March 4th, 2008Welcome to Whedon’s Dollhouse
We haven’t talked much about Dollhouse, Joss Whedon’s upcoming series starring Eliza Dushku, since a very early episode of the vlog. Now that the WGA strike is over, there has been more preliminary news.
What we know about the premise hasn’t changed much in the past few months. Echo (Eliza Dushku) is one of several “Dolls” who have had their memories and personalities wiped so that new memories and skills can be implanted. With these implanted skills, the Dolls are hired out to complete fantasies, commit crimes, and sometimes even perform good deeds. Since they’re basically mercenaries, I would assume that the good deeds will be the exceptions.
In between missions, the Dolls live in a child-like state in a location called the Dollhouse. The main story arc will most likely be driven by these periods, though developing watchable relationships among amnesiacs should prove tough for the writers, a group which now includes several Buffy alumni.
TV Guide has a list of the characters in the show along with some fantasy casting (Yes, to Juliet Landau!). You can also find more casting details for each on Spoiler TV.
- Echo - Eliza Dushku’s Doll character
- Adelle DeWitt - Runs the Dollhouse, cold, perhaps bitter.
- Paul Smith - FBI Agent obsessed with the Dollhouse
- Boyd Langton - Older gent, sounds like a Watcher from the Buffyverse
- Topher Brink - Nerdy but attractive, computer geek, keeps the technical side of things going, amoral (as opposed to immoral)
- Sierra - Another Doll
- Victor - Another Doll (They’re not all female.)
- November - A “heavy” Doll (I can’t wait to see how Fox defines “heavy”)
- Dr. Claire Saunders - Witty, takes care of the Dolls’ health
I’m not sure what direction they’ll take, but this show has the potential to bridge the gap between the satisfaction of older TV series with self-contained episodes and the intrigue of today’s never-ending, rabbit-hole hits like Lost.
The major arc is going to be about Echo’s awakening to her own consciousness, so there is definitely room for a complex storyline. The nature of the show, however, will have the actors playing dramatically different characters each week in mini-plots that are not necessarily connected to any other mini-plot or the main story.
Of course, if I wrote the same words above about a show not from the brain of Joss Whedon, I’d be more skeptical. What do you think? Does this sound like a potential hit or an imminent train wreck?
March 4th, 2008 at 11:44 am
Sounds like it could be interesting.
March 4th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
I really miss Alias and somehow i think that Dollhouse will be a little like that.
March 4th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
very hopeful - I have faith in Whedon!
(no pun intended)
March 6th, 2008 at 11:47 am
I am so excited I could, would and did pee!