Joss Whedon reacts to 'Dollhouse' move

TCA -- Has any TV show ever endured such an severe pre-premiere reputation whiplash as Joss Whedon's "Dollhouse"?

The show has gone from a buzz-heavy must-see event ... to a supposedly doomed failure ... and the first episode hasn't even aired yet (coming in February, on Friday the 13th, lest we forget). 

It would be great to see Whedon prove his skeptical prognosticators wrong.

During the "Dollhouse" panel, Whedon was asked how he feels about the show being moved from high-profile Mondays to less-viewed Fridays, not unlike his previous ill-fated Fox sci-fi drama, "Firefly."

"My initial reaction was mixed," he says.

"I’ve had a bad experience on a Friday; you may have heard about it," Whedon says. "But I also felt relief. [The worry] was partly a reaction to what had happened in the past. I’m excited to be paired with ‘Terminator.’ [Fox executives] made it very clear they’re not sticking us on a Friday and then not promoting it. Ultimately I feel more comfortable there than I did on Mondays."

One critic asks if he was concerned about viewers' rejection of NBC's "My Own Worst Enemy" -- which also involved a high-tech programmed operative and explored identity issues.

"I'm not," he says. "I don’t think the two shows are too similar. We all tuned in to see how many similarities there were. In the writers room we thought their tech is really cool looking ... but ultimately it's not about the premise but what you do with it and the voice of the writers ... The fact ['Enemy'] is not there now is probably more helpful."