Comments on: Dollhouse Has Foundation Problems http://joanslingswords.com/2009/03/03/dollhouse-has-foundation-problems/ The Writing Biz Meets Pop Culture Sun, 13 Dec 2009 12:32:42 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: WriteReeves http://joanslingswords.com/2009/03/03/dollhouse-has-foundation-problems/comment-page-1/#comment-722 WriteReeves Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:06:38 +0000 http://joanslingswords.com/?p=659#comment-722 Good morning, Flowercat. I'm happy to hear from another Joss Whedon fan. By no means do I think Joss Whedon doesn't know what he's doing. The man knows more about TV writing than I'll ever begin to know. I too think he's awesome. However, the sad truth is that in television, he's juggling issues that relate to putting the show out that you and I have no knowledge of and that often interferes with the quality of the end product. A show runner has a finite amount of time in which to make a series, not just popular, but a hit. It doesn't matter how awesome Mr. Whedon is or what he may have up his sleeve if the show doesn't pull in the required number of viewers, it won't be allowed to remain on the air. That's the hard truth, and that's why shows are constantly scrambling to reinvent themselves if they don't pull in that magic number of viewers - 10M/episode. Dollhouse started at 4.72M and by episode 3 is down to 4.13. By the way, I liked the first 5 episodes of Buffy and the entire first season. Sure, they were doing it on a shoestring budget but the characters sucked you in so much EMOTIONALLY that it was easy to overlook flaws and suspend disbelief. If you adore Dollhouse, then by all means write the sponsors and network. Tell them how much you appreciate their backing the show. Get all your friends together to watch and write sponsors and network. Email makes it easy. Good luck. Good morning, Flowercat. I’m happy to hear from another Joss Whedon fan. By no means do I think Joss Whedon doesn’t know what he’s doing. The man knows more about TV writing than I’ll ever begin to know. I too think he’s awesome.

However, the sad truth is that in television, he’s juggling issues that relate to putting the show out that you and I have no knowledge of and that often interferes with the quality of the end product.

A show runner has a finite amount of time in which to make a series, not just popular, but a hit. It doesn’t matter how awesome Mr. Whedon is or what he may have up his sleeve if the show doesn’t pull in the required number of viewers, it won’t be allowed to remain on the air.

That’s the hard truth, and that’s why shows are constantly scrambling to reinvent themselves if they don’t pull in that magic number of viewers – 10M/episode. Dollhouse started at 4.72M and by episode 3 is down to 4.13.

By the way, I liked the first 5 episodes of Buffy and the entire first season. Sure, they were doing it on a shoestring budget but the characters sucked you in so much EMOTIONALLY that it was easy to overlook flaws and suspend disbelief.

If you adore Dollhouse, then by all means write the sponsors and network. Tell them how much you appreciate their backing the show. Get all your friends together to watch and write sponsors and network. Email makes it easy. Good luck.

]]> By: Flowercat http://joanslingswords.com/2009/03/03/dollhouse-has-foundation-problems/comment-page-1/#comment-721 Flowercat Tue, 03 Mar 2009 15:01:50 +0000 http://joanslingswords.com/?p=659#comment-721 You write this under the assumption that Joss doesn't know what he is doing. Joss knows what he is doing. The problem is, you don't know what Joss is doing. The joy of the awesomeness that this show will become is being tempered by these current episodes. Joss knows exactly what he is doing, and you feel about Dollhouse the way Joss WANTS you to feel about it. If you stick with it, it will pay off. Sometimes it isn't easy, or laid out on a silver platter. What Joss does is art. Sometimes you must bleed for your art, and sometimes you must cause others to bleed. That is where we are now. I can already see the pieces falling into place, and I know Joss is just toying with us. The people that stick with this show will be rewarded with awesome. Those that bail will be like the people that bailed on Buffy in it's not so great first season. Anyone remember the first five or so episodes of Buffy? Compared to the rest of the series run, it was AWFUL. And at the end, we have one of the best TV shows ever. That is what is happening here, people. Stick with it. Joss wants to reward you. Let him do it. You write this under the assumption that Joss doesn’t know what he is doing. Joss knows what he is doing. The problem is, you don’t know what Joss is doing. The joy of the awesomeness that this show will become is being tempered by these current episodes. Joss knows exactly what he is doing, and you feel about Dollhouse the way Joss WANTS you to feel about it. If you stick with it, it will pay off. Sometimes it isn’t easy, or laid out on a silver platter. What Joss does is art. Sometimes you must bleed for your art, and sometimes you must cause others to bleed. That is where we are now. I can already see the pieces falling into place, and I know Joss is just toying with us. The people that stick with this show will be rewarded with awesome. Those that bail will be like the people that bailed on Buffy in it’s not so great first season. Anyone remember the first five or so episodes of Buffy? Compared to the rest of the series run, it was AWFUL. And at the end, we have one of the best TV shows ever. That is what is happening here, people. Stick with it. Joss wants to reward you. Let him do it.

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