TV News and Reviews

This week TV.com seems certain of the demise of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Considering Dollhouse’s ratings are on the same level, it might not be long for the schedule, either, unless they decide to give Joss Whedon a chance to build momentum.

TV by the Numbers  seems similarly convinced that In the Motherhood, Cupid, Castle, and The Unusuals are doomed. Nothing official as yet, but the ratings aren’t all that fab. Better Off Ted is on the cusp.

You can see from my earlier blog posts that I won’t cry over In the Motherhood or The Unusuals. I would, however, cry over Cupid, Castle, and Better Off Ted. Especially Better Off Ted. That show is just outrageous and risky and crazy and damn funny. And I love every actor on it. The problem may be that it’s the perfect match for Scrubs, and if it ends up without a sitcom pairing next season, that could put it in jeopardy. Which would be a damn shame. But honestly, Scrubs‘ star has been waning for some time, so pairing Better Off Ted with another up and coming sitcom could actually improve its ratings.

I love Nathan Fillion, but Castle suffers from some weak casting. And terrible scheduling. I’ve missed it twice now because I’m watching Medium and forget to record Castle. Castle isn’t a powerhouse show, but Fillion is ridiculously charming and could do well in a more out of the way timeslot. It’s one of those times where I would welcome a timeslot shift and it could save the show from oblivion.

I suspect Cupid suffers in the ratings because the plot is a hard sell. It sounds incredibly cheesy to say this guy thinks he’s Cupid and goes around matchmaking people. But in actuality, the show is full of heart and sweetness and Bobby Cannavale zips out the one-liners so fast and charmingly it makes your head spin. Each week we get really cool guest stars that you can identify from other sitcoms or shows you’ve loved in the past, and there’s a new set of characters to fall in love with. It’s not brain surgery, but it’s a really pleasant way to spend an hour. It’s a great antitode to all the hard-edged crime procedurals and medical dramas out there.

If you want to save these shows, watching them online may help. If you’re not a Nielsen family, they have no idea you care. Visit the website, watch the vids, leave comments. Let them know people are watching!

Read up on the TV News and Reviews posts for Better Off Ted , Castle , and Cupid.

Okay, so episode 2 of Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse was an improvement over the premiere. There was a little more explanation of the history of the “dolls” and Echo (Eliza Dushku), as well as Echo’s handler Boyd (Harry Lennix, still the best thing about this series). At the beginning of the episode I once again felt the same way a lot of reviewers have–because we know everything about Echo is fake, we’re not invested in the plot. She’s laughing, she’s shooting arrows at deer, she’s having rampant sex in a tent. And all we’re thinking is, “No biggie, it’ll all be over soon.”

It was only when Echo’s actual life became in danger that it got interesting, because then we could at least be invested in her as a human being. It was good vs. evil and a race through the woods, lots of adrenalin, and some mystery about how all this got set up. The fact that there may be a renegade “doll” on the loose also spiced things up.

The techie guy Topher (Fran Kranz) came off as slightly less of a jerk. Though honestly, considering the questionable morals of the whole operation, would it make sense for Topher to be a likable guy? If he really cared about the girls he wouldn’t be able to hurt them regularly and wipe away anything that makes them human.

The fact that Echo is now starting to exhibit some overlap of memories and perhaps a slow emergence of her true self may give us a person to cheer for in later episodes. I’m still not sure, though, because Elize Dushku just looks so empty all of the time, even when she’s not supposed to be. She was a little better in this episode–she seems better suited to action scenes, actually.

There’s still just something off about the whole enterprise, however. The whole thing still feels very stiff and contrived. I could see a lot of the plot “twists” coming a mile away. Everyone walks around like a robot and talks like they’re reading from a teleprompter (except for Lennix). Whedon is known for snappy dialogue, and I just don’t see it here–he may have chosen subject matter that’s out of his element.

I may give Dollhouse another try, but I’m honestly not much looking forward to it. At this point, I’m just operating out of duty to Whedon for the beauty that was Firefly. That card can only be played so long, however.

To remind yourself of better things, you can head over to the Shrine to Actors for some pretty Nathan Fillion screencaps with Morena Baccarin, Christina Hendricks, and Melinda Clarke.

Watch Dollhouse on Fox Friday nights at 9/8c.

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Eliza Dushku as Echo, Dollhouse screencap, c2009 Fox.

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Turns out Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse premiere on Fox got fairly low ratings: 4.7 million viewers, a 2 share and 6 rating (whatever that means). Though, not surprisingly, the eye candy did well with advertisers’ desirable male 18-49 demo, so that made them happy, and for Friday nights, those ratings aren’t altogether bad. Whedon has said that the Friday slot actually helps a niche show like his, because the expectations from the network aren’t as high.

The big surprise is that Dollhouse’s ratings were better than its lead-in, Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles, whose season premiere only got 3.7 million viewers, a 1.3 share and 5 rating. That’s not a good sign, but DVR numbers aren’t in yet and that could change the numbers significantly.

The other news going around is about two new sitcom pilots ordered by ABC, one for Kelsey Grammer (Frazier, Cheers) and one for Courteney Cox (Dirt, Friends). Cox will star in Cougar Town as a 40-ish single mother, but apparently the “Cougar” refers to the local high school’s mascot. Erm…okay. The sitcom’s made by Bill Lawrence, who gave us Scrubs so we may be in for something fun and quirky. Here’s hoping.

Grammer’s sitcom has him as a family man and Wall Street success until he gets laid off. Sitcoms as a sign of the times, apparently. These one note descriptions we get for pilots don’t give us a lot to go on. All we can do is hope for some good entertainment from actors we enjoy, and hopefully better stuff than what we’ve seen lately on network TV.

Thanks to The Hollywood Reporter for the Dollhouse ratings scoop and  TV.com for the sitcom pilot news.

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Photo: Eliza Dushku as Echo in her sleep chamber, Dollhouse, c2009 20th Century Fox Television.

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