More TV talk.

[stoney321]

I caught up with last Friday's Dollhouse and really really loved some things about it, particularly the second half. I didn't love everything, but I had more happy than meh.

Okay, how awesome was it to have Faith and Wesley again?? Well, it wasn't really, but close enough. Not to mention that the scene where Alexis Denisoff forces Eliza Dushku's head down as he ran his hand over her bare skin, then CUT THAT BARE SKIN.... I may have needed a moment. I felt the storyline was rushed, but what can you do, they got the cancellation notice and had to wrap it up. I get it. I definitely would have liked more Summer Glau, and I REALLY would have liked more Bennet/Topher, but the part that killed me metaphorically was Topher imprinting himself onto Victor.

And that god damn actor that plays Victor knocked ANOTHER ONE out of the part. I'm telling you, if he had a more "Hollywood Leading Man" look about him, he'd be in every single movie and show. Which just shows you how jacked up Hollywood is, because the man is friggin' brilliant. He SOUNDED like Topher. The mannerisms, the inflections, the nervous giggle... They had to have loved filming those scenes. At one point you can see Ms. DeWitt and Boyd biting their cheeks when Victor-Topher is going off on a nervous scientific rant. Awesome.

I don't know who is dressing people, but the clown pants that Echo was wearing as she wandered the streets of DC cracked me up. Take those in, lady! I really enjoyed this show, and I know it was controversial to the point of being off putting for a lot of you, but it worked for me. And seriously, if that hadn't been cancelled, that would have been a dream job for me as an actor. A new person every week? Fan-freaking-tastic.

Ultimately I think its downfall is that Eliza Dushku struggles with being a "shell." She can't pull off vacant. And while the show was moving in a direction where she wouldn't have HAD to be vacant, it didn't work from the beginning. Also, I think it took a few bizarre turns like Paul Ballard going to work for them instead of bringing down the Dollhouse, ditto on the worries Boyd had when he first started. The peripheral characters were the most interesting, and that's always bad news to a production team. They were banking on Eliza, and she couldn't quite deliver. But how many of us loved Amy Acker's Dr. Saunders? Ms. DeWitt? Sierra??? Miracle Laurie's heartbreakingly awesome Maddy? Freaking VICTOR. Enver Gjokaj is my favorite part of that show. (And I know I'm all alone on my flist, but I loooove Topher. Please, he's a nerdy evil scientist, it's like he was MADE for me, my own active. Lol.)

Waah. I still say it's far better than a lot of the dreck out in the TV-scape, but it was expensive and on Fox. It didn't have a chance. :(

I've discovered that TWoP and TVGasm aren't reviewing The Real World: Ooompah Loompahland aka Jersey Shore, so you can expect a break down here every Friday. Folks, that's the situation. *point to abs* So if you're into pumpin ya fists ta house music and scammin on orange chicks with juicy butts, and gettin' Ed Hardy tattoos on ya protein shake'd and 'roid'd guns, dis is the place fa you. (Jeez, these might need to be podcasts so I can fulfill my accent requirements. Um, ask anyone who knows me in real life, my actual speaking voice is rarely heard. I have a sickness. And that sickness is random voices in random accents.)

Last TV question (hey, it's cold here, and I'm not outside in the garden. This is my TV time.) who out there is watching Chef Academy? It's pretty meh, HOWEVER. They have a beautiful French man that loves cooking, chocolate, making love, and is a porn star. AGAIN, I THINK THIS IS AN ACTIVE CREATED FOR ME. I'm not that girl that goes gaga for guys, especially really pretty ones. I like a little rugged to my sparkle, if you catch what I'm saying. I know some of y'all are fist biters over the various attractive male online. I'm a bit more reserved. (Ahahaha.) But holy crap, this man speaks and I'm putty. I AM NOT THAT GIRL! Except for how I apparently am. Hell, I'd hook up with a Chav if he had a husky voice. "Stoney, I is so into you, sorta. Why don' you shut your fat mouf and get on me knob?" OKAY. Haha. Accents and funny, they get me every time. Lord, save me from any Aussie stand ups, I'll completely forget I'm married with babies.

Comments

[beyondtherubicon]

I've only just started watching Dollhouse but I'm all caught up and Topher is hands down one of my favorite characters. It's between him and Adelle. I agree that Eliza is a good actress but not quite up to what the role of Echo called for. As much as I loved Amy Acker as Dr. Saunders I always wonder what she could have done with Echo.

I keep forgetting to watch Chef Academy. I see the commercials for it during Top Chef, remind myself to watch it and don't. Hopefully I can find it On Demand.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Amy Acker could have been an AWESOME Echo. I love the fragility of Dr. Saunders, though, and loved her interaction with Topher. THAT was a great scene.

There's a lot of fast forwarding that I do until they get to the actual cooking lessons.

[pluckygirl.livejournal.com]

Love Dollhouse, Topher, Victor, and Victor as Topher. I want to cut someone at FOX for canceling this.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

YAY, I'm glad to not be alone! I've seen lots of negative Topher talk, so that's why I posted that.

That actor... my goodness, I would watch him read the newspaper he's so engaging!

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

YOU NEED TO FIND CLIPS ON YOUTUBE. And it's official, I'll do a write up and a podcast with voices, because I'm an attention whore.

But Eric Bana has a chihuahua head, and I do, too, and if we made babies they'd have literal tennis balls for heads on giant bodies. I CAN'T DO THAT, WON'T SOMEONE THINK OF THE CHILDREN?

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

ME, TOO. Gah.

[ivyfree.livejournal.com]

I'm watching Chef Academy. I agree- meh. I don't know why I'm watching it as I'm not hung up on the French guy, and I think the chef's teaching technique sucks.

[julia-here.livejournal.com]

Hey, I love-to-hate Topher, is that on the right spectrum? The actor is great, and the episode where he gets to program Sierra to be his geekie girlfriend was a revelation.

ED is a problem, all right; You've put the finger on it: she's annoyingly there when she's supposed to be absent. There's been complaints (on Metafilter, where I lurk like it's my job) that she doesn't have the acting chops for her active roles, but in fact it's when she's supposedto be empty and vacant and smooth that she's all weird tics and angles.

I'm sorry it's been cancelled; I hope Caprica is good, because as much as I was being all brave and ready to defypublic consensus on my flist, SGU sucketh mightily, wastes a whole lot of good actors, and does not fulfill my need for SF at 9pm Friday.

Julia, single digit temps outside my door, wonder what's dead in the pots right now, oh, dear.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

I've liked the actual teaching portions - I tend to FF through anything that doesn't have him demonstrating things in the kitchen. I'm making his grandmother's tomato sauce tonight, in fact!

[ruthless1.livejournal.com]

French guy with french dimples??????
*is dead from the pretty now*

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Her idea of acting as a vacant shell waiting for downloading is to put her shoulders back and open her eyes wide. Kind of the Winona Ryder school of acting.

I just wish they'd give the show a bit longer - I think it would have found an audience. Boo, Fox.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

AND HE DOES PORN FOR THE LADIES. I mean, how am I supposed to resist that!?

[ladypeyton.livejournal.com]

I adore Topher. He's made me cry a dozen times more than any other character.

And Victor does rock. I couldn't BELIEVE how well he pulled Topher off.

[ladypeyton.livejournal.com]

I don't think he programmed Sierra to be his geeky girlfriend, though. After this weekend I think he put himself into Sierra simply to have someone to play with.

[ethrosdemon.livejournal.com]

I stopped watching Dollhouse not because I was offended (I watch Glee ffs) but because it bored me and Elizah just can't act, man. The kid who plays Victor is where it's at, though. I hope he goes on to have an amazing career on shows I want to watch. Hopefully w/ his shirt off.

We might have to split up over Topher, though. He was what finally broke me wrt this show. I just couldn't handle how his Mengele routine was played for laughs. I guess maybe I was offended by the show, but not for feminist reasons, for medical ethical reasons. HAHAHA I AM LAME.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Eliza never kept me entertained, that's for sure. But VICTOR. SIERRA. I loved those characters. Amy Acker's pretty boss, though.

Oh my god, you are NOT breaking up with me over a character on a show that is being canceled. Summer Glau showed up last night as the Topher of the DC Dollhouse and she was WAAAAAAY more jacked up than him. He had some moral crises on the show, too, so he's not so Mengele, lol.

If you're going to dump me, make it over Jersey Shore. WAIT, NO. *emo cuts*

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

It was astounding - I watched his scenes twice, they were so amazing.

[mumsisdaughter]

Aussie funny man/superb pianist/barefoot guy--Tim Minchin. I feel sure you'd collapse into a heap of helpless giggles at 'My Inflatable You'. Seek him out if you've not heard him.

[fishwithfeet.livejournal.com]

You're not alone. I adore Topher so much. So so so much. And I'm so glad my husband is similar.

[semby.livejournal.com]

Chiming in with some more Topher love! Victor is my favorite actor, but Topher is my favorite character. I'm convinced Victor as Topher was written just to make me happy. It even beat Victor as Dominic and Victor as Kiki.

[beyondtherubicon]

Kinda OT but Jersey Shore related:

Have you seen this?

http://jezebel.com/5422671/the-only-jersey-shore-parody-well-ever-need

Soooo funny.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

I just loved the actor AND the character. WAAAH to it being canceled.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

You know, I think I agree with everything you've said, too. Actor and character. Victor as KiKi was awesome, but this was SO MUCH BETTER.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Oh my god, aren't those HILARIOUS? It's so Hollywood douchebag - I frickin' love that his name is Bottleservice, cracks me up. HEY BRO, HEY BRO! All aggressive? LOL.

(I want an alternate universe com where we have our celebs as chavs and the like. WAAAH. Jack Davenport as a Jersey Shore bro? Gwyneth as an Arkansas trailer whore?! COME ON.)

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I liked the last two eps of Dollhouse too. Eliza's the central quandry of the show... She has everything you need as a personality to bank and sell this show from a production/marketing standpoint - but not the range to actually pull it off artistically standpoint. I am kind of sad for her, in a way. She seems really cool, and she wants to do big things, but from here on out she's pretty much stuck playing "damaged (maybe not so) bad girl" -- the one thing she's always been great at when in front of the camera.

The rest of the cast is great - minor characters and even walk-ons. (How great was Patton Oswalt?) Even the dude who plays Ballard - I thought he was shaky until I realized he's just intense and stupid...

And yeah - the actors who are Victor and Sierra - people with odd names I'd never seen or heard of - they're fantastic. The should get plenty of work from now on, even if they don't have classic looks.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

I forgot about Patton Oswald! He was fantastic, absolutely. The guy who plays Ballard was a central character on BSG - great stuff. I think they're not writing Ballard well, or there's a big SURPRISE! coming for him, because it's not making sense.

Agreed on the two that play Victor and Sierra - outstanding, the both of them. Killer range and abilities, and that should be all that matters. (I find them attractive, but Hollywood has its issues.)

[anniemare.livejournal.com]

Completely off topic, but have you seen this yet?

http://www.popsuede.com/

[ruthless1.livejournal.com]

Would anyone happen to have a link to said porn?
*looks hopeful*

[denelian.livejournal.com]

OMG Victor as Topher was THE MOST BRILLIANT BIT OF ACTING I HAVE SEEN EVAR!!!!


and i am totally with you on the <3 for Topher - and he's not "evil" - i would call him a weird sort of chaotic-neutral - he doesn't care about most things [including ethics] one way or the other; the only reason he cares about Echo, Sierra and Victor is because their various plights have somehow broken thru his "i'm the only REAL person in the world" mindset - almost definately this happened because of "Dr." Clair Saunders - he had a bit of a lust for Whiskey, and programmed the new Dr. Saunders to HATE him because otherwise he would have programmed her to *want* him, and no i don't know why or how he find the ethical fortitude to stop himself from that...
but yeah. NOT Evil, just... focuses :D


i LOVED the whole "So we're even" hopeful Bennet reaction to Topher saying "i hacked your computer, you programed your guy to kill my gal".
the whole interaction between them is SOOOOOO SWEET!!!
and i think, before the cancelation and the having to rush things, Topher was going to end up being what Bennet needed to "get over" her case of crazy induced by "Caroline" abandoning her [and if we don't get the full back story there i will go NUTS]


anyway, i'm filling up your comments page, sorry - i just love Dollhouse SO MUCH [OMG poor Melly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]

AND VICTOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! he's just flat out fucking amazing.

[denelian.livejournal.com]

not girlfriend. she was programmed to be his "buddy", and i think the program was supposed to be based on an actual person who used to be Topher's best bud.

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

The actress who plays Sierra is quite pretty, but way too skinny for my tastes - (typical of a Whedon cast)...

And yeah... could be Ballard's just poorly written - he is - there are some clear strengths and flaws with this show.

[weaver42.livejournal.com]

Dollhouse is kind of a shame. First half of first season, mehh. Second half, awesome. They found their groove and went with it.

And then the second season opens, and it's the same pattern all over again.

They squandered a really great rallying effort from last year, I think.

Alas.

Joss Whedon needs to revolutionize Internet media and stop dicking around with TV, I think.

-- c.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Agreed on all points. And why didn't Joss realize that he had started something with Dr. Horrible? THAT'S WHERE YOUR FUTURE LIES, SIR.

Bah. I'm tired of Joss reeling me in (every freaking show of his, every single one!!) and then the networks yoinking it away. Oh, Firefly, you died too soon.

[ruthless1.livejournal.com]

I did my own poking around (okay - I went to IMDB for chrissakes! I admit it) and it seems he made a little porn movie EVERY FIFTEEN MINUTES!!! Jaysus! Now I just have to get my mitts on one. Purely for research purposes of course.

Dollhouse/Boyd

[piperyoung.livejournal.com]

Is anyone else *really* missing Boyd this season, in particular the father/daughter Buffy/Giles relationship that was so central last season? All we get now is 2 seconds of Boyd, if we are lucky. Shouldnt he & Ballard have a lot to talk about in their mixed feelings about the Dollhouse? I cant help but feel like they really dropped the ball. I love Miracle Laurie and Enver Gjokaj, but just as Giles was always my favorite SScooby and season 6/7 of BtVS really suffered without him, much is the same with Dollhouse.

[tyger-raven.livejournal.com]

I'm probably one of the few Eliza fans in the world, but I admit that she wasn't the strongest on Dollhouse. I agree that it's characters/actors like Victor, Sienna and Dr. Saunders that made this show great. And, I don't know why I didn't think of it before, but Amy Ackers was BORN to play Echo. I defy anyone to watch Fred turning into Illyria on Angel and then tell me that Amy Ackers can't act. She was terribly, terribly wasted on this show, and then she was gone! :-(

What eventually ruins this show for me is that we have TOO MANY evil characters on this show. It used to be more about Doyle's being on the fence and Ballard wanting to bring down the 'house against the evil that is Topher, Adele and Dominic, plus the random evil guy of the episode. Then Ballard pulls a 180 and joins the 'house. Now, I'm mostly rooting for the dolls to wake up and put the serious hurt on some really bad people. Doyle does NOTHING this season, and sorry, but I'm so over Topher's shades of gray that I only hope he gets his in the end. Oh, and what the fever happened to his assisstant? I thought for sure she was going to be an important part of taking the 'house down.

How many eps do we have left? There's so much that needs to be wrapped up that I'm afraid we're going to have to wait fifty years for the Dollhouse Feature Film to give us any closure, and knowing how incredibly slow Whedon is these days, it's bound to take at least 50 years!