"Dollhouse" Series Premeire

Joss Whedon has a new show out called "Dollhouse." I don't really want to bore anyone with the details, but the general idea is that there is this group of people call "actives" and these "actives" have the ability to take on any personality seen fit. These people get sold out to clients for whatever purpose they may need them for. When they aren't in one of these different personalities, they are nothing more then a shell of a person. They don't know who they are; what they're doing. They just exist to take on whatever role the client wants them to take.

So that's the premise.

I have been reading a lot about this show since it was first announced and it's had its share of bumps. Almost from the start, it seemed to fall under the "Whedon curse." The people of Fox wanted him to change parts of the show and had him completely redo the pilot episode (which parts now exists in the second episode). This had me worried that the show wasn't going to be what Joss had wanted. I had my own concerns about the show as well. The premise didn't grab me; the cast doesn't excite me, and Fox having a hand in it scared me.

So what do I think now that the first episode has aired? It's better then I expected (but, let's be fair; my expectations weren't too high). The premise worked. It wasn't great, but the first episode gets the idea across and puts everything in motion. To put it simply; the first episode was entertaining.

Now, I do have some issues with the show, and they are issues that aren't going to go away easily. The first problem and probably the hardest to solve; Eliza Dushku. Don't get me wrong, I liked her as Faith on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, but anything else that I've seen her in, I cannot shed this image of her that I have. She IS Faith; she is that character and this is something that is going to plague her throughout the series.

The second problem, again with Dushku, is that she can't really... act. I mean, she plays the part she needs to play, but there is a lack of depth to her acting and a show like this needs a cast that is versatile. Every one of these "actives" needs to be an action hero in one scene and Shakespeare in another. Dushku can be a slayer, but she is no Macbeth.

And speaking of the cast, there is another problem (although, I'm not sure it's really a problem; more of an observation). Has Whedon's pool of talent become so small that he has to start pulling from the genre and his own shows? Where are the unknowns; the talent just waiting to be discovered? Eliza Dushku, Tahmoh Penikett (Battlestar Galatica), Amy Acker (Angel), Harry Lennix (The Matrix, ER), Reed Diamond (Journeyman), and Matt Keeslar (The Middleman, awesome show btw).

Even with these issues, I think the show has a lot of potential (anything Whedon does HAS potential). Give the show half a season and I'm sure things will level out and the show will become its own universe. My only fear at this point is FOX.

Fox is notorious for canceling shows before they can build an audience (too many to name, but Firefly is an obvious example; another Whedon show). The pilot didn't have the best ratings, so we'll see how long FOX stick it out.

If all else fails, maybe Whedon can go back to the web and brings us Dr. Horrible Part II.