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Twitter'Dollhouse': Pickup is 'a bet on Joss Whedon'
The decision by FOX executives to bring "Dollhouse" back for a second season comes down to two words: Joss Whedon.
But, you know, no pressure or anything.
News of the modestly rated show's pickup for next season got out over the weekend, and on Monday FOX Entertainment president Kevin Reilly explained just why the show will be back in the fall.
"This is a bet on Joss Whedon," Reilly said in a conference call Monday. "We looked at the profile of that shows -- he has an unbelievably loyal fan base. It was consistent in the ratings and consistently [improved] as one of the biggest time-shifted shows on the air. So we're placing a bet on Joss that he'll keep it going next year."
The network's move to keep "Dollhouse" while letting "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" go has drawn predictable derision from "Terminator" fans, but Reilly says the decision didn't come down to keeping one show over the other.
"'Terminator' has completed its run. I think it had a nice little run; it was a good show," Reilly says. "It wasn't an either-or. We did see ['Terminator'] tailing off a bit. It had a nice creative core, but ultimately we made the bet on 'Dollhouse' for the night, and felt we had some other shows that would make a better profile for the night."
Reilly acknowledges that while "The Sarah Connor Chronicles" "was not an inexpensive show," economics weren't the deciding factor in its cancellation: "We had to make some choices on the night. So it was a factor. But ... we looked at the ratings track on Mondays, where it had a pretty consistent run, and then on Fridays where we moved it, and that trend line was not pointing in the right direction. ... We tried, but we felt like it was time to move on."
Peter Rice, the new chairman of FOX Entertainment, also thinks "Dollhouse" can grow some next season and give FOX more of a presence on Friday nights.
"The show became much stronger creatively over the course of the season, and Joss feels really energized about it," Rice says. "We believe in him as a creator and had a lot of success with him in the past. We feel we can build this show, that it can grow in the new season."
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Zap2it Twitter Talk 
The best thing they can do is have it run after "Bones". That way all of us who are fans can have and Angel/Faith evening.
I am hopeful that, in a few years, we can look back on this goodwill decision by FOX as a saving grace when Dollhouse is a bona fide hit. If not, they tried.
Why can't Fox see that Friday night is not the right night for these shows and their target audience? - Dark Angel, Firefly, Terminator....? Terminator lost viewers after moving it from Monday to Friday? Hmmm, so let's cancel it instead of moving it back to Monday? Dark Angel had more viewers on Tuesdays than on Fridays, so let's cancel it rather than move it back to Tuesdays?
Maybe the renewal of Dollhouse shows they learned a little bit from Firefly, but I still don't understand why they keep trying to put sci fi in the Friday night death slot! The thickness of TV execs continues to amaze me.
This news just makes my day! Dollhouse did grow stronger through it's short run -- and if it holds true to form, will hit its stride next season. Buffy was the same -- a short, uneven first season that grew into one of the best series ever on television. Thank you, Fox, for giving this show a chance to do the same.
it's a shame FOX cancelled the better show, TerminatorTSCC.
T:SCC > Dollhouse -- no doubt about it.
Sorry JW...but I agree with dolly...
'it's a shame FOX cancelled the better show, TerminatorTSCC.'
Truer words have never been spoken...
If we do something which is pioneering, we will get arrows in the back. But at the end of the day, whether we succeed or not, the journey will be worthwhile.
I think Fox made the right decision. Dollhouse has potential, and great talent in front of and behind the camera. It deserved another season. I couldn't get into T:TSCC. It had potential, but it didn't deliver. I expected more from the show and the charaters. In this show John Connor was a wimp.
Betting of Joss Whedon bankrupted WB and UPN...
FOX should start paying attention to the ratings instead of Creators' press campaigns.
Dollhouse did not "get stronger" as the season went. Its ratings started really low and went down from there to culminate with their lowest rating for the Finale.