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 Dollhouse

(January 30th, 2009. - Editor)          From Joss Whedon, creator of groundbreaking cult favorites “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Firefly,” comes a gripping, high-action drama starring Eliza Dushku (“Tru Calling”) as Echo, a member of an underground group of “Actives” who have their personalities wiped clean so they can be imprinted with any number of new personas to carry out a variety of missions. The Actives don’t pretend to be new people, they become new people. Yet they are never aware they are actually pawns in someone else’s game.

            For the major cast members, this series offers the perfect job. Act in a TV series, but play a different character, or even several, every week. Seeing the same actor go from giggling girl to hardened killer, and back again is a rage not often found on television. If this cast can pull it off week after week, they could soon be among those named for acting awards.

            For the writing staff of this series, it is also a great opportunity. You get to work with a different group of characters for every episode. But there is also enough consistent about the show to create a layered story. Many times in the past good TV series have stagnated because the writers have run out of good places to take their characters. That should not happen here. In fact the challenge will be to reveal the real characters under the programs that are implanted in their minds as the series unfolds.

            I agree that taking this series more towards a spy-thriller than The Stepford Wives is a very good idea. On the surface, being able to create the perfect companion for a wealthy client might seem like a good direction to take this series, but that a risk of ending up like a glorified "Fantasy Island". The writers had the good sense to keep those windows open, but have added many more options by suggesting that despite their name, their collection of operatives are more than a collection of pretty escorts. They can become expert in any field, thanks to the programming abilities of tech wizard (), who administers the "Treatments" to make each operative become who needed and then wipe the slate clean when the job is completed.

This slick, edgy production will certainly find an audience. But that niche may not be enough to keep this effort on the air. If viewers do not come to this show in impressive enough numbers, the high production values written in to this series will not be enough to save it. The key will be to gain widespread audience acceptance of the premise of this show very fast. I think the acting and the writing are both strong enough to do that. But that will not necessarily mean strong ratings. I rooting for this one, but my instincts tell me it won't make the final cut.

 

Editor

 

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