Whedon-heads on alert!

When Buffy was first beamed into our houses -- er-- college dorm rooms, I'm not sure we really had any idea what it was. Some of us had seen the movie, Buffy the Vampire Slayer-- and recognized the title bore the summative weight of its solitary punchline: a tough superhero cheerleader? Named... "Buffy?" Sure, the committed nerds were already in for the long haul. And word soon leaked out that Joss Whedon's vision for the film Buffy had been so egregiously mishandled that he actually walked off the set, never to return. But I'm not too embarrassed to admit that I was among the folk who didn't take the show seriously. At first. Actually, it wasn't until years later, when I really watched episode after episode in sequential reruns, that I really understood that Buffy wasn't the sort of show that often graces the idiot box. In the intervening years, college courses have been taught about the cultural resonance and narrative arc of the show. Fancy critics and scholars have written paeans to its glory. Many of us will still tack a "y" onto a noun to macgyver up some new adjective-- little secret elbow jabs among the initiates. I think it's safe to say the show has secured its place in the very small pantheon of respectable television accomplishments.

So, when Joss Whedon cooks up some new venture, we all twitter anticipatorily and pray for the old magic. And this is where we are with Dollhouse-- not real sure if it's gonna be good, or if it's gonna be a disappointment. Now, Whedon's given himself something of a handicap with the general premise of the show. His main strengths as a television writer were never his action sequences or even his episodic drama. Buffy was a monster-of-the-week show and Dollhouse is dangerously close to encroaching on the territory of something like Alias. First of all, he really had a great way of inventing linguistically quirky, idiosyncratic dictions for his characters. Clearly, the man enjoys language. Secondly, Whedon famously plots out his shows, down to the letter, years in advance-- which gives them a remarkable sense of continuity. Some nasty monster appears in Season 2 and you can rest assured he becomes an offhand reference in Season 5. Since when have television characters had long-term memories?

But what was really amazing about Buffy was intrinsic to its essential soapiness. His characters actually grew, changed, developed, evolved in a manner nearly unprecedented in a television serial format. His eponymous character began as a narcissistic, peevish Valley girl who was smarter than she gave herself credit for being. But the end of Season 7, Buffy's persona was seamed over like Frankenstein's monster. Still narcissistic and snarky, perhaps, but she was also a wounded, twisty, fairly masochistic woman who'd learned to rise above her circumstances to meet her responsibilities-- to embrace them even (and her masochism too, actually).

The basic idea behind Dollhouse involves a bunch of "actives" who wind up part of this organization that rents them out for assorted purposes-- everything from run-of-the-mill call-girl duties to super-intense espionage and other action-y sorts of missions-- and then wipes their brains free of personality at the end of each "engagement." So, if what Whedon does best is anticipate the actions and psychological development of his characters 7 years on down the road, he's certainly given himself a unique challenge in devising a main character-- a placid, dimpled Echo, played by Eliza Dushku, of course-- who has no personality at all (save whatever inklings leak over from her previous real life and the slug-trails from her assorted engagements).

There's really no way of knowing yet whether he'll pull it off. The first three episodes have all been about establishment, and that's necessary, I suppose. They've been way action-packed, though and I'm surely hoping Whedon will back away from that a little so as to give us more of what he's good at-- the humor stuff and soul stuff. Of course, Fox has the thing programmed on Fridays at 9PM, which is as lousy a time slot as there ever was. But who knows? Maybe it'll get enough legs from Hulu views and die-hard Whedon-heads to chug along into a second season.

In the meantime, I'm crossing my fingers for it. I think it's after something pretty interesting. I mean, there are no other shows in which the main character is essentially a whore on major network television. Showtime's Secret Life of a Call Girl certainly doesn't count-- even if it weren't silly, moralizing, sentimental dreck-- because you have to pay extra money to your cable company to see it. But Whedon seems to have a real soft spot for girls who earn their keep selling pussy. There was the lovely Inara character from Firefly, and subsequently, the film Serenity. In that show, her profession of "Companion" granted her a certain elevated and prestigious status that extended well beyond her improbable gorgeousness. (Brazilian actress Morena Baccarin looks like a gene splice between Salma Hayek and Natalie Portman-- one luscious nugget.)

And who could forget the Buffy-bot? A made-to-order robot, designed to indulge the sexual whims of the besotted sadist-vampire, Spike? (For the record, I maintain Spike was really the only love interest Buffy ever had who was actually complicated enough to be worthy of her.) The Buffy-bot really did provide the ultimate "girlfriend experience," complete with hilarous, slightly off-target Buffy-isms and everything. And really, the greatest thing about her addition to the show was that, before long, she became part of the Sunnydale Gang. Sure, she was Spike's glorified blow-up doll, but she was so Buffy-esque that she quickly not only gained the respect of the group, but also became a necessary component of it. And not just because she was the Buffy who put out.

So, I'm plenty interested to see what Whedon does with his new Faith-bot. Er. I mean... what he does with Echo. As he seems so captivated by the idea of the sacred whore, I'm really hoping the Whedon Dolls will grow into their skins and become something more than programmable playthings. Crossing fingers.