The official announcement will not be made until Monday, but sources say this is happening.
The low-rated Friday night show was last seen given up for dead by the media in a field somewhere.
But its DVR numbers are strong, online streaming is strong. It’s a sci-fi show, which tend to bring in nice ancillary revenue such as DVD sales for sister-company studio 20th TV. And it’s said that Fox execs rather like the series, especially the latter half of the season. Besides, a show airing in the fall on Fox is a bit like running in midseason on most networks -- it’s not their strongest part of the year and maybe ... maybe ...
All right, fine.
A “Dollhouse” pickup is stunning, and tough to explain based on the show's ratings, which concluded at a 1.0 among adults 18-49. Maybe Fox executives are just sick of being vilified on Whedonesque.com. Perhaps Fox entertainment president Kevin Reilly, who wisely renewed “The Office” at NBC after a disastrous first season, knows something we don’t.
Either way, to paraphrase Hannibal Lecter: The broadcast world is a more interesting place with Joss Whedon's show in it.
For Fox, this means the network gets to brag that it's bringing back all three of its new dramas this season -- "Fringe," "Lie to Me" and "Dollhouse." And along with NBC renewing "Friday Night Lights" and strongly considering "Chuck," and the CW stations considering bringing back "Reaper," there's a shift this season toward networks looking beyond live viewing ratings when considering shows with passionate fanbases.
Sources say Fox received some budget concessions from 20th TV and Whedon to continue the show.
Which night "Dollhouse" would air on is unclear, though a return to Fridays now seems likely.
Thanks to http://www.thrfeed.com/2009/05/dollhouse-second-season.html