Well, we might’ve expected something like this would happen. As Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse continues to improve with every episode, we’ve just learned that the show’s thirteenth episode — its first-season, and apparently series, finale — will not air on Fox, as planned, but will instead be available only on DVD, according to the Twitter feed of Whedon favorite Felicia Day, who purportedly has a role in said episode:
Okay. So maybe I can help clarify this somewhat. Because we scrapped the original pilot – and in fact cannibalized some of its parts for other eps – we really ended up with 12 episodes. But the studio makes DVD and other deals based on the original 13 number. So we created a standalone kind of coda episode. Which is the mythical new episode 13. The network had already paid for 13 episodes, and this included the one they agreed to let us scrap for parts. It does not include the one we made to bring the number back up to 13 for the studio side and its obligations. We always knew it would be for the DVD for sure, but we also think Fox should air it because it’s awesome.
Okay. So maybe I can help clarify this somewhat. Because we scrapped the original pilot – and in fact cannibalized some of its parts for other eps – we really ended up with 12 episodes. But the studio makes DVD and other deals based on the original 13 number. So we created a standalone kind of coda episode. Which is the mythical new episode 13. The network had already paid for 13 episodes, and this included the one they agreed to let us scrap for parts. It does not include the one we made to bring the number back up to 13 for the studio side and its obligations. We always knew it would be for the DVD for sure, but we also think Fox should air it because it’s awesome.
Well, it outlasted Firefly, at least.
Felicia Day [Felicia Day Twitter]
Update: According to Dollhouse producer Tim Minear, posting on Whedonesque (via James Hibberd):
Okay. So maybe I can help clarify this somewhat. Because we scrapped the original pilot – and in fact cannibalized some of its parts for other eps – we really ended up with 12 episodes. But the studio makes DVD and other deals based on the original 13 number. So we created a standalone kind of coda episode. Which is the mythical new episode 13. The network had already paid for 13 episodes, and this included the one they agreed to let us scrap for parts. It does not include the one we made to bring the number back up to 13 for the studio side and its obligations. We always knew it would be for the DVD for sure, but we also think Fox should air it because it’s awesome.