But before they go, here’s a quick look at where I stand with the current crop of futuristic, non-realistic, ghostly, ghastly, makes-you-wonder, shows on TV.

Read Part One here.

Dollhouse

What can I say about this one? I’d like to rename it Whedon’s Folly as I feel that the Joss-meister got too wrapped up in his own fantasy and forgot he had an audience to feed.

Dollhouse started off with an interesting concept, a kick-ass set and some great guest stars but even with Joss behind the wheel, this monster kept veering off course. The show was built around two kinds of episodes, the mythology and the fantasy of the week. The mythology was too complex to follow and the fantasies were aimed at men -  that worked wonders for my husband but left me cold. I quickly tired of sexy costume of the week storylines — like a weekly Halloween party at a frat house we had Eliza as a sexy nurse, as a sexy babysitter, as a sexy spy, and let’s not even talk about the dominatrix outfit.

Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t mind the fantasy sex play if there was some real angst and story to go with it. I simply never saw any except in the finale of last season.

I came into this season hoping for more. I heard about all the great guest stars and I thought they’d pull it off. They didn’t. Two weeks in, I stopped watching. The show is heading for cancellation and I want to miss it, but I won’t. (Cr: Carin Baer/FOX)

Fringe

Fringe is an example of how you properly balance mythology with monster of the week. They’ve been doing a great job handing out morsels of backstory along with juicy monster bits in every episode. I’ve been very pleased to see Peter (Joshua Jackson) step up and take a more proactive role, Walter (John Noble) still cracks me up and manages to make me misty when he slips into remorse and sadness. I like Olivia (Anna Torv) but she’s not why I tune in week after week.

What I didn’t like this season was the shapeshifter assassin storyline that ended in the demise of Charlie. There were plot holes and it all came off a little too neat and then bam, it’s over. Are the shapeshifters all gone? Did I miss something? I do like bowling alley guy and the unique way he has of making Olivia see what’s around her. I still dig Astrid and I hope she gets her own episode soon. She’s a smart cookie and I’d like to see her save Walter or Peter’s life.

The whole AU storyline is interesting, but I tune in for the monster of the week stories and they’ve been terrific this year. Season Two and Fringe is still going strong. The only thing I have to complain about is the 9:00 Thursday time slot, it’s killing my DVR and the ratings. (CR: Justin Stephens/FOX)

FlashForward

The fact that I like the monster of the week episodes on Fringe, will probably clue you in to the fact that I’ve given up on FlashForward. I watched the pilot of this series and found it really compelling, but two episodes in I walked away. I’m not a fan of shows that are all mythology based as was the case with Lost. There were too many stories, too many characters I didn’t care for and what about the kangaroo? Did they explain the kangaroo?

FlashForward is one of those shows that I know is well written, creatively directed and properly acted but I still don’t enjoy it. I’m glad other people do, because it is good TV, just not for me.

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Fringe

Vampire Diaries and Supernatural are both airing repeats. Night of the Comet and Sympathy for the Devil.

The big scheduling news comes from Michael Ausiello once again, who is reporting that Dollhouse will be pulled during November sweeps. The series is expected to return in December but let’s face it folks, this isn’t a good sign.

©2009 Fox Broadcasting Co.  Cr:  Frank Ockenfels/FOX

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Friday, Oct. 2 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX

When Echo is imprinted as a mother with a newborn baby, she takes too strongly to motherhood as a result of Topher’s modifications. Meanwhile, Adelle pays November a visit, and Perrin ramps up his investigation into the Rossum Corporation in the “Instinct” episode of DOLLHOUSE.

Cr: Isabella Vosmikova/FOX

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Dollhouse’s Echo

To make this work, though, you’ve got to have a webcam, which I don’t have, so I can’t test it. What you need to do is visit Virtual Echo and download and print a glyph card. Aim this at your webcam and Echo comes to life.

Give it a shot and let me know what you think. It might be worth buying a little webcam just to see Echo strut her stuff.

Photo by Fox

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Dollhouse

Dollhouse was pretty close to not getting that second season pick-up. Why do you think Fox changed their minds?

Joss: I think it’s the nature of the business and the nature of the fan base.  The nature of the fan base is they’re in it for the long haul, and they’re nurturing, and they’re intense about it and they will see it through.  They will stick with it and that means years after it’s cancelled.  Firefly still sells, Buffy still sells, and that’s also a business thing for the studio.  They’re in it for the long haul because they know the long haul is how my work pays off.  I don’t make hit shows.  I make shows that stick around that people come to long after they would have stopped generating revenue in the old system.

With the advent of DVD and the eventual monetization of Online, there’s a market there that exists beyond your Nielsen numbers, and the fans showing up and DVRing, and buying a DVD, and proving on all my other projects that they don’t do these things lightly, that it runs deep in them, means that the base doesn’t have to be as broad for the studio to think it’s worth it to try and eke out another season.

Eliza Dushku is a huge driving force in the series. How much of a hand did she have in developing the concept and the character of Echo?

Joss: Well, she really wants to dance burlesque.  We keep forgetting to put that in.  Eliza has specific things she’s interested in, specific things she feels comfortable with.  Sometimes I like to go to that place because I know that she can knock it out of the park and sometimes I like to go in the opposite direction to take her out of her comfort zone because that’s the best thing you can do with an actor. (DOLLHOUSE: Joss Whedon (R) directing on set with director of photography Ross Berryman (L). ©2009 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Greg Gayne/FOX)

There are many different aspects to [Eliza] the people don’t usually get to see how funny she can be, how elegant.  She doesn’t always have to play the tough girl, but she really just presents.  It was a conversation about all of the different things she was supposed to be, or had been, or was trying to be, or trying to get away from that led to the creation of the show.  It made me think, “Wait a minute.  That’s what the show should be about.”  So it wasn’t so much that she said, “I’d like to be the following things,” although we talked about what the characters are, it’s just that she is so many people that we pluck from them.  She did go bow hunting.  I understand, however, that she herself was not hunted.

Echo’s got a lot to deal with, how will she manage to come into her own?

Joss: Basically, through force of will.  She did have all those personalities dumped into her at once and as we pick up, we’re going to find out that that’s starting to affect her.  Rather than be at sea in between engagements, she’s much more directed and driven, and even in her doll state is growing, and learning and starting to try to access these personalities to see what they can help her with, because she has a mission that she understands now, which is to get back to her personality and get everybody back to theirs.

Let’s talk relationships:

Joss: Victor and Sierra just can’t keep their hands off each other, and they’re like monkeys and it’s something that we’re going to be treating, they’re going to be seeing through for a while.  It makes some people very uncomfortable and sometimes it’s just extremely sweet.  Sometimes it’s just funny.  But Echo is very much building herself and she sees it as an indication that they’re ready to be pushed to a level like hers.  She’s looking for allies and Paul is the first person she’s going to turn to for that.  But then a lot of the season is going to be her attempt to put together some kind of team, even though she has trouble articulating it at first.  She’s looking for the sense of family that I think the audience was looking for last season.  So we’re going to be seeing who’s on her side and who, not so much.

How is Dr. Saunders going to factor into the season?

Joss: Dr. Saunders would factor in much more in the season had we not lost her to another show.  She will factor inasmuch as we are allowed to factor her in, which is exactly three episodes worth.  They will, however, be three extraordinarily memorable episodes.  Amy Acker is ridiculously talented and the character’s dilemma is fascinating to us.  We grit our teeth that we didn’t have the funds, or the support, or the success, to just make her a regular and now we’re paying for it.  It means that every time we have her on screen, we’ll squeeze every drop out of her that we can.  We’re seizing the day.  We just don’t get to seize as many of them as we’d like.

How will the “lost” episode Epitaph One fit into the grand scheme?

Joss: It had originally been my intention to start in that era and then come back, but I just had too much information in my first episode.  What we’re talking about doing is perhaps revisiting that timeline towards the end of the 13 in a similar fashion, but we’re also looking at the show through the lens of that episode and saying, “Well, this is taking us to a more global concept of how this power is used and abused.”  That’s a lot of what informs the season.  You don’t have to have seen it to understand that, but it helps if you do.  I think it adds a layer.

THE GUEST STARS:

Summer Glau:

Joss: The casting of Summer was based on the knowledge that Summer existed and the character was created with the hopes that she would play it, which she is right on stage right now doing.  She’s playing the programmer of another Dollhouse.  It’s a somewhat eccentric part but hopefully different than what we’ve seen her do before.  The most useful part of that is that the writers work twice as hard to make sure that the character really pops and pays off because they know that it’s going to be played by somebody extraordinary.

Jaime Bamber (who “marries’ Echo in the first episode)

Joss: If you were those two, wouldn’t you get married?  They’re so cute.  He came in as the guest star in the first episode, which was just besides a geek dream for me, an extraordinary experience because he’s not just very professional, and precise and talented, but he fleshed out a character that could have been a little bit of a cardboard cutout.  He has such sincerity and gravitas that you feel terrible.  He makes you feel you’ve betrayed him, even if he’s completely in the wrong.  It’s something that he shares with Adelle.  Maybe it’s a British thing; I don’t know. (DOLLHOUSE: Echo (Eliza Dushku, R) and her new husband (guest star Jamie Bamber, L) have a dangerous honeymoon in the DOLLHOUSE season premiere episode “Vows” airing Friday, Sept. 25 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. ©2009 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Isabella Vosmikova/FOX)

Ray Wise:

Joss: Ray Wise, I believe, will be appearing in episode six and he’s going to be playing the head of another house, so he’s going to interact with young Olivia and it should be very exciting.

Alexis Denisoff:

Joss: Yes, he’s got his own crusade going.  He’s a very different person than Paul but he’s in a similar position except that he’s gone public with it.  How much the Dollhouse loves a senator who has gone public with an attack on them, we will find out in later episodes.  But he’s not the Paul of the season because he’s going to have a different set of problems thrown at him, but he has a similar vibe in terms of he’s very tenacious and righteous.

Any other Buffy-verse guest stars coming up?

Joss: It’s a death match between Firefly and Battlestar and which of them is going to get all their people.  The fact of the matter is they’re people I admire and they’re people I know I love to work with and this season, I’m a lot less concerned with how the cast is perceived. Last season, we felt like we wanted to make sure that this was new territory and that people didn’t think of it as just, “Oh, it’s just these faces and he’s doing his old thing.”  Now I’m like, “I know these people can act,” and honestly, the people that are watching it are fans anyway.  If they know who these people are, they’ll be thrilled.  If they don’t, they’ll see good acting so it doesn’t matter to me as much.  So yes, I have no fear of throwing anybody that I have worked with or just want to work with in anytime I can.

The big question — Is everybody a doll?

Joss: I’ll tell you right now, everybody is not a doll because it would be very easy for us to pull that trick over and over and ultimately shoot ourselves in the foot, because you would find that nothing was at stake and that everybody would see the plot was coming.  We’ve actually grounded the show fairly heavily.  People who are dolls, are dolls and the other people, every now and then, I’m not saying never, I’m not saying we won’t question reality every now and then but basically, we’re taking the people we have and we’re pushing them around as much as possible.

We’re trying to keep it grounded so that people know that there is something at stake and if somebody did have their personality altered or taken away, that that would be a huge deal.  That’s like the attic; that’s like death.  That’s like the worst thing that can happen to a character so we want to make sure that the characters are grounded enough that people feel those stakes.  If we just make people dolls, Willie-Nillie, then it’s the rabbit hole and none of it really connects or means anything.

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On how will Echo come into her own:

Joss: Basically through force of will. She did have all those personalities dumped into her at once and that’s starting to affect her. Instead of being at sea, she’s much more driven. She has a mission she understands now which is to get back to her personality.

On how much the fans influenced the decision to bring the show back:

Joss: I think it’s the nature of the fan base, they’re in it for the long haul and they’re nurturing and intense about it and they’ll see it through years after it’s canceled. Firefly still sells, Buffy still sells, the network knows that my shows pay off in the long run. There’s a market beyond the Nielsen numbers. So the fans showing up and buying the DVDs, they prove it runs deep to them and the base doesn’t have to be as broad for the studio to decide to eek out another season.

On what Eliza brings to the character:

Joss: Eliza really wants to dance burlesque and we keep forgetting to put that in.  She is so many people that we pluck from them. She did go bow hunting but to my knowledge, she herself was not hunted.

On Amy Acker:

Joss: Dr. Saunders would factor in much more if we hadn’t lost her to another show. Three episodes worth and they will be extraordinary episodes. . . .we grit our teeth that we didn’t have the funds or success to just make her a regular and now we’re paying for it. Everytime we have her on screen we’ll squeeze every drop out of her.

On the hiring of genre guest stars this season:

Joss: It’s a death match between Firefly and Battlestar and which of them will get all their people [on first]. The fact of the matter is there are people I like to work with and this season I’m less concerned about how the cast is perceived. Now I’m like, I know these people can act and the fans watching it are fans anyway. If they know who they are they’ll be thrilled and if they don’t know they’ll see good acting.

On Summer Glau:

Joss: The character was created with hopes that she would play it. She plays the programmer of another Dollhouse, it’s somewhat eccentric part but different than what we’ve seen from her before.

On Alexis Denisoff:

Joss: He has his own crusade going, different then Paul because he’s gone public with it. He’s not the Paul of this season because he’s going to have a different set of problems thrown at him. He’s very tenacious.

On Jaime Bamber (and the fact that he “marries” Echo in the episode):

Joss: If you were those two, wouldn’t you get married? [Having him guest star was] a geek dream and an extraordinary experience. He fleshed out a character that could have been a little bit of a cardboard cutout and you feel that you’ve betrayed him even though he’s completely in the wrong. (Cr: Isabella Vosmikova/FOX)

On The Attic:

Joss: It is going to be creepy but I think ultimately what it’s going to be like is something we’re going to hang on to pretty tight. It ain’t gonna be pretty.

Final words:

Joss: I love each and everyone of you very much, possibly inappropriately.

Irreverent and a little mysterious — Joss Whedon sounds like he’s realized his mistake from last season, which was not listening to his own instincts and always doing what his heart said was best. I think this is going to be a rocking year for Dollhouse.

Cr: Frank Ockenfels/FOX

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Summer always seemed like a natural for this series since she does that “blank slate” look so well but obviously her role on Sarah Connor Chronicles kept that from happening. Now, with that series behind her, she is taking on the roll of Bennett a “Dollhouse employee who shares a past with Echo.”

As this story hit the airwaves yesterday, I was surprised to see a lot of love and hate on both sides. Some people feel that Summer would have been a better choice to play Echo in the first place. Others are less complementary about her acting ability while many (like my husband) rejoice in the pairing of these two sexy sci fi chicks. (Yes, that’s my husband talking, not me.) I think it’s a smart move and I’m excited to see how it all plays out.

We also have a little more information on the other guest stars that I mentioned yesterday, Alexis Denisof will be playing Daniel Perrin, a U.S. senator leading a witch hunt to track down the underground organization. Mysterious, charismatic businessman Martin Klar (Jamie Bamber) is Echo’s new husband. Bradley Karrens (Michael Hogan) comes to the Dollhouse hoping to stop a psychotic family member’s killing spree, while Matthew Harding (Keith Carradine), a nemesis of Dollhouse leader Adelle Dewitt (Olivia Williams), stirs up trouble. Additionally, Dr. Saunders (Amy Acker) and Madeline /November (Miracle Laurie) return this season in multiple-episode arcs.

Wow, that’s one heck of a sci-fi, power packed cast.

What do you think abut the addition of Summer Glau or any of the newly announced guest stars? Let us know in the comments below.

DOLLHOUSE: Paul (Tahmoh Penikett, R) challenges Echo (Eliza Dushku, L) to remember her past to save his life in the DOLLHOUSE season premiere episode “Vows” airing Friday, Sept. 25 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. Also pictured: Jamie Bamber (back R) and Zoran Radanovich (back L)©2009 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Isabella Vosmikova/FOX

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Echo (Eliza Dushku) and her new husband (guest star Jamie Bamber from Battlestar Galactica) have a dangerous honeymoon in the Dollhouse season premiere episode “Vows” airing Friday, Sept. 25 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.

Bamber is just one of a half dozen interesting guest stars already on tap for this season. We’ll also see Buffy’s Alexis Denisoff , Keith Carradine and Battlestar’s Michael Hogan. There’s even a rumor that Jonathan Frakes is directing an episode. Want the full scoop, check out Maureen Ryan’s look at Dollhouse over at The Chicago Tribune.

©2009 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Isabella Vosmikova/FOX

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DOLLHOUSE: L-R: Dichen Lachman, Fran Kranz, Enver Gjokaj, Olivia Williams, Eliza Dushku, Tahmoh Penikett and Harry Lennix in the second season of DOLLHOUSE premiering Friday, Sept. 25 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. ©2009 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Frank Ockenfels/FOX

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Today, Alyson Hannigan made a ripple in the pond with this tweet about husband Alexis Denisoff.

Alexis is shooting his first day of Dollhouse right now!

Sounds like a match made in Joss-heaven!

Here are a few other tidbits from the Twitter world.

–@TVGuideMagazine: Ostroff on #Supernatural: “we hope it will go on…Kripke has done a wonderful job.”

— @heybuzzsugar Don’t expect more than one season of Day One, though if it does well it could return. More of an event, says Bromstad. #TCA

— @Syfy  We announced our new superhero show Alphas – http://bit.ly/zZhk7

Photo: Newscom

Alyson Hannigan and Alexis Denisoff arrives at the American Idol Finale at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. September 4, 2002. Photo: Tsuni/iPhoto.ca

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