Dollhouse (TV series)

Dollhouse is an American television series which was developed and produced by Joss Whedon. The main role was played Eliza Dushku, who was also producer of the series at the same time. Dollhouse ran on 13 February 2009 to 29 January 2010, the American television channel FOX. A total of 26 episodes and a pilot were produced, the pilot was never broadcast.

On 11 November 2009 during the broadcast of the second season, the cancellation of the series was announced. The final episode ran on 29 January 2010 on FOX.

  • 3.1 Development
  • 3.2 Casting
  • 3.3 Production and broadcast notes
  • 4.1 Season 1
  • 4.2 Season 2
  • 5.1 Mixed response from critics

Action

In Dollhouse is about a young woman, codenamed Echo, in a secret underground building - the Doll House - lives, be equipped in which people temporarily with new personalities, memories and special abilities. These so-called " Actives " are rented by the Dollhouse to influential and wealthy people that they need for certain jobs, crimes, fantasies or other inserts. Outside of their missions they live in the dollhouse in a state of childlike naivety, in which they are no longer as " Actives ", but commonly known as "Dolls " means. Spend Echo and the other Dolls - allegedly voluntarily - five years in Dollhouse to get a large sum of money at the end and at the same time not to remember those times. The series follows Echo, who are increasingly remembers her previous assignments and their own ego is aware of what they bring in difficulties, both during their missions and inside the Dollhouse.

In addition to Echo and the other Actives, the series revolves around both the mysterious organization that is behind the Dollhouse, as well as to the (former) FBI agent Paul Ballard, who tries to get behind the mystery of the Dollhouse.

Characters

Main Characters

  • Echo ( Eliza Dushku ) - the main character. An Active, which starts to become aware of their own ego.
  • Adelle DeWitt ( Olivia Williams) - the cold acting head of the Dollhouse in Los Angeles.
  • Paul Ballard ( Tahmoh Penikett ) - an FBI agent who loses his job as part of his search for the Dollhouse.
  • Topher Brink ( Fran Kranz ) - the programmer of the Dollhouse in Los Angeles. He is responsible to provide the assets with new personalities.
  • Sierra ( Dichen Lachman ) - an Active, which feels instinctively drawn to Echo.
  • Victor (Enver Gjokaj ) - another Active. It embodies, inter alia, Lubov, a member of a Russian human trafficking ring, and to distract Paul Ballard from Dollhouse.
  • Boyd Langton ( Harry J. Lennix ) - a former police officer, which is echo " handler " that is her protector / bodyguard.

Recurring Characters

  • Dr. Claire Saunders ( Amy Acker ) - responsible for the medical welfare of the assets.
  • Laurence Dominic ( Reed Diamond) - Chief of Security in the Dollhouse in Los Angeles.
  • November ( Miracle Laurie ) - a "sleeping " Active, which is used as Mellie for observation of Agent Ballard.
  • Ivy ( Liza Lapira ) - Topher's intelligent assistant, who feels called to more to provide than Topher with drinking packet.
  • Alpha ( Alan Tudyk ) - former Active who has become through the fusion of different personalities to the insane murderer.
  • Bennett Halverson ( Summer Glau ) - programmer of the Doll House in Washington and a model of Topher Brink.
  • Daniel Perrin ( Alexis Denisof ) - an American senator who represents a new threat to the Dollhouse in the second season.
  • Matthew Harding ( Keith Carradine ) - a supervisor of Adelle.

Production process

Development

Actress Eliza Dushku signed in August 2007, a contract with the U.S. television network Fox, which should bind them for a new project to the sender. At the same time they were encouraged to keep yourself out on the material that would interest them. Shortly after, she invited her good friend Joss Whedon, with which it already for Buffy - The Vampire Slayer and Angel - collaborated hunter of darkness, to lunch to discuss their career options. During lunch, eventually led to the idea to the series and the two decided to form a new collaboration. " It just happened [ ... ] ," Whedon said, pointing out that they immediately found a name for the series during lunch, "if you already have a name, then you can your [Idea ] not just the back return. ". Whedon and Dushku pitched their idea then the transmitter back and on 31 October 2007 was finally confirmed that the series of FOX has ordered seven episodes, without even a script had been completed. Originally the launch of the series in the spring of 2008 was provided, but by the strike of Hollywood writers, the production of the series was eventually delayed.

Casting

After the strike, the authors had been settled in 2008, we began to search in March 2008 after other performers for the series. On 26 March 2008 were announced as new members of the ensemble Tahmoh Penikett finally ( Battlestar Galactica ), Enver Gjokaj, Dichen Lachman and Fran Kranz. On 3 April 2008, the British actress Olivia Williams was added to the series, while with Harry J. Lennix the last star of the series was added on April 17, 2008. On the same day announced series creator Joss Whedon, that they had cast both Amy Acker, an actress from his earlier series Angel, as well as the newcomer Miracle Laurie for recurring roles.

Production and broadcasting notes

The production of the first series began on 23 April 2008 and ended on 9 May 2008. On 15 May 2008 it was officially announced during the Upfronts that the series will start in January 2009. A day earlier, was already known that FOX had ordered six additional episodes to the previously scheduled episodes, bringing the first season should include 13 episodes. Also it was announced on 15 May that Dollhouse would, together with the equally new series Fringe from JJ Abrams are among the new FOX marketing campaign Remote Free TV, which provided for spectators from reduced advertising deter them from switching. On July 22, 2008 Whedon announced at a fan website that you would turn a new first episode of the series to make it easier to introduce the audience to the new world. The original first episode "Echo " wanted to instead broadcast as the second episode of the series. He added that the new pilot episode was not the idea of the transmitter, but his own. 26 October 2008 Whedon explained in another entry on the website that the original movie first episode would be but no longer is not broadcast as the second episode, but. The reason he mentioned that the result after numerous changes would not fit properly into the series. Since the producing studio 20th Century Fox, however, 13 episodes for the international distribution of the series needed Whedon hit the studio in front of a sequence with half the budget of a normal sequence to turn that need be as series finale could have served. Epitaph 1, the name of the episode was offered the television station FOX for broadcasting, but the station refused to buy the episode, which is why she was seen in the Americas only on the DVD of the first season. The DVDs of the first season also include the original unaired pilot episode.

On 18 May 2009 the production of a second season was announced, but having a reduced budget as well as the shortening of an episode of 50 minutes to the usual for American primetime series 42 minutes. The broadcast of the second season began on 25 September 2009. After four episodes Dollhouse was taken provisionally in November from the program and was supposed to return with a double episode in December. On 11 November 2009 put the competent FOX Network, the series officially off. By 29 January 2010, all already produced episodes were aired yet.

Episode List

Season 1

Season 2

Perception

Mixed response from critics

Even while it was the first episode of Dollhouse in production, received the series in the media positive feedback. Early reviews praised the script for the first episode: It was " exciting [ ... ] and an in-depth examination of identity," it contained " provocative topics ," it was an "excellent history [ ... ], which leaves one with much food for thought " and there is even a "Shakespeare -like story with pretensions and probably revenge ". From producing TV station FOX itself, however series creator Joss Whedon was a rather low-key feedback, since you felt the pilot episode as confusing and difficult to access. Then Joss Whedon decided to shoot a new pilot episode, which was less well received by the media. The first episodes were sometimes from very harsh criticism and many doubted the acting ability of actress Eliza Dushku for such a demanding role to. Finally, Joss Whedon explained that he and his team of authors in developing the first episodes had problems in finding the series that they wanted to produce, and at the same time satisfy the television. But he promised that the series would be from the sixth episode of the problems behind. This could even be followed in the trade press and the reviews have been better if the quality of the series was still described by most critics to be too uneven. Designated Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune, the series of their uneven quality in defiance as one of the most thoughtful stimmendsten series on American television.

Drama Jonatha Brooke Rob Simonsen Fox Broadcasting Company Harry Lennix Writers Guild of America J. J. Abrams Jed Whedon Rod Hardy
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