Dollhouse – Eliza Dushku = Syns?

Wait, isn’t there already a TV show about this, and isn’t it called Dollhouse? Well not exactly. While the premise may sound a tad familiar on first blush, they really aren’t. Whereas Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse has actual people (I’m assuming) who are kept in a place called the Dollhouse when they’re not being implanted with fake memories in order to execute their paid-for missions in the outside world, the premise of the new show Syns has “humanlike synthetic organisms” (Cylon-esque?) in a hospital when they’re not being used out in the real world. Okay, kinda sounds familiar, but Eliza Dushku isn’t involved in this one.

More from THR:

“Syns” (formerly “Dolls’ Hospital”) centers on a world in which humanlike synthetic organisms, known as Syns, are used for various purposes. Showtime has bought U.S. rights to the project, which originally was developed at the BBC.

Stephen Volk created the British version; Gamble and McNamara are credited as co-creator/exec producers on the U.S. version. Gamble also is writing the script. Clerkenwell Films is producing with Pangea, the scripted arm of RDF USA.

The show is currently being developed for the Showtime cable channel by Supernatural producer/writer Sera Gamble and John McNamara, whose last show, the post-apocalyptic Jericho met with an untimely end at CBS. The show is being described as more “character-driven drama” than action, which means it probably won’t be witty and funny, too.

Below: “Hey, wait a minute, this concept sounds awful familiar…”