Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

[ROC]

So in my quest of nerd-geekery, I look up on iTunes and right now, they're posting act 1 of a new miniseries done by Joss Whedon (!), starring Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion (!!) and done in the style of the Buffy episode "Once More With Feeling" (!!!). Let me just nerd masturbate now.

http://www.drhorrible.com/act_I.html

Above is the site, though, the traffic for it has kept it down for a good bit of time. It's also available on iTunes for $3.99 for the whole future run.

[Ananas]

Fail. For posting the topic and making me think the site was up. :/

EDIT: And just as I say that, I access the site.

Edited July 15, 2008 by GoodGodWhatAB-Jay

[Lord Nibbler]

Just finished watching Act III. Very awesome, although I preferred the non-musical bits.

[Cactus Drags]

The hand-gesture-thing NPH does after the first chorus of the You're Gonna Die song is the greatest thing I have ever seen, and I must learn to copy it.

EDIT: Sigh, third act is pathetic compared to the first two. Rubbish ending.

Edited July 20, 2008 by Dragsy

[Lord Nibbler]

I liked the third act, we finally got to see Bad Horse.

[GoGo Yubari]

The third act's ending is such a cliche coming from Joss Whedon that I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Jesus, man, stop doing that. The music was great, though, especially the stuff with the groupie trio. Also, Fake Thomas Jefferson, man.

[Daniel Bryan]

How is the ending a cliche from Whedon? In fact, he's apparantly notorious for this, a lot of fans see it as a badge of honour, or something, but I can't think of a single occasion he's ever actually done it. Why does he have this reputation?

Loved Dr. Horrible. Unlike most musicals, there was not one song I didn't like. Neil Patrick Harris is amazing, incredible voice too. Nathan Fillion was hilarious. Actually liked the ending, thought it was very cool, and didn't see it coming at all.

[TMM]

Just watched the third act and really liked it. It's great for what it is, and the songs are all hummable.

I'm scared because while watching the credits I recongnised about 15 names of the non-cast. That is just scary.

[Lord Nibbler]

How is the ending a cliche from Whedon? In fact, he's apparantly notorious for this, a lot of fans see it as a badge of honour, or something, but I can't think of a single occasion he's ever actually done it. Why does he have this reputation?

Killing off people that we really like? Tara in Buffy and Wash in Serenity spring to mind.

[the machine]

NPH's "Brand New Day" song has been in my head all freaking day.

The ending is a mixed bag, but I love the goofy evil league of evil and the revelation concerning Bad Horse. It's a good thing Dr. Horrible doesn't have to be his mare! (insert NPH sexuality joke here)

[Ananas]

Cliche or not, one of the three were going to have to die. At least the character they chose made the final coda awesome. And come on it's a musical; what musical isn't rife with cliches? It's part of what makes them familiar and comfortable.

[GoGo Yubari]

How is the ending a cliche from Whedon? In fact, he's apparantly notorious for this, a lot of fans see it as a badge of honour, or something, but I can't think of a single occasion he's ever actually done it. Why does he have this reputation?

Killing off people that we really like? Tara in Buffy and Wash in Serenity spring to mind.

Or

Spoiler: Click here to view

Killing off the love interest in general. See Xander's girlfriend, killed for no good reason in the Buffy season eight comics. At least it serves a distinct purpose here, though.

[RoyWill Rumble]

Even if it's cliche from Whedon, to be honest, that ending was kind of needed. I was more pissed off at the ending song, because the rest was pretty rad.

[ROC]

The whole thing was mostly pleasing. I definitely won't argue the love interest being killed is cliche, but I still enjoy the twist on the universe.

Fillion got me in playing a cheesy superhero that I didn't have to like and was very enjoyable. NPH fit so well in the Whedon universe, which amazed me. And Felicia Day needs to be a lead in more Whedon works. (I didn't even remember her being on Buffy, until LL corrected me.)

But now there has to be more, which sucks as there's nothing that's likely to happen with this property.

[GoGo Yubari]

I wasn't actually surprised that Neil Patrick Harris would do well in a Whedon thing. He always struck me as someone who could deliver Whedon's dialogue perfectly.

[oldskool]

I found it unentertaining. Here's some massive analysis/synopsis for you:

Spoiler: Click here to view

I didn't remotely give a shit about Horrible/Penny as a couple, and since the entire plotline hinges around that, my lack of interest in it made the plot rather....pointless, I guess you would say.

I don't know what the point of Moist was. It came across like they had nothing for him, so he dropped the mail he was delivering in a puddle and ended up improvising the entire thing.

There weren't any "moments" in their interaction that weren't horribly clichèd and overused (the "Oh look, I happened to buy two of something you love, want my 'extra'?", the "I want to be like Bad Horse I MEAN GANDHI" thing that's more of a bash.org annoying waste of time than an actual joke, the "Nice girl you've got a crush on, but I'm the 'good guy' so I get her" clichè from Hammer which is just stupid, because the whole premise is breaking the "We see the good guy's perspective" norm and flip-flopping the roles of good and bad where Horrible is the likable one and Hammer is the douchebag, only to have Whedon selectively maintain "real" good guy/bad guy lines when it's convenient for the plot to create tension), and then we hit the ending.

The ending. Garbage.

Horrible's death ray explodes even though it was working perfectly up until the point Hammer tried to use it. It kills Penny and horribly wounds Hammer to the point where he apparently becomes a blubbering mess who is incapable of being a superhero. Penny's dead so he gets into the Evil League of Evil, and with Hammer out of the picture he basically gets to run rampant...

Except not, because he has to be EMO BILLY IN THE BASEMENT at the end.

You're an evil superhero, you have free reign over the world with your nemesis out of the picture, you got your dream of being in the Evil League of Evil with Bad Horse, you have a FAN CLUB consisting of the former Hammer hangers-on but when it's all said and done...you're a whiny embarrassment with what looks like a black eye in the basement?

What, am I supposed to feel bad that Horrible killed a broad he liked and discount the entire song preceding the last two words where it shows his domination and power? There are plenty of other fish in the sea, you're an evil mastermind and you have no nemesis to get in your way, just fucking pick one and take her for god's sake, get over it.

As my girlfriend pointed out, to be a great villain you can hold nothing more important than your own self-preservation. Horrible basically becomes an uber-villain while throwing away this vital aspect of villainy.

[Lord Nibbler]

the "Nice girl you've got a crush on, but I'm the 'good guy' so I get her" clichè from Hammer which is just stupid, because the whole premise is breaking the "We see the good guy's perspective" norm and flip-flopping the roles of good and bad where Horrible is the likable one and Hammer is the douchebag, only to have Whedon selectively maintain "real" good guy/bad guy lines when it's convenient for the plot to create tension)

Well that depends on what you mean by "good guy". Hammer is a superhero, he's just also a dick. And Dr. Horrible is a villain, he's just a villain who you can relate to.

Horrible's death ray explodes even though it was working perfectly up until the point Hammer tried to use it. It kills Penny and horribly wounds Hammer to the point where he apparently becomes a blubbering mess who is incapable of being a superhero. Penny's dead so he gets into the Evil League of Evil, and with Hammer out of the picture he basically gets to run rampant...

Except not, because he has to be EMO BILLY IN THE BASEMENT at the end.

It's "emo" to be depressed when you accidentally murder the woman you're in love with? Wow. Under what circumstance is it socially acceptable for a man to show some emotion?

As my girlfriend pointed out, to be a great villain you can hold nothing more important than your own self-preservation. Horrible basically becomes an uber-villain while throwing away this vital aspect of villainy.

But he's not a great fucking villain, is he? He's a really, really bad one, who only became an "uber-villain" because he got "lucky". He's clearly not cut out to be a villain, emotionally.

[Cactus Drags]

I found it unentertaining. Here's some massive analysis/synopsis for you:

Spoiler: Click here to view

I didn't remotely give a shit about Horrible/Penny as a couple, and since the entire plotline hinges around that, my lack of interest in it made the plot rather....pointless, I guess you would say.

I don't know what the point of Moist was. It came across like they had nothing for him, so he dropped the mail he was delivering in a puddle and ended up improvising the entire thing.

There weren't any "moments" in their interaction that weren't horribly clichèd and overused (the "Oh look, I happened to buy two of something you love, want my 'extra'?", the "I want to be like Bad Horse I MEAN GANDHI" thing that's more of a bash.org annoying waste of time than an actual joke, the "Nice girl you've got a crush on, but I'm the 'good guy' so I get her" clichè from Hammer which is just stupid, because the whole premise is breaking the "We see the good guy's perspective" norm and flip-flopping the roles of good and bad where Horrible is the likable one and Hammer is the douchebag, only to have Whedon selectively maintain "real" good guy/bad guy lines when it's convenient for the plot to create tension), and then we hit the ending.

The ending. Garbage.

Horrible's death ray explodes even though it was working perfectly up until the point Hammer tried to use it. It kills Penny and horribly wounds Hammer to the point where he apparently becomes a blubbering mess who is incapable of being a superhero. Penny's dead so he gets into the Evil League of Evil, and with Hammer out of the picture he basically gets to run rampant...

Except not, because he has to be EMO BILLY IN THE BASEMENT at the end.

You're an evil superhero, you have free reign over the world with your nemesis out of the picture, you got your dream of being in the Evil League of Evil with Bad Horse, you have a FAN CLUB consisting of the former Hammer hangers-on but when it's all said and done...you're a whiny embarrassment with what looks like a black eye in the basement?

What, am I supposed to feel bad that Horrible killed a broad he liked and discount the entire song preceding the last two words where it shows his domination and power? There are plenty of other fish in the sea, you're an evil mastermind and you have no nemesis to get in your way, just fucking pick one and take her for god's sake, get over it.

As my girlfriend pointed out, to be a great villain you can hold nothing more important than your own self-preservation. Horrible basically becomes an uber-villain while throwing away this vital aspect of villainy.

So did you set out to hate this from the start, or are you jsut ragging because it's popular?

Also, enough of the emo-bashing, it's tired. Goths need our vitriol too, y'know. Palid fuckers.

[the machine]

It's "emo" to be depressed when you accidentally murder the woman you're in love with? Wow. Under what circumstance is it socially acceptable for a man to show some emotion?

Maybe if a dog bit your testicles or someone drove a nail through some extremity. Maybe.

I don't think it re-invents the wheel, but unentertaining?

The whole thing is predicated on a few things: first, Dr. Horrible wants the girl, but he thinks he wants to be a great supervillain. So you're right, he's a lousy villain. Second, Dr. Horrible is given characteristics that's supposed to help the audience associate with Horrible; this creates a pretty obvious nerd/jock dynamic where Dr. Horrible is just getting picked on ("Captain Hammer separated my shoulder. AGAIN.") by a bullying 'hero' who is really superficial and idiotic. Finally, the story is told through a wealth of cliches because a) it's a musical, and b) it's a parody of the classic "too shy to talk to her" genre, only with freeze rays and singing and such.

And come on, no good jokes? How about "these are not 'the hammer,'" or "dude, you are not. My nemesis." Or how about Captain Hammer's speech to the homeless?

Oh, and the point of Moist was worldbuilding. He's there so we can see that the society in 'Dr. Horrible' has a bunch of supervillains of varying degrees. Beyond having amusingly useless powers, he delivers the letter from Bad Horse, and casually mentions about three other villains with names like "Bait and Switch" and whoever it was that said some president was coming from Iowa so that we know that Dr. Horrible isn't an isolated nutjob, but a low level villain (he's friends with a guy who makes things damp) who wants to be a big, important villain. At least, that's what he thinks he wants.

[GoGo Yubari]

And really, the other point of Moist is to show how completely z-list Dr. Horrible is; the one guy in the community we see him associate with prior to his becoming a major supervillain unintentionally is someone who has one of the most useless powers ever.