The Sly Oyster | culture & entertainment on the sly

Zap2It has script reviews for two highly anticipated television projects. The first is for Fringe by JJ Abrams, starring Joshua Jackson (Pacey) and the second is Dollhouse by Joss Whedon, starring Eliza Dushku (whom I attended high school with when she was there and not filming some movie or whatnot).

Both series will air on FOX in the fall season.

Fringe is “going to be sold as FOX’s attempt to reclaim the X-Files demo that the network has jeopardized with the swift cancellation of too many shows from folks like Whedon and Tim Minear. The script lends itself to a large-scale pilot and it should leave viewers knowing exactly what to expect in the episodes to come, which is more than can be said for.” Also, getting into the JJ Abrams business is a good thing. His track record is fairly spotless and his following is very loyal.

The same thing can be said about Joss Whedon. His following is not so much loyal as it is messianic. But his track record with FOX is horrible. They’ve canceled every good show he’s done and not just his shows, but shows from Whedon’s acolytes like Tim Minear.

“While recognizably Whedonesque, Dollhouse finds Joss going in different direction, one that may be less quippy and less plot-driven than some might expect. The fans will still love it, I suspect, but will Dollhouse be able to find an audience beyond the Whedonverse? I’m not sure. So this could be one of those “Enjoy it while you’ve got it” gems.” That doesn’t sound good. Well it does, it just sounds like it will get canceled too soon.

In case you’re wondering how these could potentially play out as pilots, the article goes on to expound on what makes a compelling pilot.

A good pilot should do one of two things: It should either lay out the blueprint for the rest of the series or it should intrigue you so much that you can’t wait for the second episode. Fringe falls into the first category. It leaves almost nothing to the imagination in terms of what’s coming next. Dollhouse falls into the second category.

There’s a big rhinosaurus in the room for a lot of my friends. Many of them don’t quite no how to react when I admit my undying love for all things Joss Whedon. Sure, there’s probably a few of them who get it, but the majority of people don’t understand just how wonderful Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly truly are. I suspect this is the same for a lot of Whedon fans, because I suspect that we are a vocal majority on the internet and find comfort in people from across the globe that share that love. Out in the real world we are viewed as something akin to lepers.

I won’t bother with the histrionics of Whedon acolytes or with trying to convert the unconvertable. But I will say, that I have no shame in loving his television programming, his sense of female empowerment, his sense of verbal foreplay, or his deft blend of action and humor. His voice is unique in the same way that Judd Apatow’s voice is reshaping the scope of what a comedy can be. Both manage to make geek chic, in their own identifiable way.

And for that we say welcome back to the small tubes Joss. Hopefully, your next series with Eliza Dushku will be more of a success than your last venture with FOX.

Dushku will star in the Whedon-penned series “Dollhouse,” which has been given a seven-episode order by Fox. News came as an extra-big Halloween treat for Whedon fans, considered some of the most passionate in all of TV.

Produced by 20th Century Fox TV — the studio also behind “Buffy,” “Angel” and Whedon’s late, lamented “Firefly” – “Dollhouse” follows a top-secret world of people programmed with different personalities, abilities and memories depending on their mission.

After each assignment — which can be physical, romantic or even illegal — the characters have their memories wiped clean, and are sent back to a lab (dubbed the “Dollhouse”). Show centers on Dushku’s character, Echo, as she slowly begins to develop some self-awareness, which impacts her missions.

Sounds like an interesting concept, one that won’t see the cathoray tubes until Fall of 2008. Apparantly, the show started as a germ when Whedon and Dushku sat down for lunch to discuss her options after signing a talent deal with FOX. Tim Minear, a long time Whedon collaborator, is also involved with this project.

“It was a mistake!” Whedon said. “I sat down with her to talk about her options, and acted all sage, saying things backwards like Yoda and laying out what I thought she should do. But in the course of doing it, I accidentally made one up. I told it to her, and she said, ‘That’s exactly what I want to do.’ “

It should also be noted that Eliza Dushku went to high school with me, not that we were friends or anything but it was a small enough high school and she always seemed like a good person. I once acted in a few plays as a young lad. So you know, I’ve got that going for me.