Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse Still Under Construction

Posted by Michelle Graham (michelle@filmschoolrejects.com) on September 12, 2008

When news hit of 24’s shutting down production to work on their scripts and storyline, most people cast their minds back over seasons 4, 5 and 6 and worried. However the latest story of a Fox show shutting down for a good old fashioned script polish slash complete-do-over doesn’t have quite that depressing a feel to it. In fact according to Zap2it, because of the way Joss Whedon explains it, it actually might feel like a good thing.

Whedon’s shows are a product of his tender loving care, and he excels at writing witty story-driven scripts. Hell, some of the best Buffy and Angel episodes were penned by the man himself. So when news broke that his latest project, Dollhouse, has halted production until Whedon is satisfied with the scripts, no one was that worried. Well, other than everyone jumping to the conclusion that it was being canceled already. After all, Fox has a lot to make up for, look at poor dearly departed Firefly.

Some may wonder why the production needed to be shut down at all, surely Whedon could have kept on top of the scripts as they were written, right? Well, everyone who holds that opinion should bear in mind that he is not only a writer on Dollhouse, but also a creator, producer and director. Holy too many hats, Batman! His ultra-involvement in getting the first few episodes completely right has led to the later scripts being too weak for his taste, and so rather than filming something of a lesser quality, he’s going back to the writer’s room and not coming out until they’re perfect.

Ok, maybe not quite that far, but production shutting down is drastic enough to get the point across. Gone are the days when Joss Whedon sacrifices quality for production, and after seeing the Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie, I’m not surprised he refuses to go back to that time. Hopefully his insistence on quality control will even keep Dollhouse on the air past the 2008-2009 season!

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