A good day for unconventional television: 'Dollhouse' renewed

For you Whedonites

If you want to gripe about mean networks yanking terrific shows with low ratings, don't direct your griping at Fox.

The network, in a surprise move, renewed "Dollhouse," the show that didn't get great overnight ratings but did very well when DVR use, iTunes and Internet viewing were added to the overall picture. For stories on the renewal, go here and here.

TV fans and critics have long beat up the networks for canceling low-rated shows without sufficiently taking other factors, such as audience passion, DVD sales and other revenue streams into account. It's becoming clear, as James Hibberd points out, that those other forms of viewership count more than ever.

Could the tyranny of the Nielsen overnight ratings be over? If a network like Fox, which is not known for its sentiment and softness, renews a show like "Dollhouse," the paradigm has surely shifted.

Fox didn't renew "Dollhouse" because the show's fans would have been sad about the Joss Whedon show's untimely death. Fox doesn't care about how viewers feel (you saw "Moment of Truth," right?). No, Fox renewed "Dollhouse" because it thinks it can make money off the project -- enough to keep the enterprise profitable.

http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2009/05/a-good-day-for-dolls-and-docs-dollhouse-scrubs-renewed.html