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I blame Summer

So it appears that Joss Whedon's 'Dollhouse' has been cancelled. Colour me utterly unsurprised.  I was shocked when Fox gave it a second series, and since then the ratings have been as tepid as month old bathwater.  It's a shame as what has been aired of the second series so far, coupled with the season finale from last year pointed to a genuinely interesting story arc. And besides, it's Whedon.

But thinking on this since I found out this morning, I've decided that it's all too easy to blame those baby killing psychopathsnetwork executives at Fox.  I blame Summer Glau.* She is like Whedon's kryptonite.

First time we saw the delectable Summer it was in an episode from the third series of Angel, where she played a ballet dancer. Her all-pervasive cancellation powers had obviously not kicked into full gear yet because Angel limped on for a further two series, finally axed after the fifth.

After that she teamed up with Joss again for the wonderful Firefly. Which was almost instantly cancelled.  She starred in the film Serenity, which made sure it would never get a sequel.  So she moved on to the Terminator series, which battled to a second series before the inevitable cancellation.

Dollhouse was doing ok really. Apparently they agreed to shoot for a lot less money, to make sure it turned a profit despite the poor ratings.  but then, her assignment to destroy the Terminator show achieved Joss decided that what Dollhouse really needed was to be cancelled, so he brought Summer aboard.

The effect was almost instantaneous.  She was scheduled to start her Dollhouse stint in the fifth episode, which Fox suddenly pushed back to December to make way for November Sweeps.  And before that episode has even been shown comes the announcement that Dollhouse is no more. They have agreed to show the final episodes, which means we will finally get to see Summer in the role that closed the door on the Dollhouse.

So, Whedon-heads, instead of picketing the Fox execs that pulled the trigger, try and remember the curse of Glau. She has powers, terrible powers.  For now though, let's just hope that her guest spot on The Big Bang Theory doesn't bring that to a sudden and inevitable end.

*In case you hadn't realised, I don't really blame the lovely Ms Glau. I just wanted an excuse to put a picture of her on my blog to cheer me up after hearing the news about Dollhouse.  I'm going to go and cry now.