Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog

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If you actually CAN watch this, then I guess their servers have managed to recover from yesterday’s crush. After trying for awhile, I just got the first episode of Joss Whedon’s “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” through a torrent.
Neil Patrick Harris is Dr. Horrible, a struggling mad scientist hoping one day to join the supervillain group, “The Evil Society of Evil”. He occasionally does a video blog where he discusses problems like how his transmat ray is going, what his nemesis Captain Hammer (Firefly’s Nathan Fillion) did to him last week that really hurt, how his evil laugh is coming along (he has just gotten a vocal coach), and how nervous he is about talking to a girl he sees at the laundromat, Penny, played by Buffy’s Felicia Day.
This leads into the song “Freeze Ray”, about a gun he wants to invent that will freeze time, so it would be easier to talk to her. He’s interrupted by his friend Moist, who has the power to make stuff damp. He’d been on a date last night with the super-villainess Bait and Switch. At the end of the night, he’d been hoping to go home with Bait, but… oh well.
Among the sopping wet pieces of mail he delivers is a letter from Bad Horse, the evil equine leader of the Evil Society of Evil, which leads right into the song, “Bad Horse” (and where did those cowboys with the painfully fake mustaches come from?).
The thing is hilarious. It’s short, has four fantastically funny songs (the other two are the one Penny sings as she tries to get signatures on her petition to convert an old building to a homeless center, and the song that ends in a three-part harmony between Dr. Horrible, Captain Hammer, and Penny, “A Man’s Gotta Do”).
I won’t spoil anything — but watch it. There will be two other “webisodes”, and even though all three together will likely be only half an hour — I’d buy the DVD.
edit — link to Joss Whedon’s post about Dr. Horrible, how it came to be, and what will become of it. Next episode is up THURSDAY and after July 20 they will no longer be free to watch, though it’s well worth paying.

Related posts:

Default ThumbnailVernor Vinge’s “Rainbow’s End” free to read… so go read it Default ThumbnailRead the prologue to Iain M. Banks’ new book, “Matter”. Default ThumbnailEQ2 (et al): Random Bits Default ThumbnailStuff to watch this week: Lost, Jericho, Idol

6 thoughts on “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog”

  1. I watched it last night. It has Joss Whedon written all over it, which makes it perfect. It totally reminds me of the musical episode of Buffy (bunnies, bunnies, it must be BUNNIES!!!) Also Felicia Day plays the main character in The Guild which I only just discovered, and any MMO fan should watch. There are I think 10 episodes on youtube and I’ve watched 6 of them and they’re hysterical. I’m really glad to see these little mini-episode/series things getting more popular, I love them!

  2. I liked The Guild, but now it’s become kind of tiresome. After the boss battle with that guy’s mom, I don’t think there’s any place they could take it, anyway.
    I am way more looking forward to the return of You Suck at Photoshop. I thought Donny had killed himself at the end, but now I hear he didn’t… I just want something good to happen to him, but I think he is unable to enjoy anything.

  3. One of my friends call it all kinds of awesome and I would have to agree with him.
    I think web-episodes like this are going to become a lot more common especially in the summer when producers want to keep buzz going strong for their shows. Heroes at http://www.nbc.com is doing a series of short web-episodes every monday this month. It’s more a promotional side story for the new season then a unique web-episdode, but at least it shows the idea is catching on. Also think Battlestar Galatica did the same thing last year.

  4. My wife and I watched the first two episodes last night (being on the west coast, Act 2 was available at 9 p.m.). Really funny, plus a fresh and unique viewing experience. Not just another tired old comedy, and yeah, the whole thing screams Joss Whedon. Harris does a fantastic job, and I think its a nice twist that we feel more for the villain than the hero (Captain Hammer is a total jackass).
    Can’t wait for Act 3, and the announcement of what Whedon is doing next. Hopefully Dr. Horrible will grow into something bigger, but at the same time I fear that would spoil it. It’s perfect for little webisodes, but might get tiresome if it was something longer.

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