Comments on: Dollhouse review roundup and ratings prediction

By: Allie

Allie — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 02:39:42 +0000

Im just wondering about the people who actually LIKE this show! this is not good. its bad acting as usual out of Eliza Dushku, and it never once had me so gripped i wanted to know what would happen next. its lame. i had to force myself to watch it, and i wouldnt make that mistake again!

By: david

david — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 12:57:42 +0000

i really loved the show
i’m from m,exico and i reaaly loved the pilot, dushku and the hole history
it was awesome, unfortunatlely will be cancelled i know that
on fryday’s night c’monmondays are perfect c’mon fox give joss and gorgeous dushku a chance it will be a great show

By: Too Bad

Too Bad — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 08:12:08 +0000

Sadly, it doesn’t make any difference about anything but ratings. This is 2009 and pulling barely 4 million [the television mendoza line] isn’t going to do it, I don’t care who wrote it or how many times it was rewritten. Running it on Friday simply means Fox could care less, and is already looking past it. To me the show looks like a cross between “Alias” and “It’s own worst Enemy” without the humor, intrigue, or sexiness of the aforementioned shows. As to the acting, most of the regulars are phoning it in [be honest] and the lead, while sexy as always, has limited emotions once again [as always] and is constantly getting beaten up or used as a prostitute. Add to that there is no running storyline [except that she has a different personality each week, where she has flashbacks that almost kill her]. If you consider that with the current Network TV status Josh’s Firefly wouldn’t last 3 episodes, I’ll hope for 4 episodes actually shot before Fox tosses this one out with the bathwater. No way this show televises 6 episodes, maybe we will be able to buy the DVD in 6 months and see how the first year ends.

By: » NAIMUN XLVI Avenue 47

» NAIMUN XLVI Avenue 47 — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 16:32:02 +0000

[...] watch Dollhouse on Fox? It premiered Friday the 13th… I think it has great potential. About 4.7 million viewers tuned in to watch the newest creation from Joss Whedon [...]

By: Sloth Monster

Sloth Monster — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 09:28:24 +0000

I love to watch Eliza Dushku-I absolutely loved her in Tru Calling. However the limits of her acting ability are laid bare in this one episode. It was ass-poorly edited, and required multiple viewing to make sense. I really dont care about the characters at all, I was bored by it quite quickly. So it is thumbs down from the sloth monster, I hope that Fox can come up with a series that can grab my imagination, I sure wont be wasting another moment watching this. Joss- make another series like Firefly, this was excellent TV from the get-go. Cancel this turd.

By: Julia

Julia — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 16:14:13 +0000

tvmegafan, as a mega fan, I’m sure you’ve seen the episode of The Simpsons where Homer becomes a food critic. The entire town becomes obese because he gives everything great reviews. Do you really want that to happen in real life? Critics are saving our lives!

By: tvmegafan

tvmegafan — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 15:45:29 +0000

I don’t know why anyone listens to the critics. Critics Jobs are to make everything look bad except for the stuff that is bad, then they give those good reviews. I cannot stand to here people deciding if they want to watch a show based on the reviews of anothers. Come on people have your own opinion and stop listening to these idiots who write these crappy reviews. I saw Dollhouse and I am very happy with the pilot. I really like the show alot, and If I would have read these reviews before hand, I still would have watched. Not everyone has the same opinion so thats why I think critics are pointless and they need to cheer-up and get a real job.

By: Julia

Julia — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 00:32:36 +0000

It’s interesting, Nick. Your first comment this morning about the ratings was that 2.0 was right where it starts to get interesting for FOX and where they will have a tough choice to make. Now 2.0 is definitely renewable and even lower would still be good.

By: Roguester

Roguester — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 00:24:32 +0000

Horrible opening episode – talk about fostering females-as-victims stereotypes. Not one good moment in the entire show.

By: Nick C

Nick C — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 19:08:08 +0000

Mike, well it did well enough to show that it likely will get renewed if it can keep similar numbers for the season or even slightly lower numbers.

By: Dan

Dan — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 19:03:09 +0000

I think it will last the full season, but its definitely not gonna get a second season, Terminator won’t get a third.

By: Mike

Mike — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 18:12:35 +0000

This show will be canceled after 4 shows. And it should have never made it to air. Joss is phoning it in maybe its payback to Fox for how he was treated with other shows. You had your chance to grab me with the first show but you failed to deliver. I heard they rewritten the show 5 times… maybe six times would have worked.

By: Alden

Alden — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 16:44:48 +0000

The problem is that they didn’t use the original pilot Whedon wrote. This rush job was essentially Dollhouse’s “Train Job”, if you will, even if Joss keeps saying he agreed with them.

By: Steve

Steve — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 16:24:39 +0000

its unbearable waiting for the ratings of this and TSCC.

By: Nick C

Nick C — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 16:20:57 +0000

Riff, I’m sure Whedon did the best he could with that pilot under the circumstances. The question is does Whedon do his normal thing of improving the show through writing and production? The set design is amazing.

By: Riff Rafferty

Riff Rafferty — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 15:54:20 +0000

FOX needs to take back all the money they threw at Joss Whedon and give it to the set designer and the DP. They’re the only talent evident here. There was certainly none evident from Joss. Well, maybe a little evident from Fran Kranz, whom I’m sure will find a better project when this gets cancelled.

Whatever viewers it got last night, I predict it’s twice as many as it gets next week.

By: Julia

Julia — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 15:50:11 +0000

The ratings we see everyday do not include diaries, since you don’t send them in daily. They are still used for local market ratings in many markets, even some of the bigger ones. (Orlando just switched to LPMs last month.) They also still use them for sweeps, when they increase the sample size exponentially.

By: clutz

clutz — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 15:44:49 +0000

I missed the pilot, so I cannot or critique it. Seeing as I missed it because I was at a Monster Truck Rally, I’m sure I would have been too stupid to understand it anyway

By: clutz

clutz — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 15:43:17 +0000

@Jesse, some folks in my market still do diaries too, though I never have. Nielsen is more reliant on meters now than in “Dukes of Hazzard” times, but the diaries still exist. The diaries probably still get filled out a lot like yours . Who’s to stop a panelist from writing down the things he or she likes for every possible viewer he or she can claim? Good luck with Chuck

By: shaundaniels

shaundaniels — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 13:29:44 +0000

I liked it.

By: jesus_stick

jesus_stick — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 12:39:13 +0000

the critics are very mixed.

By: Sam

Sam — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 12:33:29 +0000

Well, that was good. And the people’s critics looks pretty good to. So I’m gonna stay tuned. Andd hope it does well.

By: Ike

Ike — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 08:47:39 +0000

The pilot for Dollhouse was not bad. It was fairly promising and very easy to understand. As with all other Whedon programs, I expect it to improve significantly in the coming weeks. Neither Firefly nor Buffy started off extremely well. Unfortunately, buried in this timeslot, I doubt the pilot exceeded a 2.0 rating in the demo.

Linking to any review by Tom Shales makes the baby Jesus cry. Tom Shales hates all sci-fi. And he doesn’t understand anything even remotely complex. He calls sci-fi shows too complicated, too outlandish, and/or too ridiculous. His review says the show lacks “simple coherence” — a code phrase translating to “understandable for morons like Tom Shales.”

He also snarks about all the money spent on the Dollhouse set. If I remember correctly, Shales was a big fan of trash like the original 90210 and/or Melrose Place. I don’t think he complained about “money spent on interior decorating” in those programs.

The Washington Post is largely an excellent paper and deserves a better TV critic — one who is intelligent enough to understand the very basic concepts in a show like Dollhouse, and one who doesn’t long for “predictable” and “pat” programs.

The Dollhouse pilot certainly had its problems, such as a pointless and poorly-done motorcycle chase at the beginning of the episode, and maybe a lack of humor in the dialogue. The characters needed more development as well, but there wasn’t time for that (as I hope there will be in future episodes).

Shales dismisses the idea that TV can be “arthouse,” meaning that his tastes are absurdly pedestrian and bland. If TV can’t be “arthouse” then what the heck was The Wire, for frakking out loud? Not that I think Dollhouse is anything like The Wire, or anywhere near as good and arty and grandly inaccessible.

By: Andrea

Andrea — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 08:13:18 +0000

Ok, having surfed to several websites, I’m going to predict that DH opens huge (for a Friday) with a major dropoff at the the 1/2 hour.

This will be Friday’s Bionic Woman.

By: Rachel P

Rachel P — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 07:32:11 +0000

Hey Terry, cool that you checked out Terminator! Try to stay tuned to it.

By: jesus_stick

jesus_stick — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 07:29:43 +0000

oh my, that was an incredibly weak pilot.

By: Jesse

Jesse — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 06:30:03 +0000

@Clutz

I did the diary thing once, and it was very recently, so they still use those somewhat. I live in a small market though. They gave me one for all like, 5 TVs in my house. So, as any compulsive liar who’s totally dedicated to his favorite TV shows would do, I wrote down the same shows that I love in all 5 diaries. And I wrote that everyone in my family watched them, even though I was the only one that I did.

I want Chuck renewed. Sue me.

By: David4

David4 — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 06:29:57 +0000

I just woke up from the pilot… that was a good nap.

How can’t people understand the show? It’s extremely easy to follow.

By: clutz

clutz — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 06:18:45 +0000

Julia and Nick, regarding Friday and Saturday “wasteland” concerns: It’s more complicated than Point A (audience went away) versus Point B (networks gave up). There’s also Point C- recording devices became affordable and usable for the majority of average Joe Viewers. There’s Point D – Nielsen has moved from diaries to People Meters in most major markets. It was a lot easier for Joe Nielsenviewer to write “oh yeah, I forget, but I probably watched the Dukes of Hazzard” in a diary than it is for him to fake out a meter. The counting – dare I say it as an anti-Nielsen conspiracy theorist?!? – is probably more accurate now than ever before. Let’s not forget Point E – cable TV, including movies. And Point F – renting movies to watch at home. In the years that Friday and Saturday have drifted, it’s not entirely because networks gave up. Like any business, they must focus their investments in areas of greatest potential gain.

A year ago, I never believed I could make the following statement, but now I stand corrected: Kudos to CBS for finding a way to keep Friday nights a reasonably-rated, profitable venture for scripted dramas. Flashpoint really seems to be working (unless tonight’s ratings took a dive). That completes a 10-million-plus viewer average for new episodes on Fridays, in the main three-hour prime time block. I don’t know critics’ opinions on GW, Flashpoint, or Numb3rs. But the ratings are holding up well now.

By: Thecolours

Thecolours — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 05:24:55 +0000

Dollhouse was good. I liked how the personas Echo is implanted with have flaws, and that they carry over into the engagement. It makes things more intersting.

By: Terry

Terry — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 05:09:19 +0000

I watched terminator for the first time tonight…..I was really lost but thought it was a ok show!I also watched dollhouse and was sorta lost at the story arc of it??? I thought it found some mojo near the last 30 mins ….the first 30 mins were confusing and not much content for me!!!

By: Lisa

Lisa — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 03:32:45 +0000

Okay, I’ve seen the first episode and it SUCKED. Based on that one, the show doesn’t deseve to make it. I was really hoping for it to be good, too. Buffy and Angel were among my favorite programs.

Now I see why Fox buried this dog on Friday night. It’s simply awful.

By: Sam

Sam — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 02:59:53 +0000

7-8 million as my prediction.

I’m not expecting much from the show. I’m sure it will be confusing.

By: misty

misty — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 02:15:18 +0000

I’d say 4 million mid range. Not even close to five million. Then next week dropping sharply. The show won’t last. Its not a mainstream show, so it won’t get above 5 million. It might on the first week, but definitely not after that.

By: Nick C

Nick C — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 02:04:42 +0000

Julia, the networks gave up. Heck, I’d like to say good tv is good tv and the audiences will flock to find it, but the old ABC lineup on Fridays (their TGIF lineup) was total crap. I don’t know why people watched that stuff. CBS doing well with DUKES OF HAZZARD isn’t much of an example of good tv either.

By: Julia

Julia — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 01:47:53 +0000

Nick, I remember when Saturday nights were contenders, too. It’s hard to say whether the networks gave up or the audience left.

By: Nick C

Nick C — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 01:46:23 +0000

Robert, I’d also like to see both TSCC and DOLLHOUSE do well just to prove that Friday shouldn’t be a wasteland of crap to choose from on TV. I think that is the REAL underlying factor of my interest in all this. I very much would like networks to quit being idiots about certain nights. To me, there is no “bad night,” but I remember when ABC and CBS both had Friday Nights that were amazing (for ratings).

By: Nick C

Nick C — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 01:42:20 +0000

Vader, nope. I was just suggesting that the data displayed wasn’t a fair assessment of how reviews were going.

Robert, still it’s 3 of the worst 6 reviews according to metacritic. I’m not blaming you of anything, I’m just pointing it out that you have randomly selected a group of reviews that sheds more poor light on the subject matter.

I could care less about whether Whedon does better than JJ. I think 60% of Whedon’s body of work is total crap. ALIEN RESSURECTION? crap. BUFFY (the movie)? crap. BUFFY Seasons 1,4+ crap, ANGEL the season run by him… saved by Ben Edlund. FIREFLY is the only work of his I was really impressed with, and that wasn’t all perfect either.

I just have a problem with this idea that FOX doesn’t care, wants it to die, hates it, and people burying it before it airs. It will most definitely fail, but I think it will have little to do with the quality. I think it will have more to do with wrong place, wrong time, and not good enough from the starting block.

By: Theoacme

Theoacme — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 01:18:14 +0000

Good thing for everyone here that I’m not you – my avatar is a clue as to my very favorite show, which would probably unite everyone here into throwing their tv’s out of their windows – or me…

…as far as I am concerned, a Ronco infomercial could best Grey’s Anatomy, and that would be fine by me – mind you, I don’t watch anything at that hour, between Ugly Betty and ER, so it doesn’t matter much to me

By: Julia

Julia — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 01:18:03 +0000

Hmm, no mention of wanting Dollhouse to succeed. Sounds like an admission of guilt to me.

By: Robert Seidman

Robert Seidman — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 00:57:53 +0000

HA! If I could manipulate the ratings CHUCK would be top 10 show, LIFE would be a demo powerhouse and SUPERNATURAL would best GREY’S ANATOMY!

By: Theoacme

Theoacme — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 00:52:53 +0000

Robert is master of his domain, Vader – he could sabotage the ratings of any show that Nick likes, just for fits and giggles…

…five minutes to Terminator, sixty-five to Dollhouse – last call for alcohol

By: Grace

Grace — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 00:46:35 +0000

Wow, not much good reviews for Dollhouse. Now I’m intrigued to find what’s this all about.

By: Vader

Vader — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 00:43:52 +0000

Nick, are you really accusing Robert of trying to sabatoge the show’s ratings by sticking all the bad reviews from metacritic up? Seriously? You’re coming off as a gigantic Joss fanboy. I’d guarantee if this was about the first few episodes of a new JJ Abrams series, we wouldn’t be hearing from you at all or you’d be giving us an “I told you so” speech. Put a sock in it, and if you like the show, then watch it. Nobody’s stopping you.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 00:34:48 +0000

5.5 million, 1.9, and a big drop next week.

By: Robert Seidman

Robert Seidman — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 00:15:33 +0000

Nick, again, two green, two yellow and two red. That the the two red reviews from the LA Times and Washington Post happen to be two reviews from publications I regular read and were extremely recent at the time I did the post AND two of the worst reviews is coincidental.

I know you’re not happy because regardless of the reviews the results won’t change the JJ > Joss balance of power, but you’ll survive (and so will Joss!)

By: Nick C

Nick C — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 00:03:43 +0000

Robert, I don’t know what you used for your selection process. I know 3 of your 6 were 3 of the worst 6 reviews out of the 27 reviews that Metacritic has up. One of your 6 which was green didnt even have a good quote from it.

By: Theoacme

Theoacme — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 23:45:59 +0000

Robert, Bill – be sure to give Y the credit for the exclusive when Michael Ausiello prints this “exclusive” in EW next week…

…and JT – I didn’t know Mel Brooks was the Pope

By: Theoacme

Theoacme — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 23:39:46 +0000

Y, JT: 23.8 million on Friday Night for Seinfeld? He’s coming back?!

“Exclusive – Seinfeld is coming back to television on Friday nights!”

Yeah – doesn’t NBC wish!

By: Robert Seidman

Robert Seidman — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 23:37:30 +0000

Nick, lol, but you’re full of crap! There definitely was some selection bias, but it boiled down to a.) mainstream media (which I would agree doesn’t hit Whedon’s non Joe Blow target, and that something like IGN does), and b.) recency, I didn’t include things that were days and weeks old.

But via complete randomness, I actually wound up with a somewhat well balanced distribution of reviews by the Metacritic color coding standards. Of the six reviews excerpted above, two were green, two were yellow and two were red according to Metacritic.

So to say that I found the worst reviews to quote from is BS. I did find two of the worst reviews to quote from, but the other four out of the six were not among the worst reviews.