First things first: I will not be covering Buffy or Angel in this piece. I don’t mean to disparage them in any way. I just didn’t watch them so I don’t have a strong opinion. Instead I’ll be restricting my analysis to three more recent projects: Firefly, Dollhouse and Doctor Horrible.
For the sake of our argument, let us pretend that we are fated to watch only one piece of TV or cinema for the remainder of our lives, and no, porn is not among your choices. Of the three pieces here, which is the most re-watchable? Which is the best overall expression of that special “Whedon-esque-ness” that keeps us, as fans, screaming for more? Let us explore, together, objectively weigh all the options, the pros and cons, after which I will tell you the right answer.
DOLLHOUSE
The basic premise of Dollhouse is that of a shadowy company that runs a number of facilities, called Dollhouses (hence the name, see what they did there?), that provide other organizations with humans possessing customized personalities and memories for a variety of purposes, from the criminal to the romantic.
These people, called “Actives” or “Dolls” (there it is again), have had their personalities and memories completely wiped and stored digitally in exchange for big bucks and the erasure of troublesome issues in their past.
The hitch (you knew there was a hitch, right?) is that one Active, called “Echo”, portrayed by the insanely hot Eliza Dushku, has managed to hang onto bits of her own past as well as the created pasts she has carried, even after having those memories wiped.
The whole show is an exploration of self awareness and tries to help us understand what identity actually means, while at the same time throwing us plenty of spy-versus-spy intrigue and good-will-triumph-over-evil-corporations-OR-WILL-IT? sort of plot lines. I don’t want to give away too many spoilarz here as the show is definitely worth checking out.
Why was it dropped so quickly? Hard to say, really. Sometimes it’s just hard to engage viewers in a series where they feel like they have to choose a moral position, sometimes it’s a just a bad time slot and still other times it’s just that they needed to have Dushku on screen more often and in smaller, tighter outfits.
DOCTOR HORRIBLE’S SING-ALONG BLOG
I love this piece. Whether you call it a movie, a short, a vignette, whatever, it’s one of those films that was done only because somebody had a great idea and the means to bring it to life. It was the Power of Whedon that allowed this many major talents to come together during the writers strike of 2008 to create this absolutely infectious musical/tragedy/comedy/internet sensation.
Whedon shelled out $200K of his own cash to create Dr. Horrible and brought in the his brothers Zack and Jed to help with the heavy lifting of writing and composing. The cast includes, among its obvious stars, tons of cameos and inside jokes from loyal Whedonites from the cast and crews of Whedon’s past shows.
The whole thing just feels “right”, as you can tell that everybody involved was 100% committed to the idea of the show. As it turns out, the film won more awards than you can shake a freeze ray at (not an ice beam, that’s all Johnny Snow) and proved that there’s nothing that creativity, love, $200,000 and knowing everyone in Hollywood can’t solve.
Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog follows the quest of Dr. Horrible, played perfectly by Neil Patrick Harris, to pull of a heist of sufficient notoriety and evilness to be admitted into the Evil League of Evil, headed by the “Thoroughbred of Sin”, Bad Horse. At the same time he is desperately trying to impress the love of his life, Penny, a woman who frequents the laundromat he uses.
Penny, played by the insanely hot geek goddess Felicia Day, is an advocate for the homeless and is the moral opposite of Bad Horse. To make matters worse, Horrible’s arch-enemy, the self-absorbed hero Captain Hammer, portrayed by Whedon-fave Nathan Fillion, has won Penny’s affection after interceding in one of Dr. Horrible’s minor operations.
Suffice to say that what follows is a perfectly played, musically brilliant and comedicly sublime piece of mini-cinema that you will be coming back to over and over again. And it’s been available free online for ages, so if you have managed to miss this then punch yourself in the head, and then go watch it. And please pick up the DVD or Blu Ray. This is the sort of work that merits your money.
FIREFLY
Remember when I said I would tell you the right answer at the end? Well let’s not be coy about this. Firefly is, in my estimation, one of the very best science fiction franchises ever created. From the writing to the characters to the production values to the stellar cast, this is a show that fires on all cylinders, all the time.
Far in the future, after the Earth is used up, humans have spread across the galaxy and begun to colonize new worlds. Near the center of human expansion, the Central Planets are ruled by The Alliance, aka big government, aka The Man, and are a beacon of hope, cleanliness, technology, etc, etc.
Farther out, though, things are different. Some worlds have only the most basic technologies available to them. As a foil to the Central Planets, these wild west worlds are often dirty, sketchy, corrupt places ruled by local strongmen (and women) and only a street-smart (space-smart?) man like Captain Malcolm Reynolds can easily navigate the rough-and-tumble, outlaw nature of these places.
Reynolds, played by Nathan Fillion, is a former sergeant for the Independents, aka The Browncoats, who were opposed to The Alliance’s plans to consolidate rule over all inhabited planets. As a result of The Alliance’s eventual victory, the Independents were scattered across many worlds, many drifting to the edges of inhabited space to eke out a living under the radar. This is where we find Captain Reynolds and his first mate and former war buddy Zoe, played by the insanely hot Gina Torres, and their crew, aboard the cargo ship Serenity.
The show follows the exploits of Reynolds and his crew of unlikely companions as they try to make a buck and avoid confrontation, both with varying degrees of success. The show presents an always gritty, often depressing view of humanity and its struggle but the rapport shared among the crew allows for plenty of moments of levity and humor so that you never feel dragged down or hopeless.
The cast is among the more talented of any ensemble in any genre, and includes the insanely hot Morena Baccarin as a high-class “companion” (wink wink, nudge nudge), Adam Baldwin of Full Metal Jacket fame as Jayne, the muscle for the operations, the insanely hot Jewel Staite as Kaylee, the ship’s innocently sexy mechanic, Ron Glass of Barney Miller fame as Shepherd Book, a traveling priest whose intentions are not always clear, Alan Tudyk, who is hilarious and in everything, as the pilot, Sean Maher as the ship’s doctor and his mentally and emotionally disturbed sister, played by Summer Glau, who is insanely hot.
This seemingly incongruous meshing of sci-fi and westerns is pulled off surprisingly well by Whedon and the cast. The stories are character driven and always move at a good pace. The special effects are great, but infrequent, so you never really feel like you’re watching science fiction but rather just a great story that, by coincidence, is taking place aboard a Firefly class cargo vessel.
Fan demand for some closure was so great that Whedon was able to make the full-length feature, Serenity, to to wrap up some of the loose ends when Fox suddenly and stupidly canceled the show. It continues to enjoy massive (MASSIVE!) fan support and there are even semi-legit rumblings about former cast and/or crew trying to pick up the rights to relaunch the show. Here’s hoping.
To close, let’s all thank Whedon for his vision on these three very different but equally brilliant works, and for his uncanny ability to meet and cast insanely hot women who also happen to be great actors.
Why bother rewatching any of these if you haven’t seen Buffy or Angel yet? :p
And just an FYI: Buffy and Angel both outlived Firefly, so I don’t know if you can really call Firefly more recent.
That being said, it’s all great, and all rewatchable. In fact, I found Dollhouse to be considerably better the second time I watched it, probably because I watched it back-to-back the second time.
I totally agree with Randy (btw, one of my fave lines in Buffy revolves around the name Randy LOL
).
No need to re-watch anything if you still have fresh Joss material. Between Buffy and Angel you have 12 seasons worth of stuff to watch!
And yes, it’s ALL re-watchable.
Buffy and Firefly are my two favorite Whedon shows. You should really check out Buffy and Angel if you’re a fan of these three. Also, you left out Gina Torres in your ‘insanely hot’ description.
firefly was/is whedons best work.
Jen:
No way did I miss the immensely talented and equally hot Gina Torres!
as much as i love dr. horrible (haven’t watched dollhouse yet, but the boyfriend is fanboying all over it, so i imagine i’ll be seeing it soon enough) i’m gonna have to vote firefly.
i’m not even sure why. i’m sure given enough time, i could come up with a shiny explanation. i guess i’ll settle for saying that there’s something there i can connect to no matter how i’m feeling.
Firefly is the best TV show I’ve ever seen. I have recommended it to all kinds of people, many of whom insist they don’t like science fiction. They all, without exception so far, have loved it.
Dr. Horrible is fantastic, but it is what it is. It’s not something as well developed as even the single year + feature movie story of Firefly.
Buffy is amazing… especially the first 4 years. And there are bright spots in the last 3 years, but it’s not as consistently good.
Dollhouse was good, but never really seemed to find its rhythm. It was better than 90% of the dreck out there on TV, but didn’t really live up to my expectations.
Angel was, in my opinion, the weakest of Joss’s work. Maybe because he wasn’t quite as involved in it? I’m not sure. There are some really good episodes, but many of the story lines and character decisions just didn’t really fly with me. And like Buffy it seemed to weaken in general as time went on.
I’ve watched Firefly innumerable times. Sometimes I just go back and watch a couple of my favorite episodes (Our Mrs. Reynolds and Trash for instance). I’ve watched the entire Buffy and Angel series twice and the first few years of Buffy a few more times. I’ve watched “Once Again With Feeling” about a million times. Dr. Horrible is easy to watch and doesn’t take long. I’ve seen it several times. I’ve only seen Dollhouse once, I need to re-watch back to back now that I have the DVDs.
Firefly is far and away the best of all of Joss’s work to date. Like all off Joss’s work Firefly had exceptional stories, great ensemble casting, and people behind the scenes who beleived in what they were doing.
To me, one of the reasons why Firefly sands out beyond all others was the chemistry among the actors. There is a friendship among that cast that was there from the begining. It’s clear on how well they just got along with each other. I’ve attended several conventions over the years and to hear the cast talk about how close they still are nine years later is remarkable. This from just one season of shooting Firefly and making Serenity two years later.
Another thing to consider is that there was never really an ending. I know that the movie was made to provide some closure, but the Firefly story doesn’t have an ending. Serenity, as I understand it was the direction that Joss wanted to go through had there been a season two. So there is always the sting of what could have been.
Dollhouse, Dr. Horrible, Angel, and of course Buffy are all masterworks and I still enjoy watching them but to me, this is why Firefly stands out.
I can’t even tell you how many times I have watched Buffy and Angel, mostly because of Spike, but that is a whole different story. Spike SIGH.
Have the others on DVD and BR, but watch Firefly more often. In fact watching again on Syfy right now. My favorite ep was Out of Gas, but the series did not have a bad ep and the insanely hot Nathan Fillion and Adam Baldwin were both insanely HOT. lol In fact they are the reason I started watching Castle and Chuck.
My bad, I meant the Science channel, not Syfy.
Let’s face it, every now and again (every blue moon?) a show(s) comes along with brillant writing and production, a cast who loves their work and loves working with each other and speaks to the viewers about things other than mindless blood and gore, bright lights and fancy displays and idiotic forced reality.
Joss has the talent to create such brillance and avoid such boredom. It is his gift and his bane. I know he tries to raise the level of entertainment, which is why he gets canceled. People don’t want to think…they just want to numb out.
You can’t include Dr. Horrible here because you can’t compare the re-watchability of a film to that of a TV show. Just my opinion.
Making this kind of choice is pointless if you haven’t even seen Buffy or Angel…that stuff is seminal Joss Whedon. I know that everyone loves Firefly and Dr. Horrible, but people tend to forget about Buffy and Angel.
I’m a bit of a hypocrite because I haven’t seen Firefly yet, either. But in my opinion, I treat Buffy and Angel as one show because they take place in the same universe and many characters cross over. Buffy/Angel is clearly Whedon’s best work, followed by Dollhouse. I love Dr. Horrible but you can’t compare a film to the development of a series. And I haven’t seen Firefly yet, but I’m confident that no matter how much I love it, it won’t top Buffy/Angel for me.
Also, Dollhouse was absolutely brilliant.
@John
I’ll watch some Buffy/Angel if you watch Firefly. Then we can come back and see which we think is best. Which will totally be Firefly.
I’m with Dave. I’ve watched the first three seasons of Buffy and the first season of Angel, Dollhouse, Dr Horrible, and Firefly. Firefly is the only one I own. I agree that there are no weak episodes. And the chemistry among this ensemble is truly without par. All those actors are stellar in this show. Eminently re-watchable for me. I love the adult complexity you get with this show that you don’t get from Buffy. I think Whedon really shines in Firefly.
okay lets get to business love to the point of pennys death the dr. however thats 40 min and not the same kinds of work as the others second do i get to include the firefly movie serenity? besides buffy dollhouse is the only of his shows to have a true ending so Dollhouse wins. finally i’m sure one of the reasons u havent done the buffy angel experience is bc people are like “you HAVE to watch! but just to let u know you can see alot of the firefly cast in buffy season 7 and angel season 4 and 5. if you ever get around to it this article will change as the emotions felt in epitaphs part 2 and [SPOILARZ!] are reached almost every sode.
Currently, my eternal TV would be Buffy as it lasted 7 seasons and is very re-watchable. When my partner and I moved in to our house we watched the Buffy box set straight through while we tried to get the TV connected. If Dexter eventually reaches 100 episodes then nothing will touch it in my lifetime as the boxset to take into a post apocalyptic no TV horror type thingy.
Sorry, but you’re not a Joss fan if you haven’t watched Buffy– the best show of all time. It’s FLAWLESS through all 7 years and, while his oldest work, it is by far the most re-watchable for me.
Sorry, but you’re not a Joss fan if you haven’t watched Buffy (AKA the best show of all time). It’s by far the most re-watchable and enjoyable for me. It’s FLAWLESS.
A Whedon fan who hasn’t seen Buffy is like a Nabokov fan who hasn’t read Lolita. Firefly, Dollhouse and Dr. Horrible are all good, but none of them are in Buffy’s class.
Netflix has the entire series on streaming video.
What can I say that no one else has really said? Not too much. So, in the interest of piling on, let me do just that and pile on. Dave, I agree with what a couple of others said, in that you cannot make that absolute decision without having watched Buffy. That is the show that began my cinematic love affair with Joss Whedon’s work. Without that, I would never have discovered Firefly, so I must stand and salute that show. I did watch Angel, but was infinitely disappointed in that show’s production…just my opinion. Please don’t kill me Angel-files! Dollhouse never really grabbed my attention, as I likened it to an old show I used to watch religiously called, La Femme Nikita. I know they are not exactly the same, but that’s what happened in my mind. That all being said, Firefly is leagues above any of the other work that Joss has put out. I own the DVD’s and the Serenity movie. I will get them on BR as well. I am one of those people who refuses to believe that some network out there does not exist that will not pick up this show…sometime. It’s just that good. And just like Rehabber, I just finished the marathon they were showing on Science Channel. It was epic, again. I think I’m going to send a reminder to Joss about just how many of his fans out here want that show back! So, in case I wasn’t clear: Firefly, by a country mile!
Thank-you.
For me Firefly = love. And Best TV show ever.
As a woman, I have to say that I find Adam Baldwin to be insanely hot
I have to say, Buffy is one of my all time favorite shows, and you should definitely watch it, but Firefly wins by a mile (or maybe ten).
Order of Whedon Awesomeness:
Firefly
Buffy
Dr. Horrible
Dollhouse
Angel
All of them are infinitely watchable, but there is just something about Firefly that grabs me every time! Best show ever made, if you ask me, which you kind of did…