Comments on: FOX's November Sweeps schedule: Dollhouse is on it

By: Robert Seidman

Robert Seidman — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 17:08:21 +0000

For the record, I’m a big fan of Enver Gjokaj. Dichen Lachman, too!

I can’t speak for all our readers, but I can speak for the management, we support this 100%:

Ok look, we know it’s probably getting cancelled, but we like it and at least we can enjoy it while it lasts.

We think “enjoy it while it lasts” is a great policy for any show, regardless of whether it runs one season or nine!

By: Harry

Harry — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 17:03:11 +0000

A retrospective look at what it’s been like to read this website upon discovering it in the last few weeks:

DH fans: We love Dollhouse!
TVBN haterz: Oh yeah, well too bad cause it’s getting CANCELLED next season! HA!

DH fans: We like Enver Gjokaj!
TVBN haterz: OMG!! That’s so pathetic that you like someone who isn’t the lead on the show HAHAHA

DH fans: Ok look, we know it’s probably getting cancelled, but we like it and at least we can enjoy it while it lasts.
TVBN haterz: Uh, did we say cancelled, we meant it won’t even get to run the FULL SEASON!! HA!

DH fans: FOX just said they’d be running all the episodes.
TVBN haterz: Oh yeah, well good luck seeing those episodes anywhere before 2010!! HA!

DH fans: Dollhouse is on the November schedule.
TVBN haterz: Pff, well that’s only because of ad, uh, spendy.. things… HA!

DH fans: Um, are you sure it works that way?
TVBN haterz: Idono, but of course FOX just wants to brag about not cancelling shows ever!!

DH fans: Riiight… so, we’ll just be over here watching our show then.
TVBN haters: Uhhh… oh yeah well… um, your letters will be thrown in the garbage!!!! NYAHNYAH!!!

DH fans: …?

By: Richard Steven Hack

Richard Steven Hack — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 02:44:03 +0000

SUMMER!!! Downloaded that pic and two other promo shots from Superiorpics the other night.

Seeing the episode descriptions for Dollhouse indicates that the show is going to pick up a bit. They should have started with those episodes instead of the incredibly lame first two episodes of this season. And episode three wasn’t that hot, either.

Summer connects with Eliza – that’s cool. And Ray Wise versus Olivia – that’s cool.

They’ve been under-utilizing Alexis, too. They need to ramp him up.

I’m not sure Summer will boost ratings much, since anybody who knows her is probably watching Dollhouse already. Unless the supposed TSCC boycott has any reality, which is doubtful. It may however make more people watch those episodes who might otherwise have been iffy about watching more Dollhouse. So she can’t hurt the ratings and may stabilize them which is probably the best Fox can hope for at this point.

By: Teapot

Teapot — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 01:58:07 +0000

Eh, Glau appearing on Dollhouse isn’t enough to pull me back. Maybe if they paid me…

By: hessian

hessian — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 21:52:57 +0000

Gabriella – FOX won’t risk having a new episode pre-empted by Game 5, 6 or 7 of the World Series. They pretty much have to tentatively schedule an entertainment show on those nights, but truthfully are hoping it gets bumped by baseball.

By: Riff Rafferty

Riff Rafferty — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:33:45 +0000

A Nil writes, “FOX is smart and obviousl terrified of us Dollhouse fans haha. But they still wont get away — we can guarantee that those letters will be in progress if they do cancel. xD”

And I can guarantee that they’ll all be in the garbage the instant they are received.

Which is where the show will be come January.

By: Anon

Anon — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:19:33 +0000

Dollhouse haters are becoming a little quiet, no?

By: Dan

Dan — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:18:22 +0000

Tom – Its likely Past Life has been cut to accomodate Lie to Me.

By: buffywrestling

buffywrestling — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:12:27 +0000

Although to be fair, the haters in this thread at least appear to be at a minimum. I think they are still flumoxed. I was having a tremendous fun row with a guy on AICN but when the Press release appeared, he disappeared.

By: Simon

Simon — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:14:51 +0000

Kat: Yes, no arguments there. I think everyone agrees the network system is slowly dying. The best quality shows are on cable but there are still some decent shows on the networks – I don’t watch any of them live because of the commercials.

I guess FOX have concluded that DOLLHOUSE numbers won’t improve significantly with more promos – promos are more effective for some kinds of shows than for others. Being on Friday doesn’t necessarily hurt DOLLHOUSE (and, considering the recent announcements, it doesn’t seem to have) – the decision-makers at FOX are aware fewer people watch TV on Fridays and take that into account.

By: Kat

Kat — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:37:34 +0000

Simon: well unfortunately they are also the channels that I stop watching shows on. I can honestly say that CBS I only watch two shows and yes they are both on friday. The CW used to be the one I watched the most until the network lost it’s imagination and started bringing back shows like 90210 and melrose place which were good in their time but sorry they are repeats of old shows. I still watch the CW but not as much. They moved smallville to dead end fridays which let’s face it, it dead ended a long time ago because they still weren’t making him fly. Fox actually probably has the most shows I watch now. and ABC comes in third only because of the three 10pm shows. But ya know my biggest problem is that channels don’t seem to really give shows a chance to build viewership anymore. I’ll admit they have tried with dollhouse but they still aren’t promoting it very well so numbers are not likely to increase until they promote. I mean Mentalist is an okay show with great numbers over on CBS but it’s also been promoted times 10 while the shows that seem to lose are the ones that were promoted times 1 like they were setting them up to fail. Dancing with the stars is not a real dance show like so you think you can dance but guess what theirs tons of people watching that no dancing show that anyone can learn to do just to see some d list stars make fools of themselves. I mean let’s get real hear has anyone ever heard of half of the stars they put on there? Nope. Soon they will have me not watching the broadcast networks and only watching cable.

By: Simon

Simon — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:28:24 +0000

Kat, “I’m sorry but the amount of viewers should matter not the amount of viewers in a certain age group.” – Unfortunately the advertisers disagree with you.

By: Kat

Kat — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:04:08 +0000

CrimsonV – Well I am so glad that people have no imagination anymore and want to watch reality tv all the time or cop/law shows with no real stories. It seems to me that they are the ones losing out but then again we have people in the world that think texting and driving is SAFE so that of course tells me the level of intelligence our world has come to. Yes channels have to make money but they cannot make money if they do not promote a show. Dollhouse may seem boring to you but the show has actually gotten better over the past couple of weeks. Yes their numbers are low. But I have seen plenty of shows that were right up in viewers with other shows Moonlight on friday nights had 8 million viewers but was cancelled why? At the time it was not far off from ghost whisperer numbers. Now ghost whisperer numbers are higher now but still. I’m sure it was cancelled for some 18-49 or 18-34 crap rating that I think is total BS. I’m sorry but the amount of viewers should matter not the amount of viewers in a certain age group. Yes Dollhouse probably will not make it but it also was not promoted as much and has been put on dead end friday. But thanks for your opinion not that I think it matters.

By: Simon

Simon — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:53:53 +0000

AO, yes, regarding DOLLHOUSE, there sure have been a lot of baseless predictions in these threads that have turned out to be plain wrong. But I think we all know they’re less predictions, more wishful thinking.

I suspect these FOX announcements are designed, in part, to give a vote of confidence to the production team so they’re not working in a constant state of uncertainty. Stability counts for something. But I wouldn’t rule out things changing if the demo rating slips.

As for the anticipated Summer boost, I agree with the comment that not many people know who she is. I could be wrong but, with promos, she might manage to provide a 0.1 18-49 demo lift. In any case, the dozen or so disgruntled TSCC fans boycotting the show will have no effect whether they tune in or not – even if any of them are in Nielsen homes.

By: chaos amoeba

chaos amoeba — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:37:16 +0000

I must agree with Robert — I think it has little to do with advertising and little to do with Dollhouse fans, at least direcly..

I am doubtful that networks make these decisions with particular regards to fans of any show. However, they may do so for their general long-term reputation.

This does tie into fans and advertisers indirectly. If Fox did develop a reputation of cancelling a lot of shows early — this could spell problems for future ratings of other new shows and for future advertising revenue, respectively. We have heard, at least, that a lot of people had avoided watching Dollhouse to begin with, because they had little faith that it would be sustained. I’m not arguing that that’s the reason for DH’s numbers; but what I’m saying is that if people continue to believe that that’s how Fox treats their more niche/experimental/sci-fi shows, then maybe they are taking a hit with Dollhouse for their reputation (look we kept a slate).

Many of the more successful scripted dramas are relatively “experimental” such as House, Lost, etc. and it’s hard to really guess how well such shows will do (see Fringe, which we would have expected to have done much better, a priori). If Fox’s actions is an affirmation that they haven’t thrown in the hat (like NBC) on risky programming, then I think it’s a good thing.

In writing this, I guess my conclusion is that Fox’s commitment to air Dollhouse has less to do with DH directly, but a sign that they’re committing (for the moment) to a business model different from NBC.

By: AO

AO — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 09:11:20 +0000

This is going out to all of the incredibly rude and obnoxious people who are constantly insulting Dollhouse and/or it’s fans in their posts (aka the haters):

First, those “certain people” proclaimed that there was NO way that Dollhouse would have a 2nd Season.

Then, those “certain people” proclaimed that Dollhouse would ABSOLUTELY be canceled before it aired 13 Episodes.

Then, those “certain people” proclaimed that there was NO way that any of those 13 Episodes would air during November Sweeps.

Now, I imagine those “certain people” might FINALLY be seeing reality.

And the thought of their tears is delicious to me.

By: Anil

Anil — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:26:50 +0000

FOX is smart and obviousl terrified of us Dollhouse fans haha. But they still wont get away — we can guarantee that those letters will be in progress if they do cancel. xD

It’s funny. Shows liked dollhouse and pushing daisies all have SUCH HUGE fans and this doesent show in the ratings.

By: J.R. Herbaugh

J.R. Herbaugh — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 03:44:44 +0000

“We’re being beaten by CW on Fridays and we’re still winning!” (Or, if they’re edged out, they can blame Fridays.)

Okay, back in 2006, Nielsen said sweeps would be gone in 2011, after it phases out paper diaries in favor of people meters in the top 25 markets. Is that still on track? Has the system been implemented enough to make sweeps matter less this year?

By: Robert Seidman

Robert Seidman — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 03:08:29 +0000

Carl, I don’t profess to having an advanced degree in Hollywood bragging rights, but in this case I don’t think it would have anything to do with advertising, it’s more of a “HA! We got through our fall schedule without making ANY changes!”

What you say may be true, but it seems a reach to me because FOX is also keeping Brothers and ‘Till Death on during November sweeps. To me, that definitely smacks of “We’re FOX, look at our swagger!”

We’ll see!

By: usedtolovecoco

usedtolovecoco — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 02:58:41 +0000

I hope you’re right about Summer but I really don’t think most of the world knows who she is. It’s a shame, she deserves to be a big damn star, but, she’s not. (Yet! Someone big discover Summer already!)

By: Carl

Carl — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 02:56:20 +0000

Yea, because cancelling a show after the Fall will TOTALLY confuse those advertisers. It’s like having your cake and eating it too!

So our contention is Dollhouse is on now to protect their record? Are the advertisers and their bosses 5 years old?
I’ve never cancelled a show, can I sell them advertising time?

Seems far more simple. If they believe it has bottomed out, they’re not losing anything (other than opportunity cost of a re-run) by keeping it on. But a re-run gets you no prestige, no DVD, and no chance of ever improving. Maybe it’s easier to roll the dice and at least say you tried. Three episodes really isn’t trying (it’s a panic.)

By: Max Sleven

Max Sleven — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 01:04:56 +0000

Adam says:

“Summer Glau is worth at least a .3 on Dollhouse. TSCC fans who have been boycotting the show will watch for Glau.”

If TSCC fans are boycotting Dollhouse, they won’t tune in just to see Summer. Are they TSCC fans or Summer Glau fans?

By: usedtolovecoco

usedtolovecoco — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 23:24:06 +0000

It seems stupid that they’d announce it up front like that. What if the ratings continue to nosedive? (Or just remain as bad as they are?) And during Sweeps, no less? It seems like a stupid corner to paint themselves into.

By: nkinsey

nkinsey — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 21:39:21 +0000

I’d be VERY surprised if Lie to Me was put on Fridays. If so, that means FOX have given up on it. And if FOX has indeed given up on it, then they wouldn’t even bother ordering a back 9, which would mean it wouldn’t be on Fridays anyways.

By: Boris

Boris — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 21:35:45 +0000

Adam says:

“Summer Glau is worth at least a .3 on Dollhouse. TSCC fans who have been boycotting the show will watch for Glau.”

I’d as soon just watch the remake of “The Initiation of Sarah” again. Then again, I’m not part of the imaginary “boycott.”

By: CrimsonV

CrimsonV — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:58:01 +0000

Kat-

A TV network’s job is to make money for its investors by giving people what they want to watch. The networks hope that every now and then people will want to watch something innovative, something that has the chance to create an enduring legacy.

People don’t want to watch Dollhouse. End of broadcast discussion.

Now if perhaps Dollhouse (being so cheap) were to be picked up by a cable channel, where niche material belongs…

P.S IMO, Dollhouse was never going to be innovative or enduring. But my opinion on content doesn’t matter once numbers start speaking.

By: Kat

Kat — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:25:30 +0000

Dollhouse is a great show with a great concept that would have had a better opportunity on a different day of the week. I haven’t seen a show yet written by Joss Whedon that was not a good show. Firefly was good and would have lasted had the channel not bombarded the time slot due to another great show being cancelled “Dark Angel”. What is it with people these days that they want to watch cops and law show all the time that have no real stories. You would think people would want to get away from reality some rather than watch that mess and reality shows just as bad. I am so sick of good quality shows getting cancelled for crap like Jay Leno and reality shows.

By: X-R.G.

X-R.G. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:51:23 +0000

Hahaha – the Dollhouse Episode describing that Echo and Bennett have some kind of past connection…yea they hosted FOX’s PREMIERE return of Sarah Connor Chronicles & Dollhouse 1st night together on Fridays last season…hahaha

By: Budo

Budo — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:47:38 +0000

@Riff Rafferty, I can only roll my eyes at that comment.

By: Adam

Adam — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:43:34 +0000

Summer Glau is worth at least a .3 on Dollhouse. TSCC fans who have been boycotting the show will watch for Glau.

By: Christian

Christian — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:15:13 +0000

After the 13th episode of Glee airs on Dec. 9, new episodes won’t return til spring. So I see Past Life getting its slot for 7 weeks, Human Target on Tuesdays post Idol and Lie to Me on Fridays!

By: Robert Seidman

Robert Seidman — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:52:46 +0000

Daniel, see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nielsen_ratings#Sweeps

By: daniel l

daniel l — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:50:05 +0000

what is sweeps, i’ve read the info a before but i don’t remember it at all, could someone explain it to me like i was 7

By: Riff Rafferty

Riff Rafferty — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:40:06 +0000

chrisjozo writes, “Fox is letting the show run all episodes straight through so fans will have one less excuse.”

Never underestimate a Whedonut. These are the same people who bitched and moaned for the past 7 years because the giant nothing that was “Firefly” was preempted one week in October, 2002 for an ALCS game.

FOX is afraid of upsetting Whedon’s insufferable, delusional fans? Here’s a tip — stop giving him shows, then you won’t have that problem.

By: J.R. Herbaugh

J.R. Herbaugh — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:01:06 +0000

Gabriela, yes, as is the episode of “Lie to Me,” but baseball will likely pre-empt them. FOX probably didn’t want to re-air episodes that are only a few weeks old.

By: Wy

Wy — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:59:51 +0000

Michael, Southland would’ve been on Friday, not Saturday. And even if it managed to still get a 1.9 on Friday, which in NBC’s universe is almost a hit, that would be considered a success by supposedly current standards for the night and also twice what Dollhouse gets. But Dollhouse’s budget is purportedly about half that of Southland’s and maybe that’s why FOX is sticking with Dollhouse and NBC thought it’d dump Southland because maybe FOX is making some money off of Dushku and NBC might only just barely break even, making Southland something not really worth airing, especially when they’re making comparatively tons more money on the cheap Dateline. Sometimes always having to rely on the bottom line makes TV and life all that much more boring.

By: Tom

Tom — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:29:43 +0000

Yeah, I wrote the above before I saw Wednesday ratings. Primetime news specials should be taking over any week now for Eastwick.

By: Alex

Alex — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:23:26 +0000

Tom I know that but as I said in the no cancellation post I just don’t think there’s any chance ABC doesn’t pull at least one of Castle, Eastwick or the forgotten before the end of the year. You can probably add Hank to that list as well although, especially since if memory serves I think they still have Better of Ted episodes in the can from last year…

By: DJ

DJ — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:23:21 +0000

Does anyone know what ratings Sit Down Shut Up is getting at midnight on Saturday? I’m glad they’re doing this, but what incentive do they really have in running it there and who actually knows that it’s on?

By: joe beach

joe beach — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:21:50 +0000

The descriptions of the upcoming storylines for Dollhouse sound potentially interesting. Hopefully we get to see them all to see if they pan out.

By: Michael

Michael — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:58:09 +0000

Wy, Southland got a 1.9 for its last episode, which was on a Thursday. It’s highly unlikely that it could have gotten anything close to that on a Saturday.

By: Gabriela

Gabriela — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:58:05 +0000

could be mistaken but HOUSE episode of November 2nd isn’t from last season? “Painless”?

By: nkinsey

nkinsey — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:46:51 +0000

Sweeps are more immportant for the following season, both for national and local affiliates.

Even though, my FOX affliate had to give a lot of makegood points to advertisers a couple years in a row when our November book (Nielsen numbers) was horrible.

However, if I still worked there, we wouldn’t be having to give any for this November. FOX’s fall numbers are better than they’ve done in years (at least 4)!

By: buffywrestling

buffywrestling — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:40:20 +0000

Yeah, it seems they are definitly trying to improve thier image as a whole.

By: Tom

Tom — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:38:01 +0000

@Alex: The statement is that Fox/ABC/etc. don’t cancel anything in Fall – that isn’t the same thing as giving them a backorder. There is zero chance in my mind any of Forgotten/Eastwick/Hank air in February or beyond (outside Summer burnoff).

I don’t believe network ad rates are set in sweeps anymore. The nets simply guarantee advertisers a certain rate for a timeslot, and air additional free ads if those ratings aren’t met. Who is to say Fox didn’t guarantee 1.0 on Friday – meaning that while Dollhouse’s ratings are horrid, they aren’t costing Fox money (in replacement ads)?

By: Bill Gorman

Bill Gorman — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:33:56 +0000

I think a far more likely explanation is Fox’s ability as mentioned above to tout “We got through the entire fall without a cancellation”.

That throws down the gauntlet to CBS to hang on to Three Rivers. Will be interesting to see what happens.

By: buffywrestling

buffywrestling — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:32:34 +0000

Yeah, I find it hard to believe that they would “burn off” episodes during sweeps. That even types dumb.

By: Max Sleven

Max Sleven — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:30:55 +0000

Do Whedon’s fans have their own armed militia or something?

By: Alex

Alex — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:29:35 +0000

Andrea as Robert said sweeps isn’t as important as the legend would have you believe, at least not anymore.

However I’d argue that if it were Fox pulling Dollhouse and the comedies for sweeps would be an awful idea. If they stuck House repeats on Friday for sweeps and scored a 1.5 then advertisers would buy at that rate so when the regular Friday shows return and deliver a 1.0 Fox would be losing money. Sure Fox is going to take a slight hit on the average because of Friday but in the grand scheme of things it looks like Fox are willing to take that slight hit right now.

And Tom there’s no way ABC makes it to the end of the season without pulling the plug on something. I’d also be surprised if CBS doesn’t axe Three Rivers very soon, so if Fox is willing to ride through poor Friday numbers then yes I’d expect them to be the only network not pulling the plug on something. Unless Past Life bombs out of Idol, although Friday’s may be free by then…

By: Robert

Robert — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:25:47 +0000

This is the first yr i really have nothing on FOX to watch. I look at Dollhouse for well i know it wont have long to live so i might as well see it through but when its axed i wont care so much. Still i think FOX shouldve renewed TSCC the show was better written and had better reviews and the ratings werent as bad.