Whedonesque Mobile : Comments on 17869 : (SPOILER) First ever interview with a Dollhouse guest star.

October 16 2008

(SPOILER) First ever interview with a Dollhouse guest star. Dollrific! speaks to Mark Ivanir who appears in the second episode (well probably, there is some debate as to what actually is the second episode).

Simon | 20:05 CET | 26 comments total | tags: mark ivanir, dollhouse

Cool interview! From the comments it seems like the original pilot, Echo, was scrapped.

hitnrun017 | October 16, 20:11 CET

Excellent interview. What a busy life he leads, two series (do they do short ones or long ones in Germany & Israel?), movies, guest roles. He was good in MOWE too. Looking forward to seeing him this winter. :)

cabri | October 16, 20:38 CET

From the comments:

Turns out we were both wrong. I just talked to someone from Dollhouse's production office and was told the episode listing goes like this: "Ghost", "Gray Hour", "The Target", "Stage Fright", "Man on the Street". So "Echo" was either renamed or done away with.

Which I just realized is a bit weird because Joss was reported as writing/directing the first two episodes: the original pilot (originally thought to be called "Echo") and the new pilot ("Ghost"). According to the production office the second episode is definitely called "Gray Hour", which as I learned from Mark wasn't written or directed by Joss, so it's not just the original pilot renamed.

Maybe they scrapped using the original pilot as the second episode?

So...does anyone have any additional info on what happened to "Echo"?

JMaloney | October 16, 21:32 CET

Well, the official wiki has the episodes as Ghost, Echo, The Target, Stage Fright, Man on the Street. So maybe Echo was renamed Gray Hour.

The One True b!X | October 16, 21:39 CET

The "Echo" that the wiki (and IMDB, etc) refers to is the original pilot, though, which was written and directed by Joss. The "Gray Hour" episode that Mark Ivanir appeared in was written by Liz Craft and Sarah Fain and directed by Rod Hardy, so it can't be the same episode renamed.

dollrific | October 16, 22:26 CET

I thought the wiki didn't have inhouse updates, was just fan-generated.

cabri | October 16, 22:50 CET

This second episode business is proving to be strangely interesting. I haven't felt like this since Angel was on the air. It's nice to have the old fandom instincts return.

Simon | October 16, 22:52 CET

Ohhh this is where the episode uncertainty is coming from. Yes that write-up offers many intriguing contradictions from earlier information.

It's like they mind-wiped the poor episode of all it knew and made it someone else completely.

Sunfire | October 17, 03:16 CET

I'm trying to avoid spoileryness so I'm not reading anything. But when the heck is thing gonna start?

kerfuffle | October 17, 04:55 CET

January, kerfuffle, I believe the second or third week.

dollrific | October 17, 05:04 CET

Okay, not to freak out (and I know zillions of ppl will flock here to say everything is fine if I do) but isn't it a little worrisome losing this whole episode (if that's what's happened)?

Let Down | October 17, 13:38 CET

Yeah, not airing the pilot at all is worse than airing the pilot last. But if it doesn't make it to TV, I'd hope that we it would end up on the inevitable DVD release.

Invisible Green | October 17, 16:00 CET

Yeah, not airing the pilot at all is worse than airing the pilot last.

They still have a pilot. The question is what happened to the original pilot. I don't think the status of an episode is worth concern at this point. Interest, sure. The important thing is that they have an episode in the #1 slot that they think will start things off right.

Sunfire | October 17, 16:34 CET

Exactly. And key point, the "they" there is Joss and co. It's not like he wrote a pilot he was proud of, then saw it janked by the network and was forced to speed-write a replacement (to name one of many possible fictional scenarios that would obviously never happen).

GVH | October 17, 16:49 CET

If the original pilot was really cut, I don't see why that'd be worrisome. After all, it was originally written as a pilot, not a second episode. It's possible that after looking at it again (over the production hiatus, maybe) Joss and co. realized the original pilot really only works as a pilot, not a regular episode.

dollrific | October 17, 18:06 CET

I don't think the status of an episode is worth concern at this point.

What could be worth more concern regarding the show?

If the original pilot was really cut, I don't see why that'd be worrisome.

I don't know what would possibly be more worrisome.

Invisible Green | October 17, 19:30 CET

What could be worth more concern regarding the show?

Signs of dissatisfaction and unresolved issues with the new pilot. Signs of uncertainty about the creative direction of the show. Evidence of conflict between the showrunners and executives. Fire on the set. Flood. Angry bees.

Sunfire | October 17, 19:38 CET

I had angry bees last night. Well, one angry bee. Well, one calm bee. Well, I dreamt one.

The One True b!X | October 17, 19:41 CET

Nobody likes angry bees. And yeah, I'd be much more concerned with how the new pilot fares. The original pilot was exactly that: a pilot. Pilots are written to introduce us to a new world. It's entirely possible that introducing us to the world twice in a row was redundant, and "Gray Hour" worked better as a second episode than what was supposed to be a pilot.

dollrific | October 17, 19:52 CET

They could always cut up "Echo" into webisodes.

The One True b!X | October 17, 19:56 CET

Hey!
Angry bees could have a very good motive for their frustation. Maybe they don't have pie. But is important to control the anger unless this will goes to hate and fear and voting in the wrong side.

Brasilian Chaos Man | October 17, 20:00 CET

I didn't meant to start a bee derail. It's just that the whole state of ongoing Dollhouse nervousness discussions remind me of this scenario, specifically:

We got the emergency alarm and the emergency detector and all the emergency traps and there isn't a single little emergency.
- Well now that's pretty suspicious. 'Cause if I were an emergency I'd go around disguising myself as a complete lack of emergencies.
Ohmigod - that's what I've got right now! What do I do!

I just can't be worried unless I see some big warning sign. Buffy's original pilot was scrapped. For different reasons, but still. This seems like a non-issue to me in the absence of other information. I do hope to see the original pilot appear somewhere in some form.

And I don't mean to make fun of people who are worried. I get that people have been burned in the past and are both excited and wary of this new show. I just think that given the amount fans can do at this stage, it doesn't make sense to worry so much.

Sunfire | October 17, 20:17 CET

Emergency Bee Response Action Plan (EBRAP)
a. Negotiated settlement
- Too soft
- Appeasing the bees will only embolden future bees
b. Retaliatory air strike against the bee homeland

Omgd, should I run? Where is is this place? The bees supporters will be hunted too?

Brasilian Chaos Man | October 17, 20:41 CET

What could be worth more concern regarding the show?

Foreign buyers not being interested in it at Mipcom.

Simon | October 17, 21:59 CET

Excellent point.

Sunfire | October 17, 22:02 CET

If foreign buyers aren't interested in it, I will be making phone calls.

That was a very nice threat in my head. I just recently found out that part of the "interest" foreign buyers, in Scandinavia at least, might have depends on what else is also in the package because apparently shows are not sold individually. Which totally explains why we get all of the CSI franchise but few of the good comedies over here. And now even I'm obsessing a little bit and I missed everything with Firefly.

Bees *snort*

MysticSlug | October 17, 22:54 CET

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