Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (Joss Whedon)
 

OK, I mentioned this before in the Firefly/Serenity thread, but it didn't get any traction there. I'm trying again.

Today the first of three episodes of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog hit the web. Stars Nathon Fillion and Neil Patrick Harris as a superhero and villian, respectively. With singing. Very silly so far.

The second part will be Thursday, the third Saturday, and after Sunday you would have to buy them, but they are free streaming until then.

Sure, it doesn't have the character depth of Firefly or Buffy, but for three 15 minute episodes, it should at least be good fun. And something to tide us over until Dollhouse hits the air.

I'm looking forward to spending time watching this. :)

And it looks like the website has been blown off of the web already. Sheesh, can't anyone predict traffic levels these days?

Anyway, the trailer is still available at Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog on Vimeo, and perhaps soon Epsode I will be there as well...

Seems to be working now, I was reading on a fan site they've been trying to compensate for the unexpected amount of visitors and it looks like they finally got the bandwidth. I really didn't realize that Joss Wheadon has a musical style, but there were bits that reminded me of the Buffy episode "Once More With Feeling". Neil Patrick Harris is hilarious as ever and surprisingly a good singer.

Can't wait for the next part on Thursday!

Hope they get it to the new servers soon. Pretty lame to have to be still sitting around waiting for this crap to go up.

I'm super excited about this! I'm definitely a Joss fan, but a huge NPH fan. What a great team! :D

Seconded.

Never heard of this till I read this thread. That trailer looks like 10 kinds of awesome. Too bad the main site is down still :(

Site very much up now, and Act I is every sort of awesome I'd hoped it would be. They're hosting the video through hulu so you might be able to find it there, as well. Can't wait to see what's next!

That...was...*awesome*!

Thanks for sharing!

The site seems to be up and down. I just watched it 5 minutes ago, but now can't get back to the site. Very interesting. <3 Joss!

Redlemon, I hadn't heard of Dollhouse until this thread. WTF?! Don't know how that happened. Even worse, why the fuck is Joss working with Fox again? After they butchered Firefly? *not happy*

Well, it sounds like an interesting concept. We shall see.

my daughter's boyfriend told me about this tonight and I said 'who's Joss Whedon?'

Oh, brilliant! I can't watch until tomorrow... and I may have trouble sleeping because of excitement.

...I'm such a geek. :D

I think that's sufficient grounds for banishment from the interwebs!

You'll love this... Dollhouse Fans Campaign To Save Show -- Before 2009 Airdate. On the TiVo Community board, the operative phrase is "Burn in hell, FOX!"

Also, I didn't recognize the girl in Dr. Horrible, so I searched for info on her. She was Violet, one of the Season 7 slayers in Buffy, so there's the Whedon connection. Also, I found a sweet little online comedy show called The Guild, which she wrote and stars in. It's about a World of Warcraft-kind of team; I can't tell if it is "teasing because we care", or kind of mean, but I enjoyed it. 10 episodes, each about 5 minutes.

Hey, I just found the corresponding comic book by Zack Whedon... Captain Hammer - Be Like Me!.

That was neat! Can't wait for part 2

Awesome!!! I am such a minion of Joss, it's pathetic.... That was like water in the desert! Can't wait for act 2!!

That was so much awesome. Thanks Redlemon.

This might shape up to be a dream come true.

I second this!

I enjoyed it. I liked all of the major characters (though "Moist" wasn't that interesting). I thought that the beginning (when doogie talks to the camera) was a little long, though that may make more sense with the next two episodes.

She's also in an episode or two of Retarded Policeman.

I got my first full out laugh when Spoiler: Captain Hammer says "thats not the hammer <long pause> my penis is the hammer"

Spindle's spoiler references Act II, which is now available. And yes, I loved that moment as well.

With the protagonist as the evil character, I really can't decide how Act III will end.

These episodes grow with repeated watchings. I've seen Ep.I four times and Ep.II twice.

There's a nice writeup here, which only has Ep.I spoilers.

I don't have any problems with rooting for Dr. Horrible all the way. I loved the songs in this episode, and generally thought it was stronger than the first. The opening of Act I drags a bit with him answering fan mail and this one gets right into it. Here's to Act III!

Penny is really the weak link for me here. I mean, I know we're not talking Shakespeare, but she lacks the presence that really radiates off Fillion and NPH. Maybe she's just in particularly strong company or playing herself down, but she's not quite doing it for me.

I think it's the way her part is written. She's just the prize for the two guys to fight over.

But how's it going to end?
Death of Hammer/Horrible/Penny/innocent bystanders?
Hammer turned evil?
Horrible turned good?
Penny discovering her laundry buddy is Dr. Horrible, and either accepting or rejecting him?
Will Penny be instrumental in how the conflict between Hammer and Horrible go down, or will she still just be the prize?
Do we get to meet Bad Horse?
Will Penny see The Hammer (these are not the hammer)?
Will Horrible be accepted by the Evil League of Evil?
Will the Freeze Ray work if you let it warm up enough?
Will Moist do... anything?

I wonder if Horrible will accidentally freeze Penny, and then Moist will come in to save the day by dethawing her, thus becoming a member of the Good League of Good while Horrible has to stick to mere henchman status.

Really liked episode 2, especially the liked the duo/not duo song at the beginning and NPH's song at the end.

After seeing a few episodes of Buffy and all of Serenity, my money is on Penny to have some secret aspect that we aren't aware of yet (maybe some super power?). No way would Joss Whedon create a weak female character without her getting the best of the situation.

Just watched Act II again, and man, the songs in it are just great. Brand New Day is A+ gold star.

I guess that's not a bad guess, Neo. I'd be happily refreshed if Penny were just herself, since I'm pretty much over Whedon's "uber-frau" obsession, but it'd certainly be consistent with his past work.

Nice thinking. I doubt she'll be super, however; I think it'll just be her natural "niceness" that resolves the conflict.

Same here. I was enjoying it before but that scene was awesome.

Uh.....ok. So Act III was...interesting...

I think interesting's about all I have to say about it. Not what I was expecting or hoping. Had a lot of potential, and then it kind of got...weird.

I guess hoping for a campy happy ending for our anti-hero was too much to ask. Given the medium and the previous tone, I wasn't expecting such a major downer for the last episode.

Crap.

But, that's Joss in a nutshell, isn't it? Light and dark, no mercy. How else could he have ended it?

Damn you, Joss Whedon. Damn you to hell.


Sigh. Totally should've expected that, though.


On a more positive note, I absolutely LOVED the intertwined song between Billy & Penny in Act 2. Gorgeous.

I want more, damn it. That was entirely too short.

It was the perfect ending. Spoiler: It is, after all, an origin story. It is the origin of Dr. Horrible and like any good super villain, he has a bitter tragedy in his past. A tragedy that somehow links him to his arch nemesis.

It was just getting interesting. I want to see more.

Fantastic! I love NPH. :D

That's a good point, Charlatan, and does make some sense. However, my problem is that I really felt blindsided by the weight of the conclusion. I think it's pretty hard to argue that the tone, substance or medium of the series was either particularly serious or particularly dark. It was hyperbolic. It was whimsical. It was fun. Sure, it had some irony and dark elements, but overall, pretty light fare. The ending, however, was a fucking crusher. Except you know, that Spoiler: Bad Horse was really a horse, which had me laughing until NPH said the last line into his webcam and I wanted to cry.

I agree, though, I'd like to see more.

I have a PhD in horribleness....

I enjoyed all three episodes and hope the next one is just as good, if another one will happen.

Just saw all three episodes tonight. I'm not a huge fan of Whedon tbh, but this was pretty damn awesome. I am a big fan of NPH :D

I know it's a bit late to point this out, and a rather small detail, but there were some interesting things going on with Penny's outfits. In Act I, when she stood up from the trash pile, I thought that she was covered in blood, but it was just the red detailing on her jacket. I guess it was foreshadowing. And in Act II, when she sang her "Story of a Girl", her outfit really reminded me of Snow White... but I don't know why they would evoke that image for her.

I enjoyed all three episodes. However, the end was very abrupt.

I would watch more episodes if they made more.