More results are finally in about which shows have been saved or canned– Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, as expected, is sadly done. But Fox, perhaps surprisingly, has ordered another 13 episode season of Dollhouse. It made it through just barely, so who knows if there will be a season 3, but we’ll get more questions answered and more great performances from actors who, at first, I thought were mediocre, and have constantly come to bring bigger and better things every episode.

I have yet to finish the season so I won’t have any comments on the final episodes of this season until later, but I’m glad Fox realized that a Whedon property was worth keeping around. They’ve made lots of money on the Firefly DVD sets and merchandizing, and it looks like, ultimately, that’s why they’ve decided to keep Dollhouse around. Just Press Play put up a good article today speculating that smarter fan campaigns might help save shows like this– rather than being annoying, fans should prove there’s a lot of people willing to spend money on a show’s merchandizing, because money is obviously what networks respond to.

Chuck is also back, but NBC is scaling down its budget so far and the ratings weren’t great this season, so I’m afraid 13 more episodes may be all we get there. All in all, there’s a lot to look forward to this fall– stay tuned!

LLAP

-Cap’n Logan

Joss Whedon himself said recently that the chances of Dollhouse getting picked up by Fox for another season were slim. I can’t say I’m surprised. Fox is notorious for cancelling shows at the first sign of trouble, and Dollhouse hasn’t been performing in the ratings. It’s been doing a little better since the pilot– and rightly so, because the show has been a lot better since then– but probably not good enough to keep going.

There’s been a lot of talk about this 13th episode that Fox needed but didn’t want to pay for. Whedon made this post-apocalyptic episode with Falicia Day (from Dr. Horrible), and now they’re refusing to air it. Most everyone (including Whedon) believes this doesn’t bode well for the possibility of renewal– if they were planning to bring it back, wouldn’t they air this episode? Sadly, I agree. It looks pretty grim.

Then again, the show’s been pretty slow-going, in my opinion, but it seems like it’s hit its stride since “Man on the Street,” the episode Whedon hyped up, and with very good resaon. The characters who were all pretty stale to me before suddenly came alive, especially DeWitt. The stories have seemed far more significant and interesting since then, and there’s a humorous element to it that was missing before.

So while I wouldn’t miss it like I missed Angel and Firefly, I’d like to see it continue. I believe if the show were allowed to be on at least another season, it would be given the epic magnitude and mythos those shows achieved (and arguably, Firefly didn’t even really have that until Serenity). But I’m beyond expecting Fox to give something a chance, and I’ve wished for a long time Whedon had another choice but Fox to go with. If they don’t renew it, I wonder if we’ll see Whedon do television again– I imagine he’ll either be too fed up with it, or Fox will be too fed up with him.

Either way, if the show does end with this unaired episode that will only be available on the DVD, at least doing an episode in the future will probably give the thing more closure than Firefly had, before the movie was made. If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s definitely worth your time– especially when you get past the first few episodes.

LLAP

 -Cap’n Logan