Fox Doing a Terrible Job on Ads.

[PJ]

I really have a feeling that fox is setting up Dollhouse for failure. I have seen no ads for season 2 yet, and for season 1 i hardly saw any ads or promos for episodes, or the series. And it isn't all shows...i saw ads already for Fringe & Lie to Me.

Your Thoughts......

[dragonweaver]

The sad truth is that advertisements, even ones for Fox's own shows, cost money to make, take time to put together, and take up valuable commercial space. With that in mind Fox has most likely decided to dedicate a majority of their ad time to shows that will be going up against tougher competition. Shows like Fringe & Lie to Me will have to pull in really good numbers in order to justify their budgets & stay on the air. As many people have already pointed out, Dollhouse is different. There won't be a great deal of competition against it on Fridays and everyone at Fox has a much lower expectation as far as ratings go.

To sum up, I'm not worried. I still would love to see some ads, but unlike last spring, the lack of commercials doesn't indicate to me that Fox is planning anything malicious. Just have a little faith. Premature freaking out about another possible cancellation is only going to hurt the show rather than help.

[Joe]

Shows like Dollhouse will never get big enough ratings to deserve dozens of ads like the popular shows. I'm ok with this and I'm not worried. It's already been stated in interviews that if they keep the same ratings as last year we will probably get the back 9 and a season 3.

[Wyndam]

Like dragonweaver said, ads cost money. Lots of money. Dollhouse just doesn't have a high enough amount of budget or ratings to justify an ad campaign like say, Lie to Me is getting. It sucks, but that's business.

[jellymoff]

To expand on what Joe said, I think that Fox is not really looking for Dollhouse to be their next breakout hit. They have certain expectations and see the value in having a show that has such a rabid and loyal fanbase.

Lie to Me hasn't been released on DVD yet, but I will be interested to see the numbers. I'd bet that while Dollhouse doesn't have the ratings, it has the DVD sales, downloads, etc to make it profitable for both the network and the studio.

[Hellbound Hyperion]

And I'm with E) all of the above:

* Premature harassment of FOX for not having an aggressive ad campaign for a show that travels through word-of-mouth faster anyway will just bring Dollhouse down;

* Lie to Me and Fringe have tougher competition versus Dollhouse (actually, I'm pretty certain there IS no competition for Dollhouse - the other networks have, as far as I remember, nothing memorable airing in Dollhouse's slot - heck, I don't even think the lead-in to Dollhouse on FOX is very memorable);

* Ads cost money, of which I'm certain both Joss & Co. and FOX are trying to spend on making every inch of next season really awesome; and

* DVD sales and online viewings are rockin' some charts right now, indicating that TV ratings are becoming less reliable indicators of what shows are drawing in eyeballs.

And honestly, the best campaign FOX ever did for Dollhouse was the Terminator/Dollhouse double-whammy with Summer and Eliza.

[jellymoff]

Aug 12, 2009 12:51:15 GMT -5 Hellbound Hyperion said:

A

* Lie to Me and Fringe have tougher competition versus Dollhouse (actually, I'm pretty certain there IS no competition for Dollhouse - the other networks have, as far as I remember, nothing memorable airing in Dollhouse's slot - heck, I don't even think the lead-in to Dollhouse on FOX is very memorable);

It will be up against "Ugly Betty", "Medium", and 'Southland", so some tougher competition than last year, but not necessarily shows that will take away Dollhouse viewers. Medium probably has the most in common with Dollhouse, although some may watch Betty instead.

[Hellbound Hyperion]

Aug 12, 2009 13:07:29 GMT -5 jellymoff said:

Aug 12, 2009 12:51:15 GMT -5 Hellbound Hyperion said:

A

* Lie to Me and Fringe have tougher competition versus Dollhouse (actually, I'm pretty certain there IS no competition for Dollhouse - the other networks have, as far as I remember, nothing memorable airing in Dollhouse's slot - heck, I don't even think the lead-in to Dollhouse on FOX is very memorable);

It will be up against "Ugly Betty", "Medium", and 'Southland", so some tougher competition than last year, but not necessarily shows that will take away Dollhouse viewers. Medium probably has the most in common with Dollhouse, although some may watch Betty instead.

Bet more on Betty - I despise Medium. Southland is new, but there was a lot of raving about it in its first few episodes. I'm also betting that Southland is on Saturday for a specific reason - either because of Leno or because the execs at NBC are bitter that they had to let go of Medium.

[snizapman6294]

i haven't seen ads for much of anything from fox... I saw a poster for Community on NBC, a poster for It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia on FX, and a few teasers for Bones, 30 Rock, Fringe, Law and Order, and House. I don't think they get in full fledged advertise mode until the legit end of August.

But i, honestly, would be surprised if i saw any ads for Dollhouse period.

[VampSlayer]

Season one had the trailer being played over and over on FOX before it aired. I remember watching it a lot. But then that ended, and then nothing. :/

[●B E N]

I saw an advertisement at the comic book store i go to... so thats one at least.

[Emmie]

I dunno. FOX could be putting less money into advertising because Dollhouse has a loyal fanbase and is spreading through word of mouth and online news. Ads are more for the main stream and they could figure that not going all out with the Ads is what allows them to save the money to keep Dollhouse in their line-up.

[Alexiness]

Fox down here in Australia released an amazing bad-ass trailer for Dollhouse. I must say it's the best, if only, trailer I've seen for Dollhouse.

Spoilers for Epitaph One, though.