As some of you might know, I’m married to a pretty big fan of all things Joss Whedon. Rox discovered Buffy The Vampire Slayer between the third and fourth seasons as a necessary antidote to my need to watch every inning of every SF Giants game, and has pretty much snapped up everything he has done since, right up to the Buffy Season 8 and Angel Season 6 comic books that mysteriously show up at our place every month.
And naturally, we’ve watched the Buffy, Firefly and Angel DVDs, uh, a few times. Luckily, I like all of those shows wayyyyy more than she ever liked Barry Bonds, so it’s not really an issue, except that I never want to watch the episode where Xander turns into a fish ever again.
So it goes without saying that our household is looking forward to Dollhouse, Whedon’s return to TV — FOX, no less! — after the Firefly fiasco. But, my guess is that as big of a fan as she is of all things Whedon, even she probably would find the Save Dollhouse! campaign a bit excessive.
That’s right, months before the first episode even airs, potential fans of the show are already discussing what they are going to do when FOX inevitably axes the show.
Talk about planning ahead!
At first, I thought that it was stupid, but then I realized that this is a perfect expression of the battle between hardcore fans and the evil conglomerates that subsidize the entertainments those fans love.
So, while it’s a bit crazy, to be sure, I certainly understand the impulses behind it.
Look, FOX has the worst track record imaginable — Firefly was just the most heartbreaking in a long string of great shows that they killed — and it makes sense for potential Dollhouse fans to be worried about the show’s eventual fate. Whedon has said more than one how much their mishandling of Firefly broke his heart, and fans have every right to be nervous, no matter what good words are being said now.
So, from that standpoint, rather than a reactive Save Dollhouse campaign, why not a proactive one? Get all of the pieces in place now, so when FOX cancels the show, all of the dolls heads have already been removed from their bodies and can just be sent in. (That’s my guess for the symbol of the Dollhousians righteous anger: dolls heads. Rip ’em off, send them to FOX!! Hell, you might as well just start doing it now, as practice. Or on general principles.)
It’s also the combination of two very 21st century things: the instant online TV show fanbase, and the “save our show” campaign. What makes this great is that the instant fanbase is worrying publicly about an event that probably won’t happen for another year, at least.
Of course, all of this does miss one very key point: what if Dollhouse sucks? It’s possible, you know. It ain’t easy making great TV. And what if Dollhouse doesn’t just suck, but sucks on an epic John From Cincinnati, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip scale? It could happen: even Bob Dylan made Down in the Groove.
What if — when it gets canceled — it deserves to be canceled? Then what? That’s really the risk here, and the problem: we don’t know if Dollhouse will be any good. We can assume that it will be good, we can hope that it will be good, but none of that matters until it comes out. And, of course, FOX could totally make that a self-fulfilling prophecy by Fireflying it (which was why it wasn’t until the DVD came out that the true brilliance of that show was revealed.)
So while I think that what they are doing is a logical hardcore fan reaction to FOX’s track record vs. Whedon’s track record — these people have faith in Whedon to always make a great show in the same way I’m positive that The Hold Steady will always make a great record — it still doesn’t mean that when all is said and done, that the show will actually deserve rescuing in the first place.
And I realize that just by writing that it might not be any good, I’m probably going to get flamed by people who don’t understand that I’m with those who are hoping, nay, assuming that it will be good.
But I’m just not worried about saving it. Not until I actually see the show for myself.
So here’s hoping that the show is both awesome and a huge hit, instead of one or the other.
What do you expect from a network that canceled the best sitcom of all time. Yes, I’m talking about Get A Life.
I completely support this method of hyping the show. Most new shows would be lucky to have this type of fan support. And all of these Whedon fans crying about saving a show before it airs is BS… be grateful.