Terminator: SCC and Dollhouse chopped?

[Steve T Power]

Word is starting to spread anonymously that FOX's Friday night "Grindhouse" slot is going down the tubes, and both Joss Whedon's Dollhouse, which many say is finally finding its feet, and Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles, which is garnering a lot of love this season, will both be given the chop!

Word on Terminator came out of Entertainment Weekly today, and Dollhouse rumors started when FOX cut an episiode off the tail end of the season, and the ratings continue to decline. There hasn't been anything resembling an official statement, and many expect that around the middle of May.

Real drag about Terminator, as I hear season 2 ended on a doozy of a cliffhanger. With Dollhouse it's probably more of a mercy killing than anything.

[HGervais]

Yes Dollhouse started REALLY slow but the show kicked in around the episode 6 mark and has gotten pretty interesting but yeah, it may have been a case of it happening way too late. That said, the 13th episode not being broadcast is in fact the 14th episode shot. The original pilot was scrapped and as part of the show's contractual obligation with the home video department, which calls for 13 episodes, one additional episode was produced. The 12th episode wraps up the first season's arc with this episode acting as an epilogue for the season not unlike say the dreams/cheese episode at the finish of Buffy season 4. Now if the show were coasting along with great ratings would Fox be falling over themselves to get another hour on the air? Yeah probably.

[BrettCullum]

I hate to admit this because it reveals how little time I have, but I have all the DOLLHOUSE episodes sitting on the DVR waiting to be watched other than that first one. Sad to see Joss have another show axed, but seems this one does not have the rabid fan base the other ones did. I'm not sure why that is the case. Any thoughts? Was it too bland or just put on the wrong night?

[HGervais]

I hate to admit this because it reveals how little time I have, but I have all the DOLLHOUSE episodes sitting on the DVR waiting to be watched other than that first one. Sad to see Joss have another show axed, but seems this one does not have the rabid fan base the other ones did. I'm not sure why that is the case. Any thoughts? Was it too bland or just put on the wrong night?

It wasn't so much bland as really confused in the early going. It took a lot of time for the show to figure out what it was about and who the characters were. That said once you get past the pilot, which is some of the most humorless writing Whedon has ever done, the show gets a little better each week and then finds its groove with episode six. And Friday night on Fox is what it is. You put a show there and you have to grade the ratings on a pretty serious curve. As noted in the TV thread DVR numbers track really high for Dollhouse and even higher for Sarah Conner Chronicles, so maybe that will factor in. We will see.

[Steve T Power]

Apparently Terminator's ratings were actually up last going off, while Dollhouse's were at their second lowest. It seems like people are only watching Dollhouse out of loyalty, which is a shame really. I hate to see genre stuff fail, it just makes for more of the blighted wasteland that is reality television.

Maybe Fox will start showing classic re-runs on fridays. It's the "Cop-block!" Magnum P.I. and Hawaii Five-Oh! Fridays on FOX!

[BrettCullum]

Well... I don't get why you'd even attempt a heavily serialized drama on a Friday night anyway. I can understand shows that have standalone episodes, anthology shows, sitcoms, that sort of thing. I am trying to imagine what would have happened to LOST if it had shown up on a Friday night.

The DOLLHOUSE pilot wasn't too impressive... but then what pilot truly is? There are exceptions to the rules like BUFFY or the king of all pilots in my book TWIN PEAKS. But honestly most shows feel unformed when we look at the first episode. Almost as if nobody knows WHO they are. Come to think of it, that should have worked in DOLLHOUSE'S favor given the mind wiping plot.

[Dan Mancini]

Well... I don't get why you'd even attempt a heavily serialized drama on a Friday night anyway. I can understand shows that have standalone episodes, anthology shows, sitcoms, that sort of thing. I am trying to imagine what would have happened to LOST if it had shown up on a Friday night.

Word. There's a reason Friday nights were reserved for CHiPs, The Dukes of Hazzard, and Knight Rider back in the day: No one over the age of 12 was watching TV.

[cdouglas]

Well... I don't get why you'd even attempt a heavily serialized drama on a Friday night anyway. I can understand shows that have standalone episodes, anthology shows, sitcoms, that sort of thing. I am trying to imagine what would have happened to LOST if it had shown up on a Friday night.

Word. There's a reason Friday nights were reserved for CHiPs, The Dukes of Hazzard, and Knight Rider back in the day: No one over the age of 12 was watching TV.

Right. Even sci-fi geeks have stuff to do on Friday nights.

[LarryLockyer]

kinda sucks i was really enjoying Terminator but dollhouse i watched like 10 mins of ... as a Joss Whedon fan i kinda feel sad to see another show probably canned but i really wasnt a fan of the show

[Steve T Power]

Well... I don't get why you'd even attempt a heavily serialized drama on a Friday night anyway. I can understand shows that have standalone episodes, anthology shows, sitcoms, that sort of thing. I am trying to imagine what would have happened to LOST if it had shown up on a Friday night.

The DOLLHOUSE pilot wasn't too impressive... but then what pilot truly is? There are exceptions to the rules like BUFFY or the king of all pilots in my book TWIN PEAKS. But honestly most shows feel unformed when we look at the first episode. Almost as if nobody knows WHO they are. Come to think of it, that should have worked in DOLLHOUSE'S favor given the mind wiping plot.

Do you remember when series often spent half or more of their first season spinning their narrative wheels and trying to find traction? The only show i ever recall hitting the ground and blowing me away with an gosh darn amazing pilot and rock solid first season was The X Files.

Even something as solid as Battlestar Galactica or Firefly had duds in their first seasons.

Nowadays it seems like if a show doesn't hit HARD out of the gate it's done for.

[BrettCullum]

TV is changing in a direction I never saw coming. Now it is truly about instant ratings, and the bigger the budget the more likely the show will be axed. I thought when TWIN PEAKS came out it signaled the dawning of smart television, but I was oh so wrong. X FILES certainly carried that torch, but in general TV has just gotten dumb and dumber. I remember tuning in to catch a show and I caught the tale end of ACCORDING TO JIM. I was horrified that show was still on and in prime time even! I know it is taking a final bow in May of this year, but it had an eight year run?!!? REALLY??! Ah, but then I have to remember a week or so ago FAST AND FURIOUS made close to 80 million bucks.

But from all I am hearing DOLLHOUSE was misguided. I wonder what could have fixed it?

SARAH CONNOR should have held on a while longer to enjoy maybe a spike in ratings thanks to the movie coming up. But there you are.

I would love to see both shows get picked up by cable outlets. Probably never going to happen, but it would be nice.

[HGervais]

I would hope he knows more about the situation than any of us do so it is something of a surprise to hear at yesterday's Dollhouse discussion Whedon sounded kind of optimistic about the future of the show.

[LarryLockyer]

maybe he knows something we dont

[TemporalWisdom]

All the same, what is it with FOX? They've got such a hair trigger. Add to that their horribly slanted news and I have a real hate on for them.

[barnaclelapse]

Well, it's like that joke on Family Guy where Peter lists all the shows that came and went on FOX between when Family Guy was canceled and when it came back.

And that was, what, two years and how many dozen shows?

[Ash22]

If a show on FOX that doesn't bring in the ratings right away, then the network gives up and the show gets the ax. That's not a habit, it's a tradition to say the least.

[Observer]

If a show on FOX that doesn't bring in the ratings right away, then the network gives up and the show gets the ax. That's not a habit, it's a tradition to say the least.

That's actually true with most networks. People just like the canceled shows on FOX more than other networks. Should we at least be thankful that FOX is developing these interesting shows?

Of course, it's weird that they would start Dollhouse on Friday night to begin with. That's like asking for cancellation.

[FrailtyCS]

Dollhouse is the best show on television right now, but because of Fox's meddling, it took six up and down episodes to get there. If Fox had stayed out of Joss's business, the show would've been a lot stronger from the get-go. Either way, it probably doesn't matter. It was sent to die on Friday nights, and the chances of it getting renewed seem hopeless at this point. What a true shame.

[Shmoooooo]

From what I've read recently Dollhouse has managed to be renewed for a second season ... Terminator: SCC on the other hand has officially not been renewed for it's third season. Which sucks ... I've only seen the first season of Terminator, but it had real promise ... and from what I've read the second season ended on a cliff-hanger which might have taken the show in an all new direction. Well ... I guess 1 out of 2 is better then nothing at all.

[Dark Knight]

I've only seen the first season of Terminator

So you're the one that quit watching! I can see it now, Fox network execs saying "Should we give Terminator another season?" "Hey! That Shmoooooo quit watching, let's cancel it."
It's all you fault man!

[Movie Mike]

Summer Glau to join Dollhouse?

"If anybody thinks [bringing Summer onto Dollhouse] hasn't occurred to me already then they have not met me," Whedon tells Michael Ausiello. "I mentioned it to her before [SCC] was canceled. I was like, 'You know, we should get you in the 'house.' But first we have to come up with something that works." And casting her as a doll would not work, insists Whedon. "Summer would be perfect to play an active, but she's done that [type of role] a lot," he says.

"I'd rather see her play someone who talks too much. The most fun I have is when I get somebody who's good and comfortable at doing something, and then I make them do something else. Summer said to me, 'I would like to play a normal girl before I die of extreme old age.'"

[JD_heathers]

How on earth did Dollhouse get renewed? Like im glad and everything but its ratings would even make the CW weep!

[Shmoooooo]

I've only seen the first season of Terminator

So you're the one that quit watching! I can see it now, Fox network execs saying "Should we give Terminator another season?" "Hey! That Shmoooooo quit watching, let's cancel it."
It's all you fault man!

Sorry