I'm really torn on Joss Whedon's latest, "Dollhouse". While I thought the show had potential, I'm really not sure how much potential is actually has. It's one of those premises that seems great until you start to flesh it out. Then you realize there really isn't all that much there. It seems like it might have made a better movie trilogy (a kind of Bourne offshoot) or a mini-series that then might expand into a show.

The more I think about it, the more I believe I'm just drawn in by the premise. The look of the show wasn't that great and I wasn't a huge fan of the casting. I'm not sure Eliza Dushku really has the range to carry a show like this. I usually like Harry Lennix but he seemed to be in stock ex-cop cliche form in this one. 

One thing that this show really could have used (both for promtion purposes and to help chip away at the backstory) was a pre-premiere web series. Maybe if we watched the FBI agent track down his leads and try to learn more about Dollhouse, it could have drummed up interest and helped the show get its feet under it. (Although it sounds like Fox swept Whedon's legs out from under him and demanded some changes that altered the show)

Right now, it's a B- show that doesn't really have enough going for it to recommend. If you think you wouldn't like it, you won't. I'm hoping it gets better but the reviews seem to make it seem like the future episodes continue to tease with the promise of a fulfilled potential that it never is able to deliver.

So like with most of this season's new shows, my recommendation is to hold off for now. Wait to see if word of mouth starts building and then catch the shows online (or just wait out season 1 and watch it on DVD). There's always a risk that if too many people do that, the show won't get the ratings it needs to stay on the air but personally, I'd rather take that risk than invest hours of my life on another TV show that botches its premise and fails to live up to its promise. I'm going to tune in next week but part of me feels like I'm setting myself up for disappointment.