I’m looking forward on weekend to seeing the new show ‘Dollhouse‘ by Joss Whedon, the Angel/Buffy/Firefly creator, even if the first ep is a bit hitnmiss. The overall concept sounds kewl via The Watcher : “Dushku’s main character, Echo, is employed by a shadowy organization that houses her and fellow “actives” in a spalike clubhouse. When not eating salads and getting massages, the actives have specific personalities imprinted on to their brains; they use these temporary implants to complete missions for the Dollhouse’s wealthy clients. The missions can range from heists to dates to really, really dangerous dates, and the running-and-fighting missions generally show Dushku at her best. As she proved when she played the leather-clad Faith on “Buffy,” she’s a natural at delivering quips while also delivering roundhouse kicks.” Read ComicBook Resources indepth piece + interview with Whedon, should be online by Saturday/Sunday AU time;

Joss : ‘”Because the subject matter is so very delicate … which is good, when you want it to be creepy … [but] it’s a very fine line,” Whedon said. “There was a period where I was like, ‘I don’t know what the show is anymore! And it hasn’t even aired yet!’ Now, I never knew what ‘Angel’ was about and we did fine for five years,” he joked to loud cheers.”But [with 'Dollhouse'] there was a dark and scary Joss period,” he said. “That’s something that’s a very difficult and personal thing … but we [the production team] kept slogging through and then we found it.”‘

Damn I luv this matte black Gemballa Mirage GT modded super supercar

Another interview over on Sepinwall also points to some of the problems that happened getting the creative “process” right. This is Whedon talking about how the order the audience is seeing the episodes is not the order they were shot/envisioned : “The bow-hunting episode came second, because — what, are you kidding? Fox was like, “Bow-hunting? ‘Most Dangerous Game’? You had me at helloooo!” It had the kind of adventure and excitement that they absolutely wanted to see in the show. That had originally been episode eight. Obviously, we changed some things to make it work better as a second episode, but some of those decisions came through that way. And some of them was just, “Which script is ready to shoot?” There was a certain amount of chaos. But tracking everything, it does all fall together in a way that makes sense. It shouldn’t feel too random when people see it. And we always look at the first bunch as a series of pilots. What we want to make clear is there is a certain thing we do, and there is a certain thing that happens that is trouble, which is basically Echo. The most important thing about the dollhouse is that this girl is not a doll.”

Just One more Gemballa.com Catalog Shot.

Sepinwall’s review of the show ere : “Dushku isn’t as versatile as the role demands - many weeks, the only difference in Echo’s persona seems to be her wardrobe - but Whedon and his writers certainly are. This is essentially a “Quantum Leap”-style anthology, where Echo’s constant changes of identity puts the show into a different style - kidnapping thriller, horror movie, swinging heist flick - each week, and the writers are excellent at bending their talents to fit the latest genre. Next week’s episode is one of the better filmed riffs on the classic short story “The Most Dangerous Game,” and the caper episode is packed with unexpected, engrossing twists. But because Echo is constantly assuming new identities, and because her default personality is so deliberately uninteresting, it’s hard to find something to latch onto from episode to episode. Harry Lennix evinces some sympathy as Echo’s handler, an ex-cop who feels ashamed for being involved in such a morally bankrupt enterprise, but he’s not enough of a draw on his own.”

New Dollhouse show by Joss Whedon of Buffy/Angel etc with Lead Eliza Dushku by McW_Hammer on Flickr. Comic Book Resource quoting Whedon : "Whedon called "Dollhouse" a show that frightens him as a creator. "It's so morally tricky that I expect there to be a certain amount of backlash and disappointment," he said. Identifying himself as a vocal feminist, he added, "This is a show that can be read two ways. It can be read as a woman's fight for her identity and it can be read by some people as just a misogynist fantasy. I'm doing that deliberately and I'm scared witless by how people are going to react to everything we're doing."