Fox Renews 'Dollhouse' for Second Season

This might be the first official victory for DVR viewing: Despite low ratings during its abbreviated first season, Dollhouse will return for a second year on Fox. The Hollywood Reporter also confirms that the network's other new dramas - Fringe and Lie to Me - will be back, as well. How does a show that ended the season with a 1.0 rating in the key 18-49 demo get renewed? Hard to say, because there's simply no precedent for it. In fact, Dollhouse is believed to be the lowest-rated series to ever avoid the axe at the end of the season. The fact that it's still alive is more surprising given the less-than-rosy advertising revenues throughout network and cable television over the past couple of years. But the Joss Whedon-produced show has done well with the TiVo crowd, and online viewing has been stronger than the broadcast numbers, so Fox believes if the Eliza Dushku sci-fi series can be produced less expensively, it may be a good property to hold onto, even if it never develops widespread acceptance. Fox should also be heartened by the online and DVR numbers as it relates to future DVD sales; the first season box set will include the unaired 13th episode. That DVD set will be available on July 28th. Even still, it doesn't seem likely that the show will ever be a hit. A 1.0 rating means that fewer than two million people watch the show, and that's just not good enough to be competitive. Supposing it could somehow triple its audience in year two - which is improbable - Fox could still be justified in not bringing it back for a third season. The network has promoted the show pretty heavily for such a low-rated series, and there will come a point where it has to pay off of else. So if you're a fan of the show, you might want to get the word out.

Comments

[orinn]

oh we have been trying. I already accepted us getting a second season, and never getting another.