Speaking of Whedon, Dollhouse (amazingly) survived the axe even though its ratings were awful and the show itself was far worse than the Sarah Connor Chronicles. That said, the show got much, much, much better toward the end, with at least two honest-to-goodness great episodes (one of them being the season finale; thank you Tim Minear and Alan Tudyk!). My guess is that Fox wants to rack up enough episodes to sell as DVD box sets and the like. Although it may be that Fox is simply terrified of strangling another Whedon franchise in the crib.

Either way, the basic problems with the show endure. The main characters are either programmable whores with little to no identity of their own, and hence unsympathetic beyond their status as victims, or deeply, profoundly, morally compromised (including Agent Ballard now). With the exception of the finale, the acting and dialogue have been well below Whedon’s standards as well.

I still hope Whedon pulls it out (and, here’s an idea: Make Summer Glau into a doll! She’s looking for work!).