… Either that, or something has snapped and he has actually gone insane. Over at the L.A. Times, they are quoting Whedon as saying he would have put Dollhouse on Friday too. I call shenanigans. This is Whedon being the good soldier, playing along with the network and trying to garner some much needed press for his show. Given the laundry list of shows that have died on Friday nights (23 since X-Files left?), nobody, and especially not Joss Whedon, would be trying to launch the show on Friday. And certainly not after a show that is already struggling.
Really, there’s the rub; this whole idea that the network is trying to establish a new Friday night. If that’s the case, why are they anchoring it with the biggest ratings failure on the schedule? I’d buy this if the new Friday was something like Bones/Fringe. That sounds like taking two shows with some success under their belts and making a go of it. The failing Terminator:TSCC into the unknown Dollhouse, though; that sounds like burning off shows the network is no longer enamored with. If they do somehow manage to break the cycle and find an audience, great. If they don’t, they weren’t part of the bigger plan anyway.
I also have to question this idea that there is some magical sci-fi audience on Friday night. Why is that? Because of the Sci Fi channel? Here’s the thing. Those great ratings for Battlestar, Atlantis, and Sanctuary on Friday nights would signal instant cancellation on any of the networks. It’s a small audience that only really works in the cable niche.
And if we really want to delve into it … More than anything else, hasn’t Fox proven that the thing that they can’t sell on Friday nights is sci-fi? What has changed since M.A.N.T.I.S, VR.5, Strange Luck, Brimstone, Dark Angel, The Lone Gunmen, Firefly, and John Doe were not able to make it? It’s certainly not that there are more people watching the networks on Friday nights.
The show would be better off, despite claims that the network is lowering expectations on Friday, launching on any other night of the week. Well, except for Saturday, but Saturday doesn’t really exist in network television anymore. That’s not to say Dollhouse is doomed to failure. Stranger things have happened, and maybe the 24th time is the charm. But if the show does buck the odds and actually manages to make it through to a second season, it won’t be because the network has done anything in the best interest of the show.
Clacked by Brett Love 
on Dec 11, 2008 @ 11:00 EST5EDT
I loved Brimstone! Jon Glover’s devil comes in a close second to Ray Wise’s.
Don’t dorks and geeks watch Sci-Fi? Well, certainly they have nothing better to do than watch television on a Friday night.
Thank goodness I fall into that category. LOL I’ll watch them whenever they are on. And Friday is a night I actually watch what is on TV right around the same time it is on!
Bring it on you scheduling bastards, bring it on!
Maybe he only wants his shows to only get 13 episodes? :D
Get over it people. I’m talking about the supposed “Friday night of death”.
Fewer and fewer people are watching TV, they are watching RECORDED TV so it matters 0% what night, what time slot a show is on.
The ONLY time anyone on the planet should watch TV live is for a sporting event, and maybe the local news/weather.
Instead of spending 45 minutes scrolling through the channels bemoaning that fact that there’s nothing on….. spend that 45 minutes productively and program your DVR (oh heck drag out the instruction manual and program that VCR!) for the next week or more.
I’d like to see more things programmed for Friday, and especially Saturday. Why? Well I only have so many tuner cards in my home theater PC so on nights like Monday I can easily run out of tuners available. Whereas other nights like Saturday there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING on ANY network so the tuners sit there doing nothing.
People have lives now. There is no more “Well I can’t do that on Thursday because Friends is on”. People have kids to transport to/from activities, etc.
The only network that does well on Friday nights is CBS. I think I know their secret: they ignore the 18-49 demographic, or at least the lower end of the demographic. After all, the lower end of the demographic is out at the movies, getting drunk and trying to get laid (the former frequently leading to the latter). If a network programs to the demographic it seems logical that they fail because the people they’re trying to attract aren’t there for the shows. The people who are at home of are the over 49s, the under 16s (no drivers licenses) and the 18-49s who are married with younger kids who don’t have to worry about getting laid and can’t afford to go to the movies. The logical conclusion is to not program to the demographic on Friday nights.