io9 
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San Francisco, 12:41 AM
Thu Dec 10
25 posts in the last 24 hours
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05/17/09
When Fox (and other networks) get a real and good way to allow online 'viewers' to access their library in GOOD quality on our terms, they'll have a much better idea as to what the coming up market wants to see. I'd wager that the target audience for a show like Dollhouse is much more online (and thus less likely to watch on TV) than the audience for a show like Sex and the City.
05/17/09
You don't get a big-budget show starring professional actors and worked on by professional crew and written by professional writers for free.
A one-hour TV show takes over 100 experienced people each working 80+ hours a week for 9 months to make. Do the math.
Either you get advertisers to pay, or you have to pay, in lump-sum advance, at minimum $50-100 a year, every year, for EVERY show you want to watch. No freebies. There's 10 TV shows you like? That'll be a thousand bucks, right now. You like sci-fi? That'll be more, the special effects cost more.
05/16/09
1) FOX (or 20th TV) doesn't own it. It's a Warner Brothers show. DVD backend goes entirely to another corporation. At least with Dollhouse, the larger News Crop. umbrella wins.
2) They got a 2nd Season to prove themselves. Didn't work out.
3) While I can see why people like TSCC, others, who also have taste, find it slow and ponderous. At least Dollhouse has a tongue in cheek quality. Sometimes too much, sometimes not enough, but it's there. TSCC takes itself very seriously.
4) It's based on the old version of the brand (James Cameron). New version of the brand is about to hit theatrically. They do not mesh at all.
5) Generally speaking, Dollhouse got better ratings.
Personally, I'd love to see TSCC return with Dollhouse. I'd also like to see TSCC have some FUN once and a while...
05/17/09
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05/16/09
you never know
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05/16/09
The FBI finally manages to bust the L.A. Dollhouse and frees its Dolls in the process. Recruiting the Actives as free thinking/free willed agents, who are programmed with new talents and abilties per each new mission engagement (while sucessfully retaining their original personalities), the agency employs its new operatives to foil the clandestined mission/end game...of the 19 other Dollhouses which are hidden throughout the planet, wherein they are poised to launch a truly sinister plot which threatens the entire world.
Well, that is my reboot pitch, one I designed, months ago, to save the show. Now with the program renewed by Fox, that still does not guarantee that it will be a hit, or guarantee that it won't face the cancellation axe again very soon into next season, thusly, the show needs to adapt and change in order to attract a wider audience--the mainstream audience, if it is to survive and prosper beyond this surprise, and much welcomed renewal. As for my reboot pitch, it will allow Echo/Caroline to maintain her original personality each episode...and each and every mission, while allowing her to experience a normal life...and love...off duty, or on...while adding all the "must" dramatic beats that are currently missing from the show; also, my reboot will serve to establish recurring foes for Echo/Caroline and the mythos behind their personal, and or, professional grudges and battles therein, from villain(s) to our hero.
Again, the show needs an injection of personal introspective drama--real, not programmed personal dramas, break-ups, love triangles...personal loses, and earned victories...on the part of our heroes...as well as their heroic self sacrifices, all which will serve to better involve the audience emotionally in the onscreen happenings, generate watercooler talk, and give the audience a personal stake to invest in as fans, story arc wise.
When you create an entry point hero, it allows the viewers to personalize that character and live vicariously through them, thus...we, the viewers, metaphorically, become our hero/heroes. That is the most important formula in all great writing! You must have an entry point character, or characters, that the audience can relate to--get to know, involve themselves with, and root for. The current status quo of Dollhouse does not allow for that, and it is hurting the show.
Well, Fox...and Mutant Enemy, this is my pitch! If you like it, please contact me and let me know. -Sincerely, Media Messiah
05/17/09
But do you really think the answer to Dollhouse's budget problems would be solved by filming season two in twenty different locales?
A shame that it didn't do so well from the offset that a bidding war didn't erupt amongst the local syndicators. If there was ever a more brilliant scheme to franchise the show to a local audience, having 19 different dollhouses (conveniently centered in each winning franchise's premiere city) would be among the top three.
No, two.
Ah hell, it's the best one. Evah!
05/16/09
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05/16/09
They want all the moneys for themselves, which they get with DH.
05/17/09
In short, does not Hollywood have a mind and a heart?
Wait. Never mind. Asked & answered.
05/16/09
Fewer of the supporting actors in each episode.
05/16/09
Let's see:
Episode one: three of the dolls are trapped on a lifeboat with no hope of rescue, so they have to learn about each other and use their combined wits to survive.
Episode two: Echo is programmed to make the ideal juror in order to help sway a jury to help free an innocent man on trial for a murder he didn't commit.
Episode three: Ballard and Echo are trapped on a shuttle enroute to to a remote place of natural beauty. The shuttle stops unexpectedly in the middle of a jungle with all the automatic safety locks engaged. But something is outside and trying to get in. Oddly, due to an imprint glitch, Echo starts to repeat everything the other shuttle passengers are saying.
Any other ideas?
05/17/09
I mean really, how much can a tape recorder and a spool of tape cost?
05/16/09
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