Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog was certainly the most entertaining internet super-villain musical I've ever seen. And that's saying something!

This endeavor was undertaken by Joss with a couple things in mind. He came up with it during the writers' strike to show people and the networks how much you could do through the internetz medium. He also wanted to have control over the entire process so that he could make it as silly and fun as possible. Dr. Horrible was written by Joss, his brothers (Jed and Zack), and Jed's fiancee (Maurissa Tancheroen). The majority of the crew was made up of people Joss has worked with over the years. 2 of the 3 lead actors were Whedon alums- Firefly's Captain Malcolm Reynolds, Nathan Fillion, and Buffy's Potential Slayer "Vi," Felicia Day. The only newbie was Neil Patrick Harris, who ended up being the heart of the show (in my opinion). My favorite story that Joss has told in all the interviews for Dr. Horrible was about his phone call to Neil asking him to play Dr. Horrible. Apparently he was really nervous about it, but Neil said yes before he had even finished the question. Joss then proceeded to get defensive about it, saying, "No, no, it's really going to be good..." And Neil was like, "I already said yes!"

The show was released in 3 acts, each one about 13 minutes long. They came out on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday of last week and were available for viewing on the internet until Sunday. Joss said he planned it that way so that it would be like a special event that people would have to watch during the allotted window. Well, surprisingly to him but not to me, so many people showed up to the event on Tuesday that www.drhorrible.com crashed. After a few hours and a message of gratitude, the site was up and running again on a server that could handle the stampede of Whedon fans. I read that there were about 1,000 hits per second. The top 3 television episodes on iTunes for the past 3 days have been Acts I, II, and III. Needless to say, people love it. There has already been a flood of questions to Joss about whether he would do a sequel or a movie.

About the actual show itself: I (obviously) loved it. My favorite songs were "My Freeze Ray" and "My Eyes." Neil's voice is absolutely beautiful. I enjoyed seeing Nathan play the cheesy "hero," Captain Hammer, and his singing pleasantly surprised me. Felicia's Penny was absolutely heart-breaking. The cameos from Buffy/Angel writers were AWESOME. I get so excited when those brilliant people get screen time. David Fury and Marti Noxon got to show off their voices again after the Buffy musical episode, "Once More with Feeling," as newscasters. Doug Petrie made an appearance at the end of Act III, as did Drew Goddard as "Fake Thomas Jefferson" in the Evil League of Evil. That's just the greatest thing ever.

Dr. Horrible was something quite unique. Not just because it was the first of its kind, but because I don't think the result could ever be replicated. I'm sure that others will try and find that they can't create the same excitement or viewership. Joss Whedon has a devoted fanbase unlike any other I've ever seen, and I think the reason is because he wants the cult following. He embraces the obsessiveness that his work inspires in people because that's how he is about things that he loves, too.

And possibly my favorite news ever: For the DVD extras, Joss is writing a freakin' musical commentary. I can't say enough how he is basically the coolest guy on the planet.


Audio for "My Eyes." (The only reason I feel okay in putting this up is because I already bought all 3 acts on iTunes and will buy the DVD when it comes out...Don't get mad at me, Joss!)