You’re probably right about hulu and DVD. iTunes as well I bet. I’ve wondered idly a few times if Dollhouse wouldn’t fare better on cable – FX maybe? I don’t know. Part of me hopes that it means the networks are becoming more sophisticated in their approach, but that’s probably too optimistic.
Well, the networks never really had data from internet and DVR sources before. All they had were Nielsen ratings, which were based on a small sample size of the population. From Hulu and DVRs they don’t have to use sample sizes and can figure out exactly how many people are watching the shows using these devices.
Since Hulu is now apparently a cash cow, the fact that a show does well within its ranks will likely work in favor of renewal. That and Hulu’s profits are only set to increase as more and more viewers start watching shows online.
The entire premise was that he had to be ‘good’ to redeem himself for his ‘bad’ past.
Not sure how this relates to the moral aspects of anything. Just sounds like a way to have kinky sex. Not something I am absolutely opposed to, but 90210 is based around complex love entanglements too.
The Sopranos, The Shield, The Wire, Battlestar Galactica, Sleeper Cell, Lost, Kings (if it stays on course and doesn’t get cancelled), Deadwood, Heroes.
I’m sorry to get down on something you like, but kinky sex doesn’t make up for a lack of moral nuance. I never could get into Angel or Buffy, the acting was terrible and the stories never grabbed me. I thought Joss Whedon levelled up with Firefly and again has levelled up with Dollhouse, though I liked Firefly better than I like Dollhouse. I didn’t see Firefly for a long time because I just wasn’t aware of anything Whedon did because I’d written him off.
Well for one thing networks were in the dark ages regarding how they measured their ratings. Nielsen is laughably obsolete. They had trouble projecting how much people watched on Hulu and via DVR, which is funny considering they could easily have REAL and not projected data on viewership based on viewer information that the provider could easily capture. They wouldn’t have to rely on the Nielsen statistical analysis. Kind of comical in a way. As they learn to measure their non-Push formats they will change how they adapt to ratings.
**Lakai **beat me to it.
The moral aspect is in whether he should be having kinky sex with the enemy.
Fair enough. Looks like you want your shows to have moral conflicts that rival something like Battlestar Galactica. For that kind of conflict you would need flawed main characters, and Angel isn’t that kind of a show. I wouldn’t compare it to 90210, but I see what you are looking for.
I would say that in 90210 the moral conflicts are fake and so are the characters. In Angel the moral conflicts are pretty real, but the characters usually end up making the correct, but unrealistic choices.
As much as I love Buffy and Angel, and I absolutely do, I have to agree that the production quality and acting on Firefly and Dollhouse are better. They are more ‘mature’ shows in some ways – for one thing, they are the products of an older and wiser Whedon.
I missed some of the traditional Whedon witticisms in the early eps of Dollhouse, but they seem to have returned, at least somewhat.
I love when presented with that quandary. 
I do prefer stuff like BSG. Since you are being so calm and nice about me bashing your show I shall revoke calling it like 90210. It just never hooked me.
I am not sure what this means.
Link contains very slight spoilers Entertainment Weekly’s Popwatch talks to Joss Whedon about season 2 Dollhouse.