Joss Whedon + Eliza Dushku = much fuego. Right? Maybe. The much-anticipated new series, Dollhouse, hit US screens last week and the pairing of these two talents. For the record, the official website describes it thusly: “Echo (Dushku) is an ‘Active’, a member of a highly illegal and underground group of individuals who have had their personalities wiped clean so they can be imprinted with any number of new personas. Hired by the wealthy, powerful and connected, the Actives don’t just perform their hired roles, they wholly become – with mind, personality and physiology – whomever the client wants or needs them to be.” Sounds intriguing, let’s see what the critics said.

Related: TV Gallery: Eliza Dushku | Joss Whedon fans set out to save Dollhouse, even though it hasn’t started yet (and won’t be on screens for months yet)

The LA Times said:

“To say there has been anticipatory buzz surrounding Joss Whedon’s return to television with Fox’s Dollhouse is like saying octo-mom has gotten some media attention.

Unfortunately these are the kind of thoughts you have watching more than one episode of Dollhouse, if only to avoid the larger, more disturbing questions. Like who thought Dushku was up to the formidable task of portraying several different people per episode? (Hint: It takes more than a different hairstyle and glasses.) Or why the wisecracking, memory-wipe geek played by Fran Kranz seems to have wandered in from another, more lighthearted show? (His name is Topher, for cryingoutloud). Or why we don’t get an episode or two to just get used to the whole Dollhouse concept before it’s front-loading it with two “enemies,” one an FBI agent determined to find this legendary Dollhouse, the other a Doll Gone Wild.”

USA Today also focused in on The Dushku.

“Unfortunately, he’s expending his considerable talents on an empty-vessel premise that probably couldn’t support a series even were it more adroitly cast, or didn’t resemble the already dismissed My Own Worst Enemy. The result is a show that his most devoted fans will debate and embrace, and a mass audience just won’t get.

Dushku can be an appealing performer, but she’s not a particularly versatile one, and versatility is what’s required here. Too often she either falls back on the hard, damaged vixen act she used as Buffy’s Faith or reverts to a childlike trance that’s too dull to carry us.”

The reception wasn’t any warmer in Pittsburgh either. The Post Gazette, said this:

“Dollhouse isn’t awful, but neither is it remarkably good. It’s a passable hour of entertainment that shows potential to improve but flails and confuses (and occasionally bores) from the start.

Another concern with “Dollhouse”: Some of the casting seems less than ideal. Early in tonight’s episode Dushku comes across as wooden and, as Adelle, [Olivia] Williams is a bit of a cipher.

There are clearly some interesting ideas behind Dollhouse – Whedon discusses many of them below – but few of these notions are apparent in early episodes, which makes the series a disappointment at the outset.”

Meanwhile, Salon.com is a bit more charitable.

“Don’t be fooled by the show’s glossy exterior. In its premiere episode, Dollhouse at times resembles the sorts of slick suspense-thriller serial dramas that the networks have been trying (and mostly failing) to master since the dawn of big hits like 24 and Lost. It’s not always clear why movie-quality productions like Fox’s Lie to Me flourish, while others, like NBC’s My Own Worst Enemy or ABC’s Invasion, fail. But the cheap tricks here sometimes obscure the fact that Dollhouse has the brains and flair to charm us silly.”

Just to balance things out, here’s another ok review in St Louise Today.

“Dollhouse has much going for it, including inherent variety in its story lines and plenty of thrills during engagements, balanced by the zenlike but deeply eerie serenity of the Dollhouse itself, where the Actives revert to a childlike state.

Dushku repays Whedon’s faith in her across the board, especially when wearing leather pants, and there’s a ton of built-in buzz for a show that was a cult favorite from the time it was announced more than a year ago.”

So there you have it. Not a brilliant response, but all signs point to improvements in future episodes. It hasn’t been picked up in the UK yet, but it looks like a good fit for Sky1 or, at a push, somewhere like Scifi. We’ll have to wait and see.