I spend the junk tv credits I save by not watching "The Bachelor" and "The Apprentice" and Glen Beck on watching every episode of "The Dollhouse". Any scorn heaped on me for doing this is probably deserved. I only watched season 2 of Buffy (my then high school daughter insisted we all watch it in a marathon one year for her birthday), and it was better than I thought it would be, and then I really liked Firefly, so I decided to make the commitment to Dollhouse. Its limitations are perhaps obvious - I will say that in some ways the show has improved. In my view it has one flaw it can never recover from though. I heard Whedon (I think on Fresh Air last year) say that he developed the show specifically for Ms. Dushku, as a metaphor for the ever changing persona of the actor, and to prove to the world that Dushku is is a skilled, multifaceted actor and not just a pretty face. The problem of course is that Dushku specificially is not a skilled, multifaceted actor (Echo's alters are either bad ass tough chicks or wide eyed innocent chicks) and Dushku, while not unattractive, is hardly the prettiest face in Hollywood, and lacks charisma. Jennifer Garner, is a similar role with hardly more substance, popped off of the tv screen when her show first started, Dushku never did. Indeed, the show began to improve when the stories began to shift focus to the other characters.
In fact, what has been really interesting about this show is how good two of the other, lesser known actors have been - Dichen Lachman (Sierra), who the Wikis say was born in Nepal and grew up in India and Australia, and Enver Gjokaj (Victor), described as an "Albanian-American". Lachman really is pretty, so I don't quite trust my judgment of her acting chops. I am less susceptible to the charms of Mr. Gjokaj however, and so have more faith in my judgement that he is a really good actor - the best on this show for sure, and someone I would like to see do more. The Dollhouse is dying its slow and painful death over these last few weeks, and just pulled its lowest ratings ever last Friday - I think I probably could have had everyone who watched it in the nation over to my house to watch it in my living room. I am looking forward to it being over - having stuck with it this long, I can't not finish it off, but I wish it was over already. -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
