Mixing Metaphors

Today’s HijiNKS Ensue brought to you buy Cmd+C/Cmd+V Comics.
That’s Cmd+C/Cmd+V Comics, when your comic absolutely, positively has to be posted 12 hours late!

[having dinner with the family then posting more… but the thing you need to understand is that Alan Tudyk KICKED AMAZING SHINY AMOUNTS OF ASS in his guest roll on “Dollhouse,” thus ensuring my undying love for the series and it’s emanent demise.]

And just like bacon bits, Alan Tudyk somehow enhances the performances (flavors) of all those around him while simultaneously stealing the show. I don’t want to spoil the most recent episode of “Dollhouse” for those that haven’t seen it yet, but I will say that Joss couldn’t have picked a better actor (than Alan) for the part.

Not only is Tudyk an amazing TV actor, but he is also a fantastic song and dance man. When I saw “Spamalot” on Broadway, I was a little pissed that Hank Azaria was absent from the cast. That is until I learned that his replacement was my favorite Hawaiian shirt wearing space pilot. WashAlan took over the roll of Lancelot (who liked to dance a lot) and (all together now) HE STOLE THE EFFING SHOW.

We met him briefly after the show and I managed to utter something like, “…uhhhh….we….brown coat…. love….[throw up].” Upon hearing the “B” word his face changed from the “Im smiling because people are taking lots of pictures of my head” smile to a more somber and heartfelt visage that said, “you and I have both experienced love and loss. We are kindred souls, forever bound in a brotherhood of space piracy and plastic dinosaurs. Would you like to come to my house and play Apples To Apples?”  He said all of that with a look, but his mouth said something like “oh, hey man. thanks.” Also he went to high school like 15 miles from here, so that practically makes us BFF’s.

Tudyk’s appearance on “Dollhouse” was important for two reasons. A) He just kicked so much ass, and B) It signified the show finally getting to the meat of it’s primary story arch. The same meat that was missing entirely from the first 5 episodes. NOW this is a show that I really want to see play out… also, it’s totally cancelled. [even though Dushku says it’s not cancelled “yet”]

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36 Comments

  4. I think I have to say that my favorite HE comics are the ones with two characters just conversing–the humor is so subtle.

    And yes, Joel's progressively more disgusted expressions are excellent.

  5. I think we should for a picket line outside of FOX headquarters Holding the Slogan Cancel what you want to keep, and Keep what you want to cancel,… oh and Spinoffs from Comedies Suck!

  8. I sincerely hope that Dollhouse is renewed because when it's having a good day, it's been exceptional. The problem, as usual, has always been with FOX's meddling and after the first 5 wasted episodes (which ranged from non-event to dire) there was simply no room for more poor episodes (like 7 and 8) in a 12 episode run.

    As a result I don't think we've had enough good Dollhouse to warrant a renewal, even though we can see the huge potential it has.

    Let's hope Joss finally learns his lesson and steers clear of FOX for all future projects. They evidentally have it in for him – FOX just handed Fringe to JJ without any meddling, but Joss is just as competent and creative yet they insist on hand-holding and dicking about.

    • If episodes 1-5 were bad, and episodes 7-8 were bad, leaving only 5 other episodes, of which 6 was nothing special either, then isn't it more likely the show is just a Bad Show and that Joss misfired this time out?

    • YES. He was the best thing in it! Though I wonder will he be re-cast for the rumoured US(eless) remake.

      -D

      • It would be great if they kept him. It would be even better if they didn't remake it at all. I'm pretty sure it won't translate well into American humor.

  11. I love Alan Tudyk too but apparently he has a terrible work ethic. I remember sitting through audio commentary for all thirteen episodes of Firefly and hearing time and time again that he either overslept or showed up late or forgot to memorize his lines, etc. I hope he doesn’t sink the boat is what I’m saying.

  12. This time, I don't think we can't blame Fox for the failure of Dollhouse. The show had a fatally-flawed premise, too many badly-written episodes with obvious plot developments, and a vacant hole where you should have had a lead actress with an emotional centre. Failing that, Ballard should have been our moral centre, but comes across as a Major Jerk.

    Top it off with unlikeable characters and a icky, anti-woman vibe, (our heroines are basically being offered up for sexual and / or physical abuse with each assignment), and it's easy to turn it off. Especially after the much-hyped sixth episode basically turned out to expect us to be wowed by a Bog-Standard International Evil Corporation Conspiracy, (are there any benevolent ones in Sci-Fi?), and the yawn-worthy revelation of a character as a Doll, whose only reason to be in the show from her first appearance was to be later revealed as a Doll.

    Fox didn't create the premise and characters and suggest the episode plots.

    • I really don't understand where people get the anti-woman vibe from. Other than a throwaway shot of Echo returning from a Dominatrix assignment (and therefore she's fully in control) , I don't recall seeing any of our heroines being sent out on sexually abusive assignments. Yes, episode 1 had Echo involved in a three-day companionship assignment that ultimately involved sex, but it was hardly any different than any "normal" person losing themselves to a whirlwind romance – remember that before she was wiped she had fallen for him and had every intention of returning to him.

      Compare that to Victor and his repeated Lonely Hearts assignments – if there's any direct prostitution going on we've only seen it with a male Doll.

      "Offered up for physical abuse"? Since when? The actions in episode 2 came about because of a failing in the Dollhouse – that was the entire point of the episode. Any other time we've seen physicality involving a Doll it's usually been part of the deal and therefore they've been programmed to deal with it.

      At the end of the day, if you're getting bad vibes from the Dollhouse's operations then that's the entire point – they're not doing all this for fluffy reasons.

      I can fully understand your opinions being based on disappointment for the show and as a result you're perhaps not paying as much attention, but if your comments are indicative of your full opinion I fear you've missed many, many things.

      Yes, OK, the big twist in episodes 6 was yet-another faceless global mega-corp conspiracy, but so what? JJ Abrams seems to make a living rehashing that same premise with every new show, but nobody seems to complain (and rightly so – Fringe is fantastic).

      I'm not saying that FOX is entirely to blame for Dollhouse's woes. As I said, I felt episodes 7 and 8 were weak (certainly 7 stopped me caring about the main damn character) which comes from when, apparently, Joss took the reigns back from FOX – which isn't a good thing, but when it's good it's very good and the simple fact is FOX has never given Dollhouse proper support to allow it to find its feet. OK, they did have faith in letting him build that huge set and commissioned the show without a pilot, but did that faith translate into marketing, public awareness and a half-decent timeslot?

  13. IMO no.

    Episode 6 was sensational, 9 made the entire show and its direction very clear, 10 opened up big cans of technological and ethical worms and 11 kicked in that last piece of the puzzle.

    If anything's really killed it for me it was getting some backstory on Caroline in episode 7 – getting an idea of who she was put me off her so much I no longer care about Caroline and don't want Echo to be undone. By extension I want Ballard's motivations to be bringing down the Dollhouse its own reason, not to save Caroline.

    But there is enough going on with Ballard's inside "man", the increasingly human Adelle de Witt, the organisation as a whole and Alpha's motivations and backstory to keep me interested even if Caroline has pissed me off.

    The show was never fully about her anyway.

    • I know a guy who's couch he slept on (seriously). same guy who's house they filmed Dr. Horrible in. HE is NPH's BFF.

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