There's only one entertainer in television with Godlike power to control the audience at will, telling timeless stories that stir emotions and form a cultlike devotion. That person is...Oprah.
But just behind her, and no slack himself, is the irreplaceable Joss Whedon. The creator of such cult hits as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, and Angel, Whedon is a hero among those who demand quality fantasy and his seemingly endless well of creativity churns out hit after hit. In short, Whedon is a smart dude who lives to entertain.
But when the writers' strike hit late last year, Whedon was forced to stop doing what he loved. Searching the rules of the strike and finding a loophole, he and a team of writers decided to make a low-budget Internet series during their downtime.
The series, named Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, launched this morning on the Web at DrHorrible.com and on iTunes ($1.99 per episode). The three-episode musical will have an unusual run--act two will be released on July 17 and act three will be released on July 19 for free on the main Web site, but free viewing will stop on July 20. The total run-time of all three parts is expected to hover around 40 minutes, and a DVD release is planned for a future date.
Dr. Horrible stars How I Met Your Mother's Neil Patrick Harris as a budget supervillain who continually takes a licking from superhero Captain Hammer (played by Firefly's Nathan Fillion) and can't muster courage to talk to a girl he's crushing on (Buffy's Felicia Day).
Unfortunately, it looks like the Web isn't ready for Whedon. Fans have stormed the site and crashed the servers, rendering the Web portal useless as of press time. The musical's fan site lists the following message from the Dr. Horrible team:
"We love you for crashing the site, we really do. In the meantime, those of you who have iTunes capabilities can go there and get your fix. Our site should be up and running again in a few hours. Your support is warming our hearts and kicking our asses. So thank you thank you. J, M, J, Z"
Have any of you out in the Whedonverse seen it yet? Be sure to post your impressions (no spoilers!) and let us know if the site gets fixed!
Comments (35)
Dr. Horrible was so great and original.
It was fantastic and it's great to see Joss' work again. I hope they find a solution for international viewers soon.
Wonderful in it's entirety. :) Catch it before it goes away, people. Then buy the dvd once it's released.
Genious!
Brilliant, fresh and funny Joss does it again.
Great stuff. It's a must see for Whedon fans and anyone who likes musicals and spoofs.
Whedon is a genius, Fillion is looking mighty fine and Neil Patrick Harris is hi-larious.
I needed to watch it twice to get it - and I am sure I still haven't seen all there is to see in those two acts. Now I have to say: brilliant and hilarious. Uniquely Whedon. Thanks. Keep Flying.
Oh, man. That was great. Did not disappoint. I'll look forward to the other parts.
Thankfully the site wasn't down too long because Joss and crew switched servers really fast! It was excellent and at 12:01 tonight I'll be watching Part 2! :-)
Haha. This is awesome. Joss Whedon is the best!
Tv is MUCH the poorer without a Joss Whedon written show airing.
great entertainment! i am definately looking forward to the next installment!
I've got one word for it.... "Legen Wait for it...DARY!"
great fun to watch cant wait for next act :)
It was ok.
Joss fans overhype everything.
God I laughed so hard! I was amazing! I can't wait for next delivery (note to self: don't ever watch this again at work. People look at one funny...)
insanely manic, like Dark Knight, MY GOD DARK KNIGHT IS THE ABSOLUTE BEST THING EVER!!!!!!!!!
Hysterical!
Saw it twice last night and it was hilarious! Can't wait to see the rest of the acts.Without question, Whedon has done it again.BTW, I should point out that this is an original story and isn't based on any comic books, though I wouldn't be surprised to see a comic book come out based on this some time soon. :)
It was sooo funny, I still haven't stopped laughing
I absolutely LOVED it!!! And I never read the comic books it was based on (although after I viewed the first part, I went to go read them). You just CAN'T get enough Nathan Fillion's incredible talent and Neil Patrick Harris was too friggin cool! It was hysterical and I loved it!!!
It was EXCELLENT - and only part 1!! Neil Patrick Harris is awesome, as are the others, but Neil really nails it. I can.not.wait for part II. Really good songs too. :)
Funny, very freaking entertaining! Watched it twice. Thinking of watching it again...
It is... AWESOMESAUCE... NPH is GREAT... I'm bouncing up and down as I write it's so good :D
cool
The last part of the blog is funny to me. TV .com asking us to let them know when dr.horrible.com will be fixed!
I was one of the few smart ones and watched it immediately after it went online at 12:01 EST. Granted I hit F5 a whole hell of a lot of times before then...but I saw it right away. And it was amazing, of course.
I watched it at 3am, before I went to bed. I just check, it looks like the site is back.
yes really nice stuff.great comedy!
works. just saw it and it was really good.
That was frakin' cool, and funny! I'm looking forward to the rest. Joss is da man!
I managed to see it before the crash... And I can only say that it was brilliant!
love anthing joss puts out cant wait for his show this fall
Wow, we crashed the site! Outstanding! I have yet to see it but wow, talk about devotion.