Press tour: Joss Whedon talks 'Dollhouse'

SANTA MONICA, Calif. - Next week I'll be visiting the set of Fox's "Dollhouse," the midseason series from Joss Whedon, creator of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Angel" and "Firefly." But last night Whedon was answering questions at the Fox party at Santa Monica pier. And just like the old days of "Buffy," he was surrounded by reporters eager for tidbits about his new show.

The concept of "Dollhouse" goes like this: Eliza Dushku, who played the slayer Faith on "Buffy," stars as Echo, an employee of a secret organization of operatives whose memories and personalities are wiped clean after every mission. These "Actives" don't know they're pawns until Echo starts remembering her past.

"It's about a girl trying to figure out who she is while she's imprinted with every personality you could imagine," Whedon said. "We have certain assumptions about who we are based on what we were told when we were little and what we think we're supposed to do and we have assumptions about what's bad and what's good, what's sinful and saintly, and we're often wrong about all of that. ‘Dollhouse' is about breaking that down and exploring that and what it means to be human, period."

Whedon said the "Dollhouse" pilot is almost completed and like in his past series, there will be an overall story arc but different missions for the Actives in each episode. Whedon brought in some of his past collaborators, including Liz Craft and Sarah Fain ("Angel," "The Shield," "Women's Murder Club") as executive producers and Tim Minear ("Firefly," "Angel," "Wonderfalls," "Drive") and Steven DeKnight ("Buffy," "Angel," "Smallville") as consulting producers.

"Dollhouse" is Whedon's first series since "Firefly," a disappointing experience given the way Fox bungled the air order of the episodes and its general lack of support.

"People in the production end [of the Fox studio] have always been collaborators and pals. The people at the network are all new," Whedon said. "I had one scary moment on the fifth floor of the Fox building where I went, ‘This is the place that's haunted!' and that was it. It's been a completely different experience and really fun and respectful. Sooner or later I think they'll figure out how to do their jobs and start - no, I'm kidding."