Fox renewed
Dollhouse for a second season, although the show received a dramatic budget cut. For this reason, four out of the seven lead actors do not appear in every episode of the season.
Harry Lennix and
Enver Gjokaj are both absent from two, while
Tahmoh Penikett and
Dichen Lachman are both absent from three.
Amy Acker, whom
Joss Whedon had intended to be a prominent component of the season, only appeared in three episodes due to the budget cut and her commitment to the short lived series,
Happy Town. The series upgraded from
35 mm film to HD digital film for this season and shot much of the footage using hand held cameras, in the style of "Epitaph One". Joss Whedon, creator of the show, states on his audio commentary for "
Vows" that shooting went so much faster than usual, due in part to the use of HD cameras and hand held direction, that his line producer, Kelly Manners, would often be; "scrambling for something to do." This decision sparked rumor amongst fans and critics that Fox was indeed intending to cancel the show (a threat present since the first season) and despite an increase in critical acclaim throughout the season, Fox canceled the show after the fourth episode aired, citing declining ratings as the reason. The remaining three episodes aired in January with the series finale held back a week due to the
Hope for Haiti charity telethon.
Crew Series creator
Joss Whedon continued to serve as executive producer and showrunner. Michelle Fazekas and Tara Butters joined as consulting producers, replacing
Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain, and wrote the second and penultimate episodes of the show; "
Instinct" and "
The Hollow Men". Whedon wrote and directed the season premiere "
Vows" but is not credited with either writing or directing any other episode of the show.
Tim Minear, promoted to executive producer, again wrote two episodes ("
Belle Chose" and "
Getting Closer") and directed the latter. Tracey Bellomo and
Andrew Chambliss remained with the show and were promoted to story editors. Each wrote or co-wrote two and four episodes respectively while
Maurissa Tancharoen and
Jed Whedon (also promoted to story editors) wrote or co-wrote the remainder of the episodes including; "
Belonging", "
Meet Jane Doe", "
The Attic" and the series finale "
Epitaph Two: Return". Jenny DeArmit, the writer's assistant during the first season, wrote the episode "
A Love Supreme".
David Solomon was promoted to executive producer and again directed the highest number of episodes of the season, directing three out of the thirteen including the series finale. Comic book artist
John Cassaday, who has worked closely with Whedon when he wrote the
Astonishing X-Men arc for
Marvel Comics, directed the tenth episode of the season. Other directors included
Marita Grabiak,
Jonathan Frakes,
Wendey Stanzler,
David Straiton,
Felix Alcalá,
Terrence O'Hara and
Dwight Little.
Eliza Dushku and Kelly A. Manners again acted as producer and line producer respectively. Ross Berryman, who was the show's cinematographer for the first season, was replaced by
Lisa Wiegand. == Home video releases ==