E Online and TV Guide are reporting that Fox has committed to an entire seven episodes of a new television series created by Joss Whedon and starring Eliza Dushku. The show is called “Dollhouse”, and according to TV Guide, it could start showing on Fox as early as next spring.

Echo (Eliza Dushku) [is] a young woman who is literally everybody’s fantasy. She is one of a group of men and women who can be imprinted with personality packages, including memories, skills, language—even muscle memory—for different assignments. The assignments can be romantic, adventurous, outlandish, uplifting, sexual and/or very illegal. When not imprinted with a personality package, Echo and the others are basically mind-wiped, living like children in a futuristic dorm/lab dubbed the Dollhouse, with no memory of their assignments—or of much else. The show revolves around the childlike Echo’s burgeoning self-awareness, and her desire to know who she was before, a desire that begins to seep into her various imprinted personalities and puts her in danger both in the field and in the closely monitored confines of the Dollhouse.

How did this get started? Joss Whedon came up with the idea literally over lunch with Eliza Dushku:

Can you tell me how this all came about?
Through a rather time-honored tradition called “lunch.” Eliza had her deal with Fox, and we went to lunch, as we sometimes do, to talk about her career and what her next step should be. Like, do I know writers, and what was the best way to protect herself, and what type of show. Eliza and I do this sometimes, because she’s a friend and a great talent, and that’s easily misused. She was trying to protect herself, and I was trying to get a free lunch. In the middle of lunch, I came up with the idea of this show and the title by accident.

Tell me this isn’t that easy for you…that it just came to you in between bites.
I went to the bathroom and came back and said, “I figured it out.” So, there it is. It took longer than between bites. It came so organically through our conversation, and what I know she is capable of, and what she was talking about and what people were expecting of her. It just kinda happened, and when it happens like that and it has a title, that’s a big deal—if it has a title, you can’t just turn your back on it. So, I told her, and she freaked out, and I told her I was busy with these films I am trying to set up, but Fox is interested, and Fox said let’s do seven episodes instead of a pilot, and here I am.

Read more interview Q&As with both Joss Whedon and Eliza Dushku at E Online and TV Guide.

Firefly was cut short before its time (only one season shown completely out of order), and Serenity didn’t do as well in the theaters as fans hoped. A bigger success in the theater could have meant sequels, but news on that front has been lacking. However, according to MovieHole.net, Alan Tudyk, aka “Wash”, says that there is talk about doing another Serenity movie since the first one did so well on DVD.

“They had to put [the new DVD] out because they’ve been selling out of the other one and so Universal’s like ‘So, let’s do another one’. And now… there’s now a chance there’s going to be another movie”.

(Read more…)

If there is a sequel, it could be a direct to DVD movie rather than a theater release. Anything at all would be awesome though! I’ll take whatever I can get. Can’t stop the signal!

Dark Horse comics is holding a Buffy the Vampire Slayer contest. The prizes are Buffy comics, and 23 people total will win something. The contest is free, so go sign up!

This week’s episode of “The Office” was directed by Joss Whedon. The plot centers around bats. Really. Check out a preview of the episode here:

A new upcoming drama series on Fox is called Drive. It was created by Tim Minear (writer for Angel and Firefly), and has Nathan Fillion (Buffy and Firefly) and Amy Acker (Angel) on the cast list. The show is about a secret, illegal road race, and is planned to air this spring. Nathan Fillion is a great actor and I’m looking forward to it.

Fans of Nathan Fillion will especially enjoy this new Drive Promo Video. Thanks to Whedonesque for the news.

Joss Whedon himself posted on Whedonesque to let all his fans know that he will not be working on Wonder Woman any more. He was writing the script and slated to direct the film, but he said that he and the studio saw different movies and it just wasn’t going to work.

Let me stress first that everybody at the studio and Silver Pictures were cool and professional. We just saw different movies, and at the price range this kind of movie hangs in, that’s never gonna work. Non-sympatico. It happens all the time. I don’t think any of us expected it to this time, but it did. Everybody knows how long I was taking, what a struggle that script was, and though I felt good about what I was coming up with, it was never gonna be a simple slam-dunk. I like to think it rolled around the rim a little bit, but others may have differing views.

Their loss. Joss is an amazing writer and director, and I will see anything he works on. So what is this “Goners” movie he mentions? Well time for me to go check it out.

Before you get too excited, this isn’t an official continuation of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Nor does it include the original cast members. Forgotten Memories is a fan produced 40 minute episode following the end of Buffy season 7. From the production’s web site:

The project “Forgotten Memories” first began its journey in early 2004 when budding scriptwriter Emma Paige Langley penned her ideas for a continuation of the Buffyverse after the series finale “Chosen.” In her words: “these characters don’t just go away. They stay in people’s minds, thoughts and memories. That’s why Buffy is so amazing. Joss doesn’t just create a show or a character, he creates worlds that audiences find themselves drawn to.”

I have not downloaded and watched it yet, but it sounds like a wonderful idea! There are some great quotes on the website, including one from Joss Whedon: “Thank God someone else wrote season 8!”

Download the Forgotten Memories video!

Jewel Staite (Kaylee on Firefly and Serenity) is going to be making an appearance on Stargate: Atlantis. She confirmed this herself on her web site:

And finally, lets talk about Stargate: Atlantis, because most of you are, and I’ve been getting a ton of questions about the thing, so lets just get it out in the open. I know it’s finally been revealed that Paul McGillion is leaving the show, and since I’m coming on the show, a lot of you have it in your head that I’m “replacing” him. First of all, our characters are quite different from each other. Second of all, Paul has a penis, so we’re quite opposite from each other. Third of all, I’m not a regular cast member and I’ve only signed on to do a certain number of episodes (not 15—or at least that was news to me when I heard that on the internet!). One thing I should tell you is that Paul and I are very close friends. He lives three blocks away from me (in my mom’s building– how weird and random is that?) and we see each other all the time. I can honestly say he’s one of the sweetest and most lovely people to work with (the crew of Atlantis raves about him), and I really just adore him. I can’t comment on the why in terms of his character’s absense in the next season, but the best thing about sci fi is nothing is forever! It’s like soap operas—like, maybe in Serenity 2 Wash will have an evil identical twin! (Yeah, Joss, I know, that idea sucks—and if it doesn’t suck and you actually write that one day, I want credit for it) Anyway, I’m really excited about coming on to Atlantis and playing another prodigy—genius mechanic to genius doctor, I am truly moving up in the world! Maybe next time I’ll play the president! heh heh. Just please have an open mind, and don’t hate me—it’s not my fault. I’m just an actor who jumped at the chance to work with a really fun cast in my favorite city (mine) and play a young smarty pants MD with a cool uniform. Can you blame me?

An interesting note is that she has already appeared on one episode of Atlantis called Instinct. In it, she played a young wraith girl living with a human father. Of course, it is difficult to tell it is her with all the wraith make-up on. I’m looking forward to seeing her on Atlantis again, but it’s unfortunate that Dr. Beckett is leaving. He is one of the more likeable characters on the show. I’m sure Jewel Staite will be equally as likeable though.

Futurama is an awesome show. Unfortunately, it was cancelled by Fox prematurely. However, just as Family Guy was brought back recently, Futurama is going to get a second chance. The writing for a new season is in progress, and animation is starting. The only bad news is that it won’t air until 2008… it seems so far away.

This news was reported in a recent interview with David X. Cohen, co-creator of the show.

How long after the last “series finale” does the new season take place? And what can we expect for the Fry and Leela relationship?

COHEN: When our story resumes, two long years have passed. As for the Fry/Leela relationship, we will be visiting that subject right away, so I refuse to tell you where it will lead on the grounds that I want you to buy the DVD.

Read the rest of the interview for more details.

In other news, the game developer Multiverse Network recently announced that it obtained the rights to turn the wonderful sci-fi/western show by Joss Whedon, Firefly, into an MMO. Firefly has some incredible writing, believable characters, and interesting plotlines. Serenity, the movie created after the first and only season of the show, was quite well done, essentially an extended episode of Firefly with better effects. However, I can’t help but to be skeptical about a Firefly MMO. It was the characters and their stories that made the show interesting, not as much the setting. I think a game would have a difficult time reproducing this appeal. Being a fan though, I will definitely be watching for future development news about the game to give it the benefit of the doubt.

Another TV show that is also being developed as an MMO is Stargate Worlds, based on the sci-fi shows Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis (which were in turn based on the Stargate movie). Stargate-SG1 has been another great show, although it lost a little of its magic when a couple of main characters left the show, most notably Jack O’Neill, played by Richard Dean Anderson (”MacGyver”). Now, in its tenth season, the show is being cancelled as of the end of the season. Stargate Atlantis, a fairly good spinoff, will continue to go on. Stargate Worlds sounds like it has a lot of potential. Stargate has an incredible universe set up, with many settings (planets, ships, home bases) and original and interesting races. The Stargate universe sounds like a great basis for a game, and I am looking forward to seeing what happens with it. As with any game, however, the enjoyment and success of a game depends upon its gameplay. Creating an enjoyable MMO is easier said than done, but I would love to see this game succeed.