The series finale of Dollhouse could only muster 2.16m for Fox on Friday night, according to overnight Nielsen ratings.

Dollhouse was edged in the 8pm hour by a new episode of Smallville, which pulled in 2.52 million for The CW.

Fox announced late last year it was canceling Dollhouse following ratings for its second season declining even further. Although the broadcaster canceled the series it committed itself to airing all the episodes it had previously ordered. Creator Joss Whedon will direct an episode of Glee next and is rumored to be developing a new science fiction series for cable channel FX.

Dollhouse starred Eliza Dushku and debuted in February of last year to mixed reviews. There were some (too few, according to ratings) who saw the spark that made projects like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Serenity stellar. Then there were those who saw it as flat, complicated, and directionless from the beginning.

Whedon spoke to the Chicago Tribune late last year and said Dollhouse was “difficult to market.”

“The show didn’t really get off the ground because the network pretty much wanted to back away from the concept five minutes after they bought it,” said Whedon. “And then ultimately, the show itself is also kind of odd and difficult to market. I actually think they did a good job, but it’s just not a slam-dunk concept.”

Back to ratings.

ABC’s Supernanny brought in a reasonable 4.72 million, while a repeat of Law & Order nabbed 6.76m for NBC. CBS’s Ghost Whisperer won the hour with 8.34m.

CBS continued strongly in the 9pm hour, taking 7.98 million with Medium. NBC’s Dateline had 7.35m. ABC’s Shark Tank was third with 4.38 million.

The season premiere of Kitchen Nightmares drew 3.28m for Fox, while a repeat of Smallville gathered 1.48m for The CW.

At 10pm, Numb3rs dropped to 8.7 million but won its slot for CBS, with ABC’s 20/20 close behind with 8.07m. The Jay Leno Show put in 4.95 million for NBC.

It’s the end of the line for the highly buzzed about but little-watched Fox sci-fi show Dollhouse along with ABC’s Kelsey Grammer sitcom Hank.

For Hank, the show is currently filming episode 10 and will stop production after wrapping that episode. ABC, which has aired five half-hours of Hank, has no immediate plans to run the remaining five segments. Kelsey Grammer has been struggling to find a sitcom home since Frasier.

“I don’t have a lot to say,” series creator Joss Whedon wrote in a post on Whedonesque.com, responding to Dollhouse’s cancellation. “I’m extremely proud of the people I’ve worked with: my star, my staff, my cast, my crew. I feel the show is getting better pretty much every week, and I think you’ll agree in the coming months. I’m grateful that we got to put it on, and then come back and put it on again.”

Whedon sounded off on his next plans. “I’m off to pursue internet ventures/binge drinking,” he said. “Possibly that relaxation thing I’ve read so much about. By the time the last episode airs, you’ll know what my next project is. But for now there’s a lot of work still to be done, and disappointment to bear.”

“Thank you all for your support, your patience, your excellent adverts. See you again,” Whedon said in closing.

Dollhouse is about a high-tech quasi-prostitution service, with Eliza Dushku starring as an escort who can be implanted with different personalities to accommodate each client.

Created by Whedon, best known for “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” the series arrived last February with great fanfare, but struggled to find an audience. Its cancellation was first reported Wednesday by the Hollywood Reporter.

Co-written and created by beloved fanboy icon Joss Whedon (Firefly), Dollhouse has been struggling to pull in viewers since its debut last year. Though it has experienced a small bump in viewership from DVR viewing, the series has been left languishing on Friday nights where it is being beaten in the ratings by Smallville and new cable series Stargate Universe.

Dollhouse will finish out it’s ordered 13 episodes, 11 of which have been produced. Whedon is expected to craft the final episode into a series finale, news that should please disappointed fans.

Struggling sci-fi series Dollhouse will be pulled by Fox temporarily to showcase slightly better ratings.

FOX has removed its regular Friday lineup for the vaunted November sweeps period, which begins Thursday, October 29th. Dollhouse and ‘Til Death will go on hiatus, while new series Brothers joins Fox’s Sunday lineup.

A rerun of the House season premiere will air on Friday, October 30th. House and Bones repeats will fill the night through November. Despite the network’s move to temporarily nix Dollhouse from its lineup, Fox executives still plan to air all 13 of the episodes they ordered for the series.

Co-written and created by beloved fanboy icon Joss Whedon (Firefly), Dollhouse has been struggling to pull in viewers since its debut last year. Though it has experienced a small bump in viewership from DVR viewing, the series starring Eliza Dushku has been left languishing on Friday nights where it is being beaten in the ratings by Smallville and new cable series Stargate Universe.

Dollhouse revolves around a secret lab that conditions women to become a paying customer’s fantasy or job. From a simple date to rich socialite or trained mercenary, “dolls” can handle any and every situation. At the end of each job, the doll’s memory is erased. It makes its return on Friday, December 4th with back-to-back episodes featuring the first appearance of Summer Glau, whose series, Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles, was canceled this past summer. The double runs will continue through December 18th, leaving three of the show’s 13 episodes to run in 2010.

Dollhouse is averaging only 2.83 million viewers a week, and it’s the best performer for Fox on the night. Brothers has been drawing 2.51 million viewers and ‘Til Death 2.37 million.

Joss Whedon posted on his fansite, Whedonesque.com, that he wasn’t losing any sleep over Fox’s actions. “Howzabout that schedule? Well, I’m not as depressed as everyone else,” he said. “We weren’t about to rock sweeps anyway, and though there’s a chilly November, December is CRAZY. It’s like an Advent calendar of episodes!

We get November to try to spread the word (which I’ll be leaning on Fox to do, though it’s hard to imagine them doing as good a job as the WhyIWatch guy) and then December is pure gluttony.”

It’s not all sci-fi for Whedon as Glee co-creator Ryan Murphy recently stated that the Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator will direct an episode of the musical comedy.

Fox will air all thirteen planned episodes of the second season of the struggling sci-fi action drama Dollhouse thanks in part to a spike in DVR viewership.

Despite favorable reactions from viewers and critics, Dollhouse continues to struggle in its prime-time slot on Fridays airing opposite CW’s Smallville in a race for viewers in the vaunted 18-49 male demographic. The show is also squaring off against the new cable series Stargate Universe which has an average viewership of 2.4 million and has increased viewership even after its debut.

Dollhouse viewership has dropped from a lackluster 3.4 million viewer average to around 2.2 million per episode. The show also scored a weak 1.0 share for the series’ season premiere. The figure was bolstered by DVR viewers to 1.5, but despite the raise, Whedon’s show, starring Eliza Dushku, remains one of the least watched shows in prime time.

While Fox will air the rest of the show’s second season, the network has no promises on carrying Dollhouse for a third round of shows. In preparation of a cancellation, Joss Whedon, who is currently filming the show’s eighth episode, will write the season finale as a series finale but will allow the door to be open for a third season. “We’ll definitely have closure but will leave some doors open,” Whedon told The Hollywood Reporter. Fox’s airing of the final thirteen episodes could run concurrently or break the series and return in January or February.

Dollhouse revolves around a secret lab that conditions women to become a paying customer’s fantasy or job. From a simple date to rich socialite or trained mercenary, “dolls” can handle any and every situation. At the end of each job, the doll’s memory is erased. Dushku plays Echo, an active doll who is showing signs of self-awareness despite attempts to erase her mind. Dushku, who also starred in Buffy and Tru Calling, will be joined this season by former Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles gal Summer Glau who will play another member of the secret Dollhouse. Glau was also in the feature-length feature of Whendon’s Firefly movie entitled Serenity.

All week, the networks will be unveiling their fall schedules at the Upfronts in NYC. The upfronts are basically meetings between television network executives with the press, show stars and advertisers. It gives advertisers a chance to buy commercial airtime before the season starts in the fall. This morning Fox announced their line-up.

The network is introducing six new shows, the musical “Glee”, three comedies, the animated “The Cleveland Show”, “Brothers”, “Sons of Tucson” and two dramas, dramas “Human Target” and “Past Life”.

The network is also introducing a few scheduling changes. “Lie to Me” will follow “House” on Monday nights, while “Fringe” movies to Thursdays, where it will follow “Bones.”

“So You Think You Can Dance,” which has its Season 5 premiere Thursday, will have its first shot at the fall season while “Dollhouse” was given a second chance on Friday nights.

“Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles,” “Sit Down, Shut Up” and “Do Not Disturb” were all cancelled.

Here’s the full schedule:

FOX PRIMETIME SCHEDULE: FALL 2009
(All Times ET/PT)

MONDAY
8:00-9:00 PM HOUSE
9:00-10:00 PM LIE TO ME

TUESDAY
8:00-10:00 PM SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE Performance Show

WEDNESDAY
8:00-9:00 PM SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE Results Show
9:00-10:00 PM GLEE

THURSDAY
8:00-9:00 PM BONES
9:00-10:00 PM FRINGE

FRIDAY
8:00-8:30 PM BROTHERS
8:30-9:00 PM ‘TIL DEATH
9:00-10:00 PM DOLLHOUSE

SATURDAY
8:00-8:30 PM COPS
8:30-9:00 PM COPS
9:00-10:00 PM AMERICA’S MOST WANTED
11:00 PM-Midnight THE WANDA SYKES SHOW (working title)
Midnight-12:30 AM ANIMATION DOMINATION ENCORES

SUNDAY
7:00-8:00 PM THE OT (NFL post-game)
8:00-8:30 PM THE SIMPSONS
8:30-9:00 PM THE CLEVELAND SHOW
9:00-9:30 PM FAMILY GUY
9:30-10:00 PM AMERICAN DAD

The midseason schedule is after the jump…

FOX PRIMETIME SCHEDULE: MIDSEASON 2010

(All Times ET/PT)

MONDAY
8:00-9:00 PM HOUSE
9:00-10:00 PM 24

TUESDAY
8:00-9:00 PM AMERICAN IDOL Performance Show
9:00-10:00 PM PAST LIFE

WEDNESDAY
8:00-9:00 PM AMERICAN IDOL Results Show
9:00-10:00 PM HUMAN TARGET (January) / GLEE (spring)

THURSDAY
8:00-9:00 PM BONES
9:00-10:00 PM FRINGE

FRIDAY
8:00-8:30 PM BROTHERS
8:30-9:00 PM ‘TIL DEATH
9:00-10:00 PM DOLLHOUSE

SATURDAY
8:00-8:30 PM COPS
8:30-9:00 PM COPS
9:00-10:00 PM AMERICA’S MOST WANTED
11:00 PM-Midnight THE WANDA SYKES SHOW (working title)
Midnight-12:30 AM ANIMATION DOMINATION ENCORES

SUNDAY
7:00-7:30 PM ANIMATION DOMINATION ENCORES
7:30-8:00 PM AMERICAN DAD
8:00-8:30 PM THE SIMPSONS
8:30-9:00 PM SONS OF TUCSON
9:00-9:30 PM FAMILY GUY
9:30-10:00 PM THE CLEVELAND SHOW

On Tuesday, The creator of Fox’s Dollhouse, Joss Whedon, announced that the possibility of the show being renewed for a second season was slim. The few people who have stuck with it say the show has come into its own and is worth watching but it may be too late to save it.

Whedon was speaking at a PaleyFest panel for another one of his cult creations, Dr. Horrible and the Sing-Along-Blog, when he was asked about the fate of Dollhouse.

The chances are “not very good,” he said, according to SciFiWire.com. “Obviously our numbers are pretty soft … but we live in hope.

“I’m really proud of the episodes that are coming out,” Whedon said. “More than that, I can’t really ask.”

Further supporting Whedon’s grim prediction,Fox announced it will not air the 13th episode of the series, entitled Epitaph One. The studio wants to package it with the first twelve episodes of the season  for a DVD. The episode is a stand alone that Whedon describes as a post-apocalyptic thriller that takes place the Dollhouse sets. He said that it was shot with a cast of four people and turned out to be one of the best episodes he’s ever made.

According to the L.A. Times, “The most recent episode of Dollhouse delivered a 1.4 rating among adults 18-49 and 3.6 million viewers overall. A renewal for its Friday-night lead-in, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, is even less likely. Fox will announce its fall schedule May 18.”

Catch Dollhouse while you can now on Hulu.

On a side note for Whedon fans, you’ll be disappointed to hear he also told reporters during the PaleyFest that a Buffy The Vampire movie is not going to happen.

“Not gonna happen. Until I gather the press and make a public announcement myself that it’s going to happen, never believe anything.”