I’m going to jump on the band-wagon and tell you about “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” (be forewarned: that is only the beginning of this post’s extensive linkage). You may or may not already be familiar with this latest craze in web-series — It’s a Joss Whedon project. Whedon is most well-known for his role as Writer, Producer, and Director on the hit series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” As a
much-deserved side note, I would like to mention that I laughed heartily while mocking this show before I finally gave in to watching it. It is, as many claim, genius, whether you’d like to admit it or not. “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” is more than just a story of a badass, blonde, SoCal chick who uses the word “like” in every sentence. The series is thought-provoking, smart and hilarious.
But back to Dr. Horrible.
Whedon began this project during the recent Writer’s Strike. Despite the trend of unsuccessful web-series, the Whedon family stood by Dr. Horrible:
“Dr. Horrible,” you see, has the Internet cooked into its DNA. Rather than being a top-down, studio controlled production, it began earlier this year as a kind of dinner table brainstorm between Whedon, his brothers Zack and Jed, and Jed’s fiancée Maurissa Tancharoen…“We’re family, and we’re sitting here doing nothing,” recalled Tancharoen. “So let’s get together and write something, whether it’s for $100 or whatever it turns into.”
Little did they know that Dr. Horrible’s premier would crash the server, leaving people across the country impatient and disappointed. Fortunately, the series can also be seen on Hulu, as well as iTunes. But hey, Hulu is free.
As I’ve mentioned before, I have great disdain for spoilers, so I’ll make this quick — “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” begins with a video blog featuring Neil Patrick Harris. Harris is cast as Dr. Horrible himself, singing his woes away. Nathan Fillion is Captain Hammer, Dr. Horrible’s nemisis. Harris’ character struggles to be evil, to be a menace to society. However, his heart clearly belongs elsewhere — Penny, a long time crush, becomes Dr. Horrible’s laundry buddy. One can say that she clouds his judgement in the fight for evil. “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” is wacky, silly, and near perfect. My only complaint? It’s too short.
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