When “Dollhouse” premieres on Feb 13, it’s lead-in will be “The Sarah Connor Chronicles” – a show which currently adopts the “stand-alone” approach to it’s episodes (basically meaning that you could miss three episodes and still be up to speed by the time you watch the next one). However, according to reports that is about to change – T:SCC is about to go back to it’s serialized roots – a move which is welcomed by many fans who feel that the episodic nature of the show has created too many ‘loop-holes’ and less continuity. How does this affect “Dollhouse”? Well, it might not, but it’s worth keeping an eye on how Fox treat their other shows (like “T:SCC” and “Fringe”, for example) as it may give us some indication on what life has in store for DH.
Regular readers of this blog will know that I REALLY want Dollhouse to adopt the serial approach – I feel that the premise is crying out for that ‘connectivity’, whilst I believe that the overarching themes, which will no doubt be explored, will need an anchor that the continuity of a serialized format can provide. Personally, I find it difficult to invest in CSI.
So, with T:SCC looking set to go serialized, there could yet be hope that one day Dollhouse will do the same. I guess it kinda ties in with what Whedon says here, about the show having to earn it’s corn before it can become what it really is inside. I could use a “moth” analogy but I’ll spare you the philosophy and leave that to Whedon.
Thanks to Nevermore in the comments for the heads-up.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
If I remember season 1 of Buffy (another mid-season replacement!), most of the episodes are one-shots, stand-alones. There were a couple episodes that built up the arc (and the recurring characters began to develop), but the over-arching series arcs of the later seasons (5, 6, and 7) weren’t possible until the ground-work was laid (and even they had stand-alones…).
Everyone said “Buffy will fail,” and I believe I heard one interview in which someone apologized to Hannigan (or Gellar?) on their show that was sure to be canceled soon, and that show lasted until the end of it’s original contract (7 seasons). Lucky for Joss, in 1997, he didn’t quite have the cult following (or the internet to the same degree), and thus any early problems on the show (including recasting one of the three main characters from the pilot to the show) weren’t dissected by every fan on every blog ever.
So I think that a serialized show will come… but it’ll be a gradual build (as it should be), and by the end of the first season, when we look back over it, we’ll be able to say “Oh, yeah, I see how that was connected and foreshadowing” and by the end of the seventh season, we’ll be able to see the entire arc as it developed over the years.
You make some good points Kit. The “gradual build” to a more serialized format (if it is to be that) is one I am willing to wait for. I might still complain about the lack of it, But I’ll wait for it
I really hope that Whedon has a ‘mater plan’ already in mind when it comes to the long-term arcs of the show.
Whedon has basically confirmed that the show will start out stand-alone and gradually become “more than the sum of its parts”. here’s the quote:
Sorry for the comment not showing up, it got stuck in moderation.
Thanks for the original quote, I should have included it in my previous post. It’s encouraging to hear Whedon talk so candidly about the structure of the show.