Joss Whedon's 'Dollhouse' seems too empty

To say there has been anticipatory buzz surrounding Joss Whedon's return to television with Fox's "Dollhouse" is like saying octo-mom has gotten some media attention. The moment Whedon announced the project, fans of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Firefly" began their internal countdown. When bad things began to happen -- the network wanted so many changes in the pilot that Whedon chucked it and began again from scratch -- the buzz only got louder.

But although buzz can indicate an excited crowd on the brink of satiation, it can also serve as a warning that you're about to get stung.

If you sense a pause at this moment, it's me taking a break to wring my hands and brush away a tear. But no amount of fondness or admiration for Whedon and his work can disguise the fact that "Dollhouse," which premieres tonight, is beyond disappointing. Overcrowded with plotlines, high-tech gimmicks and ambition yet empty of emotional connection and purpose, "Dollhouse" tries so hard to be so many things it winds up being nothing much at all.

It would be nice to blame the network and all those dreaded notes, but of the three episodes Fox made available, the pilot is the strongest. Here we meet Echo (Eliza Dushku) and the people who have created her. Echo is an "active," one of a cadre of incredibly good looking young people who are part of a sleek action-brothel where the super-rich and semi-deranged can rent people capable of just about anything. Need a partner for kinky sex, white-water rafting or kidnapping negotiation? Meetcha at the Dollhouse.

Echo and her pals are able to perform such disparate tasks because their memories have been wiped away, leaving them as blank slates onto which other memories, and therefore personalities and abilities, can be downloaded.

You can see why Whedon was drawn to the conceit. It provides a nice action-adventure A plot -- in the pilot it's Echo, programmed to be an ace negotiator, helping a father whose daughter has been kidnapped -- along with, potentially, a lot of larger questions about identity and the nature of reality. A sort of "Alias" meets "Bourne" by way of "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" with a lot of lovely "dolls" milling about, often naked.