NYCC: Joss Whedon Charms, Delights The Nerd Crowd

It's just a few days before Dollhouse premieres on Fox, ending months of speculation about whether Joss Whedon's latest TV show survived the endless rounds of edits and reshoots to become something actually worth watching. And even though I fought my way through the hordes of Whedonites to see the Dollhouse presentation at New York Comic Con, I can't really tell you anything about the show you don't already know. All we saw was the opening scene in the film, in which we're essentially just introduced to the main character and the concept, then sent along our way.

But what I can give you is Whedon himself, who showed up along with Dollhouse co-star (and Battlestar Galactica's Helo) Tahmoh Pinikett to regale the audience with their wit. It goes without saying that they had the crowd by a string-- multiple audience members stepped up to microphones during the Q&A and hyperventilated, unable to believe they were breathing the same air as Whedon. He's a funny guy anyway, but the roars of laughter coming out of the IGN were like nothing I'd heard all weekend. It was the sound of thousands of disciples finally coming home.

Below are four clips from the panel, three of them about Dollhouse and its tortured development and one about what genre Whedon might like to explore next. The first clip stars midway through Whedon's story about how the show got started, when he met Elisha Dushku for lunch and they discussed what they might be able to put together for her to star in. The rest of the clips, well, you'll figure it out-- especially if you're up to date on the behind the scenes drama that nearly derailed the whole thing. Check out all the clips below.

On how he and Elisha Dushku decided to make the show together.

On how much better Fox is treating him this time than they did with Serenity

On the reshot pilot, and the big deal we all made about it.

On the frilly costume drama he wants to make next.