FOX has renewed Joss Whedon's "Dollhouse" for another season.
Fox saves one of its sci-fi dolls
Joss Whedon's "Dollhouse" lives on Fox.
But "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" has been terminated.
For sci-fi fans, those are probably the headlines from today's announcement of Fox's 2009-10 primetime slate, which also included the official pickups of four new comedies, two new dramas and Wanda Sykes' Saturday late-night show and confirmation that "So You Think You Can Dance" will follow up its traditional summer edition with another round for fall.
"This is a bet on Joss Whedon," Fox entertainment president Kevin Reilly said of the decision to renew the ratings-challenged "Dollhouse," which stars Eliza Dushku as a woman who's each week imprinted with a new personality and hired out for a variety of tasks.
Calling "Dollhouse" "one of the biggest time-shifted shows on the air," Reilly said "the DVR numbers are a marker for an audience that wants to watch something."
" 'Terminator' has completed its run, and I think it had a nice little run," he said when asked if there were any possibility that it could be brought back should the latest movie in the franchise, "Terminator Salvation," increase demand.
While denying that the decision was a question of "either/or," Reilly did say that "we had to make some choices on the [Friday] night."
Noting that it had been launched with extensive promotion, he said, "We make no apologies for that show…We tried, but it's time to move on."
In other Fox programming news, "Bones" has been picked up for two more seasons and will be paired next fall with "Fringe" on Thursdays. On Mondays, "House" will stay at 8 p.m., followed by "Lie to Me" (with Shawn Ryan, creator of "The Shield," coming on as executive producer) in the fall and "24" in the spring.
