The news spread through the Internets late yesterday that Fox has decided enough is enough and has officially canceled Joss Whedon’s ratings-challenged show Dollhouse. This seems to be the week for cancellations, actually, as ABC also mercifully axed Eastwick and Hank.

Sadly, the cancellation of Dollhouse really should not come as a surprise given the show’s poor ratings performance this season. As others have speculated around The Flickcast offices, we have to wonder if viewers stayed away this season because they didn’t want to get involved with a show they knew was probably going to get canceled. Whedon fans are somewhat gun-shy after the way Fox treated Firefly — although at least the network gave Dollhouse a second season pickup, which Firefly never had.

Still, any time a show with this kind of devoted fan base is canceled, people are going to be upset. Fortunately, it seems Fox will air the whole 13 episodes made for this season, which is something that most other shows never get to do. Although, having watched the de facto series finale “Epitaph One,” I wonder what Joss and company will end up doing to wrap everything up.

Who knows, maybe they won’t completely and we’ll see Echo and the rest of the Dollhouse gang grace the pages of their own comic sometime in the future?

That Joss Whedon is a funny guy and one heck of a writer. His shows, including Firefly, Buffy, Angel and Dollhouse, are among the most favored by fans and, of course, we love his work here at The Flickcast. Now, with the Terminator franchise apparently up for sale (again) Whedon has made a modest proposal of his own to buy the entire thing in an open letter to those selling the franchise.

Among the items covered in this open letter are how much he offers for the franchise and what he would do with it if he got it. Its a funny and, in some cases, inspirational attempt at humor from a man who knows how to bring the funny.

Although, maybe he’s serious and thinks he would do a good job with the franchise? And, thinking about it a bit more myself, I think he would do a great job with Terminator also. Interesting thoughts indeed.

Take a look at the full text of the letter after the jump, courtesy of the fine folks at Whedonesque. Once you read it, give us your thoughts on the idea.

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Well, cut me open and splay my innards. This episode was awesome. Written by Joss Whedon’s little brother Jed and his wife Maurissa Tancharoen, this episode Topher develops morals and Sierra kills a client. Also, this episode was directed by Jonathan Frakes (of Star Trek The Next Generation) making it all around awesome.

The last time I recapped Dollhouse, I was pretty harsh saying the show has to give me something worth saving it for. Now I can say that for episodes like this one, its worth saving this show for more of this kind of stuff.

We open on Sierra displaying some of her art on the beach, when Dr. Nolan Kinnard (Vincent Ventresca) comes up to her and asks her out. Flash forward to a gallery showing of Sierra/Priya’s work. Priya wants to leave with Victor who has been imbued with the consciousness of an Italian Art Dealer.  Within minutes Dr. Nolan gets a little possessive and uppity demanding that Priya stay, harsh words are exchanged and Priya leaves.  Flash forward to the next year where Kinnard is seeing Sierra again, and I’m like: “Wait. There are no repeat engagements.”

Apparently Kinnard is a VIP, and is allowed multiple reservations. During a kindergarten class Sierra draws a black blotch on her drawing saying the black blotch is the “bad man” to Echo (Eliza Dushku).  Echo brings this to Topher so Topher investigates by talking to Boyd (Harry Lennix) about Sierra’s last engagement.  Its revealed that Kinnard is a doctor at a psychotic facility, and that Topher brought Sierra in from.

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You can’t always put stock in what people say on Twitter. Sometimes, people just like to say stuff that isn’t true just to get attention or boost their number of “followers.” However, when someone who is supposedly “in the know” like us or Entertainment Weekly’s Michael Ausielo tweets something, people tend to listen and take it seriously. And given his reputation and insider knowledge, they should.

Case in point is Ausiello’s Twitter post from last night saying that he is hearing from sources that Fox will put episodes of Dollhouse on hold during the important November sweeps and then bring the show back after and air back to back episodes. Here’s what he said exactly:

“Exclusive: Hearing FOX will bench DOLLHOUSE for November sweeps and air back-to-back eps on Friday night in December.”

If true, it isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Maybe Fox wants to keep the show alive and so is actually doing it a favor by not having it air during sweeps so its less-than-stellar ratings won’t be a factor? Or, maybe Ausiello’s source simply got it wrong? To be honest, I hope its Fox actually trying to do a good thing and still give the show some kind of chance. Although, as much as I might want that to be the truth, I sure won’t hold my breath for it.

This past weekend at Big Apple Comic Con, we got a chance to talk to Dollhouse’s Miracle Laurie about her role in the show, and where things may be headed. Last season, her character November went through quite a transformation, and was left this season “released” by the Dollhouse.

Miracle went from a little-known actress to a resident in the Whedonverse practically overnight. She also mentions in the interview how she was originally up for a role on Firefly a few years back.

We were able to talk about most things Doll‘, including where her character will be going this season now that she’s “free”, her thoughts on working with mastermind Joss Whedon, and even some about her Ukulele cover band, “Uke Box Hero”.

Check out the full interview after the jump. Be sure to keep it here for some more great Big Apple Con interviews with other cast members of shows like Battlestar Galactica, Caprica, and more!

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Fan favorite, Joss Whedon’s TV show Dollhouse, is kind of like going back for a third date with someone you know can’t get it up. This week’s episode, “Belle Chose”, has the plot of a porno. Echo (Eliza Dushku) takes the implant to be an English student, and is contracted by a lonely English teacher. Yet another Battlestar Galactica alumni Michael Hogan (Colonel Tigh) guest stars on this episode and he has issues with Adelle DeWitt (Olivia Williams), the woman who runs this particular Dollhouse.

She informs Tigh that his nephew is a serial killer who kidnaps people that look similar to their family. He’s a dangerous guy, having smashed a woman’s skull with a croquet malet at the beginning of the episode. After the bludgeoning, Serial Killer gets hit by a car trying to kidnap another woman to replace the woman he just killed.

This puts him in a coma, and Tigh hires the Dollhouse to reconstitute his consciousness in an Active — which they do in Victor. He eventually tells Tahmoh Penikett how he (the Serial Killer) did it. Though Tigh releases him, and Victor escapes him on foot. Its at this point that Xander, I mean Topher, gets the idea to do a remote wipe of all the actives so that Victor doesn’t get all serial killer on someone.

This works, but Echo and Victor’s personalities exchange and Victor becomes a 19 year-old co-ed at a dance club, and Echo becomes the serial killer. Eventually, she flips out among the kidnapped women, and as she loses control of her multiple personalities she manages to hold back the Serial Killer until her Handler (Penikett) comes to the rescue.

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I find it somewhat surprising that as successful as NBC‘s Thursday night lineup can be (how many Emmy’s has 30 Rock won?) the network continues to struggle. In what seems like a perpetual fourth place position, NBC is constantly trying to drum up ratings. This year is no exception and only a month or so into the new season we’re staring to see television schedules being  juggled.

In light of this, Entertainment Weekly’s Michael Ausiello is reporting that NBC may bring back Chuck earlier then anticipated:

“As early as late October, my moles tell me. And while it remains unclear whether the little show that could (and has and shall again) would return to its Monday timeslot or find itself a new perch, NBC insiders who’ve seen the first four episodes are calling this season the best yet.”

Originally Chuck was slated to return in March. The show was set to pickup the timeslot Heroes held on Mondays once that show concluded its shorter season. While this early return is good for Chuck, the same may not be said for Heroes.

The struggling super hero drama continues to slip in ratings. This week’s episode gained just over 5 million live viewers. Bad news considering it ended last season holding around 8 million until the finale. Granted, once you factor in DVR numbers, Heroes may fair better, but even then the show just isn’t gaining as much traction this season.

Chuck’s rumored October return combined with the sudden cancellation of Southland makes me wonder if NBC is looking to make even more radical changes. If Chuck takes over the Monday night timeslot what will that mean for Heroes? Will it be bumped to another night or from the schedule completely? At this point, anything seems possible and it may be in Heroes‘ fans best interest to start a “Save Heroes” website just like the one for Dollhouse.

It should come as no surprise that fans of Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse have, due to the show’s sagging ratings, already started a “Save Dollhouse” campaign. Complete with a shiny website, the plan is to keep the low rated show going strong on Fox for as long as possible by spreading the love and making people aware of the show and how good it is.

Of course, we’re big fans of the show here at The Flickcast and hope it goes on for a long time. However, in the past these campaigns have rarely seemed to work, with some notable exceptions like when fans sent pounds of nuts to CBS in an attempt to save Jericho. Sadly, most of the time these decisions are driven by pure economics. Is the time slot on the network making enough advertising money for the network to justify having that particular program occupy that time slot?

If the answer is yes, the program most likely can stay where it is. If the answer is no and reruns of some other show or a thrilling reality program would be more profitable in that time slot, chances are your favorite show is gonna get the axe — even if the network honchos happen to like the show and/or its creators. Like the old saying goes: “It’s not show friends, its show business.” Hopefully, this campaign will help save one of our favorite shows. Do your part and help spread the word.

This week on The Flickcast, Chris and Matt have to go it alone again. They take on a bunch of new, and returning, topics including Fantastic Fest in Austin, new television shows including Cougar Town, Community, FlashForward and returning shows like The Big Bang Theory, Lost, Fringe and Dollhouse.

In addition, they discuss Ryan Reynolds confirmation of his appearance in Green Lantern and Deadpool, the career of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Billy Crystal’s recent projects, Megan Fox on Saturday Night Live, Transformers 3, the A-Team reboot, and much more.

Plus, Chris and Matt make some great picks this week including Matt’s pick of the indie comic The Stuff of Legend and Chris’ pick of Scott Sigler’s sci-fi/horror novel Infected.

As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques or offers of sponsorship, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter and at Facebook, MySpace or via email.

Thanks for listening.

This week on The Flickcast, Chris and Matt go it alone with Chris on location in Austin, Texas for the Fantastic Fest film festival. Among the topics the duo cover this week are Fantastic Fest in Austin, the new A Nightmare on Elm Street trailer, Corey Feldman returning for Lost Boys 3, the elements that make a horror film, Zombieland, Gentlemen Broncos, the future of 3-D, the potential Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles DVD movie, the new Predators movie potentially begin in 3-D and much more.

Plus, Chris and Matt make some great picks this week including Matt’s pick of the Freddy’s Nightmares TV series and Chris’ pick of Michael J. Bassett’s as-yet unreleased film Solomon Kane.

As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques or offers of sponsorship, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter and at Facebook, MySpace or via email.

Thanks for listening.

If you’ve been a fan of Joss Whedon and his various creations such as Firefly, Angel, Dollhouse and Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, you’re most likely aware that several of these creations have lived on in comic book form after their untimely demise on television. One of the ost popular of these comic book continuations is Buffy: Season Eight, Exec. Produced and occasionally written by Whedon and published by Dark Horse Comics.

With Season Eight scheduled to conclude its run with issue 40, fans are growing concerned that this could be the end of Buffy in comic form. Well don’t worry because Whedon has got you covered. In a recent interview, the creator assured fans of Buffy comics everywhere that he will, indeed, be doing a Season Nine. Although, it might not run quite as long as Season Eight.

“I have had for a long time a conception for Season Nine that is very different from Season Eight,” said Whedon. “It may not run as long, because 40 issues sounds great until you realize that it’s four or five years.” Feel better? Good.

Buffy Season Eight is is comic book stores now.

This summer’s big tv shows are coming to a close, and while you’re freaking out over the ending of True Blood and considering the last, somber few minutes of Hung, a more pressing question emerges… what will you watch next?

Well, have no fear, because The Flickcast is here to help you with all the buzz-worthy shows that you’ll need to catch this month. Since September is normally the big season premier month, we’ve decided to remind you of some of the shows, both old and new, you just can’t live without.

Get ready to set those TiVo’s!

The Office — Premiers September 17th, 9/8c on NBC

Last season on The Office left Michael without Holly, Dwight without Angela and Jim and Pam with a little one on the way. Now starting its sixth season, audiences are definitely ready to be back at work at Dunder Mifflin. Expect The Office to be turned upside down as Jim and Pam prepare to say “I do”, Andy deals with his heterosexuality, and Dwight continues to watch out for bears.

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