Joss Whedon talks Dollhouse cancellation, Dr Horrible sequel and more; plus Eliza Dushku teases final Dollhouse episodes…

Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune has the must read interview, read the entire thing. (Joss also goes in depth into his future plans which seem to not include network tv and who could blame him?):

…Whedon said he’s proud of what the his cast, writers and crew accomplished and opined that some of the episodes coming up are “ridiculously good” (and even if you’ve never seen the show before, it’s worth tuning in Friday’s episodes just to see Summer Glau’s spellbindingly creepy character and to see Enver Gjokaj demonstrate, once again, his breathtaking versatility).

But Whedon also talked about how he has been “frustrated” by Fox’s skittishness when it came to what he thought would be one of the show’s central concepts: The exploration of sexuality and intimacy, in all its forms.

“The problems that the show encountered weren’t standalone versus mythology [episodes],” Whedon said. “Basically, the show didn’t really get off the ground because the network pretty much wanted to back away from the concept five minutes after they bought it. And then ultimately, the show itself is also kind of odd and difficult to market. I actually think they did a good job, but it’s just not a slam-dunk concept.”

Much more after the break:

Midway through its first season, “Dollhouse” hit upon a espionage-thriller format that seemed to be a better fit than the standalone, engagement-oriented episodes that aired early in the show’s run. But Whedon said he always wanted look more closely at the desires and fantasy lives of the Dollhouse’s clients. Even into the show’s second season, however, that idea made Fox “twitchy,” according to Whedon…

…”When you’re dealing with fantasies, particularly sexual ones, you’re going off the reservation,” Whedon said. “You’re not going to be doing things that are perfectly correct. It’s supposed to be about the sides of us that we don’t want people to see…. The idea of sexuality was a big part of the show when it started and when that fell out, when the show turned into a thriller every week, it took something out of it that was kind of basic to what we were trying to do.”…

See, I liked the thriller espionage angle of it better than Joss’s ‘sexual adventures of the inner fantasy mind’. How he thought that would fly on network tv especially after FOX interfered with Firefly I have no idea.

On Dr Horrible sequel:

…Once he’s done making “Dollhouse,” he’ll continue to work with Maurissa Tancharoen and Jed Whedon on a “Dr. Horrible” sequel, the title of which Whedon declined to reveal. He will say that he expects to corral star Neil Patrick Harris and “the rest of the gang” from the first “Dr. Horrible” for the second installment of the Internet musical.

“What we need to do is get enough time to really solidify what we’ve got, really get the [script] in shape and then it all becomes about Neil and his availability. We’ve been basically telling him, ‘Do whatever you want,’ which he clearly took to mean, “Do everything there is,” Whedon said with a laugh. “But we were like, until we have a script, we can’t really think of a schedule or a venue or how we’re going to do this and what size it will be, if we’re going to get any kind of any kind of backing from a studio or an independent.”…

On the Dollhouse Series Finale, which will air Jan. 22nd:

…As far as bigger new ventures, he’s got various “irons in the fire,” but none are quite ready to be announced yet. In the immediate future, he’s focused on finishing “Dollhouse’s” second season. Production on the series finale, “Epitaph Two: Return,” which airs Jan. 22, gets underway soon.

As for the two-parter that airs Friday, it’s a dizzyingly entertaining, energetic mixture of mythology, paranoia and wit. Watching scenes between Summer Glau (the eerie tech genius Bennett) and Fran Kranz (the hyper tech genius Topher) or between Olivia Williams (Dollhouse manager Adelle) and Ray Wise (who plays a bigwig in the Washington, DC, Dollhouse) is like watching great tennis matches. Each of these actors is at the top of his or her game, and “Dollhouse’s” twisty story of secrets, lies and coverups promises to get even more strange, complex and compelling before the show ends its run.

Bonus: One of Friday’s episodes contains the funniest John Cassavetes reference you’ll hear on television all year….