Does anyone remember Joss Whedon’s “Firefly?” It was a sci-fi/western show on FOX that lasted 11 episodes.

It followed the interstellar adventures of Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) and his ragtag crew of scoundrels and misfits.

Despite its brief network run, it generated an intense cult following that led to the creation of both a graphic novel and movie. Those of us who remember “Firefly’s” run know very well why it didn’t last.

FOX aired the episodes out of sequence, consistently preempted the show for sports events and insisted on content changes that didn’t fit the theme.

Billed as an action-comedy instead of the character-driven drama it was meant to be, “Firefly’s” demise was manufactured, whether purposely or not.

Why is this relevant today? Because Whedon’s newest project, “Dollhouse,” is in danger of exactly the same fate.

This series’s story follows Echo (Eliza Dushku), an “Active” in a high-tech illicit establishment, the Dollhouse, that literally reprograms the memories of human beings, tailoring them to suit the needs of its clients.

The eccentric young scientist Topher Brink (Fran Kranz) takes memories from existing people and weaves them into composite identities for the Actives and provides the series some comic relief whenever he appears on screen.

In addition, a deeper connection to the Dollhouse’s somewhat sinister overseer Miss DeWitt (Olivia Williams) has been hinted at in several episodes.

The first five episodes made it seem as though the show would be about a high tech whorehouse.

The only benefit to watching would have been to see the network repeatedly play the game “how little clothing can Eliza Dushku wear without offending the censors?”

“Man on the Street” started an upward trend in the quality of the episodes. This trend has continued through the following two episodes, “Echoes” and “Needs” and will hopefully go on unabated.

The series desperately needs a boost in viewership if it expects to go anywhere.

Whedon’s success with “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and its spinoff “Angel” shows very clearly that, when he’s allowed to, he can generate riveting television. The network just needs to leave him alone.

FOX has historically been unwilling to do this, thinking that forcing the addition of jokes and boobs will enhance any program.

“Dollhouse” is finally overcoming its shaky start and seems to be exhibiting the sort of quality indicative of Whedon’s work.

Hopefully, it doesn’t burn out like “Firefly” did. If it does, I know who to blame.

Watch “Dollhouse” Fridays at 8pm on FOX.