It was announced over the weekend that the thirteenth filmed episode of Dollhouse would not air on US TV (read that story here). The blogosphere predictably jumped on this as a clear sign that the series was bound for cancellation. That's not, according to official word, actually true - at least yet. However, I'm sad to say that I wish it were true, which is something I never thought I'd think about a Joss Whedon project.

Whedon has never had overwhelming success with any of his projects. Buffy has an enormous following but it was ignored by all awards bodies and had to shift networks during its run. Angel was a slow starter and was staked just when it began to get really good. Firefly didn't even make it through one season, and the film it spawned, Serenity, played well to fans but left the wider world untouched. But Dollhouse is the only Whedon series that has, for my money, outstayed its welcome.

Its chief problem is that it doesn't have the hook of Whedon's previous work. Buffy was 'Cheerleader fights vampires'; Angel was 'Vampire finds soul/fights crime'; Firefly was 'cowboys in space'. They all grab you straight away. Does 'Girl with wiped personality who works for shady organisation that gives her a new identity according to client's needs starts to remember her past life' really have the same immediacy? It's too loose. What's worse is that the show hasn't found a way to make that clumsy-but-potentially-meaty set-up compelling. Giving Eliza Dushku a different identity each week means the show's only as good as the mask she's wearing that episode. Dushku is not the rangiest of actresses - she's very good at kicking people and giving the impression she might cut you - which means episodes veer from her being tough and cool (the one that nicked its plot from The Bodyguard) to seeming faintly ridiculous (the pilot). Add to that the fact that her character's default setting is necessarily a complete blank and you have a very difficult lead to invest in. I don't care what her past holds because her present isn't particularly interesting. I find it difficult to care about her full-stop. That's not a great thing when there is nobody especially memorable in the supporting cast.

The thing that really made me unhappily decide not to watch beyond the sixth episode was the dialogue. Oh my word, the DIALOGUE. If there's one thing Whedon't always got right - and there is not just one, there are ever so many - it's snappy banter. I get that he might be trying to move on from the snarky-silly tone that is his trademark. It makes sense that he might want to test his capabilities. But there's barely been a memorable line yet. It clunks when it should crackle. That's just all wrong in the Whedonverse.

So please, either someone re-tool this show significantly before (the possible) season 2 or just let it die quietly. I LOVE Joss Whedon, but this doesn't feel like real Whedon. It feels like Whedon trying to give the networks what they want to keep his show from getting cancelled, which ironically has made it far less deserving of rescue.

Olly Richards