Rumors have flown freely until this week, after being squashed by official announcements of what we can expect to see more of, and what we’ll have to let go of. All over the internet people have compared ratings, tallied numbers and pushed others to boost ratings by watching Hulu; Many prayers to the gods of television have been answered.
Dollhouse was one of the largest fence-sitters this go-round, but now it’s official: sources report that FOX has ordered 13 more episodes of Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse. Despite not-so-awesome ratings, FOX is citing good DVR and online streaming numbers for the renewal. They’re trusting in all of the fans that spoke out about renewing it, despite the poor live view ratings. Maybe FOX is trying to make up for that whole Firefly thing, this time putting faith in the viewers to boost the ratings in the second season, and hopefully the fans will come through.
Fringe will be coming back for a second season as well. Loyal viewers of the first season should be rewarded with a few answers here and there. In an interview with SciFiScoop, J.J. Abrams talks about the direction Fringe is going, starting with the series finale:
“The first season was the set up, [the character's] roles, their job and getting a sense of the rhythm of the show, but [the finale] is a massive turning point in the long-term arc of the series…First of all, I would say that the first year was about learning there is an enemy and I would say that Season 2 is about knowing the enemy,” continues Abrams. “As the show progresses, and in the second season, it’s building to a specific confrontation and a really interesting shift in the fundamental paradigm on the show in a very cool way. Without going into any details about it, it has a fun, fresh way in next year that I think you never know how it’s going to work, but cross your fingers people are going to like it. Next season is thrilling for me, not in that the audience is coming back to experience what we’re doing, but the excitement is not just these characters, but now playing with [those characters].”
The first season had a little trouble capturing viewers, being condemned as an X-Files wannabe, but it slowly began to establish itself as a whole different animal. Could the paradigm he mentions be referring the early first season’s monster-of-the-week structure? If so, the paradigm shift could refer to having a more complex throughplot to spur the story along. This and the release of the Fringe Viral Site are all very good news. Abrams is a smart guy and I trust he knows what he’s doing.
The last surprise comes from the renewal of Scrubs. You know, the one that had the very heartfelt series finale. You can’t, in good taste, renew a show after its series finale, especially in a time of so many cancellations. So few shows get to have a real series finale and trivializing one by revisiting the characters after saying goodbye could be considered cruel.
Update: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles has officially been canceled after much speculation and WB is no longer be shopped around to other networks. Damn
