# Dollhouse premier - Feb 13, 2009 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 12, 2009, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dollhouse-premier-feb-13-2009/485613 "2009-02-12T23:54:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dollhouse-premier-feb-13-2009/485613/21 "2009-02-14T03:09:46Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Wow. This is much worse than I anticipated. If it’s not significantly better next week, I’m bailing. Agreed. The constant flashing to new characters and situations with no explanation didn’t help either. I’m sure that was supposed to put us in the Doll’s shoes, memory-wise, but I thought it was just poorly done storytelling. I also think the constant undertone that the Doll’s are just high class prostitutes that get raped and raped and raped a little unsettling. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dollhouse-premier-feb-13-2009/485613/22 "2009-02-14T03:12:05Z")
I thought it was okay. Full of potential, but all that rests on better writing and acting. Hope it stays ahead of the audience, and is full of interesting surprises. I’m giving the first few shows a pass, since we have to warm up to the characters, and they have to set up the entire premise. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dollhouse-premier-feb-13-2009/485613/23 "2009-02-14T03:13:59Z")
Also, seeing the guy from Journeyman only fills me with the disappointment of that show’s cancellation. _pout_ ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dollhouse-premier-feb-13-2009/485613/24 "2009-02-14T03:17:09Z")
Hey - it also has another Whedon actress - Amy Acker! Her hair seemed really different - from both Fred and Keely Peyton on “Alias”. I wonder what her story is with the scars. (I just looked on IMDB - she was also in an episode of “How I Met Your Mother” Brian ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dollhouse-premier-feb-13-2009/485613/25 "2009-02-14T05:16:06Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Sounds like it wants to be [DOLL](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doll_(manga)). Given that Firefly wanted to be [Cowboy Bebop](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowboy_bebop), I can’t say this particularly endears me to Whedon. He seems to do better when modifying American tropes than Japanese. Repeating this moronic statement over and over (and over) again doesn’t make it true. And I thought Firefly was a ripoff of Outlaw Star. But if you think an anime series from the late 90s invented the idea of “cowboys in space”, you haven’t seen a Hollywood movie since the 40s. And that Doll manga doesn’t share any plot similarities with Dollhouse. Aside from a similar title. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dollhouse-premier-feb-13-2009/485613/26 "2009-02-14T05:29:32Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > Hey - it also has another Whedon actress - Amy Acker! Her hair seemed really different - from both Fred and Keely Peyton on “Alias”. I wonder what her story is with the scars. (I just looked on IMDB - she was also in an episode of “How I Met Your Mother” The same episode of HIMYM, incidentally, that first featured Alexis Denisof, though they didn’t have the chance to interact (unfortunately). ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dollhouse-premier-feb-13-2009/485613/27 "2009-02-14T05:42:03Z")
Wow, I completely forgot about the show tonight. What a horrible timeslot. Is it gonna be up on Hulu? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dollhouse-premier-feb-13-2009/485613/28 "2009-02-14T06:04:45Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Repeating this moronic statement over and over (and over) again doesn’t make it true. And I thought Firefly was a ripoff of Outlaw Star. It ended up somewhere between to be sure, but why anyone would want to clone Outlaw Star I have no idea. Hence it seems more likely that Bebop would have been the target. > [@](#): > > But if you think an anime series from the late 90s invented the idea of “cowboys in space”, you haven’t seen a Hollywood movie since the 40s. I’ve never seen anything I’d call cowboys in space. Lost in Space was the Swiss Family Robinson. Star Trek was utopianist. Battlestar Galactica is the Exodus. Buck Rogers was based on characters from Jules Verne, H.G. Wells and Edgar Rice Burroughs. > [@](#): > > And that Doll manga doesn’t share any plot similarities with Dollhouse. Aside from a similar title. The point of DOLL was to take a socially invisible foil and stick that character into the private life of various people to see the secrets, fears, and hopes of those people. In DOLL, everyone has implicit control over the doll, but this isn’t always used. But often it is a lead in to revealing the above psychologically interesting tidbits. There really wasn’t a plot. If this isn’t what Dollhouse is trying to be, then I misunderstood the advertising I’ve seen for it. But I agree that it’s unlikely to live up to that, and will instead become a basic Lost/Fringe style mystery show starring a girl who kicks butt and throws out one-liners. ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dollhouse-premier-feb-13-2009/485613/29 "2009-02-14T06:09:05Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > Hey - it also has another Whedon actress - Amy Acker! Her hair seemed really different - from both Fred and Keely Peyton on “Alias”. I wonder what her story is with the scars. (I just looked on IMDB - she was also in an episode of “How I Met Your Mother” > > Brian Dammit. I knew I recognized her from somewhere and I loved Fred. As for the show, I didn’t really care for it. I’ll give it another shot, especially since the critics say that episode two kicks it up a notch. ---
**Author:** ![ArrMatey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrmatey/32/3522_2.png) [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dollhouse-premier-feb-13-2009/485613/30 "2009-02-14T06:10:03Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > He put a girl in a refrigerator. Please tell me this wasn’t literally true. Joss knows comics. He’s gotta know what buttons that’s gonna push for comic readers. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dollhouse-premier-feb-13-2009/485613/31 "2009-02-14T06:14:25Z")
> [@ArrMatey](#): > > Please tell me this wasn’t literally true. Joss knows comics. He’s gotta know what buttons that’s gonna push for comic readers. ☹ It was literally true, but it wasn’t a working fridge, so it’s okay. ---
**Author:** ![Pollux\_Oil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/858c86/32.png) [@Pollux\_Oil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pollux_Oil)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dollhouse-premier-feb-13-2009/485613/32 "2009-02-14T06:16:08Z")
I think I’ve decided I would watch a full hour long show of nothing but Eliza Dushku standing in a tanktop and shorts and smiling. Holy crap beautiful. I’ve heard that this pilot wasn’t the original pilot, that the original pilot is the second episode and Joss made a new first episode because he felt like the actual pilot didn’t do a good job introducing things. I think that’s why this episode was mainly the Eliza show…I view it as kind of a prequel. I think the show has a lot of potential. I’m conflicted on where I want it to go, because with Buffy I loved the overall story arcs and having a concrete Big Bad in the background, but with Firefly I liked that there was the shadowy forces in the background but not a single villain for the season/series. ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dollhouse-premier-feb-13-2009/485613/33 "2009-02-14T06:22:40Z")
> [@Pollux\_Oil](#): > > I think I’ve decided I would watch a full hour long show of nothing but Eliza Dushku standing in a tanktop and shorts and smiling. Holy crap beautiful. I’d like to subscribe to your newsletter. Although I really thought that white dress she wore at the beginning of the episode made her especially hot. Or the librarian look she had going later in the ep. Eliza Dushku is very easy on the eyes. At least this show has that going for it, which is nice. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dollhouse-premier-feb-13-2009/485613/34 "2009-02-14T06:31:27Z")
**Sage Rat:** The premise is that there is an illegal organization set up to be a service to the rich or desperate that find themselves in a pickle. The Dollhouse has recruited (or blackmailed?) a bunch of supermodels to have their minds blanked and written over with the specialties and personalities to create a “perfect specialist” they need for that particular situation. After the service has been performed, they wipe them clean again. In this case, they needed a pro negotiator to get back a billionaire’s kidnapped daughter. Doesn’t seem like she needs to always be a kickboxer or navy seal every week, and I hope they don’t take it there all the time. That would be way too boring and trite. I was kind of glad they gave her near-sightedness and asthma this episode. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dollhouse-premier-feb-13-2009/485613/35 "2009-02-14T06:38:20Z")
It was sorely lacking in Joss’ trademark humour and clever dialogue. Plus, Eliza Dushku must have been about the weakest actor they had on anything Joss has ever done - I don’t know who she’s blowing to keep getting series’, but it’s working for her. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dollhouse-premier-feb-13-2009/485613/36 "2009-02-14T07:18:34Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > It was sorely lacking in Joss’ trademark humour and clever dialogue. Plus, Eliza Dushku must have been about the weakest actor they had on anything Joss has ever done - I don’t know who she’s blowing to keep getting series’, but it’s working for her. She was really, really, really bad. I assume she’ll attempt another personality next week, and fail that, too. This premise needed a different star. And also a different pilot. ---
**Author:** ![Prox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/da6949/32.png) [@Prox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prox)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dollhouse-premier-feb-13-2009/485613/37 "2009-02-14T07:19:04Z")
Pretty underwhelming. I’ll check it out again next week, but it’s not looking good. The tech was particularly annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dollhouse-premier-feb-13-2009/485613/38 "2009-02-14T09:01:24Z")
The big premise, hiring out custom programmed people for specialized tasks, is pretty nifty. Unfortunately they’ve saddled it with such moronic, cliched garbage that it weighs the whole thing down. Why a secret evil organization? Other than the prostitution angle a regular company would work just fine and make it easier to tell more interesting stories (and you could say they’re based out of Nevada in a worst case scenario). By making it secret from both the public and the people who they’re doing it to they introduce all sorts of ridiculous issues. No one ever notices time gaps? Missing people in the house? Annoying physical after effects of something they did while programmed (yeah, she hurt herself which just helps point out for the slow viewers what a bad idea this is)? Where do the rich people hear about this? Just what do the actors think they’re doing at the project when they hang around all day? It’s all set up so that Dushku’s character can figure out that they’re wiping people’s brains and reprogramming them and turn against the company (with the obvious twist that she’ll figure it out in one episode, get caught and wiped, but remember just a little something about it afterward). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@The\_Tof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tof)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dollhouse-premier-feb-13-2009/485613/39 "2009-02-14T11:54:14Z")
I thought it was… Good. Not a great show. But good. I’ll definitely keep watching and see how this goes. It showed potential… similarly to how Buffy’s first episode showed potential. (I thought the first several episodes of Buffy were very shaky) The main thing was that there was a lot of laying of groundwork and rules for the Dollhouse universe. Overall… I think a B-, but since he has shown a lot of A material- I have to think that he’s got it up his sleeve. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2009, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dollhouse-premier-feb-13-2009/485613/40 "2009-02-14T12:29:57Z")
Isn’t this premise really just an excuse for a hot young woman to have a ridiculously implausible array of skills? An episode calls for her to ballroom-dance her way across the room, kung-fu fight her way past ten guards, jimmy the ten-ton safe, use the top-secret computer software within to hack a database… and how did she accumulate this impressive variety of skills, each of which takes years to master? They were programmed into her that week. One could argue it’s a metaphor for acting, I guess. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dollhouse-premier-feb-13-2009/485613.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dollhouse-premier-feb-13-2009/485613.md?page=3)