VIEWERS didn’t exactly extend a welcome to the “Dollhouse.”
Joss Whedon’s much-hyped, highly anticipated series launched to low numbers Friday night – averaging 4.7 million viewers to finish third in its timeslot (9-10 p.m.).
The Eliza Dushku series also finished third in adults 18-49 behind ABC’s “Supernanny” and “Flashpoint” on CBS.
Will Anyone Play With This ‘Dollhouse’?
It did, however, manage to retain most of its viewership in its second half hour while beating NBC’s “Friday Night Lights” by 1.3 million viewers.
The launch of “Dollhouse” spurred much attention, not only because of Whedon’s pedigree – he executive-produced “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Angel” and the short-lived “Firefly” – but because the show reunited Whedon with Dushku, who co-starred on “Buffy” and headlined its spinoff, “Angel.”
“Dollhouse” also made news last fall, when Fox halted production on the show for a few weeks, reportedly over concerns its plot was too difficult to follow.
There was then speculation Fox would launch “Dollhouse” in January behind its “American Idol” juggernaut.
But Fox officials said the Friday slot would allow the show to finds its legs on a night where TV viewership is traditionally lower.