The End Is Nigh: Fox Officially Cancels Dollhouse

As expected, the Friday-night sci-fi series doesn't have strong enough ratings to warrant a pickup

UPDATE: Joss Whedon has spoken. "I feel [Dollhouse] is getting better pretty much every week," he just wrote to his fans on Whedonesque.com. "And I think you'll agree in the coming months. I'm grateful that we got to put it on, and then come back and put it on again." Joss also promised, "By the time the last episode airs, you'll know what my next project is."
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Dollhouse is done. We knew this was coming—Dollhouse creator Joss Whedon recently posted on fansite Whedonesque.com that the writers were "not exactly saving all the good stuff for 14-22," but still. 'Tis sad.

Insiders confirm to us that Fox has officially closed the book on the Friday-night sci-fi series. (Series producer and Joss Whedon sister-in-law Maurissa Tancharoen, who also guest stars in an upcoming episode as an active named Kilo, tweeted confirmation as well, saying, "Yes. Cancelled. Sad but true.")

We're hearing that episode 13 serves as a season finale "in a significant way and gives Joss enough time to wrap up the stories."

The show is currently on hiatus for November sweeps (seeing as how its negligible ratings would more than likely drag down Fox's average), but is set to return beginning Dec. 4 with double-booked Fridays.

So is there any chance the series could go to another network?

Apparently not Syfy. The cabler preemptively warded off any fans hoping for a Syfy rescue attempt with this tweet, "Looks like Fox finally canceled Dollhouse. (No, I don't think we'll pick it up.)"

Episodes five though 10 will air in two-episode blocks on Dec. 4, Dec. 11 and Dec. 18, and episodes 11 through 13 will air on Fridays beginning Jan. 8, meaning that the series finale will land on Jan. 22.

Guest stars set to appear in the remaining installments include Buffy/Angel alum Alexis Denisof and Firefly alums Summer Glau and Alan Tudyk.

We'll miss Enver Gjokaj, Dichen Lachman, Fran Kranz, Tahmoh Penikett and Olivia Williams most of all.

Goodnight, crazy show that had the usual Whedony/Minearean glimmers of genius. Sleep well.

Do you consider the demise of Dollhouse to be a tragedy or just part of the TV circle of life? And what do you believe to be the series' fatal flaw? Tell us in the comments.

(Originally published Nov. 11, 2009, at 1:37 p.m. PT)

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