In an amusing, if slightly disturbing mock interview on Whedonesque, Joss Whedon has said that he is reshooting the pilot for his upcoming series Dollhouse.
“The fact is, I’m very proud of the episode we shot and the series is making me crazy with the excitement. But I tend to come at things sideways, and there were a few clarity issues for some viewers. There were also some slight issues with tone – I was in a dark, noir kind of place (where, as many of you know, I make my home), and didn’t bring the visceral pop the network had expected from the script,” the writer/producer/director said on the site, when ‘questioned’ as to why it had to be redone. Afterwards though, it seems as if he gets to the crux of the matter. “The network was cool about it, but not sure how to come out of the gate with the episode.”
That reads to us as, “The network told us that it wasn’t acceptable, go back and reshoot it”. But, of course, Whedon could be serious when he claims that Fox doesn’t know how to market Eliza Dushku. He does say that reshooting the episode was his idea as he “understood their consternation, and saw the gap between my style and their expectations”. Once again, however, it seems as if the cosh was being applied by Fox rather than any angel and devil on Whedon’s shoulders, as in the next paragraph he says: “The network truly gets the premise (this is a whole new crew, as you know), loves the cast, is excited about the show – but they’re also specific about how they want to bring people to the show and I not only respect that, I kinda have to slap my forehead that I didn’t tailor my tone and structure to the network’s needs, since that’s something I pride myself on.”
The simple fact of the matter is that Whedon adamantly stated that he would never work with Fox again after the debacle that surrounded Firefly. Having sold fan expectations down the river, is he now capitulating with a smile on his face to network pressure? Time will tell, although our excitement over Dollhouse is starting to become about as animated as a Barbie doll.
