Dollhouse Renewed!

Thank you, thank you, TV Gods! News that Dollhouse has been renewed for 13 episodes!!

Excellent news, Gentle Reader, for Joss Whedon's latest show! Huzzah!

An Open Letter to the Television Gods Regarding the Possible Second Season of Dollhouse

Dear Television Gods,

Please, I ask you kindly. Save Dollhouse. It is smart and savvy and well-done. It had a rocky start, but what television show does not? What X-Files (9 seasons) or Buffy (7 seasons) or Supernatural (4 seasons and counting) or any other Smart Television Show does not experience the same? And if time has proven anything, it has proven that We Many, We Happy Many, We Band Of Whedonites will rally behind the thing we love.

And I, Gentle Reader? I love Dollhouse. I do. And this is how:

I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Dollhouse

Step One: I came to the realization that it is not Buffy, and that is okay.

Step Two: I then came to the realization that it is not Firefly, and that is okay.

Step Three: By understanding this is A New Whedon Work, I understood that this was something that existed within The Whedonverse, but not within The 'Verse, say, or within Sunnydale. This is something Wholly New.

Step Four: I recognized the smartness for what it was, not for what it was proclaimed to be. That is to say, I saw Echo and the other Dolls not as analogs for actresses, but rather as personality types and fantasy projections and failed personal dreams. That is to say, I interpreted this show. Friends, I read the show, and found it quite Readable Indeed.

Step Five: I realized that there was a core of likability among the characters, despite their revolving personalities, despite their utterly depraved and reprehensible personalities. Topher's birthday playmate who was all play and no playmate, Adelle's desperate "vacations," Sierra's fragility, Victor's vulnerability, Echo's remembrance over and over--like the Echo of myth, she breaks against herself forever--all of it led to a Prufrockian overwhelming question of why. Why dare disturb the universe? Why sign over, body and soul, to this? And ultimately, Paul's final queries regarding the mutability and permanence of a Soul are sound. They are true. There is a core that must reiterate itself, again and again, that essence, that bit part of code/self/personality/id-ego-superego that cannot be overcome.

And That, Gentle Reader, is the fascinating intelligent core of this smart, savage little show.

Let me be Perfectly Frank. It is a Joss Whedon show. I will follow it to the gates of hell or cancellation. I would watch the televised version of his Things To Do list, if followed with a "grr" and an "arg." As Constant Readers of This Humble Blog know, I am a Whedon fan, tried and true. I have written academic papers about Whedon shows, I have blogged about Whedon shows, I have taught Whedon shows (this semester, even, Friends! Both Buffy and Dr. Horrible!), I have introduced Friends and Colleagues to Whedon shows and comics and anything and everything. And I will be the first to admit it: I was not crazy about Dollhouse at first. But episode 5, "True Believer," in which Echo infiltrated the cult compound, was when I became a True Believer, Myself. This episode marks the moment I knew this show is Smart.

I do not claim to like this show more than I like Buffy, or even the short-lived, critically-acclaimed, dear-to-my-heart Firefly. But I like it as much, and I want it to have The Chance, The Opportunity to fulfill its potential.

So, please, Television Gods. Give Dollhouse a Second Season.

Many Thanks,
Amy (Reads)

Good-bye, Terminator.

I do believe, Gentle Reader, that Mr. Reads and I were The Last Two People On Earth still watching Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Tonight, we said "good-bye" to this show, forever.

It saddens me. Truly, it does, because I like John. I like Derek. I adore Cameron. But I am tired, very tired, of Sarah's constant whinging and bemoaning and woe me-ing. Also, I am So Very Tired of this show not utilizing its best actress and of Sarah not utilizing her Pet Tank more. While the episode two weeks ago was Quite Extraordinary, Friday's episode returned to its same lack of interest.

Ah well.

In other news, Dollhouse is better and better each episode, Better Off Ted is Quite Delightful, and the first episode of Kings was promising enough to retain the last two on the DVR. And Gentle Reader, if you thought the comics backlog was bad enough, the DVR is starting to fill up, as well.

Amy Reads the Week (of March 1, 2009)

A shy little peeking out and a brief return from a Rather Long Hiatus From Blogging, Gentle Reader. I confess that life still continues to get the best of This Humble Author, and the only comic (yes, just the one!) I have been able to read this week is, of course, Wonder Woman, from two issues ago.

Diana's lasso is gone, and my heart breaks for the Amazon Princess. But more importantly, my heart breaks watching the heartbreak of her Amazonian Sisters. Donna's and Cassie's reaction, as sisters, as warriors, as those Next In Line to take up the mantle of the Amazon Princess is a scene that We Gentle Readers would not have seen from Mr. Heinberg, or Ms. Picoult, or even Mr. Rucka. They all focused on different aspects of Wonder Woman, and we would have seen, perhaps, The Wonder, The Humanity, or The Alienness, respectively, from these three writers. But with Ms. Gail Simone, instead, we see bonding, and sisterhood, and steel resolve. We see an Amazonian bond that cannot be broken.

I long to become caught up in comics.

In television popular culture news, I adore, yes, adore, Mr. Whedon's new show, Dollhouse. While the first episode was Rather Shaky, I find that the Whedonesque moments here and there--the head shake at the very end of last week's episode, the Most Dangerous Game-ness of the week before--all offer We Whedon Fans an interesting departure from Buffy, and Firefly, at the same time it offers us the things we love about Mr. Whedon.

More soon, Gentle Reader, but for now, a homemade sugar-free apple cobbler and Flight of the Conchords await this Very Tired, Very Overworked (yet still Humble!) Author, and then, if one can imagine, 10 more papers to grade before bed. Until next time, I bid you adieu.