# Joss Whedon TV shows (and a Dollhouse question) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [October 17, 2020, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joss-whedon-tv-shows-and-a-dollhouse-question/923206 "2020-10-17T19:15:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2020, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joss-whedon-tv-shows-and-a-dollhouse-question/923206/21 "2020-10-19T09:42:57Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Unfortunately, it did rely on already knowing and caring about the characters to really enjoy, otherwise it was just another Sci-fi movie, though with what is IMHO the best written and choreographed space fight scene in movie history. “I’m a leaf on the wind.” Not being a vampire fan I had never really seen _Buffy_ in its various iterations despite what I’d heard about it. nor much of anything else by Whedon save _Toy Story_ so I came info _Serenity_ stone cold. It blew me away, earning ten stars in my IMdb rating, rarely done. On getting home I rented the _Firefly_ discs from Netflix, then halfway through those, bought the set. You could say I liked it. Even without knowing the characters, they were fleshed out well enough for the movie for even a Whedon novice like me to follow their relationships with each other. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2020, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joss-whedon-tv-shows-and-a-dollhouse-question/923206/22 "2020-10-19T12:38:55Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > Dollhouse had hints of brilliance in the first few episodes but it isn’t until you get to the sixth episode … I’m glad you liked it. I really wanted to. I’d have to go back and check IMDB, but I’m sure I stuck w/ it for at least 1 entire season. Never clicked. ---
**Author:** ![JcWoman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jcwoman/32/2889_2.png) [@JcWoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JcWoman)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2020, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joss-whedon-tv-shows-and-a-dollhouse-question/923206/23 "2020-10-19T13:27:08Z")
> [@Tusculan](#): > > I just ordered Firefly, Serenity, Agents of Shield s1, and also Much Ado about Nothing to complete the set. If you haven’t already, you might also check out Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along. Very campy but extremely brilliant and funny. Nathan Fillion goes crazy camp with his character and he’s hysterical. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2020, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joss-whedon-tv-shows-and-a-dollhouse-question/923206/24 "2020-10-19T14:05:09Z")
Just a word of warning, there is a LOT of hype for Firefly. You may want to temper your expectations a bit 😃. I enjoyed the show, thought it was good, but some of the fanbase wants to put it up on the pantheon of greatest sci-fi show ever. A few people I knew ended up not really liking it because their expectations were pumped so high for it. ---
**Author:** ![JcWoman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jcwoman/32/2889_2.png) [@JcWoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JcWoman)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2020, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joss-whedon-tv-shows-and-a-dollhouse-question/923206/25 "2020-10-19T14:24:40Z")
Firefly is more of a story about relationships and interactions between the characters that just happens to be sort of sci-fi. It’s the relationships that suck you in. So if you don’t like that kind of story (prefer hard sci fi or whatever) then it might not resonate. ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2020, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joss-whedon-tv-shows-and-a-dollhouse-question/923206/26 "2020-10-19T16:40:55Z")
This is nearly exactly the opposite review of Agents of SHIELD than most of its fans would give. 🙂 Most say that the the moment you said it declined is the moment that it stopped limping along and kicked into high gear. I’m a huge Whedon fan, and a huge AoS fan. No, he wasn’t that involved in it, but his brother and sister-in-law who ran the show learned a lot from him, and his influence shows throughout the series, which is phenomenal. If it feels slow at first, stick it out though season 1, or more specifically season 1, episode 17.. ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2020, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joss-whedon-tv-shows-and-a-dollhouse-question/923206/27 "2020-10-19T16:43:25Z")
> [@Tusculan](#): > > The thing which was holding me back on Firefly is that the premise sounds overly familiar. But then, I had the same objection to Dollhouse beforehand, Dollhouse’s premise is familiar? really?!?! 🙂 What shows have you been watching? (serious question. I know of nothing quite like it.) ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2020, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joss-whedon-tv-shows-and-a-dollhouse-question/923206/28 "2020-10-19T17:17:03Z")
Sorry, I phrased that clumsily. I mean that the premise of Firefly seemed familiar, while the premise of Dollhuose seemed to be predictable/repetitive. And indeed that was the way it was developed in the first few episodes (mission of the week). I found those sufficiently entertaining but the show would not have captivated me if it would have continued int hat vein. Incidetntally, the idea of reprogramming personalities is a plto device that was used quite frequently in single episodes of many a TV show in the nineties, IIRC. The series Nowhere man was built around it. But admittedly Dollhouse took the idea to the extreme, as a commercial ‘rental’ service instead of a secret service operation. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2020, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joss-whedon-tv-shows-and-a-dollhouse-question/923206/29 "2020-10-19T17:26:29Z")
Same here! Watched it for Eliza, but did not enjoy the show. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2020, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joss-whedon-tv-shows-and-a-dollhouse-question/923206/30 "2020-10-19T17:47:39Z")
Yes, quite good but hardly the greatest. And the fact there is one season and one film, limits it greatly. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2020, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joss-whedon-tv-shows-and-a-dollhouse-question/923206/31 "2020-10-20T02:55:47Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > Just a word of warning, there is a LOT of hype for Firefly. You may want to temper your expectations a bit 😃. I enjoyed the show, thought it was good, but some of the fanbase wants to put it up on the pantheon of greatest sci-fi show ever. A few people I knew ended up not really liking it because their expectations were pumped so high for it. It was apparently a life changing event for some of my friends. From 2002-2006 I couldn’t get some of my friends to shut up about it. They went to Brownshirt events, got tattoos, and just incorporated it into their life. I finally watched it, I enjoyed it, but it didn’t change my life. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2020, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joss-whedon-tv-shows-and-a-dollhouse-question/923206/32 "2020-10-20T13:19:49Z")
> [@JcWoman](#): > > If you haven’t already, you might also check out Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along. Very campy but extremely brilliant and funny And a punch in the gut at the end. I didn’t see it on the Web but in a theater to fill out a CSTS the September after it was out. I mentioned seen it yet to a couple friends and they just smiled. On coming out of the theater I just said, “Damn!” ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2020, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joss-whedon-tv-shows-and-a-dollhouse-question/923206/33 "2020-10-20T13:27:57Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > It was apparently a life changing event for some of my friends. From 2002-2006 I couldn’t get some of my friends to shut up about it. They went to Brownshirt events, got tattoos, and just incorporated it into their life. I finally watched it, I enjoyed it, but it didn’t change my life. Brown_coats_. The Brown_shirts_ were a completely different bunch. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2020, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joss-whedon-tv-shows-and-a-dollhouse-question/923206/34 "2020-10-20T13:28:17Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > Brown _coats_ . The Brown _shirts_ were a completely different bunch. My bad! You’re right. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2020, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joss-whedon-tv-shows-and-a-dollhouse-question/923206/35 "2020-10-20T13:28:35Z")
And the Brown sharts? ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2020, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joss-whedon-tv-shows-and-a-dollhouse-question/923206/36 "2020-10-25T19:43:30Z")
Though I have a t-shirt with Mal in a brown shirt and the logo “I shoot first.” I don’t wear it in public any more. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2020, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joss-whedon-tv-shows-and-a-dollhouse-question/923206/37 "2020-10-26T19:24:34Z")
An interesting aside, I was watching _Roseanne_ Halloweeen episodes this weekend (some hold up fairly well, especially the first 2) and Joss Whedon’s name showed up on the credits. I either forgot or never realized Whedon wrote for _Roseanne_. [Joss and Roseanne: The Early Career of Joss Whedon](https://www.newsweek.com/joss-whedon-265403) ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2020, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joss-whedon-tv-shows-and-a-dollhouse-question/923206/38 "2020-10-26T19:33:06Z")
Buffy and Angel forever!! 😀 We were all in high school together, so I was totally into those shows!! ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2020, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joss-whedon-tv-shows-and-a-dollhouse-question/923206/39 "2020-10-27T03:40:28Z")
> And the Brown sharts? Thats a whole nother mess… ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2020, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joss-whedon-tv-shows-and-a-dollhouse-question/923206/40 "2020-10-27T04:01:44Z")
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