Whedon still playing in the 'Dollhouse'

Century City, Calif. — If you (were one of the few who) watched the first season of "Dollhouse," you certainly noticed the frequent shower scenes.

We're not talking Showtime- or HBO-like nudity here, but certainly there were plenty of scenes that featured very attractive people in that communal shower in the secret Dollhouse headquarters.

And, believe it or not, it was not Fox executives who were pushing for more of those scenes to try to build the basically bad ratings.

"The network did not pressure us to have shower scenes in every episode. That just sort of happened naturally," said creator/executive producer/writer Joss Whedon.

"They were not pressuring us to make the show sexier or edgier. They were pressuring us to make the show safer, basically. … So if there is something in the show that seems a little bit off or maybe a little bit racy, know that was me. That was totally me and (writer) Andrew Chambliss.

"The other writers are all Mormons."

He was joking, of course. About the Mormon thing, that is.

And, apparently, the shower scenes will be fewer and farther between in Season 2.

"Actually, we haven't broken a story with a shower scene yet," Whedon said. "We are a little disappointed in ourselves, and we know we have let America down, too."

PRETTY MUCH NO ONE thought that there would be a second season of "Dollhouse," given the abominable ratings last spring.

I certainly didn't. And neither did Whedon himself, who called it "the biggest surprise of my career."

"I really didn't expect to be sitting here again for a while. This has been like skiing in a cartoon where you go up the mountain and down the mountain and up and down. Right now we are pretty high up on it because we realized that we were actually going to have to work for a living this summer."

The second season is scheduled to premiere on Sept. 25.

"Dollhouse" was a rather muddled series about a super-secret private organization that offers those with lots of money a chance to hire one of its Actives — an attractive young person who is essentially an empty shell. An Active can be implanted with any personality for a specific mission; then the Active's personality is wiped clean again.

As the season advanced, it became less about specific missions and more about an overarching story arc, but the ratings didn't improve.