Ibsen’s dilemma

Officially, the unofficial word is that Fox Broadcasting is responsible for the terrible, awful lameness of the first four Dollhouse episodes.

But let’s face a few facts here:

• Joss Whedon surprised us all (fans) by making another series with Fox Broadcasting. (That’s not the same as 20th Century Fox Television: a studio he’s worked with on all four of his TV shows.)
• Fox meddled with and then killed Firefly before it’s time.
• Fox ordered Whedon to re-shoot the pilot to mainstream it up.
• Fox’s idea of mainstreaming the show was to make the first four episodes more like Quantum Leap, except without any central conflict of endgame scenario. (Similar to what they did when they killed Sliders.)
• Just like with Firefly, Fox is responsible for Dollhouse’s eventual cancellation. But Whedon did choose to sell his show to a network notorious for destroying edgy and interesting sci-fi.

I’m one of those fans who was willing to keep watching the show even though it was absolutely terrible at first. And I mean terrible. I gave it more of a chance than I’ve given things that were only slightly less terrible: Twilight. Britney Spears. Near beer.

Thing is, my patience has paid off. The show has kicked into gear over the past five episodes. First if went from neutral to first. Then first to second. Then second to probably like seventh or eighth gear. Maybe even ninth.

Point is, there is actually an extremely interesting core to the premise. The central complexity is the idea of identity and memory. How our memories make us what we are, and how they don’t.

But it is too late. The show has been languishing in the ratings. And, by moving in to gear, it actually has gone places that a mainstream audience wouldn’t care to follow. (Dushku hasn’t had a sex scene in weeks. And the co-ed showers are much less frequent.)

It’s an interesting dilemma. Whedon shows are possibly too cute to make it on a “harder” network. (Although, my latest cool fantasy, I’d love to see him turn Palahniuk’s Lullabye into an HBO series. That is, if I don’t get a good few scripts together before him.) But they’re too heady and versed in narrative to work many other places.

Still, Fox?