X Factor in Oakland

It's been an interesting couple of days. KFBK moved into new studios at River Park Drive, and I had to do some quick tap dancing early Saturday morning because the host of the Outdoor Show was late for the first time in years because his alarm clock broke.
At least I learned new skills about the updated equipment in the only effective way: the equivalent to learning how to swim by being thrown into the pool.

So, to treat myself because I just hit 53, I decided to go see one of the X Factor auditions at the Oracle Arena in Oakland.



It's an easy train ride from Sacramento, and it was easy to get tickets.



The arena was converted to a 5000 seat facility, and it made me think the arena was a lot smaller than what I remembered. Then again, I haven't been there since 1990.

There were dozens of people, thinking that they had the X Factor that's worth five million dollars. That included this girl group called Breaking Day...



The biggest surprise involved this girl, Sophie Tweed-Simmons, a college student with a dad that may be familiar to a lot of you, especially those who rock and roll nightly and party daily....



Yep, KISS Army, Gene Simmons was there. He didn't even know what his daughter was planning to do until the day before. I thought he was there because he was filling in for Simon Cowell, who had been under the weather lately. If that was true, it would be a good idea.



I'd rather not say if Sophie made it to the next round. I will say Gene joined her on stage, then left like he was Chuck Berry. Some Twitterers may have spilled the beans already, but you can see what happened this fall.
My seat was just to the right of the stage, and relatively close. I had brought binoculars if I was far away, and they helped.



There were plenty of interesting signs from the fans, too:



This one was meant for Simon, but it was used more often for the less-than-talented contestants, including a female duo who would have been gonged out of TV it it was 35 years ago.



I was able to get a good picture at the four judges...



From what I could see, Britney Spears and Demi Lovato has a knack for this. Demi was a bit more critical, and chided Simon sometimes. She really thinks that if someone doesn't have that "X Factor", she'll say so. Britney was a bit more diplomatic, and looked cute in glasses. She removed them in the first batch of contestants. Simon, of course, cuts like a knife as usual, because it's what he does.
There was one guy who was, er, unusually dressed, He was off-key singing Madonna, but has a strong voice. His enthusiasm, well, was an asset. There was another guy who was actually advised to change his approach to the song he had prepared, and come back later. I never heard that before.
Some were close, but not close enough, and there were really good prospects like a trio from Orange County who developed their own style. Of course, other people would make their mark in the other sessions, but I did enjoy the one I attended. If I could, I would have attended a second show, but once was enough. I just wanted an interesting way to celebrate my 53rd birthday early, and I think I made a good choice.

Dollhouse: After the "Pilots" Are Over

Now that the “seven pilot” stage of Dollhouse has ended, it’s expected the real story of Echo, the girl who can be anyone but herself, will begin.. It’s no longer be the usual pattern of Echo taking on a mission, something goes wrong, and Boyd, her handler, rescues her and makes sure she has her treatment. It’s already reached that stage with “Man on the Street” where FBI agent Paul Ballard finds he has another mission aside from finding the Dollhouse and closing it down, and “Echoes,” where she returns to the scene of a possible crime that led her to being an Active.

Yet some people admit they have a tough time latching on to this premise, a girl who will always be no one, or less, in between the engagements she has to fulfill. Maybe it’s because it’s a role much different than Joss Whedon’s previous heroes (Buffy, Angel and Mal Reynolds) who face difficult challenges every day. Sure, there are signs that Echo may be reclaiming her true self, but is that enough? It seems they want a reason why they should care about Echo, and whether she’ll be a real live girl again.

Also we know more about her thank anyone else: she was once Caroline Farrell, who got into some trouble, maybe with something called the Rossum Corporation that had helped create the Dollhouse. She was given a chance at a clean slate by being an Active for five years, even though that may not be true.

We know very little about the Dollhouse staff, though. We do get a lot of discussion about whether having a group that can make programmable people is really a bad thing. Some may call it a fantasy, while others call it the destruction of Man.

We do learn a lot from the relationships some of the staff have with each other. Adelle DeWitt, who runs the L-A Dollhouse, may look cool and calm at all times, but she admitted last week that, as she put it, she is not a balloon floating above the muck. She is under pressure from the “Senior Partners”, and from Director of Security Laurence Dominic to get rid of Echo when she seems to be unpredictable…just like a previous Active named Alpha who killed other people before escaping. She’s so concerned she even relies on the help of Topher, the guy who programs the Actives and considers himself as a modern-day Geppetto. She does try to be charming,when she recruits Echo to be an Active, or deals with a client.

Topher seems to be type of guy who used his science projects against the jocks who picked on him after school. He’s so certain how an Active will perform, and why, but starts to sweat when something goes wrong. When Echo blanked out in the middle of an engagement in “Grey Hour,” he keeps saying it’s not his fault but quickly comes up with some conspiracy theories.
Also, it looks like Actives don’t always behave as they should. Victor has a man-reaction to seeing Sierra, which they’re not supposed to have. They are also affected by drugs, such as a memory drug they were recruited to find last week.
Dr. Claire Saunders seems to be a forgotten cog in the machine. While she tries to maintain the health of the Actives, she’s usually an afterthought. She writes reports that, according to Topher, no one reads.
Boyd Langton, Echo’s handler, seems to be the only man in the staff with a conscience. In the first episode, he is concerned about the safety of Echo. Yet he has his doubts about whether the company that employs him actually helps people, or hides some deep dark secrets for the right price.
There is one big mystery that hasn’t been resolved. His name is Paul Ballard, an FBI agent that has lost a lot, including his job, to take down the Dollhouse. Yet, we don’t know why he is so determined to close down the Dollhouse. Who gave him this mission, and why is he obsessed with Caroline. More importantly, what does he expect to get if he succeeds?

As the show heads to its second half, viewers are eager to know Paul’s motivation to defeat the Dollhouse, and whether Echo can overcome the “programming” and be Caroline again. Could Alpha show himself, and take the Dollhouse down? This may be the first part of a long road ahead, and many fans will still be interested where it will go, and how it will end.

Are Downloads Better Than Ratings? Echo Hopes So!

Fans of Dollhouse are waiting for Friday with baited breath, mainly for the pivotal episode, "Man on the Street." After five weeks of telling the story of Echo, a gitl who can be anyone except herself, in the usual procedural way, this week's episode is supposed to throw away the cookie-cutter and let the story run free.

One possible problem, or actually two: SciFi (soon to change its name to something that sounds like a chain of theaters) will be airing the final episode of Battlestar Galactica, while CBS has its NCAA basketball coverage. This will put some fans in a spot. Should they skip a very important episode to wave so long with Adama, Helo, Starbuck and the Cylons, or root for their favorite college basketball team?

Well, there's always one other option...TiVo Dollhouse, and watch it later. A lot of people have been doing that since the show began. Some have also seen it on the Fox website or Hulu, or even spent two bucks to see it on their iPods or iPhones.

Naturally, they could also DVR the basketball game or BSG, since BSG is leaving and the NCAA tournament is only on for a couple of weeks. But for this, let's say people will record Dollhouse instead. The real issue is whether TiVo'ing the show, or watching it on the net or on the iPod, is just as important as watching it live. There's has been a lot of mention of how many people watch the show up to a week after recording it. TV by the Numbers says it does boost the overall viewing numbers. It also does the same for Chuck and Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles. However, is it enough to keep them on the air? The costs of making these shows, as well as the ratings, may be what will determine if your favorite shows will stay on their air, or you're stuck with a dozen reality shows you don't care about.

The only example of a show returning to the air in an unusual way is...Family Guy. It was on for three years before it was taken off the air in 2002. However, thanks to cable reruns and DVD sales, it's back on Fox to stay, and is holding its own against dramas on Sunday nights. Jericho got another season thanks to tons of peanuts, but only that much.

So, could Dollhouse be saved by iTunes downloads, hits on Hulu and Fox, and TiVo? Could any show "on the bubble" be saved that way? If so, Dollhouse could be the first. It would also signal that the suits at Fox are the first to admit that people who watch a Friday show during the weekend, or even Monday, count just as much as those who see the show live. That should change TV as we know it, even more than cable.

A Tale of Two Talk Shows

Before we start, here's what the opening credits for Dollhouse look like...



The last time Eliza Dushku was on a talk show was last August, firing a bow and arrow while plugging a new movie and TV show on Jimmy Kimmel Live. It was said some people found Eliza very attractive while firing a few arrows at a target.

Six months later, Eliza was busy again, promoting her new show, Dollhouse, on the talk show circuit. It was hoped she'd appear on David Letterman, but that was postponed. So, she spent Lincoln's birthday visiting Regis and Kelly in the morning, and Conan O'Brien at night.

It's not unusual for an actor to appear on several shows throughout the week, plugging a new movie. Eliza, however, did two shows, and also Howard Stern. I thought it would be interesting to compare her two TV appearances. What they did have in common is that she looked great, talked about how she used to be a tomboy, gave the classic "lunch with Joss" story and explained what Dollhouse was all about.

Before she appeared on Regis and Kelly, Regis Philbin said that Eliza's role was working in "an illegal Secret Service group." She later explained the true premise of the show. She wore a modest but attractive red dress to the show. She revealed she finished third among all celebrity entrants in the Malibu Triathlon. Eliza admitted she was surprised to find out how well she did while digging into some post-race waffles. She also said that training for Dollhouse may have helped her performance in the race. That was followed by a clip from the pilot, where Echo enters a room that she should not be in.

Her appearance on Conan O'Brien was more free-wheeling. Here, she wore a sexy blue spangly dress that excited Conan and the crowd. She even referred to the dress as "she". Then she went on about how busy she was with Dollhouse and how she's been able to relax by learning chess with her godfather. She apparently plays at a nightclub he owns at Hollywood and Vine. She also bought some Verbal Advntage tapes, which she uses to ease her road rage. However, it's taught her some new phrases to yell out at bad drivers, such as "Cretin, remove yourself from my trajectory." Seems like she's turned into an Ivy League NASCAR driver.

She also urged the crowd to watch Dollhouse, and keep watching it. "Joss is really like a novelist," she says. "He needs chapters to go, and we have 13 shows, and it gets better and better. The party gets so good, you guys." She also estimates she's played 38 personalities through the 13 shows they've made.

It's not quite the same as shooting arrows, but Eliza is doing her best to get people to visit the Dollhouse every Friday. Now, it's up to the episodes themselves.
Still, you have to wonder how Joss would do at a talk show. He'd have fun with Craig Ferguson, and would really be great on Real Time with Bill Maher. So would Eliza...or Sarah Michelle Gellar. She ought to drop by Jimmy Fallon's new show to help him settle in. Just saying.

See and hear the future of Dollhouse

I had thought the background music from the Echo Chamber part of the Fox Dollhouse website would have made a good theme song. Instead, we have a new song from Jonatha Brooke called "What You Don't Know." The first lyric descrbes Echo and the show. Click this link to see for yourself. Watch out, though...the video has lots of clips from future shows.

Oh, and we know she's identified as Jonatha Brooks. Fox has a problem with typos.

Is Hugh Hefner behind Dollhouse's promo pix?

It sure seems that way. Just look at the new section from Fox's Dollhouse website, called the Echo Chamber.

Not only does it have haunting music that had better be the theme song, it has the sexiest photos of Eliza Dushku you'll see anywhere. They are making the rounds on the Internets, but here's some of the more...er...conservative examples. This is with the help of Defamer, by the way...





The Chamber has even racier examples that are even too hot for Page 3 or wherever they put the cheesecake photos on the London Sun. Fox figures that sex appeal will really get people to watch Dollhouse either on Friday night or anytime on the weekend if they DVR the show. I hope Fox also has confidence in the stories the show will present every week. That, rather than skin, is what really counts.

Still, the name of the game is getting people to their TVs on Fridays rather than go out and see embarrassing rom-com at their local theater. This means you, New in Town...and The Proposal in four months. That explains this promo that shows Eliza and Summer Glau in the Grindhouse sequel Quentin Tarantino must be considering if he ever saw this ad.



It's interesting, but I also remember Fox's ads for Firefly, and how they didn't really show what the program was all about.

Well, Eliza will soon play the role of talk show guest next week, as she appears on Letterman, Conan, and Regis and Kelly. While her wardrobe won't be as racy, it should be interesting how she approaches each show. Remember, she was on Jimmy Kimmel Live last summer, doing a little target practice with a bow and arrow. I'm guessing we won't see that again, or maybe we could on Conan. It'll happen on his next-to-last week, after all.

This way to the Dollhouse..one month early

There is no me. I do not exist. There used to be a me, but I had it surgically removed--Peter Sellers

I'm not nobody--Echo...or is it?

It's been more than a month since Time magazine became the first media site to look at the pilot for Dollhouse, Joss Whedon's return to TV. Since then, a few more sites have given their verdicts, including TV.com and Salon. More familiar sites will also have their chances over the next few weeks.

Fox sent a DVD copy of the pilot to TV and radio stations, along with a special doll to symbolize what an Active is: a clean slate who can be made into anyone, over and over again. At least that's the theory. My radio station got a copy, and I decided to take a look.

As many fans know, Joss Whedon remade the pilot episode to give the show a better launch. That's why there's no scenes from the original pilot that have been seen by fans at Comic-Con and the internet. The new pilot, "Ghost", establishes the Dollhouse, and the main Active, Echo, played by Eliza Dushku. We see she had a past once, only because we hear her "real" name. After that, we see the girl in a motorcycle race with another guy which turns out to be part of his birthday party. She's a girl who likes to take risks and parties well into the night. Suddenly, she calmly walks out of the date and into a van. We see that her "engagement" is over, and that it's time to get a "treatment". What it really means that it's time for her to be no one.

The girl sits on a weird-looking chair, and waits to be treated. The tech, called Topher (Fran Kranz), says it will pinch. Then, we see this girl's life literally dissolve. Now, she is Echo, a girl who is alive but has no self or memories of what she did. She wakes up, and asks Topher, "Did I fall asleep?" "For a little while," he answers.

Topher discusses the engagement with Boyd Langdon (Harry Lennix), her handler, and acts pretty proud of himself. Boyd is just worried about whether their little operation is ever found. Topher's not worried. In fact, he envies Echo. "She's living the dream", he says. "Whose dream?", Boyd asks. "Who's next?", Topher replies.

We find out who's next: a businessman whose 12-year-old daughter has been kidnapped from his house. He's a past customer, and needs an Active to help him pay the ransom. So, Echo is programmed as a no-nonsense negotiator who will oversee the exchange. Of course, things go wrong, and the Dollhouse crew has to scramble to get Echo out, and just leave the kidnapped girl. The top priority of the Dollhouse is to stay a secret, with the "engagement" being secondary. When Boyd is worried the kidnapped child may be sacrificed, he risks a lot to convince his boss, Adelle DeWitt (Olivia Williams), to finish the job. Boyd seems to be the conscience of the show, the man who tries to show the Dollhouse has a positive purpose, even if the means are almost unspeakable.

Meanwhile, we meet FBI agent Paul Ballard (Tahmoh Penikett), who has sacrificed everything to find the Dollhouse. He insists the Dollhouse exists, even if he can't prove it. Yet this is his assignment, because someone said it should be. However, his work is threatening to ruin an important investigation on human-trafficking, involving Russians. Ballard tracks down a sleazy Russian guy named Lubov, (Enver Gjokaj) and tells him to find out who's connected to the Dollhouse. You can tell Ballard has been given an impossible task, but he's very detrmined to complete it.

The pilot, written and directed by Whedon, is good, but Dushku isn't very convincing as a hostage negotiator. While she can spout off theories as quickly as a bullet train, she looks too young. Glasses, a hairdo, and a schoolmarm attitude aren't enough. I give the show credit by admitting this, and giving an explanation on how her role still works. Whedon also gets major points for symbolizing Ballard's dilemma and determination by juxtaposing his meeting with FBI supervisors with clips of him kick-boxing.

The pilot also introduces Sierra (Dichen Lachman), a new Active, but in an unsettling way. In fact, Echo meets her in a surprising way that will later affect her in the engagement. We also meet Dr. Claire Saunders (Amy Acker), who takes care of Echo. She seems suspicious of Topher for some reason, while he sometimes sneaks a peek at Claire, too. Did they have a history that didn't end well? Also, how come there's a scar on her face? It's faint, but the pain is still there.

If you look closely, there is an influence of Firefly/Serenity in the pilot. When Echo is "neutral", she's almost like River Tam in her more calm moments. When Echo sees Sierra get her "treatment", it's a little too similar to the "treatments" the Alliance gave River.

Also, people who saw pieces of the pilot may think Lubov looks familiar. I think Gjokaj was supposed to play Victor, another Active. Then again, maybe he is...and Lubov. Hmmmmm......

Although the show may start seemingly as a procedural, we'll soon find out that it isn't. Echo will play many roles..and she'll start to remember some of them. We get a hint of that in "Ghost", as I said before, when her accidental meeting of Sierra will affect her. I am hoping that the other Actives have the same experience. Hopefully, we'll get back stories of the keepers of the Dollhouse, too. How did Topher learn how to rewire people like computers, and why does he think it's so cool? Could it be a dark Revenge of the Nerd? Who got Adelle to run this Dollhouse, and who's paying for all this? Why was Ballard assigned to the Dollhouse? Did he jump at the chance, or was he pushed?

Dollhouse will be on Fridays at 9 PM after Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles starting February 13th. It's a tough spot, since it's been years since Fox has had a hit on that night. The executives say they will give both shows time to build an audience. Dollhouse has a very interesting premise that takes time to understand. Once a viewer does, it's worth it. Joss may be a bit rusty about making TV after making a movie, some comic books, and an internet musical. Still, this Dollhouse is a good way to spend a Friday night.

Hey! See a clip of the Dollhouse Pilot

It's from Entertainment Weekly, and you see how Echo loses her mind, or at least any trace of what she did, while some guy claims he's a humanitarian. Whether you believe him is another matter.
Anyway, since this clip can't be embedded in various blogs yet, just click here.

Everyone Dies For You

That's the last line from the latest episode of Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, where Team Connor has to protect Martin Bedell, a student at a military school who's destined to help John fight the Terminators in the future. That line is said by Derek, who tells John that Martin is destined to rescue Future John in a suicide mission. After all, protecting John, especially when he grows up to be Christian Bale, is job one. Job two is getting more viewers away from Chuck.

The show is really picking up the pace as far as the battle against the Machines is concerned. John is coming into his own as a future warrior, especially this past week. He dared to change a T-888 model to save Martin in an "exercise" that was all too real.

Meanwhile, Sarah and Cameron had to protect a kid with the same name as Martin from the T-888, and also help him with a book report he has to finish. Never mind the crazy robot; he's worried about his teacher asking where his book report is. Sarah helped him by showing him The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, a favorite of John's. It's no coincidence that Little Martin reading the climax of the book was juxtaposed with John's battle with the T-888.

The week before, Summer Glau had a chance to shine when Cameron suddenly lost her memory by looking at a mylar balloon. While she tries to remember, we learn something interesting about her....she is based on a human from the future named Alison Young. Not only that, apparently Alison was a friend of Future John, and maybe more. It was quite a trip seeing Alison being questioned by the Terminator that would replace her...in more ways than one. The whole episode looks at identity, and the stories we tell to "define" who we are. When Cameron finds her way into a halfway house, she is asked about her past by a counselor. She recalls a birthday party that would be her last before the Terminators took over. Of course, that's not Cameron's memory. It's from the girl she interrogated in the future, and now assumes later on. That's just one example. We'll get to an evil example later.

It does bring up something: remember the season opener, when John is about to put Cameron down because her chip was broken, and she said "I love you, John, and you love me." Now, if Cameron was able to join John in the future by pretending to be Alison, and he figured it out, what kind of relationship did they have after that? Did he love Cameron because she could be Alison, and does that chance now that she's been sent to the past to help 2008 John? How's that for a psychological paper?

Now, while Team Connor battles the Terminators they do know, they are still unaware of the T-1001, also known as scary businesswoman Catherine Weaver. She's been able to recruit Ellison in her plans, whatever that may be. We know, at least, that she wants to find another Terminator, even if it's a lesser model than herself. She also thinks she has Ellison fooled, especially by her story about how she lost her husband in a helicopter crash. That's part of her human illusion, which will make him do "the Devil's work". She even throws in a "daughter", possibly four years old. Any question about whether she's a real girl, not a T-1001.5, will be resolved in due course. There's been some speculation that the T-1000 Weaver is impersonating the real Catherine Weaver who died in the crash. Considering who Cameron is, and how she came up with her persona, that makes sense.

Anyway, she also tells Ellison to investigate the meltdown at the Serrano nuclear power plant, and he finds a lot of inconsistencies. He also learns the plant manager is asking questions, which could stop plans to have the plant automated with, naturally, done with something that will eventually be SkyNet. Weaver solves this problem by disguising herself as a sleazier version of herself, and killing the manager in a way that's a little less sleazy than how she killed another guy a few weeks earlier. However, Ellison also knows that Sarah was around when the power plant broke down. After all this time, shouldn't these two people meet? Maybe he'll finally admit she was right about evil robots and all that, and come up with a way to take care of Weaver. There is word that day is coming, and about time!

There is some concern about whether season two will last longer than 13 episodes. At the very least, we should get a showdown between Cameron and Weaver. Let's hope that Fox will keep this show going long enough to finish its story, and somehow connect it to the Terminator movies that are coming next year.