Joss Whedon explains the reasoning behind shooting another episode for Dollhouse, which will become the pilot, and the original pilot will now be episode 2. This suggests that Amy may have a larger part in the pilot after all. Read on for the details straight from the horses’ mouth!

Welcome (back) to the Dollhouse. A New Pilot? A New Hope? A Prequel? A Nyquil? What’s the skinny on DOLLHOUSE and why doesn’t this link to anything?

Hi guys. Well, it’s been an eventful week. While all of you have been enjoying (and in some cases, suddenly NOT enjoying) our adorable little musical romp “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” (exclusively available on iTunes!) (And I lied about some people not enjoying it!) I’ve been busying myself with a little something I like to call DOLLHOUSE. Finishing a new episode. Finishing a new… here’s the headline… FIRST episode.

What’s that, you say? A second first? How can such a thing be? Does it defy the laws of all physics? Well, I sat down with Rutherford D. Actualperson to do a quick Q&A and give you all the skinny on the progress of my new series (Available on iTunes at some point one would assume!)

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Another little snippet from Joss Whedon about Amy in the upcoming series Dollhouse.

Whedon once swore off doing another show on FOX after “Firefly,” but come January, he’ll return to the network with “Dollhouse,” which has several Buffyverse alumni in its cast and crew, most notably Eliza Dushku as the show’s star, Amy Acker (Fred on “Angel”) as a recurring character, and Steven DeKnight (as a writer). “I tried not to make “Dollhouse” a family reunion,” Whedon said, “but I reluctantly read Amy, I realized I was the biggest idiot alive. I mean, how can I not have them come back? Have you seen them act?”

Source: MTV.com

The Futon Critic has posted a ‘first look’ at the pilots that didn’t make the cut as well as upcoming series Dollhouse. It confirms that while Amy isn’t in the pilot, as previously suspected, she IS in episode 2. It also looks like that Amy’s character has a nickname; I’m intrigued. A small extract is posted below; view the article in full (opens in a new window) but be aware of minor/major spoilers, depending on how you feel!

What did they leave out: Two recurring characters will join the fun in episode two - Dr. Claire “The Phantom” Saunders (Amy Acker), the Dolls’ mysterious physician (who’s glimpsed but not actually seen in the pilot, at least according to the script); and November (Miracle Laurie), a follow Doll who specializes in personal assignments rather than criminal ones.

There’s another lovely interview with Mr. Whedon about Dollhouse; below is a snippet about Amy’s character — it sounds like a fantastic role! — and you can read the article in full at IGN (opens in a new window.)

Question: Can you talk about Amy Acker’s character?

Whedon: Amy plays Dr. Claire Saunders. She works in the Dollhouse and she’s a very moral force and she’s very, very, very broken. She’s scarred. Something happened – she’s literally scarred. Something happened at the dollhouse awhile back and she was scarred and she just sort of lives there and her whole mission in life is to take care of them. Topher, the programmer, he programs them and has a very amoral kind of point of view, and she’s sort of his counterpoint.

Time for another news round-up! Exciting news so be sure to take a moment to read.

• The launch of Dollhouse has been confirmed to be mid-January; Mondays at 8pm. It will act as a lead in to 24, which will start it’s seventh season.

• The episode order has been increased from 7 to 13, but there is also room for expansion to 22 episodes if required.

• As previously mentioned, because of the fewer ad breaks each episode will now run for 50 minutes, as opposed to the usual 42 minutes.

• And finally, Canadian network CanWest has picked up the show and will be airing a similar slot to the US. The second pickup so far is Australia.

If you live outside the US, now is the time to let broadcasters know that you want them to air Dollhouse! They start visiting the LA Screenings shortly, which is where they make programme purchases.

Source: Dollverse

FOX has announced that they will be airing the new series with fewer commercial breaks; read on for the details.

Fox is shaking up the commercial TV model with “Remote-Free TV.”

At its upfront presentation Thursday, the network announced it will air two new drama series, J.J. Abrams’ Fringe and Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse, with dramatically reduced commercial breaks.

“It’s a simple concept and potentially revolutionary,” Fox Entertainment chairman Peter Liguori said. “We’re going to have less commercials, less promotional time, and less reason for viewers to use the remote. We’re going to redefine the viewing experience.”

Both shows would have network commercial loads of about five minutes per hour, about half the usual. The commercial pods would also be shorter and they would have about half the promo load as well.

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Unfortunately, Amy isn’t featured in the trailer either, which makes me wonder if she is featured in the pilot or not. Only time will tell, with the release of new episode stills, as we get closer to the launch date. However, read on for the trailer itself and some previews of the 100+ screencaptures available in the gallery at Eliza Fan. Enjoy!

Thanks to the ever wonderful Dollverse for posting the trailer; related quote is below, and click on the link (opens in a new window) to view the trailer!

Glen Kasper, principal of Storm Studios, said “Joss has always been known to create intriguing, very detailed stories and worlds, so it was a challenging assignment to get all the layers and intricacies of the story into a 3 minute trailer”. STORM was cutting the trailer simultaneously as the pilot was being shot, so FOX could get the sneak of DOLLHOUSE out in time for it’s yearly upfront meeting in New York.