whu-oh

Sounds like there's trouble in the Dollhouse. According to Variety, Joss is deciding to air episodes of his forthcoming drama out of sequence.

“I showed some scenes to David Lynch and he’s all, ‘Whuh?’ Bad sign,” says Joss. As it stands episode two is being reworked and presented as the pilot and the original pilot will air as episode two.

However, in addition to the comments made, Joss also went on to say: “There were some slight issues with tone. I was in a dark, noir kind of place and didn’t bring the visceral pop the network had expected from the script." Issues with tone? Sounds like the new show is already off to a very bumpy start.

I hate to think what the suits mean by "visceral pop". Are we dealing with another case of "Your show is too dark visually so brighten it up" a la Angel season five or is there something more insidious at work here? Ever since it was revealed that there would be limited commercial interruption for this show I've been dreading the possibility of product placement. Could this visceral pop translate into something that looks and plays more like a commercial?

Variety itself goes on to remind us that the original Buffy pilot had been largely reshot (not to mention recast) but this smacks more of issues that Fox, and subsequently the viewing public, had with Firefly. Establishing the rules of the Dollhouse universe and helping us understand and identify with it's protagonist is, frankly, Scriptwriting 101.

Thankfully, with the success of Dr. Horrible, I have a renewed faith in Joss's ability as a thoughtful creator of setting and characters both. Still, I'm nervous and ever more critical of the frothing at the mouth Whedonites who have already decided that Dollhouse will be this incredible program, completely above reproach. I hope that this news will act as a reminder that even the best writers can't always get it right and, the more they treat a tv show like it's the second coming, the more likely they will be incredibly disappointed.

You can find the original article here.