People: Live 105 won't explain axing 'Woody Show'

Universal Music Group and YouTube launch music, video service

Universal Music Group, the world's largest music company, said it will create a new music and video entertainment service in partnership with Google Inc.'s YouTube online video site.

The two will launch Vevo, an online music video hub where viewers can watch professionally created music videos and create their own interpretations -- using the original song. The music videos will be available through a new site, Vevo.com, and on a new Vevo channel on YouTube. Universal and YouTube will share advertising revenue.

For now, Vevo will contain music videos from Universal, as well as artist-generated content. The other major labels are reportedly in talks to join the service.

"Vevo will bring the most compelling premium music video content and services to the world's single largest online video audience," Doug Morris, Universal Music's chairman and chief executive, said in a statement.

--Dawn C. Chmielewski

Photo: Doug Morris. Credit: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

The 'Dollhouse' situation and what Whedon should do next

I spent part of this morning dealing with a sick pet and much of the rest of the day trying to write a "How I Met Your Mother" piece I've been meaning to finish for some time. So I missed the Twitter heard 'round the world, at least the TV world.

Actress Felicia Day said on her Twitter micro-blog that the "Dollhouse" episode in which she makes a guest appearance, "Epitaph One," won't air on Fox. The Dr. Horrible Twitter, which is a Whedon family project, confirmed the news.

That led to speculation that the show has been canceled, which is not the case. Actually, I'm glad I wasn't on Twitter when this story blew up -- by late this afternoon, several capable TV writers had sorted out the situation.

And the situation is this: Fox ordered 13 episodes of "Dollhouse." It considers the pilot that was shot but scrapped to be one of those episodes. So as far as Fox is concerned, it is obliged to air 12 more episodes of "Dollhouse." That run of 12 episodes ends on May 8, when an episode titled "Omega" airs (there's more on upcoming episodes of "Dollhouse" here).

The studio that makes "Dollhouse" chose to make one additional episode, "Epitaph One," so that it can sell a 13-episode DVD set. Fox apparently will not air that episode, which is a standalone episode that does not resolve issues raised in "Omega."

That is my understanding from reading the following sources:

Alan Sepinwall has an excellent breakdown of the situation here: "Fox network won't decide the fate of 'Dollhouse'until Upfront week, near the end of May, and the decision not to air 'Epitaph One' has nothing whatsoever to do with renewal."Watch With Kristin has another rundown and more details on "Omega": "'Omega' ... was written and directed byTim Minear .... Focused on the Alpha storyline,sources say that 'Omega' apparently 'closes some doors and opens otherones,' and was always intended to be and serves effectively as theseason one finale."Minear clarified the situation on Whedonesque (which has many "Dollhouse" links today) in this comment to the site: "Because we scrapped the original pilot -- and in fact cannibalized someof its parts for other eps -- we really ended up with 12 episodes. Butthe studio makes DVD and other deals based on the original 13 number.So we created a standalone kind of coda episode....We always knew it would be for the DVDfor sure, but we also think Fox should air it because it’s awesome."Daniel Fienberg has an excellent account of the current situation and also some thoughts about the show's future: "Will 'Dollhouse' eventually be cancelled? I can't tell you that today. I cantell you to look at the show's ratings. If you just look at overnightand Fast National figures, that will probably tell you that hopes arebleak for a second 'Dollhouse' season. If you look at DVR and iTunesand other ancillary numbers, it might offer hope."Jace at the Televisionary site says "Omega" should offer closure to Season 1: "All lingering questions from 'Omega' won't be resolved until Season Two anyway," an insider told him.

My take is this: If "Dollhouse" is canceled, for the love of all that is holy, creator Joss Whedon should get out of business with the broadcast networks.

If the "Dollhouse" is closed, I would very much hope Whedon would not feel so scarred by another unpleasant Fox experience that he would stop making TV shows altogether. I want Whedon to keep making TV shows. He's very good at it. But I'd love for him to make a show with a cable network that believes in his vision and lets him do the things that he does well from the start. As it stands, "Dollhouse" didn't reach must-see status until recently (I wrote about its improvement here), mainly because Fox wanted more standalone episodes at the start of the season. 

I would like to see what kind of wonderfully dense, risk-taking project Whedon would come up with when he is not hampered by the current conservative climate at the networks, which these days want most story lines to wrap up by the end of the hour. Can you imagine what a Whedon show on HBO, Showtime, FX or AMC would look like?

And the bonus would be this: It's almost unheard of for cable networks not to air complete seasons of their shows. Yes, I know we can get into hairsplitting about whether Fox is just airing what it asked for and all that. My point is not to demonize Fox (though you should feel free to complain about the network's decision, should you so desire). In these nervous times, the broadcast networks have shifted their priorities and become more risk-averse (a trend I wrote about here).

That's their right, and there are certainly standalone-style shows I enjoy a great deal. He can do that kind of thing competently, but Whedon's shows are at their best when they're allowed to be complicated and serialized.  

My point is this: Whedon needs to make his next show on cable. End of story.

Photos: Eliza Dushku, the star of "Dollhouse"; Alan Tudyk, who guest stars on the May 1 episode of the show.

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