My opinions tend to run counter to those of my peers. As a result, I’m often branded “negative,” “pessimistic,” or other such derogatory adjectives. However, I prefer to see myself more as a realist. Allow me to explain: I’m never negative for the sake of being negative. That serves no purpose. I try to base my thoughts in some semblance of logic and reality. Otherwise, you’ve got a rambling, pointless opinion, and you’re no better than some douchebag blowhard on Fox News.

Let me give you a recent example. I’ve been given the rolleyes treatment lately due to the fact that I believe Joss Whedon’s new program, Dollhouse, will not do well. As I’ve made clear in the past, I’m not a fan of Whedon’s work, primarily due to his shameless ripping off of other stories. (Including Dollhouse.) But that’s not why I think his new show is doomed to failure; the blame for that falls squarely on the shoulders of the network broadcasting it: Fox.

Fox is premiering Dollhouse in the “Friday night death slot,” with Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles as a lead-in. The latter program has suffered from sinking ratings, so it’s obvious that Fox is trying to get rid of it. Scheduling shows on Friday nights kills them dead; an obvious exception is Battlestar Galactica, but that show has transcended all expectations, and skyrocketed the bar for what a quality television show should be in the first place. We’d never expect any program to pull that off again. Anyway, no matter what their pedigree, Dollhouse and Terminator are as good as cancelled. The final nail in the coffin is the advertising campaign…or more accurately, the lack thereof. When Terminator first premiered, there were ads in print, on television, and on the Internet. Once the second season of that show began, there were considerably fewer ads. Now we’re moving into the second half of the season, and to find any ads, you really need to dig deep. Worse yet? Almost no ads for Dollhouse, and the ones that do air focus on lead actress Eliza Dushku’s looks, with only a few bullet points about the show’s plot. (I guess we can’t entirely fault them for that, though; Dushku’s gorgeous, but her acting skills are negligible.)

So you see? It’s not a “negative” opinion, merely one firmly rooted in reality. It’s very possible that Dollhouse will succeed, but given history and basic analysis, the odds are overwhelmingly against it. Explaining this sort of thing is a constant battle I have to fight; I’m never trying to be as asshole or shit on anyone’s interests, but people often have a very hard time accepting reality, especially when it deals with something they’re fond of. (This happens a lot in nerd circles!) When offering my thoughts, I just happen to get the short end of the stick because the reality of the situation doesn’t match up with others’ false hopes.

C’mon, we’ve all got stuff we love, but often, history proves that things just don’t work out the way we want. Maintaining an optimistic front in this case is only going to make things worse when the shit eventually hits the fan.