The bumpy journey of Joss Whedon's Dollhouse, which has continued to struggle in the ratings in the early stages of its second season, could finally be coming to an end. It's now being reported over at The Ausiello Files that Dollhouse is going to be taken off the air by Fox across the crucial November sweeps season in the US, and isn't likely to return to our screens until December. And that is foreboding news for the show.

Season two hasn't been a disaster in terms of ratings to fair. Thanks to the show's DVR audience, it's been adding around 50% to its numbers when taking into account those who record it on a Friday night in the US and that catch up with it later. But the fact remains that Dollhouse is still struggling, and - in spite of some promising signs in season two - it's still not found the consistency and confidence of some of Whedon's other TV hits.

By taking the show off the air at such a pivotal time, Fox has pretty much canned any hope of further episodes being added to Dollhouse's current run (which stands at 13 for season two). Furthermore, while it's committed to showing the rest of the season, the future prognosis for Dollhouse is now really very weak. The general consensus is that if it gets a third season commission, it's going to need something of a miracle in the ratings to make that happen.

The only slight upside is that Joss Whedon has promised that the show, one way or another, will get a proper ending. It's just it now seems that the proper ending is coming a lot sooner than most of us would have liked.

The Ausiello Files