LOOKING GOOD: Anyone looking to start filling up their own Sopranos museum will get a head start next month, when James Gandolfini will auction off a chunk of his wardrobe from the HBO show at Christie’s for charity. “The actor’s contract allowed him to keep the clothes after the show ended its six-season run last year” said an Associated Press story. “He has authenticated all the outfits in the sale.”
The auction is expected to bring in up to US$36,500 for the Wounded Warrior Project, a charity benefitting severely wounded veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, and will include the monogrammed bathrobe Gandolfini’s Tony Soprano is seen wearing in the show’s pilot, and the sports shirt, undershirt and black pants featured in the episode where Soprano was shot by Uncle Junior.
Another 37 costumes worn by Sopranos characters are featured in the sale, though their proceeds will not go to Wounded Warrior. No word on whether a Member’s Only jacket is among these extra items.
TALK ABOUT LOW EXPECTATIONS: The geeky goodness of this story is only enhanced by the fact that it was found on Wired magazine’s Underwired blog. Fan campaigns to revive cancelled shows have gone from wired to tired in barely a year, but Joss Whedon fans – whose hair-trigger finger on the send button accounts for much of my hate mail over the years – are already organizing a campaign to save Dollhouse, Whedon’s return to TV, eight months before it’s set to debut on Fox.
Starring Eliza Dushku – pinup of choice for the archivally stable mylar comic book bag set – the show was given a green light by Fox before a foot of the pilot was shot, and its episode order was nearly doubled, from 7 to 13, which means that they’ll be able to sell it as a full-priced box set even if only three hit the air before the apparently inevitable drop from primetime.
There’s a Facebook fan page with 1,500 members, and DollhouseForums.com, where the online campaign to save the unseen show is being coordinated, with pleas to buy merchandise, increase online trailer viewership, organize viewing parties and create more Dollhouse fan sites. (I hate to be Mr. Downer here, but aren’t viewing parties likely to hurt the show, as they mean fewer TV sets tuned to Dollhouse on the nights it airs, not more? Ratings aren’t like carpooling, after all, though I guess it gives you an opportunity to show off your Buffy action figures to people who won’t go all glassy-eyed and mouth “loser” when they think you’re not looking.)
Some fans are already worried, however, that the preemptive fan campaigns might hurt, not help, the how. “There is a fine line to walk so that this won’t be another obnoxious Whedon fan campaign that will piss people off and make them talk negatively about the show in advance,” writes one TamaraC on one forum. “Please be careful.” Good point, though since the show is airing on chop-happy Fox, I’d call this prudent, if a little bit high school sci-fi club.
