That's sort of exciting

Joss Whedon, the creator of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Angel" and "Firefly," is returning to TV.

How exciting is that?!?!?!?

He's signed to do a new show, and Eliza Dushku — who played Faith the vampire slayer on "Buffy" and "Angel" — is signed to star.

More exciting still!!!!!

The new show ("Dollhouse") is all science fictiony.

Whoo-hoo!!!!!

Oh ... but it'll be on Fox.

Um, bummer.

Fox doesn't have such a great record with Whedon — it (far too) quickly canceled "Firefly." (Fox produced "Buffy" and "Angel" for The WB and UPN.)

Fox doesn't have a great record with Dushku — it renewed, then quickly canceled "Tru Calling."

And the last time Fox put a science-fiction show on the air and stuck with it was more than 14 years ago, when "The X-Files" premiered.

Tim Minear, who worked with Whedon on "Angel" and "Firefly," has had three shows since then on Fox: "Wonderfalls" got the ax after 14 episodes; "The Inside" lasted only 13 episodes; "Drive" was killed after only three airings.

Can't say I'm all that confident about how Fox will handle Whedon's latest project.

Fox has ordered seven episodes of "Dollhouse." It's about a group of people who are programmed with different personalities and skills to complete various tasks for a super-secret agency. After each assignment, their memories are erased.

Dushku's character, however, begins remembering ... and the drama begins.

The show has been penciled in for the fall, but given the current strike by the Writers Guild of America, all plans are currently on hold.

RESCUED: FX has finally picked up a fifth season of "Rescue Me."

The four previous seasons were each 13 episodes long; FX has ordered 22 episodes for the fifth season.

Actually, they'll air as season 5.1 and season 5.2 — two 11-episode arcs. Scheduling, as well as production (given the ongoing writers' strike) are both up in the air.

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E-mail: pierce@desnews.com