I’ve bitched about Joss Whedon’s shady practices before. Why am I posting about them again? Because of an article that appeared in this morning’s Hartford Courant. It’s about his new show Dollhouse, which premieres tonight. Here’s the quote that really ticked me off:

“I was sitting, talking to [Eliza Dushku] about her opportunities and her range and all of the things she can be, and the ways in which she could get constricted, and the ways in which she could be free,” Whedon said, “and literally the show came from that.”

No, you lying bearded fuck. The show did not come from that. The plot’s recycled from a 1970s German family show of nearly the same name (Spielzughaus [sp?]), and from the comic book Aphrodite IX! I refuse to believe that this is some sheer coincidence, especially in the Internet age. Whedon’s even worked in comics before! There’s no way he hadn’t heard of it. And given the fact that he’s recycled plots before, it’s just more of the same scummy tactics.

It’s bad enough that Whedon loves to rehash other properties rather than create new material. It’s insulting to anyone with a brain (including his fans) that he has to lie through his teeth about it. (The show’s placement in the Friday death slot and poor advance reviews may teach him a lesson, anyway.)