Talking to SciFi Wire, Acker was keen to play down any idea that the show's second production hiatus was a big deal:

You know, we did take a little break, [a]nd I feel like it's coming back, and everyone is just excited to be there... I think we just kind of had that time, because it doesn't air until January... Instead of rushing to make episodes, they thought, 'Well, we've already made four, and they're all going to be done before the first one airs. So we have the luxury to take the time and make them the way they want them.

The idea that the production team have, instead of the rumored network interference, just been allowed the time to get it right is one that's also being given by Fox Co-Chairman Dana Walden:

The midseason opportunity is a blessing and curse. It’s a blessing because you have more time. And it’s a curse because you have more time. There’s a greater level of scrutiny. There is a greater level of intrusion from executives. The bar just keeps being raised because there’s no urgency to put the show on the air, so at no point do you just let go of it and say, “You know what, now it’s time for this country to decide whether this is something that’s going to tap into the Zeitgeist and become culturally phenomenal or successful in general, or not.” Being stuck in that limbo with a lot of well-intentioned executives is very difficult for a creator like Joss.

With... “Angel,” we shut that down at the very beginning of the process. There was a creative retooling. We went back up after a little over a month and the show just found the place where the stories were the most interesting and the characters just popped. And that’s where we’ve come to with “Dollhouse.” There’s a very complicated mythology that Joss is trying to crack in a way that’s satisfying to a broad audience but will also satisfy his core fan base who will watch anything that Joss does. This is a big task.

So was all the concern just the result of fans who still bear the scars of Firefly? Possibly - although the full season order for Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles last week does raise the question over when, exactly, the show is going to air. Originally planned for Mondays in January, that slot would seem to be taken by the extended run of Sarah Connor - so does that mean a new timeslot for Dollhouse? We hope so, and would suggest Wednesdays - especially now that NBC have rebranded their Wednesday line-up as "crime night; with Project Runway off-air and Top Design nearing the end of its run, we'll have some time free on that night, even if no-one else does.

Acker On Dollhouse Interruption [SciFi Wire]

Talking to SciFi Wire, Acker explained how she got the role of Dr. Claire Sanders on Whedon's new show Dollhouse:

Joss is also one of my very best friends since Angel, so he had told us about Dollhouse, and I kept telling him how jealous I was of Eliza and all the other people. And he was like, "Yeah, I wish I could write a show for my friends." And then about a week or something before they shot the pilot, my husband picked up the phone and was like, "Joss wants to know if you're going to come do the thing for Dollhouse." And I was like, "What? What's he talking about?" ...I think he was worried about having a crossover between Buffy or Angel and this, and then finally he just said, "Ultimately I kind of thought you were the right person for it." So they brought me on. And I was like, "Um, thank you," because I was asking if I could do makeup or wardrobe or something. I just wanted to be a part of it. It sounded really cool.

And for those who wonder whether the show will be similar to any previous Whedon creations, Acker says yes... again because of the incestuous nature of television:

I definitely see some similarities, just because most of the writers are people who were on Buffy or Angel or Alias [in which Acker also had a role, as an assassin] or all of those shows. So they all have such a familiarity. They're all really familiar with each other, and they all just write so well together. It'll be a little bit different, but I think the stuff that people love about the writing is all going to be there.

I can see the path to televisual domination right now. Step one: Get to know Joss Whedon. Step two: Get to know Joss Whedon. Step three...

Acker Opens The Dollhouse Door [Sci Fi Wire]

Joss also held the first "table read" for Dollhouse, and gushed:

All in all, pound for pound, soup to nuts, man vs. beast, it's a pretty amazing ensemble. I'm not sure how I landed this troupe, but rest assured I'm gonna write bestest good word for talkacting to them yes! They're in good hands.