversion, a glimpse into the mind of Mr Joseph Hill Whedon (Joss, to you and me). A sliver of his journal, a minuscule trickle from the river of consciousness.....

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Joss's Journal - Feb 08
Man, good to know that we can still negotiate and win! Victory (of sorts) is ours!
It will feel soooooo goooooood to tune up the old neurons and dust off the quills. Eliza has been ringing, like, twice a day asking if it's over yet so she was over-the-moon when she heard.
Started ringing round only to realise that everyone had already heard on that gorramit Interweb
and were already churning out the words. Always back to the words. Better put my gee-tar down for a little whiles.

Now, where did I put those Dollhouse notes? And where's the phone? Serendipitous indeed for
me that Sarah and Liz were so cruelly cut just when I was looking for more writers. I wonder
if I'll have to get the doughnuts. Have a rep to keep up there, and it's always me that wants the Jelly ones...And what's the Harvard Independent anyway? Like I care if they diss BTVS8! Must remember them at the Paley this year. Now, when was that again? Not next week! Noooooo! Gotta work!

O - Not next week! Silly moi. I knew that. Where's the phone?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Zombie
Heady stuff, I'm sure you'll agree! Obviously I can't give all the good stuff straight away and some might never see the light of day. Yes, very funny, putting it here means it won't ever see the light of day anyway but I am so over that self-deprecating humour now. The blog's here and it's staying. End of.

Woody's roundup
So, in other news tonight...blog now listed on Google (yay!), Star Wait not arrived yet (boo!), ordered my copy of Serenity: Better days signed by Nathan Fillion on ebay for Kids Need To Read, stopped throwing up (double yay).

No news is good news?

In [cybergeek]space, no-one can hear you...
ask a polite question. Apparently. Well, still a big nothing on the lineup dudes in terms of making direct contact. My email appears to have been delayed/deleted/ignored. But then, how long do you wait after you sent an email before you know you aren't going to get a reply? Email is an instant communication tool, but only if the other person checks their email. And I guess it could easily have been be filtered and never even got to the actual inbox. So maybe I'll wait a bit longer before I email another member.

A new hope...
I've not been entirely unsucessful, though. I have ordered a new DVD for myself. Entitled 'Star Wait' it chronicles the Revenge of the Sith lineup in all its apparent glory. I am really looking forward to this - perhaps we will get some answers after all! Let me know if you've seen it already but no spoilers, please!

You're getting a burning sensation?
And while I was not receiving email and comments from people guess what I found? The transcript to 'Raw'. Now, when I first saw Eddie Murphy on a worn-out video at a friend's house I nearly choked to death. It's hard to imagine now, perhaps, but as a teen who had only ever attended Catholic school and college such a barrage of swearing and vivid imagery had a profound effect. I kept thinking that the police would charge in at any minute to put a stop to it but I could not stop laughing. It was so wrong and so funny. And all that summer we communicated to each other using references to it. But with only 10% of the swearing. Which, actually, was still a heck of a lot of swearing. Happy days! I can't wait for my kids to be old enough.....


No, chicken liver shoot out my nose!
Better news on Wil Wheaton. He is recovering well from his surgery with only minor side effects like high blood pressure and chicken liver bogies. His description of this is great (and disgusting) http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/wwdnbackup/2008/02/i-dont-want-to.html. Let's hope they clear up in time for his next convention appearance or he might get wrongly ushered into the special effects arena. Be well again soon, Wil (I tried to use Trackback to your link so I would appear to be a worthy geek, but apparently Blogger doesn't support it, so no go).


Back in the Dollhouse?
The Writers strike has now finished - hooray! That should mean that Joss Whedon and Eliza Dushku can get their new series Dollhouse underway. A new TV series from Joss? And I know about it BEFORE it is released? Things are improving indeed. It was slated for an Autumn (sorry - Fall) release but no word yet on whether that will happen now. As soon as I know more...