0/5

Dollhouse for FOX8

Joss Whedon's new show goes to Pay TV along with Better off Ted, Do Not Disturb and Sons of Anarchy.

FOX8 has picked up the rights to Dollhouse, the latest drama from Joss Whedon. Although TEN talked up Dollhouse in May, the program will be aired with fewer ads and could have posed problems for a commercial free-to-air network.

Starring Buffy‘s Eliza Dushku it tells the tale of a group of people, known as ‘Actives’ (or ‘Dolls’) who “have had their personalities wiped clean so they can be imprinted with any number of new personas and hired out for particular jobs, crimes, fantasies and occasional good deeds. When not imprinted, the Actives live, childlike and unremembering, in a hidden facility nicknamed ‘The Dollhouse.'”

The drama would anchor FOX8’s move to a younger target demographic this summer, Foxtel’s Brian Walsh told The Australian.

“Given that we have new competition in 2009 (new free-to-air digital multi-channels), we’re sharpening up the owned and operated channels to be a little more niche,” he said.

“For FOX8, we’re narrowing our demographic to 18 to 30 and playing much harder. That enables us to better develop the W channel and the new general entertainment channel we launch from November 1.”

Foxtel has also secured the single-camera corporate comedy, Better Off Ted, starring Aussie Portia de Rossi, and the sitcom set in a New York hotel, Do Not Disturb, which stars Crossing Jordan’s Jerry O’Connell.

Adult drama Sons of Anarchy will go to Foxtel’s premium channel, Showcase.

Source: The Australian

30 Responses

  1. At this stage, yes Sephiroth_FF. Maybe 10 might do a Dexter and screen it after it has been on pay-tv(showcase screened season 1 and 2 of Dexter and the upcoming 3rd season BEFORE 10).

  2. like bindi, i don’t have that foxtel and was soooo looking forward to dollhouse with squeals of delight when i thought it was coming to FTA now whats a girl to do without the whedon fix she was praying for?
    i’m not really for downloading, will ten eventually play it?

  3. Ditto to what Craig said. I’ve been hanging for Friday Night Lights to come to fox8 (fyi I hear its set for Oct 3 now) But does the move to fox8 mean that we will have to wait for TenHD to get around to playing the second season?

  4. Its not that I dislike Supernatural, its more that I think its an unoriginal knockoff of superior “paranormal” shows like Buffy. RoE and WW will likely be a good pair for Ten but their new content will seriously be lacking. The only things holding up their network next year ratings-wise will be SYTYCD, The Biggest Loser and season 7 of Idol. There’s a strong chance 09 will be a colossal failure for them, especially with their lack of new content.

  5. Yeah Richo your exactly right (though i don’t believe Supernatural is crap, but it isnt my type of show)….Ten better hope that Life On Mars delivers for them, or they will be well and truely stuffed

    Worst Wekk is most surely going to be pared with Rules of Engagement…and god help it…it did well after premiering this week, so there is potential for Ten to actually do somewhat well!
    Ten look stuffed….House is flopping (a massive shame) and, bar Neighbours, their 6-7.30 schedule is stuffed….could 09′ be worse than 2008 is turning out to be?

  6. I agree with Neil, not to compare the two shows, but 90210 has probably scared TEN off: lots of buzz ending in a fizzle. That, and people downloading highly anticipate shows like Dollhouse, which leads to lower ratings, then to the show being bumped all over the schedule and ending up on HD channel, if we’re lucky.

    I know I’m not getting Foxtel just for Dollhouse, as much as I’d love to see the show. I’ll have to wait for the DVD.

  7. Ten suck so much. They stick with crap like Supernatural that rates like 400,000 viewers yet they don’t even give a chance to truly brilliant writers like Whedon. They fight extremely hard to give shows like Burn Notice a shot at the schedule, yet they go ahead and screw themselves over with this. Now, the only new shows they have next year will be Life on Mars and Worst Week. Idiots. This could have been a big improvement for their network

  8. A little annoying, seeing as how i was going to get rid of Foxtel next March…not offering what it costs to run really, but who knows, maybe we’ll reconsider so we can have first-run viewings of Gossip Girl and now Dollhouse

    this show looks hot…maybe Ten was burned by the lackluster numbers for 90210 and didnt want to take another risk?
    I would have thought that without BB that Ten would need as many programs as possible
    BTW, Do Not Disturb has bombed big time for FOX…weak lead in from Til’ Death will help kill it, so is there much point for FOX8?

  9. WHAT!!! i don’t have pay tv and this was going to be the best new show of the year, but now i can’t watch it. is it still going to air on ten eventually like dexter? shows like dexter and californication run for longer, 50 mins plus, ten just extends the air time to fit their ads in, why can’t they do the same for this? and what happened to make them change their minds about supporting the show, don’t they know joss whedon shows have an automatic audience that is hugely loyal.

  10. Does anyone know if fringe on 9 has the same amount of ads ad fox in the US does, or do they cut scenes to fit the standard 42 minute show?
    I want to know that as well Benno

    Ch10 is making it a habit of leaving season hanging but also look at 7 with Heroes and PB and 9 with Canal Road!

    I can’t get 10HD here so got FNL S1&2 on DVD from the US, now waiting on S3 to start in a week.

  11. Ten are a bunch of tards. This show will be the best thing to come since Angel ended in 04. Why the hell would they give the shaft to the season’s best show? So they have more room on their schedule for Law and Order and NCIS repeats?

    Oh well, I was always going to download this anyway. Can’t trust Ten to ever air a series consistently, just look how they butchered Life with holding over 3 episodes last year. Same with Rules of Engagement, although ironically it is now getting better figures than their failing Bondi Rescue spinoff. And Do Not Disturb is hilarious, the bloody critics didn’t like it but then again since when has a critic ever been a credible opinion? Now the soonest they’ll air Dollhouse is probably summer of 2010 by pulling a page out of Nine’s book. Its a shame Seven or Nine didn’t get this show, at least they’d give it a strong vote of faith. I hope Ten fails even worse next year than it is now.

  12. what on earth is going on with Friday Night Lights on FOX 8..they advertised it for weeks as premiering on Friday 12 Sept, but it never did? Id love to know, ive really been looking forward to watching it!

  13. OMG I can’t wait for Dollhouse, it is a pity ch10 won’t have it, maybe when it’s a hit they’ll air it late Sundays LOL. David any word on if Fox8 will fast track it in 2009 since they said “summer”?

    Haven’t heard of Better Off Dead or Sons of Anarchy but they sound good, as for Do Not Disturb I caught the pilot, it’s okay but nothing special IMO. Will anyone air Jerry’s last sitcom Carpoolers? That was funny!

Leave a Reply