When it comes to Joss Whedon’s new television series Dollhouse, "playtime" is the last word on anyone’s lips.

The upcoming Fox show has experienced some pretty serious road bumps since its inception. A reshoot of the series pilot was ordered, shifting the originally shot first episode into the second episode slot. Soon after, a filming hiatus was announced to refocus the tone and direction of the series. Most recently, the full season pick-up of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles has left some Whedonites wondering whether there’s an adequate prime time slot for Dollhouse.

Now, Joss Whedon’s breaking the silence about the mishaps on his blog, Whedonesque.

"Basically, the Network and I had different ideas about what the tone of the show would be," Whedon writes. "Their desires were not surprising: up the stakes, make the episodes more stand-alone, stop talking about relationships and cut to the chase. Oh, and add a chase. That you can cut to. Nothing I hadn’t heard before on my other shows (apparently my learning curve has no bendy part) but frustrating as hell given our circumstances – a pilot shot, scripts written, everybody marching together/gainfully employed… and then a shutdown."

Despite the hardships, Whedon states that "nothing essential has changed about the universe [of Dollhouse]. The ideas and relationships that intrigued me from the start are all there (though some have shifted) … and the progression of the first thirteen eps has me massively excited."

Whedon also writes that Eliza Dushku’s performance is nothing short of "strong, radiant and unmistakable," calling her an actress "who could coast on talent and never ever does."

"Some things I’d intended to hold back are laid out much sooner," Whedon continues about the show’s pacing, "and some are rolling out more slowly." Part of these pacing issues, he clarifies, include the full scrapping of the original pilot in favor of the reshot version. He doesn’t say whether or not the original pilot is still set to be the series’ second episode despite previous reports.

Other than that, there are some casting changes, as the Dollhouse head of security, Laurence Dominic (Reed Diamond), is sticking around the show longer than the single first episode he was originally planned for.

"Most of my problems seem to involve my actors making themselves indispensable," Whedon concedes, then clarifies: "This is the good problem kind."

The first promos for the series, marked only as "coming soon", began airing during the World Series broadcasts and looks pretty cool.

The first sentient race of the DC Universe eventually became nearly-immortal beings of celestial energy, beings now known as the Old Gods. Eventually, there came a time when the Old Gods died and their planet, the "Third World", was destroyed. After many ages, the remnants of this world formed into two new planets, collectively called the "Fourth World." There was the peaceful and beautiful New Genesis, watched over by Izaya the Highfather, and the dark, desolate world of Apokolips, where lived the dark prince Uxas.

Uxas started a life of evil early on. When his brother Drax attempted to master a cosmic energy known as the Omega Force, Uxas decided he wanted the power for himself. In one fell swoop, he disrupted Drax’s plans, becoming master of the Omega Force and leaving his brother for dead. With his new power, Uxas renamed himself Darkseid the Destroyer. Later, he killed his own mother Queen Heggra, partly in revenge for the fact that she had killed the woman he’d loved, and assumed leadership of Apokolips.

Bent on universal domination and motivated by his quest for the Anti-Life Equation, a mathematical formula that proves life is hopeless and can rob any life form of their free will, Darkseid has made many enemies, including the heroes Lightray and Mr. Miracle and his own son Orion, the "dog of war." Darkseid’s attentions later turned towards the planet Earth when he became convinced that human beings held different parts of the Anti-Life Equation hidden in their minds. This brought him into conflict with many super-heroes as well.

Until recently in Final Crisis, he was never successful in conquering Earth, true. But that didn’t mean he never got the better of a hero ever before.

Here then are six moments where Darkseid got to laugh at the failure of his enemies and his own dark power.

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The Godfather is one of those films that creates an immediate sensation but then slowly seeps its way in the American consciousness. Like the immigrant families it depicts, the Mario Puzo novel was a potboiler, his third book after a career of writing for the men’s sweat magazines.  It arrived on the bookstands in 1969 and Puzo merely hoped it was something for the masses so he could support his five children. Instead, it generated some noise, enough to entice Paramount Pictures to option the film.  Then, after many trials and failed attempts to assemble a team, the right mix was found and a movie was made.  The American Dream in microcosm.

Francis Ford Coppola took the basic story of the Mafia, at the time, a criminal entity that people were only just getting familiar with as a reality, and set it against grander themes.  He was very collaborative and Puzo was heavily involved from the beginning which helped tremendously.

The first film was a mammoth success which required a sequel that many argue surpasses the original.  Despite pressure for a third film, it took Coppola until 1990 to finally complete the cycle. In the intervening years, the film’s archetypical characters were embraced and imitated, catch phrases entered the lexicon and have endured. And to be fair, the third installment has aged better than you would imagine now the bitter taste of disappointment has been washed away with time.

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