Similarities to Dollhouse

[nymusix]

Hey all,

I've been watching the (2009?) series, Dollhouse, from Joss Whedon. It was that short lived one starring that generally meh actress from Buffy, Eliza Dushku...

Well, first of all, I thought I'd recommend the show on a whole. It starts out pretty slow but it really picks up a lot of steam as it goes and goes some really interesting places, both in terms of mythology, as well as the sort of philosophical exploration of things like identity that it does.

But the real reason I bring it up is that while watching it, I got to realizing that it really sort of tickles me in the same place as Orphan Black. There's a lot of obvious similarities - they're both female-starring futuristic scifi shows with interesting questions about identity and morality; but beyond that I think there's some interesting similarity in tone and style, and I can't help but notice the similarities between the two. Additionally, season 2 of Dollhouse starts to do some really interesting things as far as asking the actors to be really quite versatile in much the same way that Tatiana Maslany is asked to do on Orphan Black (albeit nowhere near as good), which I found to be quite interesting.

So, for those of you who want something to tide you over until Orphan Black season 2, I would recommend Dollhouse. As I mentioned, the first 6 or 7 episodes aren't the best, but it really does improve as it goes along.

[cko]

Interesting connections! I too thought of Dollhouse when I saw Orphan Black, for the reasons you mention, but except for a few flashes here and there (mostly involving Reed Diamond, yeah), I never really came around to liking the show. I did try, but it all seemed so cold-ish. Orphan Black has so much more personality.

[Kara]

I loved Dollhouse too.  Its biggest weakness was Dushku.  Every time I watch OB, I think of how much better DH could have been w/ Tatiana in the lead roll.  I also fantasize about having Enver Gjokaj playing male clones on OB.  He is the only other actor I have seen able to completely embody different roles to the point where you forget it is the same actor.  Those to could do show where they are the only actors, playing all of the rolls, and it would be fantastic.

[Grammaeryn]

I see absolutely not connection between the two shows besides having a brunette female lead.  In my opinion, Orphan Black is better.  Thanks to Tatiana and the show-runners having a clear direction.  I know Dollhouse had a lot of network interference issues so that muddied the overarching story.  Orphan Black is about clones played by one actress.  Dollhouse is about programmable humans played by the same character.

[Brn2bwild]

I thought of Dollhouse, too!  Though an even closer comparison might be The United States of Tara -- I thought Tony Colette was good on that show, but her characters seemed more like caricatures, whereas TM's seem like actual people.

[Sesquipedalia]

I watched all of Dollhouse, so I liked it well enough, and they do have similar themes, but to me Orphan Black is way better. In addition to having a superior lead actor, OB also has more consistency with the characters. One of the big weaknesses of DH was the whole premise: the main character was an empty shell who took on a different persona and was sent out on a new mission each week. Therefore, every episode featured a new cast of characters, so it was hard to get invested in anyone except the bad guys and other peripheral characters who appeared consistently. If Whedon had had the freedom to build the mythology from the beginning, instead of creating so many stand-alone episodes, DH would have been a lot more like OB and probably a lot better.

[Valse]

I loved Dollhouse too.  Its biggest weakness was Dushku.  Every time I watch OB, I think of how much better DH could have been w/ Tatiana in the lead roll.  I also fantasize about having Enver Gjokaj playing male clones on OB.  He is the only other actor I have seen able to completely embody different roles to the point where you forget it is the same actor.  Those to could do show where they are the only actors, playing all of the rolls, and it would be fantastic.

 

YES. I would love to see Enver Gjokaj playing clones, too! He was one of my favorite things about that show. If he were Canadian or lived in Toronto, I bet we'd be seeing him on OB...

[Reishe]

If Whedon had had the freedom to build the mythology from the beginning, instead of creating so many stand-alone episodes, DH would have been a lot more like OB and probably a lot better.

 

From everything I've heard Joss say about DH after the fact, including this interview, his vision was to have DH focus on the clients and the dolls, the client-of-the-week stuff. He said that what he calls the "espionage"--the plotline about plotting and corporate evil and the struggle of the dolls with self-awareness" was what the network forced him more and more to do. I don't think I would have liked the show as he envisioned it, honestly. Not a biggie--different strokes and all. But a lot of the fandom (the ones on Televisionwithoutpity, anyway), seemed to like the direction the show took once he went in the direction the networks were pressuring for.

 

[arcadia63]

I "Echo"  (LOL) everyone here re: Enver, from the first ep OB I've wanted him to play clones. As mentioned above, he's the only one i can see going toe to toe with Tat.  His "KiKi" personality and the dreamy lover of the head chick one are my faves. The other things I've seen in make me said because I see how he's wasted.  I love him on Agent Carter, but he's capable of so much more. Who can we petition? Surely the EP's are aware of him.  I feel like making one of those demo reels to show them.