During a TCA panel discussion earlier today, Fox entertainment president Kevin Reilly gave a vote of confidence to Fringe while simultaneously dousing our already considerably low expectations for Dollhouse. When asked why they decided to slot the show on Friday nights (when most of the free world is doing anything other than watching television), Reilly gave the following answer:

"Joss Whedon does a certain kind of show. He’s right in the zone again on that. It's the kind of show that we know has a core passionate audience. In some other scheduling scenarios there could be enormous pressure on it ... we have a very compatible lead in with Sarah Connor... we’re going to let the show play out for 13 episodes and hopefully it will catch on ... if we can do some business there, that would be a great thing for the future."

Sounds like a pretty big "if" to us. The Sarah Connor Chronicles has been laying goose eggs on Friday nights all season and is, at least according to TV By The Numbers, the show that Fox is most likely to cancel. We've still got our fingers crossed for Dollhouse, but unless Joss decides to go all HIMYM on us and replace Eliza Dushku with Britney Spears, we're going to remain nervous about this show's prospects.

Critics Q&A with Kevin Reilly: 'Fringe,' 'Dollhouse,' 'Truth,' NBC, more ... [Live Feed/HR]