Dollhouse/Spike Spinoff Crossover Cancelled

Posted: April 10th, 2009 | Author: miconian | Filed under: TV | Tags: Buffy, Cancellation, Dollhouse, Echo, Spike, whedon | View Comments

My confidential source at Fox reveals that there are no longer any plans to film a holiday special in which Buffy The Vampire Slayer’s lovable but rakish anti-villain Spike shows up at the Dollhouse to teach Echo a lesson in taking the reins on one’s destiny.

Apparently, the original plan was for Spike to provide a key piece of insight to Echo, who would have recently escaped the dollhouse, but be unsure what to do next. At that point in the series, the newly self-aware Caroline/Echo will be asking herself a lot of questions, like “Who am I, really?” “Am I good or evil?” and “What is my purpose in life?”

Spike has already had to wrestle with all those questions and come out the other side a healthy being, so he was seen as the perfect catalyst to guide Echo through the changes. His appearance would also have been an experiment in viewer ratings: if he scored well, then Fox was to go ahead and fund the first season of the long-anticipated “Spike: The Hard Way.”

Apparently, though, Joss Whedon, creator of both franchises, decided that the appearance of the beloved platinum-haired vampire would be too much of a deus-ex-machina.

“Echo needs to get where she’s going on her own merits,” Whedon will say in a yet-to-be-released statement. “And Dollhouse, as a show, needs to do the same. “

View Comments on “Dollhouse/Spike Spinoff Crossover Cancelled”

1 Elena said at 3:41 am on April 10th, 2009:
Hee! Priceless!

Pity it’s just a spoof!
2 Anna Lawrence said at 5:51 am on April 10th, 2009:
Oh my goodness how very hilarious. Your mother must be so proud.
3 trepkos said at 8:03 am on April 10th, 2009:
That would have got me watching Dollhouse!”
4 miconian said at 10:52 am on April 10th, 2009:
Elena: We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams.

Anna Lawrence: My mother is the source inside Fox. She and I would both appreciate your discretion.

trepkos: You’re part of a Nielsen family, aren’t you? If you had been watching Dollhouse, this wouldn’t have happened.
5 Bob said at 12:47 pm on April 10th, 2009:
Still waiting to find out that Echo is really Faith, hiding out for a while as Echo.
6 Robin said at 7:49 am on April 15th, 2009:
Very amusing. :)

And I like that photo. Wherever did you find it?
7 miconian said at 7:53 am on April 15th, 2009:
Bob, I’m sure that’s true.

Robin, I found it on a fansite that I haven’t been able to relocate. I thought it was a real Buffy publicity photo at the time, but fans on Whedonesque seem to think otherwise.
8 buffyluver said at 6:01 pm on June 25th, 2010:
in the photo spikes head looks like it was photoshoped on ……. faith, get off spike!