DOLLHOUSE is Back in the Toy Shop Being Fixed

Yesterday, my girl Korbi Ghosh broke the news that Joss Whedon’s mid-season show, DOLLHOUSE, has temporarily shutdown production and will be using the unexpected time off to “regroup”.

According to Ghosh’s sources, Whedon has been spending his time directing the first two episodes of the series and hasn’t been able to spend much time in the writers room. Whedon asked Fox for the time so he could “tailor the upcoming scripts to his liking”.

In public statements Fox has appeared to be supportive of the shutdown and Joss’s vision,saying “We have every confidence that [the extra time] will allow Joss to make the show the best it can possibly be. It’s very rare that you have a head writer who is also directing two episodes in a row. But we are happy that Joss is directing, because this is his vision.”  But according to TelevisionWeek, there have been some off the record concerns from the big wigs at Fox.

“A person familiar with the thinking of some Fox executives told TelevisionWeek that there have been concerns raised inside the network about the fundamental underpinnings of the show.  Specifically, because the heroine of the show, played by Eliza Dushku, has no free will or ability to do much beyond what she’s told to do, viewers might find it hard to root for her. In addition, some executives have expressed concerns that early episodes of the series have been confusing and hard to follow.”

Uh Oh.  What are we to think?  Which Fox execs are we to believe?

In past years this kind of start and stop has spelled doom for a show.  But more recently other shows have benefited from taking the time to stop production and make sure the show is what it promised it would be.  BROTHERS & SISTERS did shut down to do some rework as it was prepping its pilot and right now 24 is taking a 2-week unplanned vacation to do some fixing up on some scripts.

I don’t see any harm in stopping, especially if it means that we are going to get that Joss Whedon has to offer…which is pretty damn good.  And hopefully his writing staff will use this time to get a better handle of the quality that is demanded from a Joss Whedon script.

For more of this story and to read the reaction from the cast, check out Korbi TV.