And we’re off: NaBloPoMo Begins!
Although I had planned to do a Thirteen Things Thursday edition to properly launch my venture in daily blogging, I have been sidelined by a email from twinsister (one word, yeah?) telling me all about how THE Joss Whedon, creator of the iconic shows Buffy and Angel, is coming back to TV, and he’s bringing Faith back with him.
Ok, he’s not really bringing Faith, the Slayer turned evil, back; however, he has cast Eliza Dushku – the actress who portrayed the bad ass Slayer – in a new Science fiction project called “Dollhouse”.
I am dancing the geeky, wordy rumba of joy.
Per the Hollywood Reporter:
“Buffy the Vampire Slayer” creator Joss Whedon is returning to television with “Dollhouse,” a new sci-fi project starring “Buffy” alumna Eliza Dushku that has received a seven-episode commitment from Fox. “Dollhouse,” from 20th Century Fox TV, is Whedon’s first TV project since his 2002 Fox drama “Firefly.” The drama, whose license fee is said to be in the $1.5 million-$2 million-per-episode range, stars Dushku as Echo, a member of a group of men and women who are imprinted with different personalities for different assignments. In between tasks they are mind-wiped, living like children in Dollhouse, a futuristic dorm/lab. They have no memories of their previous lives, until Echo begins to try to find out who she was.
And guess what? Fox offered Joss 6 episodes at more than a million per, without seeing a pilot.
As a former Buffy fanatic and reader of the excellent 8th season out in comic book format, I hail the return to television of Joss Whedon as a a truly wonderful thing. His deft depiction of fully-formed, witty and layered characters, of strong female characters (go watch his excellent Equality Now speech) makes him a vital television visionary and as a fan of excellent writing, I can only sit back and salivate over what I anticipate to be a great show.
The show’s premise brings to mind Ibsen’s Dollhouse, with its theme of childlike conformity in an extremely rigidly defined world strongly suggested. In Whedon’s hands, TV is going to get a great deal MORE interesting. I haven’t been watching any TV lately – I’ve missed it – and I am looking forward to sharing the show with my husband, as I did with Buffy and, perhaps, our 5th and 7th grade daughters. I KNOW I can count on Joss for food for thought and wordy brilliance.
pardon me while I go set the TiVo…..
hey, i need your email address to send you your interview questions! mine’s in my profile, so just email me and i’ll get back to you with some questions.
In the meantime you might wanna dance to this little mashup we did with the Buffy titles:
Buffy The Slayer & The Angel of Death
Any idea when this might appear on our screens? Is the comic book 8th season actually a product of JW? So, apparently the Firefly-canceling FOX execs are either down from their high or have been replaced?
Apparently, Kizz, according to televisionary.blogspot.com, Dollhouse is expected to launch sometime in 2008, with production beginning as early as the spring, thanks to in-depth episodic outlines for all seven episodes written by Whedon.
As to the whole Fox promising-show murderers, Joss had this to say: “”It’s a brand new day over there. It’s a completely new bunch of people and they seem really intelligent and supportive. Walking back into the building was a little strange. But no. It was absolutely the last thing I saw coming, but absolutely the right thing to do.”
And yes, the comic book 8th season IS being overseen and in parts, written by JW. It’s bloody good, too. Angel’s 5th season is ALSO being produced and the first edition will be in my mailbox very soon.
Check out this video of Joss on the front lines of the WGA strike
http://dollhouseforum.net/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=43