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SURVIVOR Strong!! KARDASHIANS Crush E! Record!! DOLLHOUSE Hits New Low!! MEN Aging Poorly!! Ratings Wrap-Up!!
I am – Hercules!!
Friday 18-49 finals (previous Fridays in parentheses):
2.1 (-----) (-----) (----) (----) (----) (----) (----) (-----) (----) (----) (----) (----) Frosty the Snowman
1.9 (-----) (-----) (----) (----) (----) (----) (----) (-----) (----) (----) (----) (----) Frosty Returns
1.7 (1.7) (1.6) (1.7) (1.8) (2.0) (2.8) (1.7) (1.6) (2.0) (1.5) (1.7) (2.3) 20/20 (10pm)
1.4 (2.0) (1.5) (----) (1.5) (1.7) (----) (1.6) (1.7) (----) (1.5) (1.8) (1.5) Dateline
1.4 (1.4) (1.2) (1.0) (1.3) (1.2) (1.2) (1.2) (1.4) (1.3) (1.4) (1.4) (1.6) The Jay Leno Show
1.4 (-----) (-----) (----) (-----) (----) (----) (----) (-----) (----) (----) (----) (----) 20/20 (9pm)
1.2 (1.7) (----) (----) (1.4) (1.6) (1.7) (1.4) (1.5) (1.6) (1.5) (1.2) (1.2) Law & Order
1.1 (1.2) (1.6) (1.1) (1.7) (1.7) (1.8) (1.7) (1.8) (1.8) (1.6) (1.6) (1.8) Numbers
1.1 (1.0) (1.8) (1.1) (1.9) (2.0) (1.9) (1.9) (2.1) (1.9) (2.0) (1.9) (2.1) Medium
1.1 (1.2) (-----) (0.9) (-----) (1.4) (1.3) (1.3) (1.1) (----) (----) (----) (----) Supernanny
0.7 (1.0) (0.8) (-----) (-----) (----) (----) (----) (-----) (----) (----) (----) (----) Dollhouse (8pm)
0.7 (0.8) (0.8) (-----) (-----) (----) (----) (----) (0.8) (----) (1.0) (0.9) (1.0) Dollhouse (9pm)
0.6 (-----) (-----) (----) (----) (----) (----) (-----) (----) (----) (----) (----) (----) Vampire Diaries
* “Dollhouse’s” final two episodes of 2009 both hit new series lows. So my sincere thanks to Fox for continuing to run these for the two million of us who are still watching. Three more new episodes close out the series in January.
* “Leno,” which did not have to follow any NBC dramas last week, kept its weekly average above 1.5, the magic number alleged to earn NBC (if not its viewer-starved affiliates’ late newscasts) $300 million annually:
Jay Leno Show in 18-49:
1.5 (1.4) (1.2) (1.4) (1.4) (1.2) (1.2) (1.3) (1.4) (1.5) (1.5) (1.7) (1.8) (5.3) Mon
1.8 (2.9) (----) (1.9) (1.9) (1.9) (2.0) (1.8) (1.8) (1.8) (2.1) (2.3) (2.5) (3.4) Tue
1.6 (1.3) (1.5) (1.6) (1.4) (1.4) (1.4) (1.5) (1.5) (1.8) (1.7) (1.9) (2.0) (3.5) Wed
1.7 (1.6) (1.5) (1.5) (1.6) (1.6) (1.6) (1.5) (1.6) (1.8) (1.7) (1.6) (1.7) (2.7) Thu
1.4 (1.4) (1.2) (1.0) (1.3) (1.2) (1.2) (1.2) (1.4) (1.3) (1.4) (1.4) (1.6) (2.2) Fri
1.5 (1.4) (1.2) (1.4) (1.4) (1.2) (1.2) (1.3) (1.4) (1.5) (1.5) (1.7) (1.8) (5.3) Mon
1.8 (2.9) (----) (1.9) (1.9) (1.9) (2.0) (1.8) (1.8) (1.8) (2.1) (2.3) (2.5) (3.4) Tue
1.6 (1.3) (1.5) (1.6) (1.4) (1.4) (1.4) (1.5) (1.5) (1.8) (1.7) (1.9) (2.0) (3.5) Wed
1.7 (1.6) (1.5) (1.5) (1.6) (1.6) (1.6) (1.5) (1.6) (1.8) (1.7) (1.6) (1.7) (2.7) Thu
1.4 (1.4) (1.2) (1.0) (1.3) (1.2) (1.2) (1.2) (1.4) (1.3) (1.4) (1.4) (1.6) (2.2) Fri
Sunday 18-49 finals (prior Sunday finals in parentheses):
7.1(----)(10.0)(8.4) (----) (9.7) (----)(10.9)(10.7) (----) (----) (----) (----) Fox Football Overrun
6.5 (7.8) (6.8) (7.7) (6.6) (8.6) (8.5) (----) (5.9) (7.2) (6.2) (7.4) (6.8) NBC Sunday Night Football
4.4 (-----) (-----) (----) (----) (----) (----) (-----) (----) (----) (----) (----) (----) Survivor Finale
3.8 (-----) (-----) (----) (----) (----) (----) (-----) (----) (----) (----) (----) (----) Survivor Reunion
3.8 (3.2) (2.5) (4.2) (3.3) (4.3) (----) (----) (----) (4.1) (3.7) (4.4) (4.3) The Simpsons
3.1 (3.8) (3.0) (4.4) (3.9) (4.2) (4.1) (----) (----) (4.2) (4.5) (5.1) (5.2) Family Guy
2.8 (3.0) (----) (3.5) (3.3) (3.4) (3.2) (----) (----) (3.8) (3.9) (4.4) (4.9) The Cleveland Show
2.5 (3.1) (2.1) (3.3) (2.8) (3.0) (2.0) (----) (----) (3.1) (3.5) (3.6) (3.6) American Dad
2.3 (2.4) (-----) (-----) (----) (----) (----) (----) (-----) (----) (----) (----) (----) Keeping Up With The Kardashians
2.2 (3.6) (2.0) (2.6) (3.3) (2.2) (3.8) (2.2) (2.1) (3.2) (3.5) (2.2) (3.2) 60 Minutes
2.0 (-----) (-----) (----) (----) (----) (----) (-----) (----) (----) (----) (----) (----) Santa Claus 3
1.7 (2.2) (2.0) (2.1) (1.8) (2.3) (2.0) (2.0) (2.3) (1.9) (2.2) (2.2) (----) AFH Videos
1.4 (-----) (-----) (----) (----) (----) (----) (----) (-----) (----) (----) (----) (----) Kendra
1.2 (----) (4.9) (4.4) (----) (5.0) (4.4) (5.0) (4.7) (4.6) (4.6) (5.0) (4.7) Desperate Housewives
0.5 (0.9) (-----) (-----) (----) (----) (----) (----) (----) (-----) (----) (----) (----) The Jacksons
0.5 (0.6) (0.7) (0.7) (0.6) (-----) (-----) (----) (----) (----) (----) (----) (----) Tough Love 2
* The Sunday “Survivor” finale eclipsed every Thursday edition of the series this season and matched numbers for last fall’s finale.. It handily outscored the recent Sunday-night “Amazing Race” finale and gave CBS its best non-football Sunday-night number of the season.
* E!’s “Kardashians” has emerged as a cable monster. It was the channel’s biggest telecast ever (besting the 2002 premiere of “The Anna Nicole Show”) with 4.2 million viewers – and slipped very little in 18-49 from last week’s season premiere, which matched USA’s “Monk” finale in that demo. More money and success for executive producer Ryan Seacrest.
* Also not faring well was the season’s first “Desperate Housewives” repeat. The lowest-rated broadcast of the night, it pulled a worse 18-49 number than new cable “reality” fare like “Kendra.”
James Hibberd’s analysis is here.
Monday 18-49 finals (prior Monday finals in parentheses):
4.2 (5.1) (5.4) (8.5) (4.8) (4.1) (6.5) (5.1) (5.2) (5.5) (5.4) (9.0) (6.6) (5.9) Monday Night Football
3.4 (5.6) (5.6) (3.2) (5.2) (5.0) (4.7) (4.7) (3.8) (5.3) (4.8) (4.7) (5.3) (4.7) Big Bang Theory
3.2 (5.2) (5.0) (3.2) (4.7) (4.7) (4.6) (4.4) (3.5) (4.8) (4.6) (4.4) (4.8) (4.5) Two and a Half Men
2.4 (4.1) (3.7) (2.5) (3.7) (3.7) (4.0) (3.7) (3.1) (3.9) (4.0) (3.9) (4.1) (4.3) CSI: Miami
2.3 (2.3) (-----) (-----) (----) (----) (----) (----) (----) (----) (-----) (----) (----) (----) The Sing Off
1.8 (----) (----) (-----) (-----) (----) (----) (----) (----) (-----) (----) (----) (----) (----) IWADFC, Charlie Brown
1.7 (3.7) (3.5) (2.0) (3.7) (3.4) (3.5) (3.5) (2.6) (3.4) (3.5) (3.4) (3.6) (3.6) How I Met Your Mother
1.7 (3.2) (2.8) (1.7) (3.1) (2.8) (2.9) (3.1) (2.1) (3.3) (3.0) (2.8) (3.1) (3.3) Accidentally On Purpose
1.7 (1.9) (1.8) (1.6) (2.0) (1.9) (1.5) (1.8) (2.1) (1.6) (1.7) (1.7) (1.7) (2.0) WWE Raw (10pm)
1.6 (1.5) (1.4) (1.2) (1.4) (1.4) (1.2) (1.2) (1.3) (1.4) (1.5) (1.5) (1.7) (1.8) The Jay Leno Show
1.6 (2.1) (-----) (4.8) (4.6) (5.0) (5.3) (----) (----) (4.4) (5.0) (5.4) (5.8) (6.7) House
1.6 (1.8) (1.7) (1.7) (1.8) (1.8) (1.6) (1.7) (2.0) (1.7) (1.6) (1.6) (1.6) (1.7) WWE Raw (9pm)
1.4 (1.2) (1.4) (-----) (-----) (----) (----) (----) (----) (-----) (----) (----) (----) (----) The Closer
1.4 (1.1) (1.1) (1.2) (-----) (-----) (----) (----) (----) (-----) (----) (----) (----) (----) Pawn Stars (10:30pm)
1.4 (0.9) (1.0) (1.1) (-----) (-----) (----) (----) (----) (-----) (----) (----) (----) (----) Pawn Stars (10pm)
1.3 (2.2) (-----) (2.7) (2.7) (2.7) (3.0) (----) (2.4) (2.9) (2.8) (3.1) (2.9) (----) Lie To Me
1.2 (1.3) (1.5) (2.0) (2.9) (-----) (-----) (----) (----) (-----) (----) (----) (----) (----) Find My Family
1.1 (1.3) (1.6) (-----) (-----) (----) (----) (----) (----) (-----) (----) (----) (----) (----) Men of a Certain Age
1.1 (1.1) (1.1) (1.5) (-----) (-----) (----) (----) (----) (-----) (----) (----) (----) (----) Hoarders
1.0 (1.1) (2.1) (1.6) (2.7) (2.5) (2.4) (2.4) (2.5) (2.4) (2.4) (2.2) (2.2) (2.3) Castle
0.9 (0.9) (1.1) (1.2) (-----) (-----) (----) (----) (----) (-----) (----) (----) (----) (----) Intervention
0.8 (0.7) (0.7) (0.7) (-----) (-----) (----) (----) (----) (-----) (----) (----) (----) (----) For The Love of Ray J 2
0.6 (0.5) (0.5) (0.6) (-----) (0.5) (----) (0.9) (0.8) (0.7) (-----) (----) (----) (----) Little People, Big World
0.6 (0.7) (0.6) (0.6) (-----) (-----) (----) (----) (----) (-----) (----) (----) (----) (----) I Want To Work For Diddy 2
0.3 (----) (1.2) (1.1) (0.5) (1.2) (1.3) (1.1) (1.3) (1.0) (1.2) (1.1) (1.1) (1.1) One Tree Hill
0.3 (----) (1.2) (1.1) (0.5) (1.2) (1.3) (1.0) (1.2) (1.1) (1.2) (1.1) (1.2) (1.0) Gossip Girl
* “Monday Night Football” skirted its season low, but still finished first thanks to CBS being in repeats.
* “Sing Off” finished OK, but – being a reality show – lifted “Leno” to its best Monday 18-49 number in 12 weeks.
* TNT’s “Men of a Certain Age” continues to age poorly, drawing a rather smaller audience than did “Everybody Loves Raymond.”
* ABC’s “Find My Family” hit another personal low.
Find James Hibberd’s analysis here.
Figures in grey represent repeats.
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$9.99 Blu-ray RoboCop!!
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Or should everyone still be mad for Fox airing Dollhouse on Fridays, or running them out of order, or for being smelly, or something.
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As the only person who was actually PLAYING the game, he should have won. Whatsherface was so memorable and clever that I can't even remember her frickin' name!
BTW, Russell put up this website: russellgotscrewed . com -
I contrast him with the final pitch from the ultimate winner of China. That guy masterminded, but appeared weak. He also threw the pitch that always gets votes when contrasted against the people who say "I ran with a strategy that I could still respect myself." Masterminds who say "I in no way represent myself as a better person; it was just a game, like chess."
Had he been more moderate in his speech, and if his last two betrayals not been so fresh, he would/should have won. -
Hopefully Men of a Certain Age will start go back up after the holidays. It's a very worthy drama but maybe takes a couple of episodes to get into it. Maybe they should do a couple of stunt castings with Heaton or the hot Vulcan from Bakula's ST to get some attention.
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WTF, does any one else find it odd that herc highlights the word grey in green?
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Looks like the move from Siffy is paying off.
http://bit.ly/5Vejph
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Looks like the only people watching it now are those who are capable of understanding good television.
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who watch it, and complain about it.
And you can frequently tell from their postings that they don't get it. -
More likely that no one wants to invest in a TV show that is going to be cancelled anyways. I, personally, am really enjoying the final episodes. If only we'd gotten to this a bit sooner, I think the show would still be going strong. It's turning into a really imaginative, suspensful story with good characters (still think Eliza can't act, though). But at least we're going to see a conclusion, and not be left floating in space, if you will :)
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Complain about it being cancelled? Or complain about not liking it?
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Complaining about the show. Not liking it, and in many cases, not understanding it.
Anyway, in a few weeks it will all be over.
Enjoy the holidays all. I'm off to wage my liberal lefty atheistic war on Xmas (as sponsered by Bill O'Reilly and Glen Beck donchaknow :p ) -
and it's going to get cancelled. Figures.
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Russell played a great game on Survivor but he didn't get screwed. Part of the game is winning the jury. He failed completely to do that. He basically allowed Erik to trash his personal integrity. He didn't make a personal appeal to the members of Galu to vote for him for any reason except that he was the best at screwing them. He should have sucked up to each one by explaining how each individual he eliminated was a huge threat to him. He sort of did that with Laura and the kid at the end, but that was all. In the final analysis he was arrogant and that cost him the game. Now he's whining like a bitch.
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The Leno "1.5 magic number" is not JUST the 18-49 demographic, it's the entire ratings (which Leno scored a 3.6 and a 5.5 mil. viewers from zap2it.com). Then you turn around and mention Dollhouse's "2 million viewers" which is not solely based upon the 18-49 demo, but the entire viewing audience (their 18-49 demographic would be under 2 million). So, basically, you're changing the measuring of audience viewing units in mid-stream. And if there's one thing we all know is don't cross the streams.
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I just watched last week's Dollhouse last night, and it was friggin awesome!! Sure I'm glad that we at least get to finish out the season, but why didn't Fox wait till the end of the season before deciding to cancel it, instead of like 3 episodes in? I really think this show is starting to get as good as Whedon's other shows. Maybe if Fox hadn't put it on Friday nights, messed with the pilot, and forced Whedon to do standalones in season 1, the show would have gotten better earlier.
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The opening crawl flat out calls FOX idiots and really makes fun of them for wasting money on shows they cancel.
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Getting to the the final is only half of the game. His end game was shit plain and simple. His speech was lacking, his personal betrayals were too arrogant (How many on the jury did Russell personally promise to take to the final two?... like half?). Russell was a completely lost puppy at the merge moment. NATALIE made the move to turn the game by splitting Galu,NOT Russell. Plus Erik's biggest shot against Russell was not the speech justifying Nat's play, it wsa getting Russell's pathetic attempt to change his image by saying he is nothing in real life like he was in the game. Russell's actions at the vote, and since have shown him to be the same complete and utter arrogant asshole he was "playing" for the game.
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FELIZ NA'VI DAD !
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I hope they have sucked. I've boycotted Monday Night Football since they put it on ESPN. Greedy bastards.
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Caught the first ep and this weeks..and I think I've found something to tide me over till season 3 of Breaking Bad. As I said after the first, a show built around little victories and little heartbreaks, just like real life. Bravo, Ray. Just keep the writing to others. Sometimes your lines are a rim shot away from set-up then punchline.
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If you are bitter that espn has MNF, you obviously have ALOT more in your life to be bitter about than football programming. Its almost 2010--TWO THOUSAND AND TEN--get basic cable, for cryin out loud. if you can't, well then get off aintitcool and get yourself a job. Plus, MNF is way better on espn--before and after the game, and then the next day, that game and the two teams who played it are looked at very closely, with smaller teams getting some quality coverage when they'd be a blip on the radar if not for MNF.That said, I cannot in recent memory and quite a few years before, remember a game as atrocious as giants/skins. The redskins were so awful that I am embarrassed for them. That game was so awful it was beyond appalling.
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turned it off a long time ago. The only people still watching are Whedonites who think his shit doesn't stink. Enjoy that shit while it lasts!
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Dec 23, 2009 8:12:34 PM CST
From SyFy Wire: All The Things That I Told You That Were Wrong..
by media messiah
...with Dollhouse, and that could have saved the show, if addressed, are the very same things that the staff at Syfy Wire appear to be in agreement with. You'll recall I was roundly attacked for my views of the show, and how it could be fixed, thngs that I pointed-out from the very beginning, even well before the show first aired. Now, for the Syfy interview. (see below):Syfy Wire7 ways Dollhouse could have been great
Summer Glau (left), with Fran Kranz and Eliza Dushku (on table)
The small audience that's continued watching Fox's Dollhouse since it got canceled this fall undoubtedly has noticed something: Now that it's canceled, it's gotten good!
Not perfect, mind you, but good. All the potential that was there in the beginning is being realized, and we have three episodes left with characters we're starting to care about headed to war with Rossum. AND a final episode that's called "Epitaph Two: Return."
Some familiar faces will be popping up before series' end, including Amy Acker as Dr. Saunders/Whiskey, Alan Tudyk as Alpha, Summer Glau as Bennett Halverson and "Epitaph One's" Felicia Day—and even Dushku's real-life boyfriend, Rick Fox, will play an Active on the Jan. 8 episode.
Taking the show in fascinating directions NOW is what makes Dollhouse so eminently disappointing, and it MAKES US CRAZY! If it was just a terrible show about a mindless Doll named Echo (Eliza Dushku) and her brainless imprints for various missions, we could have come to terms with that. And if it was just about a bunch of morally bankrupt characters working for a morally bankrupt corporation, OK. We'd tell creator Joss Whedon, "Let's put it behind us and move on. Go do something that's worthy of your genius."
But that's not what's happening, and we're kind of pissed. Others have noted this as well, and we've compiled their reactions with ours to come up with seven things that could have made Dollhouse great, along with one extra bonus thing. (And, Joss, we're disappointed you didn't figure these out before we did):
1. After the pilot, Dollhouse should have skipped to "Bella Chose," the third episode of the second season, when Echo really gets her ability to access her personalities.
Yes, there were some great bits along the way, but the first season was slow, and Whedon did nothing but toy with what he promised us he was going to do ... which was make Echo aware.
Dan from Dan's Media Digest added, "It's interesting to me that Dollhouse has started becoming the show I imagined we'd be getting from the very start. When I first heard about Joss Whedon's idea, I imagined a scenario that would splice Joe 90 with The Pretender, but they instead went down the path of keeping Echo (Eliza Dushku) stuck in the Dollhouse being mind-wiped after every adventure. Thankfully, they've managed to spread their wings."
2. Whedon is a brilliant writer and creator of TV shows, and he needs to stop compromising his vision.
"Shooting a new pilot was my idea," Whedon told Brian Ford Sullivan of The Futon Critic. "Because the network, they were looking for something specific. I thought I delivered it because they were very excited about the script. They weren't as excited about the show so we talked about why and why and why, and I figured out what they wanted. We talked about those things, and it was obvious they wanted more of an action feel than a noir feel. What I had done was very sort of dark and moody. And they wanted a show, a first episode, that absolutely laid out the structure of the show, which is—Echo is at the Dollhouse, she is imprinted for an engagement, she goes on the engagement, she comes back from the engagement into the Dollhouse. This is how it works."
3. Trust the premise.
Blast Magazine's Kellen Rice commented: "The premise of Dollhouse is saturated with potential. This show has the scaffolding in place to explore issues just as deeply (and perhaps even more thoroughly) as Battlestar Galactica. The concepts of self, self vs. body, informed consent, identity, death, perception, ... all of these are fascinating topics that Dollhouse season one touched on and upon which season two will hopefully expand."
4. Echo, with her ability to access different personalities, is a character that should have evolved early in the series and not at the end of it. Let's face it,
Eliza Dushku doesn't do dumb Doll well. Most any actress would have had trouble with this role, considering that her character was too often either childlike boring or schizophrenic, especially in season one.
IGN's Eric Goldman reviewed a recent episode where "Echo was in the mode that she (and Eliza Dushku) are served best by on this series—tough and ready to fight. We continue to get more insight into her fun ability to access all of her former imprints and their skill sets and how she can simply absorb a new one, Matrix style, and still be 'Echo.' This default Echo is not particularly nuanced. She can access the different personas, but she doesn't seem to act differently—just be able to do different cool things. But considering Echo has always been a crucial weak part of Dollhouse, I'm happy to accept Dushku back in her plausible tough-girl persona, with so little time left."
5. We love Alan Tudyk. We're even still bitter that Whedon killed off Wash in Serenity. But Alpha should have been someone who scared us.
TheTVCritic.org had problems with Alpha, as well. "I think the biggest letdown was Alpha. Like so many television shows, we were given hints of something unique and gripping but what we got was generic. The idea of 40 personalities being awake inside a man's head leads to so many possibilities. The combination of knowledge, skills and awareness looked like it would create a superhuman in every sense. Someone who couldn't be beaten in a fight or an argument because they had too much knowledge to call upon. And of course what conclusion would such a creature draw about the human race, morality and their sense of self. In the end though Alpha was much more like all TV bad guys. He liked the sound of his own voice, he was obsessed with achieving unattainable goals and was undone by his own plan. In the end he put a gun to 'someone's' head, just like every desperate bad guy, it felt like a real let down."
6. While we understand storywise why Paul Ballard ended up in the Dollhouse in season two, Paul should have been inside the Dollhouse to start with.
Having him join the Dollhouse later did not serve Tahmoh Penikett's character or the show.
Fandomania's Paige MacGregor commented, "I'm a little miffed with Mr. Paul Ballard. He is so passionate about shutting down the Dollhouse and saving the men and women 'trapped' there; however, he continues to allow Echo to experience a number of very disturbing side effects involving her memory wipes and engagements. Of all people, Ballard has a first-hand view of what the Dollhouse is capable of and the new advancements that Topher is making with 'programming' the brain (and now the body as well), yet he hides the fact that Echo remembers parts of her engagements from the only people who might be able to determine if these 'glitches' are the result of or are causing any long-term damage to Echo's brain."
P.S. Not to mention letting Echo be prostituted out on a continual basis.
7. Fox should have aired Epitaph One at the end of last season.
It would have been a game-changer, but we know Whedon would have made it work.
And 7 1/2 Go back to The CW, Joss, or move on to cable. We mean it. At least they'd appreciate you. Don't ever make another series for Fox again.
Paste Magazine's Tim Regan-Porter wrote, "The DVDs were a revelation. The unaired 13th episode, 'Epitaph One' with Felicia Day and set 10 years in the future, was sci-fi magic. And the unaired pilot showed what could have been. Even without the behind-the-scenes featurettes and commentary that explicitly call out Fox's interference, it's obvious just from watching those episodes and the show's evolution that ham-fisted executives screwed the pooch. They wanted sexed-up action-adventure confined to single-episode stories, killing what was most intriguing about this and all of Whedon's shows: the through-line, the meta. Whedon says he was six episodes in by the time he got one that he was happy with."
8. And then there's "Acceptance."
We admit we've been going through the five stages of grief since our journey with Dollhouse began. Denial: that the series wasn't better to begin with and now it's ending when it's just starting to find its way. Anger at Fox ... who else? Bargaining: that maybe somebody will pay attention to our letters and maybe someone else will pick up Dollhouse and give it a chance! Depression: well, let's face it. Rooting for a Joss Whedon show is like rooting for the Chicago Cubs. It's the agony and the ecstasy of the journey, and in the end, you're just not going to win.
And finally Acceptance. Beyond all things Fox and missed story opportunities and poor ratings and angst, we can now sit back and enjoy the last three hours of Dollhouse. How cool is that?
Are you ready for the end of Dollhouse?
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You just know...someone at Mutant Enemy had to have seen my posts, and just chose to ignore them. A shame!
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OK, Media Messiah, you have officially become a caricature of yourself.I'll tell you what, though: if you go back to ALL your talkback posts, citing date and time, and picking things you said and compare them to SyFy, i MIGHT be interested enough to read what i would imagine would be a long post... but REALLY, media messiah, I had started to think that you have moved past and seen the delusional nature of your 'mutant enemy had to have seen my posts' as if is common sense. its YOUR DELUSIONAL FORM of common sense, which all of us have made attempts to get you to see that, but we learned it only falls upon your deaf ears...
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You just know...Media Messiah had to have seen our posts, and just chose to ignore them. A shame!
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Like Maple syrup fresh from a tree!
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Agree with me or not, I still think you're all great!!!!
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...must also be delusional? Anyway, Happy Christmas Eve!!! I mean that!!!
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Cut and paste the below address in your net browsers, but please remove any space, or spaces, that may appear in the address before pressing the enter button on your computer keyboards, or you will be directed to an error message.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xV7GmbUARI
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it's not even funny.
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...it's Christmas Eve my friend! Happy Holidays Buffy!!!
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...you'll say, "I disagree with this marriage", and I'll say, "Sssssshhhh...the kids might hear you!"...and the kids will say, "It's not even funny"
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See what I did there? Christmas..Fruitcake? :)
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...such an honor over a TV show? I'm hurt.
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it's pace manner and humor remind me of thirtysomething. even with this cast, a tough sell.
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Now that I have more than a passing few minutes....
The article itself seems like a sham, grabbing bits of uncertified blog here & there just so it can get Whedon hits. There is no real opinion offered by the author himself, just bits that he found might be poignent.
Second, they contradict each other. On one hand they want to focus on the premise - yet in the very first point, they think that the show should have jumped from the pilot to "Belle Chose"? (which they spelt wrong in the article, btw). This is stupid network thinking and not creative thinking. People who were lucky enough to stick around for those episodes in between are seeing now how those building blocks are paying off.
Having Echo access her identies too early would have just made the show another clunky wannabe super-hero premise, which was NOT what the show is about. It's just not. The show isn't about being a hero; it's about finding out who you are. If your actions happens to be heroic, so be it. It's not only realism vs escapism; it's realism disguised as escapism.
If we didn't have those prior episodes, we couldn't tell in these last few episodes that Echo was being Elenor Penn, the "Blue Skies" killer or the safecracker. Surely you can see how her tapping into these previous engagements has progressed her character?
Other points, like Ballard's characater being brought in earlier, are really hindsight thinking once you've already known that the show has been cancelled. If the show was a guarrented 5 season run, bringing Ballard in too early & giving him Active architechture would have shot their wad dramatically.
Dollhouse has already gained critical kudos on a few "Best of 09" lists: Chicago Trib & Time Mag to name a couple. These were chosen BEFORE the last 4 episodees aired. Because some are willing to let the show stand as how the artistic expression it was meant to be and not try to fit it into their own idea of a rating-grabbing success story. -
...still, I feel...that one can satisfy the needs of both commerce and art successfully simultaneously without sacrificing the other--just look at Avatar. Yes, you can give the guys in the suits upstairs what what they want, while managing to satisfy the artist...in one's self.As for the article being a sham, it is no more of a sham than other articles that cover a subject, person, place or thing, that use gathered information from various news sources, past and present to address said subject...more fully. The writer had a point of view which is in agreement with Joss Whedon, himself, and the network, at least in sizable part, and that is found in the fact that they each claim that the show was missing something...and was in need of a fix. Joss said the show was not what it should be, the article only seeks to diagnose what that is or was, and how it could have been repaired...much earlier, therefore, perhaps...serving to save the show. Yes, it is Monday Morning Quarterbacking on Syfy's part, but I brought-up many of these same points nearly a year ago, and have repeated them a great number of times, drawing scorn from other posters, who claimed that I was just wrong--name calling and all. Well, again...even Joss Whedon now admits that the show was in desperate need of fixing, thus, even his views are parallel to my own--albeit, our views in how to arrive at the proper fix...differ somewhat, Joss is now getting closer and closer to addressing everything that I have claimed, in the past, is wrong with the show. In fact, he already has addressed every point, save for one, that being my suggestion that he turn the series into a procedural format, ala Alias or Charlies Angels (the TV original series). He has not done that, and I feel it is to the ultimate detriment of the show. Hell, even Buffy and Angel, were essentially crime investigations procedural series, only they were dealing with supernatural crimes. Smallville stole that format, and they execute it as a super hero/villain procedural...and thus, the resulting crime investigations, but it is still the same, its Buffy, but with Clark Kent in her place.The building blocks? How are they paying-off...really? Just because Echo played a hostage negotiator, for instance, in one episode, if her skills now show-up for a moment, or several, in a new episode this season, that is really not enough to contribute to the whole of the character, unless that specific persona...and its skills, create a pivitol game changing moment that changes not only the character of Echo/Caroline, but serves to change the story arc. Let's look at Buffy: The Vampire Slayer...and the Dark Willow story arc. Her dealing with Dark Magic...as an addiction, ultimately had a pay-off when she started killing the nerds responsible for Tara's death--and next, she tried to end the world. Now that is a pay-off. Our Willow became the Big Bad to wrap-up the story arc, and it changed how you looked at her forever. That is proper foreshadowing, and execution to its projected climax. If Willow had simply gone bad for an episode, and came back to us with no real change in the story arc...or line-up of characters, and say, a season later, maybe some of those traits showed back up in her, momentarily, and then went away...the point would be lost, and thus it would be one big "so what!": "Yeah, that was nice, but did it help to really evolve the character(s)...and the overriding plot?" If you can't say that, than it is an interesting nod to a past episode, but without great relevance. You need something more substantial in impact. All I'm saying is, Safe Cracker cameo fine, but let's just get to the meat of the matter. What si the goal of the show, and why is there a Dollhouse. That is how you set-up the classic "Hero's Journey", super powers, or no super powers...just show us, and tell us, what is at stake so that we may be better emotionally invested in the outcome of the conflct, if any, and the progression of the characters. Up until this point in the series, we really didn't know whether there was a conflict other than Ballard views on the prohibition of prostitution fueling his reasons for wanting to bring down the Dollhouse? Well, how can you care about that, when prostitution is legal in parts of Nevada, wth Federal approval--and again, the dolls willingly signed-up for it? That is the contradiction and hypocrisy of it all. Speaking of what is at stake on more personal human terms, I would have loved to see Echo have conversations about love and relationships with Ballard, and seen a strong flirtation and eventually a romantic coupling between them, as it would have served to enhance them as charactes and their shared arc, therefore raising the stakes for both characters--instead, we saw those scenes being played between Ballard and Miracle Laurie's character, and Victor and Sierra, and Victor and Adele? I can understand a little of that, but not the wealth of it going to those characters, instead, and in place, of Echo and Ballard.With respect to Echo gaining access to her multiple personalities too early. I am not suggesting that she should have, nor do I necessarily believe the author of the article believes that, however, what we did need Echo to have, as an audience, is a set personality that we could return to each week during, and in-between, her missions...so we could see her beging to view herself as a prisoner, and no longer a willfull signee into the Dollhouse. We needed too see her do that as a mature adult peronality, not that of a 5 year old. Call it buyers remorse, but we needed to see her voice her displeasure with her circumstances in a definative way, and work toward escaping her contract. You need to invest your audience in a struggle of some sort...within a drama series, that is just a fact. Well, as the lead of the show, Echo was our entry point character, or should have been; that being the character that we experience the conflict through, the character that we are made to feel empathy for, because she is us, and we are her, henceforth, her struggle becomes our own. We saw none of that early in the series, and weren't given reason to care either way--afterall, if you want to be a prostitute and you are happy being that prostitute, and you are an otherwise smart adult, how can anyone argue that you are suffering, if it is a choice made of your own free will? How can we be expected to save you from yourself if you are, at least, by your chosen actions, showing us otherwise? Echo, as with the other dolls in the main cast, needed to voice their free will early on in the process, to inform the audience that the Dollhouse wasn't what they assumed it would be when they first signed-up, hence, instantly making them what we are now being led to believe, that being victims, however, in the absence of any real definable evidence, BTW, that they are indeed victims of the Dollhouse, not willing co-conspirators, we are just asked to assume that?In terms of the safe cracker, and other past personas that Echo experienced last season, the personas are not as important as the main persona that is Echo. Often times it is best to deliver story points and background informaton...by referencing them, not showing them. We have already been introduced to the technology behind Echo's implanted personas, and we saw the concept in play, once the audience is given that background subtext, that is enough to satisfy addressing the issue. For instance, we did not need to see all of Alpha's past personas in play via various episodes, to know and understand the concept, or to appreciate his character. The point is to launch said character(s) on his or her adventure/life, not hold them back. By doing so, it only weakened the show's ability to explore its fullest potential story wise, and in the effort to draw ratings--and in respect to the latter, that is how TV series successfully survive, prosper as hits, and elevate to become cultural icons.In terms of Ballard being brought in earlier, and blowing one's wad too early, that is what new story arcs are about--when one arc reaches its end, you begin another one. So...you blow your wad early, the characters are still in place, thus you set them onto a new adventure, allowing for more and deeper, character development and a wider study of said characters. That is just good writing, and what should have been done here.Hope you had a Happy Holiday Buffy...and here's is wishing you a Happy New Year to you and yours!!! Sincerely, MM
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BTW...they say that fruit cakes are great lovers!!!
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...still, I feel...that one can satisfy the needs of both commerce and art successfully, and simultaneously, without sacrificing the other--just look at Avatar. Yes, you can give the guys in the suits upstairs what what they want, while managing to satisfy the artist...in one's self.
As for the article being a sham, it is no more of a sham than other articles that cover any other subject, person, place, or thing, that use gathered information from various news sources, past and present, to address said subject matter...more fully. Further, the writer had a point-of-view which is in agreement with Joss Whedon himself, and the network, at least in sizable part, and that is found in the fact that they each claim that the show was missing something...and was in need of a fix. At the close of Season 1...Joss said the show was not what it should be, the article only seeks to diagnose what that something is, or was, and how it could have been repaired...much earlier, therefore, perhaps, serving to save the show. Yes, it is Monday Morning Quarterbacking on Syfy's part, but I brought-up many of these same points nearly a year ago, and have repeated them a great number of times, drawing scorn from other posters, who claimed that I was just wrong--with them name calling and all. Well, again...even Joss Whedon now admits that the show was in desperate need of fixing at the writing level, thus, even his views are parallel to my own--albeit, our views...in how to arrive at the proper fix...differ somewhat, Joss is now getting closer and closer to addressing everything that I have claimed...in the past, is wrong with the show. In fact, he already has addressed every point, save for one, that being my suggestion that he turn the series into a procedural format, ala Alias or Charlie's Angels (the original TV series). He has not done that, and I feel it is to the ultimate detriment of the show. Hell, even Buffy and Angel were essentially crime investigations procedural series, only they were dealing with supernatural crimes. Smallville stole that format, and they execute it as a super hero/villain procedural...and thus, the resulting crime investigations, but it is still the same, its Buffy, but with Clark Kent in her place.
The building blocks? How are they paying-off...really? Just because Echo played a hostage negotiator, for instance, in one episode, if her skills now show-up for a moment, or several, as a result...in a new episode this season, that is really not enough to contribute to the whole of the character, unless that specific persona, and its skills, create a pivitol game changing moment that changes not only the character of Echo/Caroline, but serves to change the story arc. Let's look at Buffy: The Vampire Slayer...and the Dark Willow story arc. Willow dealing with Dark Magic...as an addiction, ultimately had a pay-off when she started killing the nerds responsible for Tara's death--and next, she tried to end the world. Now that is a pay-off. Our Willow became the Big Bad to wrap-up the story arc, and it changed how you looked at her forever. That is proper foreshadowing, and execution to its proper projected climax. If Willow had simply gone bad for an episode, and came back to us with no real change in the story arc...or line-up of characters, and say, a season later, maybe some of those traits showed back up in her...momentarily, and then went away, or were suppressed, or made latent again...the point would be lost, and thus it would be one big "so what???!!!": "Yeah, that was nice, but did it help to really evolve the character(s)...and the overriding plot?" If you can't say that, then it is just an interesting nod to a past episode, but without great relevance to the greater evolution. You need something more substantial in impact, is all I saying! Safe Cracker cameo fine, but let's just get to the meat of the matter already, that being answering these questions: "What is the goal of the show?", "Why is there a Dollhouse...beyond being a brothel for the rich?", "What are our characters facing?", "Who is their enemy, if any?", "What is the point of conflict, and why?"...and "What is the perspective of our central character on said issues, and how does she see herself in realtion to that struggle, and her enemies and allies?" That is how you set-up the classic "Hero's Journey", super powers, or no super powers--just show us, and tell us, what is at stake so that we may be better emotionally invested in the outcome of the conflict, if any, and the progression of the characters therein. Up until this point in the series, we really didn't know whether there was a conflict other than Ballard's views on the prohibition of prostitution...and how it fueled his reasons for wanting to bring down the Dollhouse? Well, how can you care about that, when prostitution is legal in parts of Nevada, with Federal approval--and again, the dolls willingly signed-up for it? That is the contradiction and hypocrisy of it all. Speaking of what is at stake on more personal...human terms, I would have loved to see Echo have conversations about love and relationships with Ballard, and seen a strong flirtation and eventually, a romantic coupling between them, as it would have served to enhance them as characters and their shared arc, therefore raising the stakes for both characters--instead, we saw those scenes being played-out between Ballard and Miracle Laurie's character, and Victor and Sierra, and Victor and Adele? I can understand a little of that, but not the wealth of it going to those characters, instead, and in place, of Echo and Ballard.
With respect to Echo gaining access to her multiple personalities too early. I am not suggesting that she should have, nor do I necessarily believe the author of the article believes that, however, what we did need Echo to have, as an audience, is a set personality that we could return to each week, during, and in-between, her missions...so we could see her as she begins to view herself as a prisoner, and no longer a willfull signee into the Dollhouse. We needed to see her do that as a mature adult personality, not that of a 5 year old. Call it "buyer's remorse" or "seller's remorse", but we needed to see her voice her displeasure with her circumstances in a definative way, and work toward escaping her contract, if only by faking being a dumb mind erased doll who in unaware of her circumstances. Can you imagine her thoughts and horror at living through some of her missions...consciously, and knowing she had to fake being unaware? Her having to deal with rapes, adn other abuses, and being sexually and ethically compromised, daily...and knowing it, and having to go along to get along? That would have been dramatic gold if played-out, but no, it wasn't to be? Whiskey expressed some of her fears to Topher, and that should have been a series of scenes for Echo, so we could better understand, and bond with her, no one else. You need to invest your audience in a struggle of some sort involving your main character...within a drama series, that is just a fact. Well, as the lead of the show, Echo was our entry-point character (main lead), or should have been; that being the character that we experience the conflict through, the character that we are made to feel empathy for, because she is us, and we are her, in essence, henceforth, her struggle becomes our own. We saw none of that early on in the series, and weren't given reason to care either way--afterall, if you want to be a prostitute and you are happy being that prostitute, and you are an otherwise smart adult, how can anyone argue that you are suffering, if it is a choice made of your own free will? How can we be expected to save you from yourself if you are, at least, by your chosen actions, showing us otherwise? Echo, as with the other dolls in the main cast, needed to voice their free will early on in the process, to inform the audience that the Dollhouse wasn't what they assumed it would be when they first signed-up, hence, instantly making them what we are now being led to believe, that-- being victims, however, in the absence of any real definable evidence, BTW--that they are indeed victims of the Dollhouse, and not willing co-conspirators, we are just asked to assume that?
In terms of the safe cracker, and other past personas that Echo experienced last season, the personas are not as important as the main persona...that is Echo. Often times it is best to deliver story points and background informaton...by referencing them, not showing them. We have already been introduced to the technology behind Echo's implanted personas, and we saw the concept in play in the past, thus, once the audience is given that background subtext, that is enough to satisfy addressing the issue. For instance, we did not need to see all of Alpha's past personas in play...via various episodes, to know, and understand, the concept, or to appreciate his character or his abilities, and why they are what they are. The point is to launch said character(s) on his or her adventure/life, not hold them back. By doing so, holding them back, and their logical progression, it only weakened the show's ability to explore its fullest potential story wise, and in the effort to draw higher ratings--and in respect to the latter, that is how TV series successfully survive, prosper as hits, and elevate to become cultural icons.
In terms of Ballard being brought in earlier, and blowing one's wad too early, that is what new story arcs are about--when one arc reaches its end, you begin another one. So...you blow your wad early, the characters are still in place, thus you set them onto a new adventure, allowing for more, and deeper, character development and a wider study of said characters...and then you blow another wad, and another wad, with each new story arc you introduce and pursue just like sex various acts of sex in one session or throughout a night--it can only make the sex better, not worse. These are not blown wads, they are wads expended in service of the end goal, that would be pleasure. That is just good writing, and what should have been done here.
Hope you had a Happy Holiday Buffy, and here is wishing you a Happy New Year...to you, and yours!!! Sincerely, MM
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