Joss Whedon's Dollhouse

[EvilTwin]

I think that to an extent that we're conflating marketing with story hooks. Twin Peaks was essentially a quirky murder mystery/soap opera set in the northwest created by an acclaimed director. The fact that you can spot similarities to Blue Velvet was a selling point and something that we really hadn't seen the like of on television, network or cable, to that point. Really, the opening credits were enough to show you that Twin Peaks was more cinematic and different than anything else on tv.

We're in the dark on Dollhouse to an extent, but it certainly has a number of hurdles to overcome based on the little we've learned to date. The rumors of problems isn't helping because the premise really needs an absolutely crystal clear vision to work. And as someone without any strong attraction to Dushku, I'd really like a reason to care about the character.

Just speculating, but I'll put money down that one of the early revelations is that the "dolls" are all volunteers that want to escape their old lives. Hopefully, they don't drag that out as one of the big mysteries of the show.

[The Prankster]

Originally Posted by DaveB

I guess you could call "Who killed Laura Palmer?" the hook, but you're pretty mistaken if you think that people tuned in just to find out who killed some character they'd never heard of before. If the ads had shown Twin Peaks to look like some 80s detective show or cop procedural and retained that tagline, it wouldn't have had much of an impact.

Yes, exactly. Twin Peaks clicked because it was unlike anything else, not because it had a nifty premise. (And I really don't think the mainstream TV audience was tuning in based on David Lynch's name, either.) You couldn't explain it to your friends in a sentence and get them to want to watch it. It had a basic premise and fit into a certain genre, but that wasn't what made it special.

To a lesser degree, I actually think this is true of a lot of shows. They're "doctor shows" or "lawyer shows" or "sitcoms" but what makes them succeed is usually the execution and the show's distinctive point of view (and the cast, of course).

If Dollhouse is indeed a show about assassins or spies who have new personalities implanted for each mission, I don't see how that's not a hook. The rest is just confusion stemming from the fact that it hasn't really been marketed yet. Now, if all the behind-the-scenes shenanigans translate negatively onto the screen, that would obviously be a bad thing, but if the show turns out strong, does anyone care?

[felix]

I think Twin Peaks was a success because it had a perkiness and mystery to it that no one had ever seen before. The Julee Cruise music, the music all combined to create something very special.

The plotting is pretty standard. But it was so ahead of its time that i don't think anyone noticed.

[Farsight]

Originally Posted by The Prankster

I actually think this is true of a lot of shows. They're "doctor shows" or "lawyer shows" or "sitcoms" but what makes them succeed is usually the execution and the show's distinctive point of view (and the cast, of course).

Most of that first requires someone to try the show out. You have to grab them before you can reel them in with the execution. HOUSE ("doctor show") hooked people with, "He's a brilliant doctor who's also a complete asshole." It kept its audience with the execution and the acting. But the marketing wasn't even particularly good - "YOU'RE RISKING THE PATIENT'S LIFE!" was a punch line. The premise and hook that the creators came up with overcame that, and got people to try the show.

Originally Posted by DaveB

I guess you could call "Who killed Laura Palmer?" the hook, but you're pretty mistaken if you think that people tuned in just to find out who killed some character they'd never heard of before.

Of course TV is a visual medium, so there's more to a hook than a line of text. Laura Palmer's naked body washed up onshore wrapped in plastic -was- part of the hook. These days, that's the opening of 5 crime dramas each week, but back then, it was a stark and memorable image. "Who killed Laura Palmer?" was one of the best hooks in TV history - that single question dominated the TV world for a year. And the fact that it was simple was exactly why it was effective.

Originally Posted by The Prankster

If Dollhouse is indeed a show about assassins or spies who have new personalities implanted for each mission, I don't see how that's not a hook.

-If- is the operative word there. We should know this by now. FIREFLY lasted over half a season, and never answered these basic questions. So when Whedon still can't answer them for DOLLHOUSE, it's disconcerting. And if Whedon can't give a good, simple answer to, "What's your show about and why should we watch?", how can anyone expect the network to market it?

[The Prankster]

Firefly had a pretty simple hook. It was a western in space. You can argue that it was pretty odd and turned people off, but the concept was straightforward. I really don't think people would have been lost or confused about it if the pilot had aired first. The problem was that the episode that aired first did nothing to introduce the characters and their relationships, not the basic premise.

[Farsight]

Originally Posted by The Prankster

Firefly had a pretty simple hook. It was a western in space.

See, that's not a hook. It's just a setting. It doesn't suggest the conflict or subject of the show.

I really don't think people would have been lost or confused about it if the pilot had aired first. The problem was that the episode that aired first did nothing to introduce the characters and their relationships, not the basic premise.

That would only be valid if FIREFLY had debuted to big numbers and gradually dropped off. But it debuted to terrible numbers, meaning that most people never tried it.

The common claim from that is that FOX's marketing was at fault, but I'd say that our discussion here proves otherwise... we've seen all of FIREFLY + SERENITY, and we -still- can't give the show a hook, or explain it in a brief and exciting way.

DOLLHOUSE and FRINGE were in production at the same time, essentially competing for the same spot in the lineup. FRINGE's subject matter is no less unusual than DOLLHOUSE's appears to be. FOX has launched FRINGE well, proving that they can still market a genre show. But FRINGE produced a solid pilot (probably their best episode to-date) with an intriguing and coherent premise. DOLLHOUSE appears to still be struggling to do either.

I suspect that when people were pushing the FIREFLY DVD sets on their uninitiated friends, they just said, "This is cool. Watch it." It's disappointing, but I suspect people will be doing the same with DOLLHOUSE in 6 months, and not because of FOX. It's doubly strange that these confused, muddled concepts sprung from the mind behind BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, a show (and film) that essentially originated -entirely- from a hook.

[bendrix]

Originally Posted by Farsight

But FRINGE produced a solid pilot (probably their best episode to-date) with an intriguing and coherent premise. DOLLHOUSE appears to still be struggling to do either.

What is Fringe's hook? I'm not asking to prove a point; it's because I honestly don't know. The only marketing I saw for that gave me the impression it was X-Files, Part Deux.

Also, "From the guy who did Lost" sounds a lot more compelling to the coveted mainstream than "From the guy who did Buffy." That can't be overlooked in the discussion.

[The Prankster]

"A western in space" is a hook as much as it's a setting. Westerns have certain expectations and genre restrictions to be obeyed or played around with. This goes back to my point about doctor shows and lawyer shows. It's a concept that people can grasp quickly, whether they like it or not. I'd argue you keep moving the goalposts as to what a "hook" is, exactly.

If you want something more specific, how about "The Outlaw Josey Wales in space"? Or "disillusioned post-civil war southerner turns to crime...in space?" I really don't think it's that hard to summarize.

And it opened to not-terrible numbers, by the way. If the pilot had aired first it might have hung on.

[neoolong]

Isn't it basically that freaky science is being let loose and its up to a crack team of Denethor, Pacey, and FBI chick to stop it and save the world?

By the writers of Transformers.

[DaveB]

Originally Posted by Farsight

It's doubly strange that these confused, muddled concepts sprung from the mind behind BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, a show (and film) that essentially originated -entirely- from a hook.

See, there's a hook that the show actually had to overcome to become as popular as it did. Not only was the show an adaptation of a marginally successful movie, but the premise and title sound silly. I still have friends who won't watch it primarily because of the central conceit and title.

I guess what I'm saying is: don't put too much stock in "the hook" conjuring an audience. With Buffy, the hook had to be overcome to some extent. With Twin Peaks, I still maintain that "Who killed Laura Palmer" made for a fine catch-phrase, but ultimately wasn't that consequential in bringing viewers to the show and keeping them there. People are smarter than this when it comes to dramatic TV. It takes a variety of factors to sell a show like Dollhouse; it won't come down to anything as simple as a single "hook."

[Malloy]

I think Dollhouse actually has a hook, and it's one that seemed much more clear and interesting to me than Fringe, back when we were getting snippets of info on both. "Mindwiped girl goes on different assignments" was easier to latch onto than "Science-y stuff with Pacey". Back then, I thought Dollhouse would be an easy sell, and would be even without Whedon. At least initially, success dependent on actual quality of course. For me, the one and only obstacle has been Dushku. I imagine this show with a truly gifted young actress, and I think it could be a hit. With Dushku, I think it's probably doomed.

Contradicting all of the above though is My Own Worst Enemy...similar premise, entertaining actor, fun show...total flop. Which does make me wonder if Fox took a glance over at NBC's numbers and panicked.

[The Prankster]

Originally Posted by Malloy

I imagine this show with a truly gifted young actress, and I think it could be a hit. With Dushku, I think it's probably doomed.

I think it's just the opposite. If there's anything that will make this show a success, it's Dushku's presence.

[DaveB]

Originally Posted by The Prankster

I think it's just the opposite. If there's anything that will make this show a success, it's Dushku's presence.

She's definitely the make or break element, but it's hard to say which way it'll go. I re-watched the entire Buffy run fairly recently and found Dushku's acting alternately pretty good and embarassingly bad. She was fine as a serious villain, but initially grating as a devil-may-care rebel hero type. She couldn't really deliver on the humor or likeability.

She'd improved a bit by the time Faith was brought back for the final season, but I think the only time I've seen her as a likeable protagonist (or supporting character, at least) was in Bring It On. I never watched the TV show she was on, but, aside from the fact that she's cute, she's not exactly the first Buffy cast member I'd think of when casting the lead for anything.

[Barry Woodward]

From io9.com:

Dollhouse Will Be Joss Whedon's Greatest Work Ever

Is Joss Whedon's edgy new show Dollhouse doomed before it starts? I know as much as you do. I do know one thing, though: it's going to be the best thing he's ever done. Don't let the nay-sayers weigh you down — Joss' tale of a woman whose mind has been erased (to make way for whatever personality a paying client wants) is going to be better than Firefly or Buffy. And I'll tell you exactly why, but you'll have to read some spoilers to get there.

It's a much cooler concept.

Let's face it: Firefly and Buffy had weak concepts, and they soared thanks to masterful execution. A gun-slinging crew of Western frontier bandits in space? A teenage girl who fights vampires and demons in between running for homecoming queen? Neither of those ideas particularly screams "masterwork" to me.

Meanwhile, Dollhouse? It has one of the most intriguing concepts I've ever come across, right off the bat. In a sea of "ordinary person gets brainchip/spy computer in brain/mutant powers/introduced to a mad scientist" shows, Dollhouse instantly stands out.

It's the story of Echo (Eliza Duskhu), who's basically the property of the eponymous Dollhouse. For a fee, you can have Echo imprinted with any personality, any memories, any skills, you require. (And she does pro bono work sometimes.) But Echo, who's supposed to be a blank slate, is starting to gain self-awareness, and remember who she really is. She has to fight for her identity, but the Dollhouse stands ready to destroy her if she shows any signs of self-awareness.

Yes, that's a high-concept premise, and it's hard to make it work as a weekly TV show. Luckily — see above — Joss Whedon's strong suit is execution. He's actually much better at making things work than he is at coming up with intriguing concepts in the first place. So, if he starts out with an intriguing concept and then brings his mastery of execution to it? It will rule. Automatically. Which brings me to...

Each episode is twisty and thriller-ish.

I've read a ton of script pages from various episodes of Dollhouse, and one thing is pretty clear to me: This show is not a slow, cerebral dystopia where people look at their hands and say things like, "Why are these hands not free?" Or whatever. At their best, the Dollhouse scripts remind me of season-two Buffy: there are bad guys, and weird, horrible schemes, and every week nothing is quite what you think.

For example, the person who's hired Echo doesn't always have the motives you think he or she does. The person that Echo has been programmed to be isn't always who you expect at first. There are always more layers, and it's wrapped up in an action-adventure framework. Think Alias, except that it all makes sense in the end. Cracks are wised, faces are punched, explosions are exploded. It's a thrill-ride.

And then laid on top of that are the show's ongoing plots and themes about Echo discovering herself. Which leads me to...

Echo's not just a tool, week after week.

That was the danger with this show — that Echo would just be carrying out missions, week in and week out, without any real self-awareness or free will. That would be hard to identify with, and even harder to root for. I asked Joss Whedon about this, when I got to interview him briefly at Comic-Con, and he had clearly thought this through. His answer: it's not just about Echo being whoever she's programmed to be, from week to week. It's about her fighting to be a person, in spite of all the forces wanting her to be a tool. And meanwhile...

It has a pretty great supporting cast.

I would pretty much watch Tahomoh Penikett try to refinance his mortgage. As Paul Ballard, the FBI agent who keeps investigating the Dollhouse even though everybody insists it's a myth, he's bound to be a compelling character — even if they don't keep in the scene where he does Thai kick-boxing while brooding about his tough case. And from what I've seen from clips and trailers, the rest of the cast is equally strong, delivering the trademark Whedon quips and knife-edge dialogue with panache.

They're all going to have subplots and backstories, and I'm kind of fascinated to see it all unfolde. Like, just where did Amy Acker's Dr. Claire Saunders get her scars? Why does Boyd, the handler of the mind-wiped "Actives," keep doing his job even though he has moral qualms about it? And why is Topher, the computer geek who programs the "Actives," such a sadistic weirdo? All questions I'm going to be obsessing about for months, and hopefully years.

You can read a lot of stuff into its underlying metaphor.

That's really the litmus test of great art: can you see different messages in it, depending on what you bring to it? Or is it going to hit you with a sledgehammer until you accept the message it wants you to have?

Firefly passed that test with flying Adam Baldwins, and so will Dollhouse. (Without the Baldwin part.) Are you a Conservative who believes in rugged individualism? Dollhouse is about someone fighting for her individuality, who can't be suppressed or destroyed by oppressive forces. Hate our orgiastic, hedonistic society, that turns people into pieces of meat? Dollhouse is right there with you. Do you think corporations are the devil, with better shoes? Dollhouse is about an evil corporation. Do you fear technology? Come on in. Etc. etc.

Basically, we won't know until Dollhouse airs quite how well the whole shebang comes together. But I'm already predicting, based on what I've seen so far, that it'll be Whedon's masterwork. Whether it'll be his doomed masterwork or his triumphant return is up to the sadistic gods of television, of course.

http://io9.com/5081471/dollhouse-wil...test-work-ever

[Farsight]

Originally Posted by The Prankster

And it opened to not-terrible numbers, by the way. If the pilot had aired first it might have hung on.

For a highly-advertised premiere, its numbers were a disappointment. Also, most shows drop off from their pilot (people who try it and don't like it). I found the 'real pilot' to be a decent episode, but an awful pilot (unfocused, with way too many characters and plotlines jumbled together), but FIREFLY was essentially doomed before the title sequence played.

Originally Posted by bendrix

What is Fringe's hook?

"FBI agents investigate sci-fi terrorist attacks." Something like that. Also, the plane full of dead people landing itself was a big image to open with. The X-FILES similarities likely were overall a positive as well.

Originally Posted by neoolong

Isn't it basically that freaky science is being let loose and its up to a crack team of Denethor, Pacey, and FBI chick to stop it and save the world?

By the writers of Transformers.

Yeah, that works too (I'm trying to pretend the last line wasn't actually part of the ads).

Originally Posted by The Prankster

"A western in space" is a hook as much as it's a setting.

It really isn't. You need to suggest to the viewer what might actually happen in the show (the pilot at least). You need to present the core conflict or reason to watch. "Western in space" is incomplete - it doesn't tell you anything about the people or the challenges they will face.

I'd argue you keep moving the goalposts as to what a "hook" is, exactly.

I promise I'm not. If we were to play "Which of these things is not like the others?" (complete with music), Whedon's latest 'hooks' would stand out, and not in a good way.

If you want something more specific, how about "The Outlaw Josey Wales in space"? Or "disillusioned post-civil war southerner turns to crime...in space?" I really don't think it's that hard to summarize.

The fact that we can come up with so many different ways to sell the show tells me that Whedon did a poor job in selling it himself.

Originally Posted by DaveB

See, there's a hook that the show actually had to overcome to become as popular as it did.

I'd argue that the hook was a net positive, as it stuck in the mind of the potential viewer, and did give them an idea of what they would see. But that's not important to my point - that Whedon used to know what a hook is.

I guess what I'm saying is: don't put too much stock in "the hook" conjuring an audience.

Having a hook doesn't guarantee that it's a good one. It also doesn't mean people will like the show once they try it. It also doesn't prevent outside events (like competition) from keeping viewers away. But you simply must give people a reason to try your show that first time, so if you don't have a hook at all, you're sunk.

Originally Posted by Malloy

"Mindwiped girl goes on different assignments" was easier to latch onto than "Science-y stuff with Pacey".

That's kind of a straw-man phrasing, no? Even still, your description of DOLLHOUSE lacks a central conflict. It has an idea, but no focus... is she a captive or a volunteer? Is she working for the government, terrorists, a corporation? Are these assignments good or evil? Are they spy stuff, prostitution, babysitting... what? Obviously, you don't want to give all of that away in the premise, but you have to give something. "Mindwiped" is a very foriegn concept to, I assume, everyone... I can't imagine what it would be like to have my memories repeatedly erased... so you can't count on that to draw people in on its own. "girl goes on different assignments" seems accurate, but is a blank.

Originally Posted by DaveB

She's definitely the make or break element, but it's hard to say which way it'll go.

I agree that the quality of the show rests on her, but I don't think she's a draw, so whether people try DOLLHOUSE or not won't be based on her. Whether they stick around, sure. But if Whedon & FOX fail to pull an initial audience, Dushku will be irrelevant.

[Barry Woodward]

Access Hollywood on the set of Dollhouse: Part I, Part II, Part III

From SciFi Wire:

Originally Posted by Fred Topel

Dushku Defends--And Spoils!--Dollhouse

Eliza Dushku, who stars in Joss Whedon's upcoming Fox SF series Dollhouse, offered SCI FI Wire some spoilers for her adventures--that her character portrays a blind cult follower and a 50-year-old woman in early episodes--and defended the show against the negative buzz building around it.

On the show, Dushku plays a woman who is imprinted with different personalities, several per episode, as each of their missions require.

"Last episode, they surgically implant cameras into my eyeballs and send me into a cult compound as a blind woman," Dushku said in an interview on Dec. 2 in Culver City, Calif., where she was promoting the film Nobel Son. "I was playing this tripped-out blind woman. Then I'm playing a 50-something-year-old woman in my own body in this next episode. There are just so many stories."

Since it's Joss Whedon, of course, these dolls kick some butt, too. "I did a six-page Muay Thai fight scene last week with a 6-foot, 5-inch man, and I kicked his ass," Dushku bragged.

The star, who developed the show with Whedon, also offered a positive take on some of the perceived troubles facing Dollhouse. If critics call its Friday 9 p.m. timeslot the "death slot," Dushku reminds them that appointment television is old news anyway. "Dude, we're in the age of DVR," she said. "People watch what they want to watch."

Dushku's also high on Dollhouse's lead-in from the low-rated Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. "I know Terminator is Joss' favorite show on Fox, and it's going to be female-empowerment night," she said.

News that Whedon had to reshoot the original pilot also caused concern. But Dushku assured that it was Whedon's creative decision. His original vision was for a film-noir tone, and he decided that straight-up action works better for the series, she said.

Likewise, any retooling Whedon did for the first 13 episodes was in the interest of making a more exciting show. "I think [the way] he also originally had outlined it, we had the 13 episode pickup, but he wanted to gradually play out stories and do a lot of setups," she said. "[The network] wanted more payoffs early on to hook people, I think, so we made that adjustment. I think it's been really successful. The scripts are tight, solid, fast, action, drama, comedy. It's really great." Dollhouse premieres Feb. 13, 2009 on Fox.

http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index...ory=0&id=62509

[Waaaaaaaalt]

From Sci Fi Wire
But Dushku assured that it was Whedon's creative decision. His original vision was for a film-noir tone, and he decided that straight-up action works better for the series, she said.

Yeah that sounds like Joss alright. Yeah I want a cool different show with a film noir twist but action draws in more people so fuck it. Yeah thats not at all a network thing. Joss take a cue from other successful series. Go to the Sci Fi network or something.

[Domingo]

This film noir comment is not something I've heard from before, and it makes more interested in what the show apparently was before FOX... You know.

[Malloy]

Practically spoiler-free review of the pilot from Time

Pretty much falls in line with my concerns from the start. To pull this off, you need a gifted actress in the lead, and I don't think Dusku's gonna make it. The only times I've been impressed with her was when Whedon was writing around her real life persona. Trying to transform her every week seems like the worst possible use of her onscreen.

[neoolong]

Okay, if this is supposed to be permanent why would anyone want to voluntarily have their memories erased forever? Was life that bad for so many people? Why not commit suicide instead?

And if they can rewrite memories, can they just add memories? Why do this, if real expert hostage negotiator person can just get more experience by adding memories a la the Matrix?

[James May]

So what's the over/under on cancellation time frame here? Think it'll reach 10 episodes?

[Barry Woodward]

[Farsight]

Originally Posted by James May

So what's the over/under on cancellation time frame here? Think it'll reach 10 episodes?

It'll air all 13. It's going on Fridays w/ TERMINATOR, which FOX has also already paid for. Fridays have low expectations, and FOX has nothing to replace either show with. Unless ratings are so bad that HOUSE reruns would do better, both shows will air their complete runs.

After that... I'm sadly doubtful either show will be big enough or cheap enough to survive until fall. Right now, I'd say TERMINATOR has the better shot, as it's actually quite good (and improving), and it could get a bump from T4. For DOLLHOUSE, my bet is 13 and done.

[Sean Bateman]

This show is going to be really embarassing. On to Cabin in the Woods and more Dr. Horrible!

[neoolong]

There was an interview I saw with Joss and Eliza, and they seemed to have trouble actually explaining the concept behind this other than the merest basics of a chick that can be programmed with different memories.

How the hell did this get so complicated?

[Malloy]

Have they shot all 13 eps? Because if not, I don't even think it'll make it that far. I think Fox will air what's already done, but I have a feeling ratings are going to be horrible enough that they won't want to throw any more money at it by ordering more eps. Terminator, right now, is getting less than 6 million, on a night that's not Friday. We're going to see Terminator/Dollhouse way below 5 million, I'd guess.

[Barry Woodward]

They'll finish filming all 13 episodes before the first one airs.

[Barry Woodward]

From MoviesOnline:

MoviesOnline: Eliza, can you talk a little about what you’re doing now? I know you’re doing Dollhouse with Joss Whedon and that starts next month, doesn’t it?

Eliza: We air Friday, the 13th of February. It’s awesome. We’re on episode 7 of 13 and I’ve already played 20 something different characters and underneath these clothes I’ve got bruises galore. I’m so proud of them. I’m riding motorcycles, bow hunting, rock climbing, river rafting, moi thai fighting 6’5” dudes, like just everything.

MoviesOnline: Did doing Buffy help you with the martial arts part of that?

Eliza: We have the same stunt coordinator, Mike Gunther. He’s awesome and he was also on Angel so I’ve had 6-page fight scenes that I did with him years ago. Yeah, it helped, but even on Buffy I was kind of like that crazy 17-year-old kid that showed up on Buffy and I grew up with three older brothers and I showed up from Boston and said “I know you have a stunt double here for me but how much can I do? I want to fight. I want to get into it.” And they would just teach me the stuff and that, to me, is really fun. It’s really exciting.

MoviesOnline: So the premise is you’re playing 20 different people?

Eliza: It’s about a group of people that can be imprinted with any personality basically for hire.

MoviesOnline: Does your personality totally change?

Eliza: Yeah. We’re human beings that volunteer for five years of our life. As the story unfolds, there are dollhouses all over in cities around the world and there are these underground private organizations that take people, wipe their personalities clean, and house them in these beautiful, Japanese Zen garden/underground dorm lab and then they put us in a chair and literally put a wedge in the chair and can imprint us to be anything that anyone wants – fantasies, bank heists…

MoviesOnline: It sounds like an actor’s dream come true.

Eliza: Yeah. The last episode they surgically implanted cameras into my eyeballs and sent me into a cult compound as a blind woman. It was cool.

MoviesOnline: Do you have a single injury that’s your biggest badge of honor at this point?

Eliza: Yeah, my neck that I can’t turn. [laughs] I have a really good bruise right here (points to her leg) and a really good one right here (shows her arm) that I’ve been showing off a lot.

MoviesOnline: With Twilight being such a big hit, the rumor mill is buzzing about the possibility of a Buffy movie. Is that just fans’ wishful thinking or has there been real talk about it?

Eliza: I can give you Joss’ number and you can call him. [laughs] He’s over on the lot right now. I don’t know.

MoviesOnline: Would you ever want to go back and play it again?

Eliza: You never know. That’s what I’ve learned. I mean that show is just such an international phenomenon. There are like college courses now that dissect the world of Buffy. It’s just a testament I think to what an extraordinary creative genius Joss is and I just love the guy. He’s a hardcore feminist, he’s funny, he’s dramatic, he’s twisted, and he’s just dear. He’s my friend and my hero and people gag because we get really lovey dovey.

MoviesOnline: Did you ever do the conventions or anything like that?

Eliza: Yeah, girl. I did. [laughs] And people would show up and be like hey, can we take a picture of our matching face tattoos, and I’d be like, uh, that was a decal. And you watch the color drain from people’s faces and they’d be like I got that tattoo so we could be lifelong sisters and I’m like, sorry. They’d show up with vampire teeth and stuff.

MoviesOnline: After you film the 13th episode of Dollhouse, are you going to be looking at film scripts to try to squeeze in during a potential hiatus?

Eliza: I just launched a production company with my brother. It’s called Boston DIY Productions and we have 3 films that we’re about to do, one of which is with Randy and Jody. The first one is going to be a biopic on Robert Mapplethorpe and my brother is going to play Robert and we have an awesome cast and an amazing filmmaker, Ondi Timoner, who did a documentary called Dig! It won at Sundance a few years ago. She has another movie that just got accepted at Sundance. She’s just awesome. So we’re going to do Mapplethorpe. Jody is actually going to direct and they’re going to write this movie we’re doing together. Then I have a big budget, working class Lara Croft crazy studio thing we’re going to do too.

MoviesOnline: How are you enjoying being a producer and taking a break from acting?

Eliza: It’s nice because it gives you something else to do. As an actress, sometimes you go to your trailer and you’re like what do I do? Do I watch Tyra Banks on TV or what? Boredom is just not an option now. I mean it’s really cool. And I’m also a producer on Dollhouse because Joss and I basically put the thing together. I never really wanted to be an actor. I kind of tripped and fell into it and it gives me a chance to feel like I’m doing more than just being…I get to be involved in more of the machine and the operation and yeah, like walking into a room, there’s a different kind of confidence when you feel like you’re actually a part of, as opposed to being rated. So that’s cool. I love it.

http://www.moviesonline.ca/movienews_16008.html

From TVGuide.com:

TVGuide.com: How are things looking for Fox's Dollhouse? [The sci-fi thriller stars Dushku as Echo, an "Active" who has covert mission-specific personalities imprinted on her.]

Dushku: Awesome. We have all these rumors going around [in the wake of a production stoppage], and yet we're on Episode 7 out of our initial 13. We've made some changes.

TVGuide.com: Hey, it's totally fine to stop and catch your breath and do things right.

Dushku: Completely. And we feel like we're in an awesome groove. The scripts are tight and exciting, and we've definitely upped the action. Initially, we were doing a lot of set-up, and Fox and Joss decided that we needed to have the some of the payoffs come sooner. As a result, I sashay to work every day! I know that sounds crazy, but I love it. I've played probably twenty-some different characters in the past couple months, and every one is a thrill. I've been riding motorcycles and deer hunting, I had a Muay Thai fight scene with a 6-foot-5 cop, I went river rafting, rock climbing.... The whole gamut.

TVGuide.com: When we spoke at the summer TCA (watch video), you told me you were bringing some "skills" of your own to the table. But it sounds like you've added a few.

Dushku: Yes, my "mad skills." [Laughs] Joss and I have been good friends over the years, and one of the things we laugh about is how I live a crazy life and am in 10 places at once. I'm a bit of a storyteller, so I share all these things and he puts them in the show. He joked at Comic-Con that this show is a bit biographical.

TVGuide.com: Should your and Joss' fans be worried by Dollhouse's Friday time slot?

Dushku: We're in the age of DVR, man. People watch what they want to watch, and we feel confident that we're going to bring [existing] fans and welcome new ones. The show is extraordinary. It's cool and it's hot and it's different. It's nice being paired with Sarah Connor Chronicles as a sort of female empowerment night. It takes a little bit of the pressure off [versus airing on Mondays], with 24 coming on after two years. I think the time slot gives us time to come on, air all of our shows and hook people. And I truly believe it will.

TVGuide.com: You obviously had certain expectations and things you were looking forward to with Dollhouse. But now that you're well into filming it, what has surprised you about the show?

Dushku: I've obviously played a lot of strong characters, but Joss, from the very beginning, said, "I also see a lot of vulnerability, and different shades of you that others maybe haven't seen." So I get these scripts and they're different for me. We had this joke where Joss put me in a '40s up-do and it totally threw me off. It just threw me off. [Laughs] He said, "Eliza, I have you figured out. Your comfort zone lies in your hair, and I'm going to take you out of your comfort zone as much as possible. I can throw you off a building or dump you in a river or have you get hit by a truck, and none of that fazes you. But a '40s up-do sends you spinning. So get ready, honey — I'm going to take you for a little adventure!"

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Eliza-Du...s-1000553.aspx

[neoolong]

So, they volunteer for five years to become whatever someone else wants? And they get what in return?

The more I read about this, the less sense it seems to make.

[devincf]

TUrns out this girl I know is on this show. I got ALL the inside info.

[Domingo]

Hmm?

[felix]

Somebody posted these Seven Reasons why Dollhouse is doomed.

[Jesse Custer]

Originally Posted by devincf

TUrns out this girl I know is on this show. I got ALL the inside info.

Congratulations.

[zak chase]

Originally Posted by devincf

TUrns out this girl I know is on this show. I got ALL the inside info.

And, thus, Devin once again meets his monthly quota of "I know something you don't know, so suck it" posts.

[Farsight]

This show's travails have been pretty public. Do we need inside info?

[Barry Woodward]

From CraveOnline:

CraveOnline: We're really excited about Dollhouse, so what can you tell us so far?

Eliza Dushku: One of the great things about Dollhouse and about Joss is that Joss has known me for 10 years. From when he met me on Buffy, he has said over and over that he, through being my friend, just has seen so many different sides of me and saw that according to him, I have some capacity to play all these different roles that other people wouldn’t necessarily envision me playing and he does, so he's given me this tremendous gift of this show where I get to play multiple characters every week. And it's so funny, the big joke is that he put me in a '40s up do for one episode and it tripped me out. He told me, he was like, "I have figured you out. Your comfort zone lies in your hair and I am going to take you out of your comfort zone as much as I can in this show. It's the craziest thing ever because I can throw you off a building or dunk you in the river or do all these things to you, and the one thing that makes you freak out is a '40s up do? Something's up there and I'm going to explore it." I love him for that.

CraveOnline: How much has it changed during from development to reshooting the pilot?

Eliza Dushku: There have been changes but it's all good. I think the first pilot we shot, and Joss is very honest and he gets on blogs and answers everybody's questions, he shot it in more of like a noir style. That wasn't really the way FOX envisioned it so it was his idea to reshoot the pilot, up the action definitely, up the stakes every episode.

CraveOnline: How do you like your Terminator lead in on Fridays?

Eliza Dushku: I think it's great. I think it's great. I think it's great for the show. All the rumors have been going about the Friday night slot but we have confidence that the show is going to strike people as extraordinary.

CraveOnline: We've got to see you kick some ass.

Eliza Dushku: And seeing me kick some ass you will. I have bruises all over my body. We have the same stunt coordinator from Buffy and Angel, this guy Mike Massa. He's awesome. He used to double David so we've done these fight scenes. Like we've spent weeks fighting, just beating each other senseless.

CraveOnline: What other cool stunts are you doing?

Eliza Dushku: I've played 20-something different characters because I play different characters every week because we're imprinted with these personalities. I ride motorcyles and bow-hunt and river raft and do all these crazy things on a daily basis. It's just awesome.

CraveOnline: Since it's TV, how much time do you get to train for those crazy things?

Eliza Dushku: An hour. It's like the day before. He'll say, "I'm going to throw you off a roof," and I'm like, "Cool, let's do it!"

CraveOnline: What is the challenge of playing all these characters?

Eliza Dushku: It's perfect for me, because I have three older brothers and our whole family sort of has ADHD. We've always been sort of go-with-it, it's much better for me than wearing the same lab coat every day.

CraveOnline: Are there any personalities or activities you're trying to get written into the script?

Eliza Dushku: We're really trying to get Fox to approve a story about boy soldiers in Liberia, but we don't know how we're going to shoot that. And Fox finds it a bit disturbing and racy, but we're pushing for it.

CraveOnline: You started your own production company. How are you choosing roles now?

Eliza Dushku: My mother is a great storyteller and I grew up with that. My mother loves people and my mom's a political science professor. From when we were really young, we traveled the world with my mother. She was a single mom with four kids. She wanted us to travel so she used to agree to chaperone groups of students to different countries around the world in the event that she could always bring a kid for free. She's taken us through Africa and Russia before and after the collapse of the Soviet Union. We've been all over and wherever we go, she has this uncanny skill of just talking to people and sitting down with a miner in Romania and saying, "Tell me about your life" and getting people to share their stories. People just have fascinating stories and lives. I want to tell stories. I like to explore individuals and so with my production company, my first project is a biopic on Robert Mapplethorpe. My brother's going to be playing Robert because he's perfect for it. We have a great filmmaker and we're going to surround him with this really cool ensemble cast. Then Jody and I are going to do another project that's like a total female empowerment movie. It's sort of like Into the Wild meets I don't know. It's a story about this woman. Taking a person and exploring as much as you can in an hour and a half in the right kind of creative way is interesting to me, because people are interesting to me.

CraveOnline: You always covered a lot of different genres. Have you always had lots of choices?

Eliza Dushku: You know, I literally tripped and fell into the business. I tripped and fell at my brother's audition. I used to say it was just kind of dumb luck but I don't know. I was always as a kid sort of a mimic. I just would pick up on people and differences and then growing up in Boston with three big brothers, I definitely had the tomboy kind of tough girl thing going. I had this feminist mom and so I started out playing these strong young women. It kind of came naturally to me and then every year that I recover from middle school and high school I'm more comfortable with vulnerability and my sort of softer, feminine side and all the colors in between.

http://www.craveonline.com/articles/...nobel_son.html

[Barry Woodward]

From the Entertainment Blog @ LATimes.com:

Originally Posted by Denise Martin

Joss Whedon: 'I would have put "Dollhouse" on Fridays too'

There was an outcry heard 'round the Web among Joss Whedon devotees after Fox announced it was sending his heavily anticipated TV series "Dollhouse" to Friday nights.

But in an interview Wednesday morning, Whedon said that Fridays are "a better fit" for the show.

"It's not a slam dunk, 'We love everything you're doing' slot. Everybody knows that," he said. "Dollhouse" will air Fridays after new episodes of the similarly sci-fi-themed drama "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles." Whedon says he trusts the network. "The executives I’m dealing with are canny guys."

By canny, does he mean Fox has given him assurances that it will be patient with the show? More or less. "They’re bringing down expectations regarding how big of an audience they think it will bring in the beginning, and then as the show progresses. They need to do that."
“Dollhouse” revolves around a team of programmable people — or dolls — with various skills and abilities rented out for assignments by high-paying clients. Early on, one of the dolls, Echo (Eliza Dushku), begins to become self-aware.

The show's troubled production has already branded it as perhaps an overly complicated project, which may have sent it to Friday nights. Whedon admitted the show "is not simple" but added "we're not trying to lecture or bore people either. It's fun. It's designed to entertain, but in a way that plays on a lot of levels."

That said, Whedon says he anticipated the Friday move — and not as a bad thing. "If I were an executive, I would have put it on Friday too, honestly, and not as a dig. The people who want this will find it, and hopefully more will as well. Fox is aware that TV just doesn’t exist the same way. People watch it online, on DVD, on their TiVos. It’s not the end of the world, but of course everyone's been predicting the end of the world for 'Dollhouse' since it was announced."

Whedon also noted that while Fox executives will likely have to wait patiently for building returns on the show, he hopes fans will be just as patient with the story line. "We’re trying to create something that’s more than the sum of its parts. And not just in an 'Oooh, we’re heavy with mythology' way. Dare I say we're reaching for something more philosophical? Am I allowed to say philosophical? Or does that just mean my show will fail?"

"Dollhouse" premieres Feb. 13 at 9 p.m. on Fox.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/show...hedon-i-w.html

[Barry Woodward]

From Total Sci Fi:

Joss Whedon: Welcome To The Dollhouse

Joss Whedon is no stranger to success. After the phenomenally successfully Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off Angel, Whedon has treated viewers to the short-lived but well regarded Firefly (and subsequent movie Serenity) and the musical superhero spoof Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. His latest project is Dollhouse, which paints a future where “Actives” (or dolls) have their personalities wiped and reprogrammed in order to carry out different assignments. Abbie Bernstein caught up with Whedon to find out how the show came about.

What’s Dollhouse about?

It’s about a girl trying to figure out who she is, while she’s imprinted with every personality you can imagine. It’s about acting, living, being a woman, being everything. Let me put it this way – when I thought it up and launched it at Eliza [Dushku, who executive produces with Whedon and plays main character Echo], the first thing she said was, “Oh, my God, it’s my life!” And she meant mostly as an actress, but then we realized it didn’t just mean that.

It’s a metaphor for everybody. If it isn’t, you’re missing something. The idea is, we all have certain assumptions about who we are, based on what we were told when we were little and what we think we’re supposed to do. And we have a lot of assumptions about what is good, and what about us is not good, and what’s sinful and what’s saintly, and we’re often wrong about all of them. Dollhouse is basically about breaking all that down and exploring it and finding out what it really means to be a human being.

How did Dollhouse come into being?

To me, Eliza is like watching a meteor shower. I’m just amazed. I can’t believe what I’m seeing. I’ve known her for 10 years. She’s always been a star. But being a star and being a human being are two very different things. And over the 10 years, we’ve spent time becoming friends, but I’ve also watched her deliberately and painfully take control of her career and the way in which it’s going, the things she is portraying, and you don’t see that a lot.

I see it with Felicia Day doing The Guild on the internet, saying, “Nobody’s going to make my way, so I’ll make my own way,” and Felicia is smart enough to pull that off. The two of them share that. Eliza – when I first sat her down, years ago, to say, “Stop making bad movies!” she said, “We don’t set out to make them bad – I don’t know what to tell you.” But we talked about her agency, her choices. And it was a bleak landscape.

I seem to be the guy who spends his life saying how hard it is for beautiful young women – but it is hard to be an ingénue in this town. We got together a few years later, [but the people around her] insisted she do the big-budget thing, so nobody wanted to know what Eliza thought, except Eliza.

And when we got together for lunch this time, she was like, “I’ve made a deal, I don’t expect to write or control a show, but I do need to control the quality of what I’m doing and the image of what I am, and I want to make meaningful, decent, political, feminist, real, fun, sexy, interesting TV.” Those were all on her list. And I said, “There’s only one man for that job!” [laughs]

In the course of the conversation, the idea of Echo came to me from that exact thing. The story of Dollhouse is the story of somebody trying to figure out who she is while everybody tells her what they want her to be. That is the story of Eliza Dushku, and watching Eliza do that has been one of the great joys of my career. She’s always been an intellectual equal. She’s always been a seeker. I’m still trying to figure myself out.

That’s another point of the show, is that the people who control the Actives, the dolls, are just as much in need of understanding what they are as the dolls.

When you and the writing staff are creating personas for Echo, do you think, “Boy, this would be a really cool identity, but who on Earth would want them to do this and why?”

”Who would want them to do this and why?” is sort of what keeps it interesting every week. Sometimes it’s somebody extraordinarily nefarious and sometimes it’s somebody very decent, but usually, it’s all the way in between. I mean, as long as nobody gets hurt, as long as the Actives are not harmed, everything’s good, everything is game. Some people would abuse that and some people need it.

Ultimately, you’ll find the one thing that every episode has in common is that Echo is the person you need at that point in your life to either turn your life around, to give you the moment you thought you’d never have, or to pull you out of a place you think you can’t get out of. Or to rob the bank. Whatever it is, she’s a kind of life coach, without even meaning to be. She’s always the perfect person for whatever it is you need.

Sometimes there will be B stories – we’ll always see the workings of the Dollhouse, but we’ll also see other Actives on other engagements, and sometimes they’ll just be B stories, sometimes they’ll cross over or sometimes they’ll just connect thematically.

How did you determine who the other characters around Echo should be?

The first thing I said to Eliza, before I’d even created the show, was, “You need an ensemble. You can’t be in every scene – it’ll make you nuts. You need a genre show and you need a big ensemble. You need a premise that’s bigger than just you, so that if you need to stand down and get some rest, you can maintain after a certain time.”

To that end, there was more than one Active. Then you work out the idea of the place [the Dollhouse]. You need a programmer, you need someone who runs it, you need someone to back her up, her handler, and you need somebody to save her, who’s trying to find her.

Then Dr. Saunders, who’s played by Amy Acker, was created after I pitched the show. It was, “We need this voice in the Dollhouse, to counteract Topher the programmer.” So it was all very organic. It was just the obvious people that would be in Echo’s life. It wasn’t like, “I need my wacky sidekick.” There was nothing cynical about the way they came in – they were all just what they needed to be, and then I found the actors who had that same quality. I feel again that same thing I had on Firefly of, “These guys have always been doing this, nobody else could’ve.”

There’s a lot of anticipation about Dollhouse in the online fan community…

Sometimes there’s a backlash against fans – “Oh, they’re going to make everybody else not watch.” Well, that’s not the case. The only person who can really do that is me. If people come, if they give it a fair shake, I will do my best to entertain them. And everything else will fall by the wayside.

Can you say anything about Cabin in the Woods, the feature film you’re producing that Drew Goddard will direct?

It’s a horror movie. Some teenagers may meet with violence!

http://dwscifi.com/interviews/2847-j...-the-dollhouse

[Jesse Custer]

"The idea is, we all have certain assumptions about who we are, based on what we were told when we were little and what we think we’re supposed to do. And we have a lot of assumptions about what is good, and what about us is not good, and what’s sinful and what’s saintly, and we’re often wrong about all of them. Dollhouse is basically about breaking all that down and exploring it and finding out what it really means to be a human being."

I love this.

Maybe the show is terribly troubled, and probably it'll be canceled like Fox loves to do, but that sounds like the kind of show I'd love to watch every week.

Given Whedon's forays into existentialism and his general bent toward in-show philosophizing, I think Dollhouse has the potential to be pretty special.

And it's Whedon - which means I'm practically compelled to watch as a member of the Cult.

[mrdrow]

When I first heard of Firefly, I didn't think much of it. It was a space show, no aliens, kind of a western. It didn't sound like anything I'd like. I ended up not seeing any episodes and was first exposed to it in a theater when Serenity came out. After that I easily tore through the episodes. I'll definitely give this show the benefit of the doubt based on my previous oversight.

[Barry Woodward]

From SyFyPortal.com:

Vigils may already have started for Joss Whedon's "Dollhouse" series following the announcement that it will occupy Fox's Friday night slot-of-death, but the show is not out for the count. Not by a long shot.

"The fact of the matter is that I've made some rookie mistakes – actually worse than rookie mistakes – about what I was doing with the show, especially considering that I've worked with Fox before," he told SFX. "Looking back I go, ‘Oh, of course they would have wanted this and I don't know why I thought they'd let me do that.' The hard part has been to find the show somewhere in between my intentions and their expectations; to still find the show that I wanted to make. We did that and now things are running smoothly, but whew, doggy."

Despite the story changes and slight re-tooling of the show, Whedon promises a solid adventure series that borrows from all genres as Echo (Eliza Dushku) slowly comes to terms with her own Humanity at the hands of an almost hostile agency determined to keep her nothing but a doll. And if he has his way, there will be a serialized element alongside the adventure-of-the-week formula.

"I don't enjoy a show that only gets you to watch the next one; where they're trying to come up with something more outlandish every five minutes. I've always believed in a show where every episode contains something that's resolved and the mythology surrounding that becomes what the audience is interested in regardless. Its legitimate for [the network] to say, ‘start out in this fashion where people can come on board anytime and then let the characters who inhabit the world take over the narrative gradually.' By Season 5 of ‘Buffy,' you have a lot of backstory you need to know, but compared to Season 1 it's much more fulfilling and mature. But you need people to get there."

When the series launches next year, there are high hopes – shared by both Whedon and his many fans – that the show will become a success. But according to Whedon, the success of a series isn't measured in the numbers it brings in on a weekly basis … it's the show's fans that count.

"I've had a similar thing happen on every single one of my shows, to a greater or lesser extent," Whedon said. "And in every case, the show that came out of it found an audience – even if it took being cancelled to do it. I'm aiming for the stars with this one – a show that runs for more than a year."

http://www.syfyportal.com/news425652.html

Watch with Kristin visits the Dollhouse:

http://www.eonline.com/videos/v37045...__Dec__14.html
http://spoilertv.blogspot.com/2008/1...h-eonline.html
http://s3.amazonaws.com/magnifyvideo...FT6G/video.flv

[Barry Woodward]

From Sci Fi Wire:

Espenson: Dollhouse Is Just Fine

Writer/producer Jane Espenson (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) defended Joss Whedon's upcoming Fox SF series Dollhouse--on which she is a consulting producer--against negative buzz and rumors, saying that it's shaping up just fine, thank you.

"It's really good," Espenson said in an exclusive interview with SCI FI Wire. "I think it could very well appeal to not just Whedonites, but a much broader audience. I think it's extremely good, and the concept just blows me away: It's fantastic, this notion of people who have been erased and are now imprintable with whatever you want them to be. ... It's sci-fi of the most human kind. It's sci-fi about people, as opposed to, you know, phenomena. And I really love that."

Espenson also downplayed reports of production interruptions, a bad timeslot and network meddling, calling them "overblown."

"We are now rolling along glitch-free," Espenson said. "I think people are very confident now that everyone is on the same page with what the show is, how amazing it can be, and I think that a lot of this has been overblown. I mean, very, very often on Buffy we were sort of, 'Oh, we don't quite have that script ready.' That's sort of just how TV goes. It's just when it happens at the beginning like this that it gets a lot of attention, and I think that people were concerned that the Firefly scenario would play out again. But, you know, I think that we're very confident of what the show is, and yeah, it's moving along so smoothly now.

"Espenson said that she is currently writing a first draft of her first solo script for Dollhouse, the 11th episode of the first 13 ordered by Fox.

How is Whedon holding up? "He seems happy and comfortable and delightfully amusing as always," Espenson said. "You can't get through a few minutes with him without laughing."

Espenson said that viewers will be pleasantly surprised by star Eliza Dushku's performance in the series. "I think people are going to be really, really impressed with Eliza's performance," she said. "In fact, this cast all the way through. We have this incredibly versatile cast that's just perfect for this kind of show, where people are playing, ... as they're being imprinted with different personalities, they're playing different characters. And and so part of the genuine fun and joy of the show is just watching, 'Oh, my God, look at who they are now.'"

http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index...d=62851&type=0

[Greg David]

You're actually Joss Whedon, aren't you? Fess up.

[Pop Zeus]

Originally Posted by Barry Woodward

From Sci Fi Wire:

Oh that's a science-fiction magazine!

[Greg David]

Yeah, nice head placement. I wonder if they do that with every issue.

[neoolong]

Sometimes.



Oddly appropriate I suppose.

[Barry Woodward]

From Sci Fi Wire:

Dollhouse's Dushku Reveals Roles

Eliza Dushku revealed a few of the personas her character will take on in Fox's upcoming SF drama Dollhouse, including one in which she'll do a bit of singing.

"I had to sing a few episodes ago, yeah," Dushku said on the red carpet for the Video Game Awards on Dec. 14. "And I had to lay down a track, so we'll see how it turns out [laughs]. We'll see if a musical is a good idea after that episode airs."

The last time I spoke to Dushku, she said that she'd love to be in a Joss Whedon musical, a la Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.
In her Dollhouse ep, she said she sang "a cappella." "I was auditioning to be a backup singer for a big pop star in one episode," she said. "So it was like a gospel song I did."

Dushku's character, Echo, is a person whose mind is wiped and programmed with different personas by a top-secret underground agency, which then sends her on various missions.

Dushku said her favorite persona so far was a killer. "I like the assassin chick that I just did," she said. "She has a lot of layers. Hyper-intelligent, and I also got to beat up a big 6-foot, 5-inch stunt guy."

What was the hardest? "A serious, professional woman with an up-do," Dushku said. "That's hard for me. Joss is like, 'I know you by now. Your comfort zone lies in your hair. I can throw you off a building or hit you with a car or make you fight seven guys, but you get uncomfortable if I put your hair in an up-do.' That's kind of insane and kind of hilarious."

http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=1&id=62890&type=0

[RathBandu]

For those of you joining us at the break, Woodward is a beta test of Fleed: Whedon edition.

[Headless Fett]

This is like that spawning scene in Gremlins 2. Now we're getting variant Fleed editions. Sadly, none of them have been sealed in their Mylar sleeves.

[Greg David]

He's kind of a one-stop Whedon clearinghouse. I expect to see a "From Joss Whedon's Dumpster" excerpt soon.