'Fired Up,' 'Dollhouse' actors land ABC pilots

Inside Analysis

• Good for Amy Acker landing a TV...

  "But wait!!!!" fans of a certain Joss Whedon-produced FOX drama are screaming, "Isn't Amy Acker at least a recurring actor on 'Dollhouse?'"

  Well yes. She is. And Acker taking a job on an ABC pilot can either mean something or it can mean nothing and, either way, the Hollywood Reporter casting story offered no hints.

  Two obvious possibilities:

  1) Acker's Dr. Claire Saunders, already mentally and physically scarred, isn't long for this Earth. That isn't a spoiler, kids. I only know what happens in Episode Four and, as far as I know, Acker's character remains alive. After that? All bets are off.

  2) Acker and the rest of the "Dollhouse" cast have seen the show's ratings and they're aware that even on a Friday night, 4.2 million viewers isn't cutting it. So they could just be hedging their bets. In such cases, most actors would have it in their contract that the existing show would be in first position, meaning that if "Dollhouse" gains momentum and FOX decides to bring it back, ABC would have to recast the role in "Happy Family." That would only be an issue, though, if both "Dollhouse" and "Happy Family" had schedule slots for next season and Acker's character survived on "Dollhouse."

  Just don't read too much into it! Or at least not necessarily.

  -Daniel Fienberg