Much as we’re mourning the loss of Dollhouse, I thought it’d fun to have a look into the not to distant, and fire up some random speculation/wish list of what Joss could/should do next…

5. Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog – Part 2.

Okay, this is a little more than idle speculation, as Zack Whedon has already confirmed they are writing the continuing adventures of our favourite Emmy Award winning supervillan and his nemsis Captain Hammer. They have been waiting for a break in Dollhouse schedule to get together and nail the script and tunes. Given Dollhouse‘s perminent break in schedule, we could be seeing Dr. Horrible 2 sooner than we originally hoped.

4. Serenity 2

I know… This is more a wish that anything that’s likely to actually happen. But still, Joss has proved there is life in the Firefly Universe through the graphic novels. It’d just be a case of arranging it around Nathon Fillion‘s Castle duties, Adam Baldwin‘s Chuck schedule, Morena Baccarin‘s ‘V‘ filming, and the various film schedules of  Gina Torres, Jewel Staite, Sean Maher and Summer Glau (and maybe even Alan Tudyk)… And then it’s just a case of finding someone to finance it… And a studio to distribute it… Okay, it’s never going to happen… Still, if i’m writing a wish list of stuff i want Joss to do, something Firefly/Serenity related HAS to be on it!

3. Fray TV Series

There’s bound to be a number of stories appear suggesting Joss and Eliza head back to the Buffyverse and make a Faith series. However, i think i’d like to see a bit more of a twist if there was going to be a new Slayer series. How about basing around the Fray comic book series.

Centuries have passed since the last Slayer was called. Demons were banished from the Earth at some point in the 21st century by an unnamed Slayer and her friends, and the Watchers’ Council has decayed into a group of crazed fanatics. The vampires (dubbed lurks) have now returned and haunt the city. To combat this threat, a new Slayer is called: a professional thief named Melaka Fray. With the Watchers’ Council ineffective, a group of “neutral” demons send the demon Urkonn to prepare Melaka for the war that is sure to come…

Don’t know about you, but i’d watch that!

2. Ripper

Ripper – Proposed TV series set in the Buffyverse starring Anthony Stewart Head as Rupert Giles in the tradition of “classic English ghost stories”.

Had enough of the US networks trampling all over your shows Joss? Come to England! Talk to the BBC. They force us pay for a tv license so you don’t have to worry about viewing figures. Plus anything Tony Head does seems to be a huge hit, you can’t lose! Sure the weather is a bit grey at times, but it’s a small price to pay for creative freedom. You’ve been talking about Ripper for years. All reports say you got really really close to making it too over the last couple of years… Why not come over and make it a reality?

1. Something New

Click here to buy your Joss Whesdon Is My Master now t-shirts

Much as i love the Buffyverse and Firefly’s ‘verse, I always look forward to new stuff from Joss and the rest of the team at Mutant Enemy. I’m sure they’ll be back with something different from the mainstream in the not to distant future, and i can’t wait.

Got any more ideas? Leave them in the comments!

Ray Wise Enters the Dollhouse

Entertainment Weekly are saying that Ray Wise (Satan in the sadly canned Reaper), has picked up a reccuring role on Joss Whedon‘s Dollhouse. No news as to who he’ll play, but I am thinking he’d make a great Dollhouse boss… He should feel pretty at home, as Reaper’s creators, Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters, have also joined the Dollhouse writing staff.

It seems Dollhouse has taken over from Stargate as the repository for people from finished scifi/fantasy shows. Dollhouse season 2 also sees:

• Joss reteaming with Summer Glau (Firefly & Sarah Connor Chronicles)
• Joss, Eliza & Amy reteaming with Alexis Denisof (Wesley from Buffy/Angel and Mr. Alyson Hannigan ).
• Tahmoh Penikett reteaming with Jamie Bamber (Apollo in Battlestar Galactica) and Michael Hogan (Sol in Battlestar Galactica).

Keith Carradine (Detective Lundy in the brilliant Dexter) also makes a guest appearance.

Dollhouse Season 2 UK airdate is 10pm on Tuesday, 20th October 2009 on the Sci-Fi Channel - Sky 129.

Whole bunch of pics for Dollhouse Season 2 have appeared online this week. All looking good, and Eliza is looking especially hot!

Dollhouse Season 2 will premiere in the UK at 10pm on Tuesday, 20th October 2009 on the Sci-Fi Channel - Sky 129.

Dollhouse Season 2 Promo Photo

Dollhouse Season 2 UK Air Date

After a superb ending to Dollhouse‘s first season, it’s looking like Sci-Fi Channel UK is keen to keep the momentum going on Joss Whedon‘s latest tv series!

Dollhouse Season 2 will premiere in the UK at 10pm on Tuesday, 20th October 2009 on the Sci-Fi Channel - Sky 129 (or +1 is on Sky 205). So a slight move in time slot by and hour and only 3 weeks behind the US airing! Nice work SciFi! If only all channels (looking at no one in particular… *coughE4cough*) could schedule there imports so closely to their American air date!

Joss Whedon's Dollhouse gets renewed for a 2nd season.

This big news flying around today that it’s official – Dollhouse has been renewed for a 2nd season! It begins production in July, and should be back on air in the Autumn with 13 episode on Fox in the US. There’s also an option to pick up more episodes and extend its run.

A number of things helped the renewal happen and convinced Fox that Dollhouse was worth keeping around (despite some shaky official ratings in places). They’ve cut back the budget, however Joss is brilliant at making shows work with very little money. This happened pretty much every season on Angel as far as i can remember, and Joss aways found a way to make it work without compromising the quality. In fact Joss has already helped prove this to Fox with an unaired 13th episode ‘Epitaph One’, which was shot on a shoestring budget to go on the Dollhouse DVD release. A note for UK viewers: Thanks to the lovely folk at Sci Fi UK, we’re getting all 13 episodes as part of the season one run (thank you Sci Fi UK!)

Fox have also done a deal so 20th TV are shouldering more of the cost making it less of a risk for Fox. Plus they’ve finally started to realise the US ratings system isn’t the only thing that points at you if a show can be profitable, and have been taking looking at DVR recordings and potential DVD sales… if only they’d done that with Firefly!

Another change is the episode running time.  Fox had been experimenting on a couple of shows (Dollhouse being one) with a 50min show time and reduced advertising slots, but ultimately decided it wasn’t working. No real harm there, it just means it goes back to being standard 42(ish)min length as most other hour long shows.

Season 2 also brings a ‘shift in creative direction’ for the show, but then that’s kinda par for the course with a Whedon series. Just think how Buffy evolved over the years. With with characters situations changing, story arc’s ending and new ones starting, Joss’s shows have always shifted direction from season to season.

I’ll leave the final words to Joss himself from his post over on Whedonesque:

“Anything that reunites me with my stunning cast and my crazy staff (or “room fulla Tophers”, as I call them) is nothing short of a gift. Heady times, indeed. We’re two weeks away from finishing “Cabin” and now it looks like no summer vacation after all. But oh, the terrible things my brain is brewing… Just wait. We’ll make it worth it.”

Dollhouse premieres in the UK on Tuesday, 19th May 2009 at 9pm on Sci Fi UK (channel 129)

Joss Whedon's Dollhouse - Airing on Sci Fi in the UK

And surprisingly, it’s not Sky 1, but Sci Fi that have picked up Dollhouse, Joss Whedon’s latest tv outing.

Dollhouse get’s it’s first official UK airing on the Sci Fi Channel (or Syfy as it may be by then…)  on the Tuesday 19th of May 2009 at 9pm, so set your Sky+ (or other generic hard disk based media recording device).