Despite being mostly tight-lipped when it came to revealing many of the story developments of the second season of Dollhouse, Joss Whedon did hint at it having “a couple of other faces you recognize.” As time wore on though, so did his penchant for secrecy. Whedon dropped two names: Alexis Denisof and Summer Glau. Now, any Buffy and Angel fans can attest to the greatness of Alexis Denisof, who played the bumbling “watcher” Wesley who was originally sent to look after Faith (played by Eliza Dushku). Whedon fans will surely enjoy that bit of TV synergy, but Summer Glau is naturally the real draw here.

Whedon made sure to clarify that, at this point, Glau is still a “maybe”. They’re still working out the details, but if everything goes as planned, she will indeed be on the show. I’m curious to see what part she ends up playing, because there’s a notable similarity between the blank-faced River (her character on Firefly) and the “dolls” (or “actives”) in Dollhouse. How interested would you guys be to see her play a “doll” on the show?

Episode 1 under our belt, folks- its as rad & bad as rock-n-roll baby! Unfrigginbelievable!! Ahhh. Pride.

http://twitter.com/ElizaPatricia/status/3063741315

Michael Hogan--Col Tigh from Battlestar Galactica--will guest star in the 2nd episode of #Dollhouse Season 2. Yes!!

http://twitter.com/moryan/status/3080669204

Tim Minear's ep 2 is bananas. Holy shit.

http://twitter.com/ElizaPatricia/status/2946860529

I concur with @elizapatricia. Minear's ep 2 is insanely awesome.

http://twitter.com/MoTancharoen/status/3057446257

Not directing this time. David Solomon! First script of mine he's directed since "Out Of Gas," and that seemed to go pretty well.

http://www.facebook.com/tim.minear

How Dollhouse's 'lost episode' will drive season two

When Joss Whedon wrote and filmed the post-apocalyptic Dollhouse episode "Epitaph One," it was entirely possible it would be the final episode in the Fox series.

So when Fox picked up a second season of the sci-fi series, Whedon instead intended to use the "Epitaph" storyline as the jumping-off point to drive the new season's arcs. But the episode ended up only on the season-one DVD/Blu-ray set (it also screened at Comic-Con), complicating any plans to use it to inform the second season's stories.

Nevertheless, Fran Kranz—who plays doll programmer Topher—confirmed that producers still plan to go there, even though there's a part of the audience who only watched the episodes that aired on Fox last season. (Possible spoilers ahead.)

"We're really going to move forward towards where 'Epitaph One' ended, and we're heading towards the apocalypse," Kranz said in an exclusive interview Thursday at the Television Critics Association summer press tour in Pasadena, Calif. "It's still going to go according to [Whedon's] plan."

"Epitaph One" takes place in the year 2019 in what appears to be a Los Angeles ravaged by some kind of apocalypse. Survivors, led by Felicia Day's Mag, discover the abandoned Dollhouse underground. Flashbacks fill in the period between our time and 2019, suggesting that the technology developed by the Dollhouse has led to massive mindwipes and identity replacement, culminating in war and chaos.

Though the episode never aired, it will inform the new season, Kranz said. "Felicia, her character and her world, is in the first episode of season [two]," he said. "So we're sticking with it. Things could change. We could always play it out a little differently if we wanted to, but that's the trajectory we're on. My character kind of loses his mind in ['Epitaph One'], feeling the weight of what he's done—the technology he invented destroying the world—and he kind of feels bad about it. We're kind of already heading there in the second season."

Even without jumping ahead, Topher has a lot to answer for when Dollhouse returns. Dr. Saunders (Amy Acker) learned she was a doll, whom Topher programmed to hate him.

"In season two, we address that pretty much immediately," Kranz said. "Dr. Saunders—Amy Acker and I, who's the best—we work across the hall from each other, so we can't avoid each other. All that kind of awkwardness ensues, and it gets pretty dark. I have to answer to her eventually. That's going to be really exciting. Right now, Topher's a little down on himself, and he's starting to think like, 'Wow, one of the most beautiful things I created hates me. Maybe I'm a bad guy.'"

That certainly indicates that Topher is still on a dark path that could lead to the apocalypse of "Epitaph One." "Look, it's a provocative show," Kranz said. "The technology, when you really choose to think about it and its consequences, is really provocative. We're definitely exploring that much more this season."

The second season represents one last chance for Dollhouse to capture a sizable audience. "It's like second life, and we're really going for broke in the second season," Kranz said. "It's really going to be out there. It's really twisted. It's much darker. We're really taking advantage of the opportunity, so I'm pumped. Certainly it's getting more into the characters. They're no longer really stand-alone [episodes]."

Dollhouse returns Sept. 25 at 9 p.m. on Fox.

http://scifiwire.com/2009/08/how-dol...lost-episo.php

'DOLLHOUSE' SCOOP ON THE SECOND SEASON - Breaking TCA 2009 News

As far as creatively, Reilly says that early on last season, Whedon was certainly struggling trying to find the voice of the show, but commends the creator in figuring out a way to make DOLLHOUSE work.

“I don’t think he was having any fun and we were a big part of that, and ultimately once he hit his stride, I don’t think we spoke,” says Reilly. “It was an ambitious show. It wasn’t a straight ahead linear concept. I felt that struggle and challenged him on some things and he completely engaged on it, gave it thought and attempted to address it. I think it did very well and it never came down to ‘you’re trying to make me do a show I don’t want to do.’ It never came to that place. I can’t say enough good things about him.”

As for the Friday time slot, Reilly says the low expectations on Friday night also factored into the second season renewal.

“There’s less pressure on it and when we told Joss what we were going to do, ‘we can give you better time slots, but you’re going to be under a lot of pressure’ I believe what he said to me, ‘I’m actually comfortable staying on, rather than having a bigger rating and the pressure of not being able to see the order through,’” adds Reilly.

That said, Reilly says he would be happy with the same numbers from last year to give him confidence to order the back nine and perhaps even a third season.

"We want the same stability we had last year," says Reilly. "The same ratings would be just fine. We’re looking at the cume as well. I’d like to see it continue its creative consistency, which I believe it will and I want to see a show we can lock in to week in and week out."

There was concern from the fan community that Fox not airing the “Epitaph One” episode was a sign the show was doomed, but Reilly notes it was financial more than anything.

“They had an extra episode to round out their order on the DVD and it’s an extra license fee last year we didn’t want to pay,” reveals Reilly.

And finally, with the show back for Season 2, budget cuts were inevitable which Reilly says won’t affect the overall production.

“They had to trim the budget a bit,” says Reilly. “I don’t think it will change anything. Joss is an outstanding producer. He knows how to do this. He’s way ahead of it. It comes under the heading of smart producing. This is not a guy who is going to say ‘I’m going to do a lesser show’ and the audience is going to say ‘Joss, what have you done?’ It’s not incumbent on him to make the same show efficiently.”

http://ifmagazine.com/new.asp?article=8505

[MATTHEW HARDING] Male, mid 30s to mid 50s. A powerful businessman, MUST HAVE STRONG PRESENCE. Please submit all ethnicities. GUEST STAR, PROBABLE RECURRING.

Picking up a few months after the Season 1 finale, Echo (Eliza Dushku) is the new bride of a charismatic businessman (guest star Jamie Bamber), who is tied to an old FBI case that Paul (Tahmoh Penikett) was unable to close. Meanwhile, Dr. Saunders struggles with her discovery that she is a Doll and targets Topher. Written and directed by Joss Whedon.

Michael Hogan guest stars as a client of the Dollhouse who comes to Adelle (Olivia Williams) for help with a psychotic family member. Topher (Fran Kranz) accidentally crosses Echo and Victor’s (Enver Gjokaj) imprints while they're on different assignments.