Save Dollhouse! Then Cancel It!

Agreed. I think this would have worked best as a British-style limited series, with a run of say 10 episodes or so. In and out, with a taut, serialized plot rather than a mishmash of self-contained stories and an overarching mythology that took 6 or so episodes to kick in.

The material in Dollhouse isn't new ground: many a sci-fi story has been written about technologies similar to this and the possible consequences: immortality, duplication of people, forced memory/personality changes, even the questioning of the existence of the soul all follow immediately.
What I find interesting about Dollhouse (even if it took a while to get there) is that it sugarcoats nothing in relaying these ideas: Sierra's slavery, Ballard's forced romance, the management's sampling of the merchandise, etc. are all shown in the horrid light of reality.
And rather than the storytelling Achilles heel, the lack of Doll personalities is purposeful - the show is only giving us management to relate to, and then calling we the audience on it when we do (familiarity is the first step on the road to the hell of acceptance).
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On the other hand, I completely disagree with you on one thing: Fox is exactly the network that should be experimenting with fixed duration runs. As long as 24 (at least one more year) and AI (who knows how many years) are on the schedule, Fox always has three "extra" hours to schedule in Fall vs. Spring. If Fox has any hits in their new Fall lineup, all that really means is the immediate cancellation (or Friday banishment) of either Lie to Me and/or Bones in the Spring.
Rather than killing off up to three shows a year in the Spring, Fox should be experimenting with more fixed duration shows in the Fall (although hopefully Fox gets one long term hit to put Lie to Me to an early death, as its ratings are falling off a cliff).

This was probably my favorite episode so far. So freaking dark. It might be the saddest, stomach churning show on TV right now. Almost all of the characters are completely twisted.
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I see what you mean about how it could be tighter packed in a mini-series, but then we would lose episodes like this week's. I think Haunted showed that a Dollhouse one-off can still be completely entertaining even without advancing the main story arch.

I think there is (or at least was) a part of Fox mgmt that could handle limited-run. Prison Break was originally a shortened season, and it's mid-season ending was going to be great. But then Fox caved-in to the success and extended the season in a horrible, oops-they-almost-got-out-but-didn't-quite-make-it manner.

I agree, this would be a great British-style limited series. I kind of feel the same about Fringe. Although Fringe has a lot more going on, it's dragging a bit at getting to the meat of what connects all these Pattern events.

[...] tenga suerte y ojalá no cancelen Dollhouse…pero por favor que aumente el nivel de este y futuras [...]

I run a Dollhouse fan podcast and I've been following the show extremely closely. In all honesty, another 9-12 episodes to wrap up the series might not be such a bad idea. I've always felt the Brits handled TV the best.

However, I feel I should correct you when you say that Whedon needs to learn that cable is better suited for his creative visions. Dollhouse was created specifically for FOX because Eliza Dushku had just signed a contract with them. She asked Joss to create a show for her.

I'm with Rorshach - I'm enjoying the show and don't 'get' the primary criticisms that folks keep leveling at the show (nobody to relate to, not well-suited for a long-term series, Dushku's acting, whine, whine, whine, etc). I think that the show is finding a good balance between the stories of the week and the mythology, and I really liked the interesting implications of this new iteration of the technology. I thought that Dushku did a fine job, also, BTW. This show has a lot of layers, and although it isn't heavy-handed with the moralizing its very feminist, very meta, and very deep. I've really loved this first season, I think that it started off a bit clunky and is still having some growing pains, but it has hit its stride and I feel like its just getting started. It has tons of promise as a series, partly because of the strong cast but also because of how many different ways I could see the story going.

There is a reason that we moved into a story driven episode this week. The final two episodes are due up and we just had a crackerjack last week. That's 3 plot driven episodes out of four. So shut up. For the love of quality broadcasting, shut up. Joss has already pitched to FOX the bare bones for 5 seasons. This show has more scope than any that I have ever watched. MINISERIES??? Is this even a real website. Come on now. It is not a show about feminism, the men are just as much the victims here. This show is so much more than what it appears on the surface. I shouldn't have to convince anyone. Joss make your show. If it's cancelled because people don't get it so be it. Those of us capable of appreciating art thank you kindly.

Check your dictionary, conkerlegs. Feminism is about achieving equality between the sexes, not putting any sex over the other.

Why do you assume that shorter = worse? I think that it was unwise to use the word "cancel" with respect to this proposal, since that implies a certain unplanned and/or unwilling termination. A planned end could mean the difference between fading in mediocrity or ending in brilliance.

[...] to ponder: Should “Dollhouse” return as a limited-run series? Poniewozik proposed that here and I think it’s a good suggestion. (To keep track of fan efforts to keep the low-rated show [...]