The TV Addict 

Attention Fans: It’s officially time to cut Joss Whedon a little slack

Because as it turns out, there is an incredibly high price to pay for having a track record of culturally relevant television, millions of passionate followers, and Summer Glau on your speed dial.

That price: An almost inhumane level of self-inflicted pressure and fan expectation.

Expectation that is about to reach a boiling point as the Whedonverse (yes, he has his own universe) anxiously count down the days (14 in case you’re wondering) until the February 13th bow of his highly anticipated new FOX series DOLLHOUSE.

None of which comes as a surpise to Joss Whedon himself, who was only too happy to sit down with this TV Addict at FOX’s recent January press junket in Los Angeles to talk about surviving the Dollhouse.

Talk about the pressure you’re feeling right now.
Joss Whedon: There is pressure, but it’s the same pressure I always feel. It’s the same pressure I felt in high school. If I’m writing something and somebody is going to see it, I don’t want it to suck. I pretty much live in terror, constant terror of public humiliation. But it’s that constant fear that makes me somewhat meticulous.

You’ve been in the spotlight for the better part of a decade now. Have the amount of behind-the-scenes news and rumors emanating from the ‘Dollhouse’ taken you by surprise?
Yeah you kind of take it with a grain of salt and always remember that there is only one thing worse than being talked about. So you know it’s absolutely the price and it’s fine. But as we get closer to the premiere, it has been getting more and more like this. Ultimately the show is the show and if people enjoy it then we did good and if they don’t, we did the other thing and all the speculation ends ups meaning nothing if that happens.

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Over the course of the next two days, the TV Addict has once again been given the incredible opportunity to take part in a FOX Press Junket. So if you’ve got any questions for any of the following FOX stars, please post away in the comments below and I’ll endeavor to get them answered.

24’s Keifer Sutherland and Mary Lynn Rajskub. BONES’ David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel. DOLLHOUSE’s Eliza Dushku, Tahmoh Penikiett and Joss Whedon. FRINGE’s John Noble. GLEE’s Cory Monteith. HELL’S KITCHEN’s Gordon Ramsay. HOUSE’s Lisa Edelstein and Olivia Wilde. THE OSBOURNES’ Sharon, Ozzy, Kelly and Jack. TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES’ Brian Austin Green and Garret Dillahunt. And finally, LIE TO ME’s Tim Roth, Kelli Williams, Brendan Hines and Ria Torres.

2008 FOX SUMMER TCA: (On Left) DOLLHOUSE creator Joss Whedon

Joss Whedon has a plan.

One far more sinister than single-handedly shutting down the internet with his smash hit DR. HORRIBLE’S SING ALONG BLOG

One that may-or-may-not involve pillaging the now unemployed cast of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA for his new show DOLLHOUSE.

But getting to the point, why not hear from the man himself. As theTVaddict.com’s TCA correspondent Kevin Kelly was luckily enough to spend a few minutes interviewing Joss Whedon at Monday night’s FOX SUMMER TCA Party.

TheTVaddict.com: So how different is it working with the new regime at FOX, in contrast to what happened with FIREFLY?
Joss Whedon: It’s a completely different energy then the last time. FOX understands what it is we’re trying to do. I understand clearly what they want. And while there’s definitely a back and forth, there’s a collaboration. Not just people glaring at each-other.

I feel really good about how they plan to position it, and their feeling about it as a concept and as a show.

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At the risk of incurring the wrath of pretty much 99.999% of the internet fandom community, this TV Addict is just going to say it. Are Joss Whedon fans drinking the Kool-aid?

Don’t get me wrong, I love the guy as much as the next Browncoat. But does the first part of DR. HORRIBLE, Joss Whedon’s just launched internet musical featuring the likes of Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion and Felicia Day honestly warrant such an exuberant outpouring of affection? I mean take a look at this flurry of twitter messages:

mytakeontv: I’m on my 5th viewing of Dr. Horrible. AMAZING!

DuckyDoesTV: Dr. Horrible is sheer genius!

raelee: Dr. Horrible is wrecking havoc on my schedule for the day. Can’t stop watching.

thc_jen: Dr. Horrible was AMAZING!!! Who wants to talk about with me?

thedirtycanuck: I can’t believe i’m going to miss the Whedon fan-event of the year (Dr. Horrible) because of work. boo to life.

GMMR: ‘Dr. Horrible’ is FRAKTASTIC! Act I is live and it doesn’t disappoint! Go watch..now!

justjody: NPH is made of awesome. “The world is a mess, and I just… need to rule it.” LOL!

matsie: If you haven’t watched the first episode of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog, I just don’t know what to think of you!

That’s not to say I’m not in full support of what Whedon’s trying to accomplish. In fact, I’m so in favor of Whedon’s plan to as he so eloquently put it, “Turn out a really thrilling, professionalish piece of entertainment specifically for the internet. To show how much could be done with very little. To show the world there is another way. To give the public (and in particular you guys) something for all your support and patience,” that I went ahead and paid for the entire DR. HORRIBLE series on iTunes so that everybody involved in the project will actually get paid. I’m just not quite sure that it’s the second coming of Buffy. Okay, third if you count that time she came back from the dead.

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By: The REEL Addict

Joss Whedon is awesome. He is better than you. He is better than me. He’s better than roller skates, bubble tea, and kittens combined. That means anything he comes up with is worth anticipating. In this case, we have DR. HORRIBLE’S SING ALONG BLOG, a three part online musical he put together with his brothers during the writers strike. The musical is about a Z-level villain (Neil Patrick Harris, baby) trying to woo a lovely lady (Felicia Day) while contending with pesky superheroes (the amazing Nathan Fillion). I’m pretty sure it’s mathematically impossible or scientifically improbable for this to in any way suck. That’s why you should check out this trailer.

Considering I have yet to watch BUFFY or ANGEL [summer project, I swear], this TV Addict is the the first to admit that I’m embarrassingly late to the Joss Whedon party. That said, following my too-little-too-late love affair with FIREFLY on DVD, I promised myself I wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.

So with that in mind, theTVaddict.com presents this first look at Whedon’s DOLLHOUSE, set to take FOX by storm in January.

Thanks to ROTW for the Tip!

As if fans needed another reason to worship the brains behind BUFFY, ANGEL and FIREFLY, Joss Whedon has just cast BATTLESTAR GALACTICA’s Tahmoh Penikett in his upcoming FOX pilot DOLLHOUSE. According to the Hollywood Reporter, “Penikett will play Paul Smith, an FBI field agent obsessed with the urban myth of Dollhouse and a twisted romantic foil for Echo.” Which let’s face it, is the ideal role for Penikett. Because when you’re half of the union that gave birth to a the first-ever human-cylon baby, ‘twisted romance’ comes with the territory.

In other casting news, TV Addict favorite Eliza Cuthbert [have you seen THE GIRL NEXT DOOR?] will finally return to TV after an endless string of box office failures. Cuthbert has been cast as the female lead in CBS’ one-hour pilot NY-LON where she’ll play a New York literacy teacher/record store clerk trying to make it work with a London stock broker. Hmmm… I wonder which British heartthrob with an insanely [in a good way] dedicated fan base might be available to play the Jim to Cuthbert’s Pam. Still thinking? Need a hint? See photo below!