This has been a busy week for cancellations. The latest addition to the TV graveyard: Dollhouse.
According to multiple insiders, Fox has informed Joss Whedon that it will not be ordering additional installments of his low-rated drama beyond the current 13-episode order. On the bright side, the network still plans to burn off the remaining unaired episodes beginning in December. Hey, it’s something.
Dollhouse has been averaging a mere 3 million viewers this season. Last season — when fan support, together with significant budget cuts, helped it to get an odds-defying second-year pickup — the show averaged 4.7 million.
Bottom line: Dollhouse is lucky it ever saw a second season. Remember that when you’re posting your eulogies below.
UPDATE: Whedon just posted the following statement on Whedonesque.com: “I don’t have a lot to say. I’m extremely proud of the people I’ve worked with: my star, my staff, my cast, my crew. I feel the show is getting better pretty much every week, and I think you’ll agree in the coming months. I’m grateful that we got to put it on, and then come back and put it on again. I’m off to pursue Internet ventures/binge drinking. Possibly that relaxation thing I’ve read so much about. By the time the last episode airs, you’ll know what my next project is. But for now, there’s a lot of work still to be done, and disappointment to bear. Thank you all for your support, your patience, your excellent adverts. See you again.”
PHOTO REQUEST: Isabella Vosmikova/Fox
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This is the first series I am upset about getting cut. But, last season was way better than this season. They tried to do too much too soon. Maybe Joss had an inkling that his series was coming to an end so he put it all out there when he could. Too bad, I wish another cable station would pick this show up. Its one of a kind.
But it was Joss’s fault. Come on. You can blame the network all you want, but he decided to make the first episodes of BOTH the first and second seasons painfully terrible. Your average viewer isn’t going to keep tuning in, hoping it will get better (which it did.) So, my anger is directed toward Joss’s ego and not FOX this time. I love his shows, but I think all the fan worship has gotten to his big head.
Same thing happened last year with T:SCC. FOX picked up the back nine and we got the three worst episodes of the season. Where’s the urgency? Didnt JW realize they needed to wow someone right from the get go???
Get your facts straight – the true pilot episode is fantastic. However, FOX didn’t like it so they made Joss re-shoot it and that is what made it suck.
Wait, was the Season 2 opener the episode featuring Echo playing a crazy lactating mother? And this got cancelled?!?!
I watched the first episodes of both Seasons and i really liked the show. I saw where it was going and it was great!
another great show by joss whedon that got the ax. I’m still mad they cancelled firefly another one of his really good shows
Like we didn’t see this happening. It didn’t help that last season was pretty weak. This season it’s getting good, but the damage is done. I’m not surprised though- it’s Fox we’re talking about.
Sadly, I have to agree as the first eps of S1 were so-so at best. Too bad they all couldn’t have been like the unaired “Epitaph 1″ ep on the dvd. Sadly for me, S2 started out again slow but was starting to build again to something good. Perhaps the could build the storyline to where the events of Epitaph begins and then maybe do a tv movie to close up the story after Epitaph.. in any case. I’ll miss the potential this show had, but pretty much knew that this was coming.
But when you think about it, the first seasons of Buffy and Angel weren’t that great either compared to following seasons. Buffy started to get really good only when Angel turned into Angelus late in season 2 (or was it season 3?). The difference is that those shows were on lesser networks that would kill for 3 million viewers so they had time to develop solid storylines.
Of course this was going to get canceled… People are not ready for something this dark. It’s awesome, creepy and very disturbing. Treating people like dolls? Mental rape? Human trafficking? Brainwashing? Apparently, not even Joss fans want to delve into this stuff.
Wow there’s been a LOT of cancellations this week…can’t say I’m really upset with any of them, though.
Well that sucks.
Yup. It’s not like we weren’t steeling ourselves for this. I already started to after the break between episode 2 and 3. Sigh. This is the first time I’ve really had a show I liked get canceled on me. Ha, guess that means I’m good at picking out shows that won’t die…
…except for this one, of course.
Well FOX renewed it and are letting it finish its 13 episode run even though it has CW ratings!Well done FOX normally you woulda canned it after two episodes!So as sad as I am I really can’t complain although Syfy would be a perfect home for Dollhouse.
Wish they would have given Wonderfalls the same chance!
Wonderfalls! OMG I miss that show.
Oh, Wonderfalls…never even got a chance. Brilliant show.
Agreed. What a great show.
GOOD JOB FOX! KILL A GOOD SHOW BUT KEEP PUMPING OUT MORE AMERICAN IDOL!
ummm…. hard to fault them for that since that show makes them a lot of money with ratings.
maybe this show would have good ratings if it were put in a decent timeslot with a solid lead-in?
Well the show has to do some of the work. Blame the content.
Nah, DR, I doubt that. Only way this show would’ve gotten good ratings was if AI had been it’s lead in.
I love the image used for this article. Echo: “Oh, what the hell?”
I like the show too, but as Michael says, it was lucky to even get a second season. The ratings were anemic last year, and they’re dropping steadily this year. To expect any network to keep spending money on show that’s not doing well is, frankly, ridiculous.
Its all about the money and not quality.
Of course they are going to pump out the American Idol. People watch that show.
Or Glee…
Right. Fox, stop pumping out your top-rated show, the one that gets over 22 million viewers a week, and creates music stars, ENOUGH! Instead, you need to continue supporting mediocre Sci Fi potboilers that barely scrape by 3 million viewers a week and star terrible actresses.
Well, I wouldn’t blame the actors/actrsses for the show being mediocre…
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Eliza is good
OOOOOH MAN!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
You needed some more ooo’s LOL
Sucks. Can we at least get a comic for this?
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not surprising. I will miss Topher, Whiskey and Victor.
Same here. Best characters there are. BTW, love the name if you got it from what I think you got it.
I will completely miss those awesome characters. It does seem as though the final episodes of the season will kick even more ass than the final few of last year. I assume there’s no chance that a channel like Sci-Fi would pick it up…?
Worst news I’ve heard all day. Fox sucks, I swear I’m going to hold off getting into shows until season 3 so I know they make it that long
my son doesn’t want to watch any season 2 shows with me; he thinks i’m the kiss of death!
No, you can’t be the kiss of death because I thought that was me!
Whoa! What a surprise! I’m shocked! (Not).
Haha. Thanks. This show sucked beyond suckage.
Thanks for that AWESOME contribution there…
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
NO!! I can’t believe Fox is willing to cancel anything that isn’t as successful as Idol. It’s ridiculous.
In the modern scheme of broadcasting, that’s all that matters. And American Idol is ten times cheaper to produce than a one-hour drama. Watch for more talent show duplicates to fill up the roster midseason.
American Idol isn’t cheap any more. Have you seen Simon Cowell and Randy Seascrest’s salaries. They each make more then the entire budget of Dollhouse
Um, they aren’t canceling shows that are only as successful as AI. You have shows like House and 24 which aren’t pulling in AI level numbers but are doing really well. Stop blaming Fox for people not watching Whedon shows.
Money talks boo!!! And Dollhouse wasn’t talking much……Sorry, it’s the numbers.
Is there any way another network (like Syfy) could pick it up? Like Southland?
The only reason Southland got a chance at second life is because the episodes had’nt aired yet and they were paid for, this is trickier.
Syfy seems like a good home for this show. Although I never saw the show it seems like a good fit. I hope it gets picked up so the fans can continue to watch.
I felt the sameway about Southland, but TNT saved it.
That’s too bad. I watched it from the beginning, and I won’t be surprised when it finds a larger following on DVD. Just like Firefly, which received mixed reviews (from fans and critics) until it found it’s fanbase on DVD.
There is one difference to note between the two, though. Firefly didn’t suck.
Didn’t Firefly air their episodes out of order though? Then on DVD you could watch them in order and get a clear progression of story and character development. As far as I know, Dollhouse was aired in the right order and given a decent chance to succeed. Also, it got much more time to blossom than Firefly or Wonderfalls.
Yep, the Friday time slot combined with the darker (less accessible) content of the show killed it. Mostly the Friday though.
Firefly didn’t – Fox (in their infinite wisdom) did.
Dollhouse also had some episodes airing out of order =/
Er, you all make it sound like Firefly has tons and tons of fans. The movie, which Joss was hoping would show the world that canceling Firefly was a mistake, was a failure at the box office. Having a vocal minority on the internet posting about Firefly doesn’t mean the show had legions and legions of fans. You all thought it rocked. Everyone else (more than 99% of the rest of the popuilation) thought it sucked. Get over it and move on.
“Serenity” may have only broken even at the box office but DVD sales were high and the film made a decent profit.
People didn’t think Firefly sucked, they didn’t think to watch it. Everyone I know who has watched the DVDs has loved the show and can’t believe it didn’t last. Then I remind them that they’re the people who didn’t watch it in the first place, so it’s their fault!
And for the record, I’m bummed Dollhouse is cancelled, but I understand the decision. This was the first Joss Whedon show that didn’t wow me right out of the gate, but I still enjoyed it and will be sad when the last episode airs.
Actually, Andy, Firefly DOES have tons and tons of fans. I’m one of the editing team at the Firefly_Signal newsletter on LiveJournal, and we make an entry every day – and there’s plenty of content for most of them, even years after the show’s cancellation. It’s still picking up new fans even now – I converted another friend of mine just the other day.
I never saw Firefly when it was first airing – it was never shown on terrestrial in England, and I didn’t have satellite or home internet at the time. Serenity was my first exposure to the whole fandom, and I’ve loved it ever since.
This is just Fox being their usual selves. They’ve cancelled a heck of a lot of good shows.
Too bad The CW can’t pick it up.
Well, we all saw this coming. I’ll miss you Joss!
Exactly. Knew it was coming for weeks now, but am still a wee bit upset to finally hear the words “Dollhouse AXED!”
FOX SUCKS AN UNBELIEVABLE AMOUNT OF CRAPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!
Wish people watched this. Hard to stop CBS’ hold on Friday nights.
The networks have been pretty generous this season. Remember the last few years, most of the shows would have killed for 13 episodes.
Yes, even the excreble Hank got six episodes. You can’t compain about hair-trigger cancellations this year, and that is an improvement for all viewers.
;_;
I like the show but am not surprised it is being cancelled. Glad that we get to see the remaining episodes, hope it doesn’t end on a note where we don’t get closure.
I can’t imagine that they didn’t have a strong feeling that the 13th one would be the ending. I’m guessing we won’t be left high and dry.
Joss has said that they’ve been pretty realistic about their chances of cancelation and therefore will be providing closure.
Well, can’t say I’m surprised, but I’m glad we got the extra 13, plus Joss has a little time to wrap things up (about 2 eps I think). No campaigns this time, folks. Let’s just let it go with dignity.
People can campaign if they want.
F you Fox.
Its a horrible world when Tim Kring is allowed to keep his horrible show and Joss Whedon’s show gets cancelled
Ellipsian likes this.
If you can get people to stop watching Heroes it will go away too. I think I read it was finishing up soon anyway.
I totally agree with you there. Heroes averages – what – about 5 million an episode and it’s not stuck in the hell-hole that is Friday night.
ugh i know, even though i watch heroes, it’s like watching a trainwreck
Cause Joss Whedon shows are a trifle overrated?
TSCC was canceled so FOX could air 13 more episodes of Dollhouse just so they could cancel it a few months later anyway?
Bravo FOX. No one has their heads as far up their own asses like you guys do. What an accomplishment.
NBC?
thank u, JoJo, i was thinking the same thing & was wondering how many ppl would neglect 2 mention that
TSCC was a great show, but the cost/episode for that would probably have funded four or five episodes of Dollhouse.
Wish we could get more good tv but the extra 13 eps were found money. And there is that whole business side constantly getting in the way.
Where do people get this ridiculous idea they were sacrificing one show for the other? Terminator was more costly for Fox plus it had lower ratings. It wasn’t a choice. If they had both been successful they would have both stayed.
I agree with Elle. They did give the show a chance and stuck with it despite its saggy ratings. It’d be nice if The CW or SyFy picks it up though…
RIDICULOUS. Move it to a sucky night, like Tuesdays and give it a real chance!!!
Problem is, it would be going up against NCIS/NCIS LA, 2 of the highest rated shows around… but perhaps if they paired it with Fringe they both might get an appreciable ratings increase. The Thursday gauntlet isn’t helping Fringe’s live ratings at all…
This is the problem with FOX. FOX keeps trying to run a sci-fi on Friday night. Sorry FOX, but the days of the X-Files and a young and thriving Friday audience are over.
This sucks, but I’m consoling myself with the knowledge that now there’s nothing to distract Whedon from the Dr. Horrible sequel. Glass half-full?
Yes. I read a recent article where Joss kinda said the same thing. He said that DH2 was slow going because DH took so much time to write. He said working on DH2 would be the positive coming from a possible cancellation. Also, fans, was anyone expecting (not simply hoping for) more than 13? Also, as has been written here, the final 2 eps haven’t been shot, so we should get some pretty awesome Joss. Sad, yes, but saw this coming.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!! NOOOOOO!!!! Worst birthday surprise ever!
Happy Birthday…even if it is bad news
Aw Sam, so sorry you got bad news today. Hope you’re birthday is still happy though.