I gasped a little (and made my co-workers stare at me curiously) when I saw that “Dollhouse” has now officially been canceled. This isn’t a surprise. You don’t renew a show that you’ve yanked off the air for a month for November sweeps and that you’re going to air in double doses all at once. You don’t renew a show whose ratings are so poor, but still, it hurts. I’ve been lucky, I guess. The shows I’ve loved have mostly not been ratings powerhouses, and not mainstream attractions, but I’ve never had a show I really loved get pulled off the air mid-season, or at the end of the first season, or as in the case of “Dollhouse,” with just half of a normal-length second season. And this isn’t a worst-case scenario: Joss Whedon must have seen the writing on the wall and wrapped things up somewhat satisfactorily and all 13 episodes will air.
With the exception of “Veronica Mars” (and it was minor), I’ve never watched a show that ended on a cliffhanger to not return for another season. What’s saddest about the end of “Dollhouse” is the end of its potential. It was getting great, but it got great too late. Mistakes were made, not just by Fox (although the easy thing will be to blame them completely.) The biggest mistake was in ever believing that “Dollhouse” would work as a completely episodic show. “Dollhouse” came with a double-edge sword: loyal Whedonites (of which I am a card-carrying — if they have cards — member) came ready to watch. But then the first five or so episodes contained very little of what we watch Whedon shows for — witty, quirky humor and dialogue; complex and lovable (or not so lovable) characters and a fascinating unusual world.
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