I Want to Believe...

14 years ago
But Dollhouse was just shockingly bad. It was Bionic Woman bad. Almost Dark Angel bad.
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36 Responses:

  1. dr_memory says:
    14 years ago at 12:40 pm

    You did notice that Serenity, Firefly and the last seasons of Buffy and Angel weren't very good, right?

    ...okay, Firefly was enjoyable in spurts, and I gave the show a lot of slack since Fox was so bound and determined to kill it. But Serenity, and especially the last act thereof, was the unmistakable sound of a man out of ideas.

    Also, of the various actors in the Whedon stable, Dushku has always, always been the worst.
    • discogravy says:
      14 years ago at 12:44 pm

      i dont' think it's that he's out of ideas, but rather that he gets bored but is determined to fulfill his promises to finish stuff. How awesome is your work if your heart isn't in it?
    • djverablue says:
      14 years ago at 3:05 pm

      i think the last season of angel was the best personally. though the last season of buffy was a little disappointing. not nearly as bad as season 4 of buffy however (aside from the silent episode)
    • antabakalj says:
      14 years ago at 4:07 pm

      I can't speak for Buffy or Angel (two series I hold no interest whatsoever in) or about Dushku (also no interest).

      But Firefly was sheer genius. Don't you take that away from me.

      Admittedly, Serenity was the attempt to cram a second season into one film which naturally ended up in a bit of a mangled second half - even so I still rate that film a few bars above most other science fiction films of the last years.
  2. 0ntological says:
    14 years ago at 12:53 pm

    Sadness.

    But at least now I know the joys of 30 Rock. Thanks!
  3. httf says:
    14 years ago at 1:42 pm

    I think Fringe is worse. But the data samples are small.
    • jwz says:
      14 years ago at 1:53 pm

      Yes, Fringe is probably worse. but at least it's surprising, in that it is often jaw-droppingly stupid in ways that I did not anticipate. I cannot imagine being surprised by Dollhouse.
    • kebernet says:
      14 years ago at 7:58 pm

      Abrams is a no-talent ass clown who, for my money, has never made a TV show worth a shit. I can't stand anything he has done.

      As to Dollhouse, yeah, it was pretty rough, and you can count me in the "I hate Eliza" club too. Still, I will give it time. Most of the shows I really like have taken a while to come into their own. It was still more entertaining than the average episode of "The Sarah Connor Chronicles" though.
      • telecart says:
        14 years ago at 5:26 am

        I disagree. At least in The Sarah Connor Chronicles I get to see an aged Shirley Manson hack people to death with her blade-arms.
        I consider this pure entertainment.
  4. xoruglm says:
    14 years ago at 1:43 pm

    We didn't watch the same show.
  5. thirdwired says:
    14 years ago at 2:16 pm

    21st C. gimmick, 21st C. pace, but otherwise... Quantum Leap Mk II. Suspension of disbelief is a must.
    • xoruglm says:
      14 years ago at 2:45 pm

      By 'suspension of disbelief', you mean a conscious, willing suspension is necessary? Sorry to get semantic on you, but it seems to me that all fiction requires a suspension of disbelief on some level, in that we're aware it's fiction and didn't really happen. Furthermore, it's science fiction, and couldn't really happen - at least not yet.
  6. bitwise says:
    14 years ago at 2:19 pm

    The entire show seems constructed around the goal of showing off mostly naked women in fresh scenarios each week. Let's check off the fantasy stereotypes:

    • Dance club girl who rides motorcycle
    • Tough FBI agent/stern schoolteacher
    • Asian assasin who has a head like an alien (okay, that one's kind of weird)

    Once you accept that it's a William Gibson-themed peepshow, it works just fine.
  7. djverablue says:
    14 years ago at 3:02 pm

    i hated the first season of buffy, as well as the first few seasons of angel, so i'm willing to continue watching for a bit to see where it goes.

    there hasn't been much in the way of character development or clever dialog so far, which is really where joss' talent shines, so i'm hoping that will come through more as the show progresses.

    i'm not giving up yet...
  8. rivetpepsquad says:
    14 years ago at 3:40 pm

    Aw dang. That's too bad!
  9. line_noise says:
    14 years ago at 4:00 pm

    I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt for the first few episodes. The main thing that struck me was the lack of originality. Although I don't think is was Bionic Woman bad. I was hoping for Firefly but got The Pretender instead.

    Maybe Joss is playing it safe and going "mainstream" or maybe he's got something up his sleeve or maybe he really is out of ideas.

    Spot the clichè:

    • Buffy: Sassy valley girl goes to high school by day and kills vampires by night.

    • Angel: Brooding vampire with a soul runs detective agency by day and kills demons by night.

    • Firefly: Cowboys in space

    • Dollhouse: Nefarious organisation brainwashes sexy "volunteers" to perform various implausible tasks for profit and occasional goodwill.
    • mister_borogove says:
      14 years ago at 4:49 pm

      Given how fond Whedon is of subverting, inverting, and perverting cliches (so much so that his inversions themselves are predictable), it seems highly unlikely that he doesn't intend to add nuance to the premise. That said I haven't seen the first episode yet.
      • lionsphil says:
        14 years ago at 8:54 am

        Right. That's why Serenity has the mentor dude giving final advice while dying in the student's arms. Totally subverts and avoids the tired old tropes, yeah.
    • ywwg says:
      14 years ago at 6:15 am

      I've never understood how people can praise Firefly's originality when it was a ripoff of Cowboy Bebop.

      And I hate TV shows where the main characters act like they know they are main characters in a TV show.
  10. amacker says:
    14 years ago at 4:01 pm

    Yeah, i was looking forward to it. That girl - Executive (Lucrative) Producer that she is, stinks, and everyone in it is wretched. Too bad. As big of a let down as Lie To Me.

    I haven't seen the Sarah Connor Chronicles, but i think i'm done for Friday night TV, even with TiVo.

    I'm still liking for Burn Notice and Trust Me. And Life On Mars. And Leverage because of Gina (from BBC's Coupling - the creator/writer of which, Steven Moffat is my hero.)
  11. krick says:
    14 years ago at 4:28 pm

    This is the only show you need...

    Big Bang Theory
    http://www.cbs.com/primetime/big_bang_theory/
  12. xinit says:
    14 years ago at 7:01 pm

    I'm disturbed that your review seems to imply that the latest incarnation of Bionic Woman was NOT the worst (non reality tv) thing put out for the small screen in the past couple decades.

    Dark Angel didn't start out as poorly as BW did; not even a little, even with its poorly written dialogue. I'm no huge fan of Dollhouse on first view, but I'll watch the second episode; which isn't something I even thought of with BW.
  13. xoruglm says:
    14 years ago at 7:35 pm

    Ok, why didn't you like it?

    I'm not looking to get into an argument - I respect your opinion. And I'm well aware I can't make anyone like something by arguing about why they're 'wrong' for disliking it. I'm just curious.
  14. lightinchains says:
    14 years ago at 1:16 am

    but with hot chicks.

    I don't have a problem with that.
  15. bonniegrrl says:
    14 years ago at 5:09 pm

    really? i liked it. ;-)
  16. marapfhile says:
    14 years ago at 7:41 am

    the only thing that really caught my eye as a problem was the "i'm in a joss whedon show" tech guy's acting. i mean, did they get wash and xander to come give him slouching lessons?

    apart from that, i can dig it. while i'm not particularly into eliza (alyson fanboy all the way!), i'm not going to complain about anything that puts her on screen in those outfits. (and if we're going to talk about stuff being ripped off, "hot chick in a different situation each week" is alias.)
    • mister_borogove says:
      14 years ago at 11:08 pm

      Okay, I've seen it now. Pick one:

      Scenario A: Whedon has never seen Alias but came up with the same core schtick independently
      Scenario B: Whedon loved Alias so much he's resurrecting the same core schtick
      Scenario C: Whedon is making ironic commentary on Alias

      I know which one my money is currently riding on.
    • xoruglm says:
      14 years ago at 7:08 pm

      Except she isn't pretending to be different people (with wigs and bad accents) - she really believes she's the person she's imprinted to be. I think it's more than a cosmetic difference - the central idea of the show is that she's being used and controlled, and that she's going to gradually gain her own identity.
  17. soleklypse says:
    14 years ago at 11:15 pm

    I thought the whole "blue means fear"/"her whole brain is blue" thing was funny. Apparently Echo's brain is a mood ring?

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