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New York, 6:25 AM
Wed Dec 9
46 posts in the last 24 hours
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11/11/09
11/11/09
Maybe that was the network's way of telling Whedon goodbye. #dollhouse
11/11/09
But Whedon is really starting to show his limits: half the characters on Dollhouse were retreads of characters he'd done before, for example, and I think he handled the 'memory and personality as comprising identity' thing with more subtlety and grace during the Dawn and Illyria plots on his first two shows.
I'm also getting tired of his work invariably involving rape (symbolic or literal) as a transformative agent for women, because it's starting to really come across as his sexual fantasies on screen. I couldn't get into Serenity (the film) because of this - it just read to me as a broken little girl being tortured until she became someone/something Joss wanted to bone.
Basically I think he needs to take some time off for self-reflection and maybe learn to edit a little bit. He's a talented guy, but he's worn himself thin enough that all his flaws are showing. #dollhouse
11/12/09
11/12/09
11/11/09
Of course, what's Sarah Michelle Gellar doing these days...? #dollhouse
11/11/09
11/11/09
11/11/09
11/11/09
Living as the answer to a trivia question. #dollhouse
11/11/09
11/11/09
I'd much rather have had a third full season of a doomed but great show than a second season of a mediocre and doomed show. Meh. #dollhouse
11/11/09
ETA: I've seen this subject brought up before and am just wondering if there's some fact behind it. Did some Fox memo leak or something?
11/11/09
T:SCC was also probably more expensive for FOX, since the network would be paying license fees to Warner Bros for the Terminator rights, while it was producing Dollhouse, well, in-house.
No leaked memos, to my knowledge, but I do seem to remember that when the axe finally came down, one of the FOX execs made some ridiculously self-contradictory remark about how it wasn't an "either/or" decision, but they "ultimately chose Dollhouse, so that was it for T:SCC"
11/11/09
I'm sure we'll see another low-budget reality show fill the slot left by Dollhouse. Bleh. #dollhouse
11/11/09
They are a television network. Of course they were thinking about money before anything else. Things do what they are designed to do - spiders spin webs, fish swim, corporations seek profit. It constantly surprises me that people expect otherwise. #dollhouse
11/11/09
I canceled my cable months ago for just this reason. I'd rather pick and choose the content I watch via Hulu or Netflix than wade through hours of crap on network television. Why pay for all the dreck? #dollhouse
11/13/09
Oh, and network television generally refers to the free stations that are broadcast with or without cable. generally when one is paying for cable it is for stations such as food network, bravo, comedy central, etc... Those aren't generally considered network television, they are considered cable television.
The whole "I canceled my cable over this" is an old line.... just like "I threw up in my mouth a little bit". If you don't watch TV or don't find value in cable, then fine - but why does every article about a tv show have to include such statements?
Its not like I'll be talking with my friends this wekeend about Dollhouse and then chime in with, 'Well, you know, its crap like this that caused Cicada on the Gawker Forums to cancel their cable subscription. " #dollhouse
11/13/09
Also, you're probably seeing a lot of people comment about canceling their cable because they are:
[www.homemediamagazine.com]
I thought the comment was pertinent to the situation because we were talking about Fox using a short-sighted business model, where they make money now but drive off consumers like me. And it isn't just Fox, it's pretty much every network. I watch around four television shows a week, all via internet, and I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything.
One last thing: I hope for your friend's sakes that you never bore the shit out of them with stories about random internet commenters. Just the thought of someone doing that makes me throw up in my mouth a little bit.
11/13/09
11/11/09
Yah, yah, he says no studio was interested in a Serenity sequel, despite huge DVD sales, fan reverence, and shameless plugs from the cast post-movie...but, you know, yeah, if there's no script...perhaps not. Seemed this whole Dollhouse Dushku love-fest was really just a distraction and a long disinteresting cat-toy for Fox. They were over it after a few episodes, and right they should have been. It sucked. If you absolutely must put Dusku in something...she'd make a great character in what?....oh, yeah, a Serenity sequel.
So I say, c'mon Whedon, try and market your success, pen a new script, and do the damn thing! It seems the whole cast either isn't doing anything at all (Castle...whatever) OR they're already on sub par Sci-Fi shows (V can spare Baccarin and Tudyk), but all have left the door open for you and seem to be waiting for the call.
Pick up the phone.
/rant over. #dollhouse
11/11/09
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11/11/09
11/11/09
Whedon will continue to make good product, and his fans will eagerly await whatever comes next. #dollhouse
11/11/09
11/11/09
11/11/09
11/11/09
But again, I never really paid that much attention. #dollhouse
11/11/09
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11/11/09
11/12/09
11/12/09
10/30/09
10/22/09
I understand that the end of Shrek signals a lot of people losing their jobs, but thank god that overblown trash is shutting down. I hope the entire Broadway-spectacle-industrial-complex comes crashing down around itself so some creativity can find a home. #shrek
10/22/09
10/22/09
But seriously, my hope would be that as more tourists stop coming to see these shows that the whole Broadway economy would contract, causing less money to get funneled into it. This would hopefully cause producers to seek out quality since they can't have quantity. Or the entire industry could just crash. I think when theater is genuinely good or buzz-worthy, NYers will flock to it, and tourists will begin to pay attention to it. The way it exists right now, however, is just really sad. It reminds me of the kind of shows you can watch at a Six Flags.
Maybe if we didn't have Shrek, The Little Mermaid, and Rock of Ages, tourists wanting a Broadway experience would still go see Patti Lupone in Gypsy or Passing Strange or the recent revival of Company. Those might not be the most revolutionary nights in theatre, but I think they at least represent an attempt for artistic merit. #shrek
10/22/09
10/22/09
10/22/09
However, "King of Queens" was very successful so I could be wrong. Sigh. #shrek
10/22/09
But truth be told, I could easily see NBC making the American Top Gear very 'Spike TV' thinking that women are not interested in cars, and it suffering similar defeat. Maybe the best think Americans could do is take five minutes to come up with an original creative idea, or to import the original British idea without sticking it on BBC America. #shrek
10/22/09
Also, "Spaced" and "Green Wing" are both on Hulu right now. The Hulu gods will make a killing if they keep that up for all good Brit series... #shrek
10/22/09
Look at "Bodies". That series was a horrifying look at incompetent doctors in a hospital--incompetent and unpunished (for the most part). The FU character from House of Cards is the same way--despicable, but victorious (again, for the most part). The teachers in "Teachers" are unmotivated, show up to work hung over, and make dubious choices where their students and jobs are concerned. They're also very human. But never in a million years would they portray teachers in a light like that on NBC, or any other major network.
And yes, limiting series is great! It keeps them fresh. I believe that telenovelas often do the same and are wildly successful. #shrek
10/22/09
You're right, many of the shows aren't uplifting. But they are awesome, which helps. #shrek