NEW SHOW: "Dollhouse"

I remember watching "The Body", the Season 5 episode of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," in which Buffy's mother dies, and thinking that it was one of the best hours of television I'd ever seen. I still feel that way.

So as far as I'm concerned Joss Whedon doesn't have to do anything else. Not many people get to make even one great piece of art.

I guess it's a good thing that Whedon isn't as easy to satisfy as I am. His new show "Dollhouse" premieres tonight on Fox at 9.

It stars a "Buffy" actress Eliza Dushku, who played bad slayer Faith. In "Dollhouse" she's Echo, a woman who lives in a high-tech encampment, in the employ of a secret company that provides dolls or "actives" for wealthy clients. The dolls perform various jobs for the clients; in the first episode "Ghost", Echo provides one client with the perfect birthday weekend, and for another, helps him with his daughter's kidnapping.

The dolls have had their personalities erased; new created personalities are downloaded into their minds for each assignment.

Honestly, the first 8 minutes or so of this show had me thinking, What? Yet, I was rewarded for not giving up. The show is inventive, with good action and character arcs that show lots of potential to develop.

There's a troubled FBI agent who is trying to prove that the Dollhouse exists. There's Echo's conflicted handler, played by the always excellent Harry Lennix. There's the head of the secret firm who seems to have some secrets of her own.

And there's Echo herself who is starting to remember things and wonder who she is.

Whedon says that the show developed because he and Dushku were bemoaning the lack of range she's gotten since playing Faith; she's often either cast as the bad girl or the concerned girl.

Dushku certainly gets a showcase here, and i have to say she does softness well. She's clearly a more gifted actress than she's been allowed to be.

The feminist in me has to mention something: Fox's marketing of the show. The network is packaging it with "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" as as sort of sexy tough hot chicks night.

OK, this isn't completely unfair. There's a bit of Stepford Wives/Sex Kitten/L.A. actress scene to "Dollhouse"; between personality downloads the women are like innocents new to the world, devoid of meaning, waiting for a man to download them some purpose. And yes, they are hot.

Marketing though is more ham-fisted than art. "Dollhouse" comes across as clever, menacing, adventurous. The ads just seem cheesy.

Don't let the ads make you think "Dollhouse" is just a babefest for the guys. Whedon hasn't revealed all he's aiming to do, but I think you can trust him.