Only You Can Keep Dollhouse On The Air

In 2008 he revolutionized the internet video phenomenon with a hilarious satirical take on the hero/villain archetypes, and now the master returns to broadcast television. I am clearly talking about Joss Whedon, who has a new deal with Fox that we hope will bear more fruit than that past endeavor. What was that show? Something about flying fires? All that’s in the past, so it doesn’t matter. Dollhouse is where our Whedon sized hearts lay. A Whedon sized heart is discernable by its canvas like five head. Sorry Joss, that was a low blow. But perhaps there’s just too much genius in there for a normal forehead to handle.

I’m writing because while Dollhouse has TV pedigree behind it, there’re also some large clouds looming. Despite all of that you can bet my DVR is set to record and allow me many rewatchings of the show. And this will be one I’ll keep saved just in case it goes the way of other Friday night shows.

It’s really too early to call Dollhouse dead on arrival. In fact, I’m remaining optimistic that there will be a turnout. After all Friday night has just become a super geek extravaganza with Sarah Connor, Dollhouse, and BSG making us all delight in having no life. I’m still concerned that Dollhouse will suffer the fate of Dark Angel, M.A.N.T.I.S., Millenium, Firefly, and every other sci-fi Fox series that was buried in the dreaded Friday night spot.

This is the time frame sci-fi shows go to die on Fox, with the exception of X-Files. Truth be told, that show didn’t blow up huge until a few season in when it was airing Sunday nights. ABC has done the smart thing and paired the incredibly great Life On Mars with Lost, but Fox is having a hard time making a good pair in the regular week for Echo.

The huge success of American Idol probably has a lot to do with this since Fox has no choice but to schedule it a few nights a week, thus eliminating prime real estate for original new series’ like Dollhouse. Pair 24 with Dollhouse on Monday nights, giving you crazy action to go with your super awesome sci-fi. Then House can remain with its rightful partner Bones on Tuesday nights. Sarah Connor can bust in on Sunday evenings just as X-Files once did, and provide Fox with a more rounded out Sunday lineup.

But that could never happen because of the American Idol juggernaut. It’s not AI’s fault though. You can stop right here if you think I’m going to complain that such a stupid show is being given the prime spots on Fox’s lineup, because you’re the one watching it. So are a bagazillion other people. We like American Idol, and watching Jennifer Hudson on The Grammy’s proves that the show is not irrelevant. There’s a lot of legitimacy to what the show does for its winners, and the runners up.

The only way Fox will be able to properly support a show like Dollhouse is if the fans make an effort to show up on Friday nights, or the sky turns to ash, the end of days arrives, and American Idol becomes a flop. I’m not holding my breath for the latter choices, and you vocal Whedon fans have not proven in the past to be supportive of the man you claim to love so much. American Idol may have a large role in keeping Dollhouse on the dreaded Friday night lineup, but if this show gets cancelled the only ones to blame will be the so-called fans of Joss. We’ll deal with the problem of the show being horrible, if that’s the case, after it airs.