Unter den neuen News finde ich am spannendsten, dass Shawna Trpcic Costume Designer sein wird (ihre Arbeit bei Firefly war sensationell... man beachte aber auch: "A lot of the people who are working on this show have worked on Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Angel or Firefly. And in many cases, all three. Although just because there's a bunch of people behind the cameras who have worked on Whedonesque shows before, I wouldn't assume this will extend too far in front of the camera. Yes, we're looking at you, TV Guide.") und:

Dollhouse to be presented to press and advertisers May 15th. We should find out if Dollhouse is Fall or mid-season then. Yes, a tentative launch date for your calendar. Expect a lot of news that week.

We're waiting. Team-Update:

Echo - Eliza Dushku

Creator - Joss Whedon
Show runner - Joss Whedon
Executive producer - Joss Whedon

Producer - Sarah Fain
Producer - Elizabeth Craft
Producer - Eliza Dushku
Line Producer - Kelly Manners
Consulting Producer - Tim Minear

Director of Photography - Ross Berryman
Gaffer - Dan Kerns
Production Designer - Stuart Blatt
Costume Designer - Shawna Trpcic
Stunt Coordinator - Mike Massa

Dass die Show hinter der Kamera so Angel-lastig ist, könnte ein schlechtes Zeichen sein. Oder sollte ich Angel doch noch ne Chance geben? Gut ist aber auch, dass Minear viele Leute mitbringt, die schon bei The Inside hervorragende Arbeit geleistet haben.

Klingt doch toll:

Eliza Dushku may be bunking with some old friends when she moves into Joss Whedon's Dollhouse next season. According to multiple sources, several Buffyverse grads are being considered for the eight supporting roles now being cast.

Whedon confirmed this unbelievably fraktacular turn of events moments before taking the stage at Paley Fest's Buffy tribute last Thursday. "I've read a couple of people [from the Buffyverse]," he told me, "but I'm not going to say who."
(via)

Charisma Carpenter (a.k.a. Cordelia) bei der Buffy-Reunion vor kurzem:

"You know, Joss is doing a little show called Dollhouse."
"Yeah i heard... isn't Eliza starring in that?"
"Yes, she is. There's some good female roles in that."
"Maybe... WE could have a lesbian affair! Eliza and I!"

Ist schon ziemlich lang her, und vermutlich schon von allen Seiten bereits dementiert, aber folgendes habe ich ausgegraben:

Likewise, Glau mentioned that she’d eagerly guest-star on Whedon’s upcoming series, Dollhouse.

Nicht, dass Glau als River Tam nicht eh schon dem Whedonverse einen schauspielerischen Gefallen im Großformat getan hätte. Nicht, dass sie grad sogar Grund genug ist, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles zu schauen (ich meine... River... die Nachfolgerin von Arnie... das muss man sich mal auf der Zunge zergehen lassen...). Aber an der Seite von Dushku in Dollhouse.... das wär dann doch noch einen Lifetime-Achievement-Award wert.

Abgesehen von der stellenweise strangen Fragestellung ("the network was more patient with Eliza Dushku's Tru Calling and Joss Whedon's Firefly than with other shows"?! wtf?!), eine recht klare Antwort bezüglich der Dollhouse-Chancen von Matt Roush:

Joss Whedon's return to TV is without doubt big news, but I would be surprised if Fox's expectations go much beyond a cult sensation, which these days ought to be enough.

Nicht Dollhouse-, aber sehr wohl Whedon-related:

Joss Whedon announced today that Nathan Fillion will play the hero in a special Internet Musical.

Whedon reports that during the WGA strike he started writing the musical which will be a limited internet series. Each of the three episodes will be approximately ten minute each.

Co-writers for the internet feature are Joss’ brothers Zack and Jed and Jed’s Fiancé Maurissa . The writing has been completed and shooting commenced today.

“It’s the story of a low-rent super-villain, the hero who keeps beating him up, and the cute girl from the laundromat he’s too shy to talk to.” Says Whedon.

“Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” will star Neil Patrick Harris as Dr. Horrible, Nathan Fillion as Captain Hammer, Felicia Day as Penny and a cast of dozens.

Alle "todays" dort oben beziehen sich natürlich auf irgendwann Anfang März, als die Info aktuell war. Wirklich news-value hat nur die fan page, und dass das ganze Ding womöglich schon fertig ist. Dass ihn dies von Dollhouse ablenkt, ist somit unwahrscheinlich, da ist Buffy Season 8 schon eher Konkurrenz, falls er da überhaupt noch mitredet bei den story arcs der anderen.

They have the facts, and we're voting yes:

• a hefty license fee between $1.5 million and $2 million per ep
• "We call it a suspense-drama-mythology-comedy-action-horror musical," Whedon half-jokes of the show, which will bend and blend genres in typical Joss fashion. "The main thrust is the thruline of Echo as a sort of newly born character who goes, 'Wait a minute — I exist. Wow. So who would I be? And how dangerous is it for me to let anybody know that I know that I exist?' Not unlike the Frankenstein myth, it's, 'Who made me, who am I, and why am I?'"
• "It's going to have sex and heartbreak and violence and hilarity. That, to me, is a hot show."
• "And that's when you know you're dead, when there's a title."

Jetzt auch in diesem Radio.

Immer wieder herzhaft zu lesen, die bisher bekannten Charakter-Beschreibungen:

Adelle DeWitt
40 something, any ethnicity, beautiful, sophisticated, cold as an alp. Runs the Dollhouse with an efficiency that is both ruthless and protective. Would die before she showed anyone how lonely she is. Series Regular.

Paul Smith
30s, any ethnicity, good-looks hardened by a cynical distaste for most of humanity. An FBI field agent, he's been chasing the urban myth of the "Dollhouse" long enough to have lost any shot at promotion. Becomes obsessed with, and twisted romantic foil for, Echo. Series Regular.

Boyd Langton
Late 40s-60, any ethnicity, gruff, about to make the descent from 'good-looking' to 'fatherly'. An ex-cop, Boyd is Echo's 'handler' - her guard/bodyguard. Hates himself for taking this job, bu he'd lay down his life to protect the people he feels he's exploiting. Series Regular.

Topher Brink
20's, any ethnicity, genius programmer who's articulate, nerdily attractive and blithely amoral. He's responsible for imprinting the dolls - and making sure they stay unaware of anything. Is fascinated by the science and kind of digging the illegality. Fun to be around, but might not be remotely trustworthy. Series Regular.

Sierra
20's, Asian or any ethnicity - certainly not Caucasian. Strikingly beautiful. A Doll like Echo, she has every personality in the world but her own. Is not as self-aware as Echo, but is instinctively drawn to her as a friend. Series Regular.

Victor
20's, any ethnicity, handsome and fit. A Doll, and the other closest thing to a friend Echo has. Childlike when he's inactive, and everything from Errol Flynn to (young) DeNiro when he's active. Series Regular.

November
20's, any ethnicity, beautiful and heavy. Another Doll, a hopeful child in the house and everyone else you need her to be outside. A comforting, radiant presence, who tends to get fewer of the criminal gigs and more of the personal ones. Recurring.

Dr. Claire Saunders
30-60, attractive, smart and a little sad. Looks after the physical well-being of the dolls. Has an acid wit that she usually reserves for Topher, who may only be kidding about being smitten with her. (Or he may not). Recurring.

Kurz vor Beginn des WGA-Streiks platzte Joss Whedon mit der Info heraus, er würde eine neue Serie machen. Dollhouse solle sie heißen, und Eliza Dushku solle mitproduzieren und hauptrollieren. Was Eliza und Joss zusammen so drauf haben, lässt sich ab der dritten Buffy-Staffel nachrecherchieren, zusätzlich mit an Bord ist Tim Minear, der ganze 4 Serien bei Fox schon zur Absetzung getrieben hat: Firefly, Wonderfalls, The Inside und Drive. Firefly war natürlich mit und von Joss. Und Firefly bewies auch, dass Joss weit jenseits des Buffyverse sensationelle TV-Kost machen kann. Auch daher die Vorfreude.

Ach ja, Fox: Nachdem sie anno dazumals Firefly absetzten, wollte Joss "nie wieder" was mit ihnen zu tun haben. Dollhouse kommt auf Fox, weil "It’s a brand new day over there. It’s a completely new bunch of people and they seem really intelligent and supportive.", so Joss. Positiv fällt schon mal der 7-Folgen-statt-nur-1-Pilot-Auftrag auf. Da Joss prinzipiell immer die ersten 6 Folgen als Pilot ansieht, wird er diesmal wohl Zeit genug haben, alles richtig zu machen.

Das erste Fanfic gab es des Excitements wegen natürlich noch vor den ersten geleakten Drehbuchseiten. Die Anlaufstellen sprießen natürlich aus dem Boden, wie Vampire zur Harvest-Zeit, also bleibt mir nur mal auf die offensichtlichen Infos hinzuweisen: dollverse.com, Dollhouse Echo, dollhouse-fans.com und dollhousetv.net. dollverse.net wäre the big and mighty german partner, und dollverse.org ist zwar recht allgemein Joss-fixiert, verspricht aber auch bald und viel mit Dollhouse-Content zu trumpfen.

Und hier die allgemeine Zusammenfassung:

Echo (Eliza Dushku) [is] a young woman who is literally everybody's fantasy. She is one of a group of men and women who can be imprinted with personality packages, including memories, skills, language—even muscle memory—for different assignments. The assignments can be romantic, adventurous, outlandish, uplifting, sexual and/or very illegal. When not imprinted with a personality package, Echo and the others are basically mind-wiped, living like children in a futuristic dorm/lab dubbed the Dollhouse, with no memory of their assignments—or of much else. The show revolves around the childlike Echo's burgeoning self-awareness, and her desire to know who she was before, a desire that begins to seep into her various imprinted personalities and puts her in danger both in the field and in the closely monitored confines of the Dollhouse.

Cast:

Eliza Dushku - Echo
Amy Acker - Dr. Claire Saunders
Olivia Williams - Adelle DeWitt
Tahmoh Penikett - Paul Smith
Harry J. Lennix - Boyd Langton
Dichen Lachman - Sierra
Fran Kranz - Topher Brink
Enver Gjokaj - Victor

Producers:

Joss Whedon - Creator, Executive Producer
Elizabeth Craft - Showrunner, Executive Producer
Sarah Fain - Showrunner, Executive Producer
Eliza Dushku - Executive Producer
Tim Minear - Consulting Producer
Steven DeKnight - Consulting Producer

Directors: Joss Whedon, Tim Minear, David Solomon

Writers: Joss Whedon, Elizabeth Craft, Sarah Fain, Tim Minear, Maurissa Tancharoen, Jed Whedon

Premiere ist am 13. Februar 2009. Episodenführer gibt's hier, Trailer dort.