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Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

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Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
File:Doctor Horrible Poster.jpg
Promotional poster
Created byJoss Whedon
Jed Whedon
Zack Whedon
Maurissa Tancharoen
Written byJoss Whedon
Jed Whedon
Zack Whedon
Maurissa Tancharoen
Directed byJoss Whedon
StarringNeil Patrick Harris
Felicia Day
Nathan Fillion
Simon Helberg
Music byJoss Whedon
Jed Whedon
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes3
Production
ProducersDavid Burns
Michael Boretz
Running time42 min. (approx.)
Original release
ReleaseJuly 15, 2008 –
July 20, 2008

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is a 40-minute, 3-part musical comedy produced for the Internet, telling the story of a low-rent supervillain, the hero who keeps beating him up, and the cute girl from the laundromat he's too shy to talk to. The movie was written by Joss Whedon and his brothers Zack Whedon (a television writer), Jed Whedon (a composer) and Jed's fiancée, Maurissa Tancharoen (an actress). The writing team penned the musical during the WGA Writer's Strike. The idea was to create something small and inexpensive, yet professionally done, in a way that would circumvent the issues that were being protested during the strike.[1][2]

Episodes

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog consists of three episodes or acts of approximately 15 minutes.

Act I

Dr. Horrible is filming an entry for his video blog, responding to emails from his viewers and boasts of his recent activities (a "75% successful" gold heist using a transmatter ray) and his plans for the future (creating a time-freezing ray). Dr. Horrible also introduces his nemesis: Captain Hammer. When a reader asks Dr. Horrible about the "her" that he often mentions, he launches into song ("Freeze Ray") about Penny, the girl he likes from the laundromat, whom he can't seem to get up the courage to talk to. Horrible hopes that his freeze ray will allow him the time to find the right words to say to her.

Suddenly, Horrible's friend Moist arrives, cutting off Horrible's song. Moist brings Horrible a letter from Bad Horse, the head of the Evil League of Evil. Bad Horse's letter ("Bad Horse") informs Dr. Horrible that his application for entry into the League is being considered, but he must prove himself worthy of being accepted soon. Dr. Horrible is pleased, since he is planning on stealing the final ingredient for his freeze ray (a case of wonderflonium) the next day.

The next day, Horrible prepares to steal the wonderflonium by throwing a remote control device on top of a van. While Horrible attempts to remotely configure the device on his iPhone, Penny shows up. She is collecting signatures for a petition to turn a city building into a homeless shelter, and has had very little progress ("Will You"). Unfortunately, Horrible's distraction over configuring the remote control results in him appearing disinterested in her cause. When she leaves, Horrible is dismayed by his poor romantic performance, but refocuses on his plan, telling himself that a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do ("A Man's Gotta Do"). At first, the plan proceeds smoothly: a man places the Wonderflonium in the van, and Horrible manages to make the van drive off before the driver can get inside.

Suddenly, Captain Hammer appears on the scene and smashes Horrible's remote control device on the van. Hammer jumps off as the van runs amok, veering towards Penny. As Dr. Horrible struggles to control the van, Captain Hammer throws Penny into a pile of garbage and braces to stop the van. At the last second, Dr. Horrible succeeds in stopping the van inches before it would have hit Penny; Hammer merely shrugs off the van's sudden stop. Dr. Horrible attempts to confront Hammer about throwing Penny into garbage, but Hammer apprehends him and physically assaults him instead. As Hammer holds up Horrible by the throat, choking him, Penny gets up out of the garbage. Hammer forgets all about Dr. Horrible, releasing him and throwing him into the garbage, and Hammer and Penny serenade each other. Dr. Horrible is clearly upset over losing Penny, but manages to make off with the wonderflonium he needs for the freeze ray while Captain Hammer is distracted.

Tracklist

  • "Freeze Ray"
  • "Bad Horse"
  • "Will You"
  • "A Man's Gotta Do"

Act II

The second acts opens with Dr. Horrible stalking Penny and Captain Hammer, watching them dating at the Caring Hands homeless shelter and having fun in the park: though they do not share the scene, Horrible and Penny duet with a counterpointed song - Billy singing of the misery of the human condition, Penny singing of hope and the possibility of redemption ("On The Rise").

Penny and Billy meet at the laundromat the next day, and begin talking openly as friends - with Penny encouraging him to live his dreams (though she seems somewhat startled by his ambition to be like "Bad Horse", whom he quickly changes to "Gandhi").

Posting to his blog, Dr. Horrible reveals his scheme to freeze time at the mayor's dedication of the Superhero Memorial Bridge failed miserably, as both Captain Hammer and the LAPD watch his blog and were waiting to stop him - not to mention miscalculating the "warm-up" time for his freeze ray. He then receives a phone message from Bad Horse: As punishment for his failure, he must murder someone, or be assassinated himself ("Bad Horse (reprise)"). He is at first hesitant, and Moist offers him entry into the Henchman's Union, which he refuses while testing his new catchphrase: "I have a PhD in Horribleness!" Moist is less than impressed by it.

The next day at the laundromat, "Billy" chats with Penny over frozen yogurt. After a musical number ("Cheer Up Billy Buddy"), Penny mentions that Captain Hammer planned to drop by the laundromat, at which point Billy panics and tries to leave. As he is doing so, Hammer walks in. Although he recognizes Dr. Horrible, he pretends not to until Penny leaves to take her clothes out of the dryer. As Dr. Horrible tries to leave a second time, Hammer stops him, calling him "Doctor," and explains that the only reason he's interested in Penny is because he knows Horrible likes her. Hammer taunts Horrible, telling him he plans to show Penny his command center, give her the "night of her life," and seduce her by morning. Driven over the brink by Captain Hammer's psychological torture, Dr. Horrible resolves to kill him ("Brand New Day").

Tracklist

  • "On The Rise"
  • "Bad Horse (reprise)"
  • "Cheer Up Billy Buddy"
  • "Brand New Day"

Act III

Dr. Horrible finishes his death ray. At the opening for the new homeless shelter, Captain Hammer is honored with a presentation of a statue of himself. At the end of Captain Hammer's presentation, Dr. Horrible freezes Captain Hammer with the Freeze Ray, and prepares to kill Captain Hammer. Unfortunately, the Freeze Ray powers down right before Captain Hammer can be shot with the death ray. A fight ensues, Captain Hammer is hit and feels pain for the first time, causing him to run out of the room. Penny is killed by debris from the exploding Death Ray. Dr. Horrible rushes to her side where she recognizes him as Billy Buddy. Before she expires, she tells Billy not to worry, that Captain Hammer will save them. Dr. Horrible carries her body to a stretcher while flashbulbs pop and reporters ask him why he killed her. Afterwards, Horrible rapidly rises to power as a supervillian as he has accomplished his evil goals and is inducted into the Evil League of Evil... yet as Billy Buddy, he spends his days sitting in his basement, uncostumed and alone.

Tracklist

  • "So They Say"
  • "Everyone's a Hero"
  • "Slipping"
  • "Everything You Ever Wanted"
  • "Credits/Dr. Horrible's Theme"

Cast

  • Neil Patrick Harris as Billy / Dr. Horrible: A supervillain of the mad scientist variety. Claims to have "a PhD in Horribleness", and aspires to be a member of Bad Horse's Evil League of Evil.
  • Nathan Fillion as Captain Hammer: A superhero and Dr. Horrible's arch-nemesis. Enjoys beating up and generally harassing Dr. Horrible, even when the situation does not warrant it. The Dark Horse comic suggests he harbors an unnatural hatred towards "goths, nerds, social outcasts, and especially anyone that genuinely enjoys math and science".
  • Felicia Day as Penny: Dr. Horrible's love interest and volunteer for the Caring Hands homeless shelter.
  • Simon Helberg as Moist: Dr. Horrible's friend, who has the ability to dampen things and is a member of the Henchman's Union.

Production

Whedon funded the project himself (in the "low six figures" according to NPR)[3] and enjoyed the independence of acting as his own studio. “Freedom is glorious,” he comments. “And the fact is, I’ve had very good relationships with studios, and I’ve worked with a lot of smart executives. But there is a difference when you can just go ahead and do something.” As a web show, there were fewer constraints imposed on the project, and Whedon had the “freedom to just let the dictates of the story say how long it’s gonna be. We didn’t have to cram everything in–there is a lot in there–but we put in the amount of story that we wanted to and let the time work around that. We aimed for thirty minutes, we came out at forty two, and that’s not a problem.”[4]

A Captain Hammer (Nemesis of Dr. Horrible) online comic tie-in is now available. It will be printed later this year in a Dark Horse Presents graphic novel.

Distribution

Whedon says plans are being made to find a venue for the series that will enable it to earn its money back and pay the crew, with a first release on the Internet, then iTunes[5] with a further release on DVD, with some "amazing extras."[6]

According to TV Week,[7] the musical's fansite launched in March 2008 despite the official site containing nothing more than a poster. The Teaser Trailer hit the web three months later on June 25, 2008.

Episodes aired at the Official Dr. Horrible Website and were available for free viewing for one week. They were also available on iTunes, and will be available on DVD at a later date.[1][2] Planned DVD extras include Commentary! - The Musical, with entirely new numbers performed by the cast and crew. [8]

Episodes are being hosted on Hulu and in the U.S. and Canadian iTunes Stores. Despite Hulu not normally being available outside the U.S., Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is accessible internationally and the videos are available to view (though there was initially an extended period of technical difficulties for international videos).

Currently, only Americans and Canadians can purchase the show on iTunes.

References

  1. ^ a b Joss Whedon (2008-06-28). "Comment on "Doctor Horrible website is live"". Whedonesque.com. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
  2. ^ a b Matt Roush (2008-06-30). "Exclusive: First Look at Joss Whedon's "Dr. Horrible"". Roush Dispatch. TV Guide. Retrieved 2006-08-30.
  3. ^ Sydell, Laura (2008-07-14). "'Buffy' Creator Proves Doogie Howser Can Sing". NPR. Retrieved 2008-07-18.
  4. ^ "Joss Whedon Interview: The Web Has Been Wonderful For "Horrible"". Tubefilter. 2008-07-14. Retrieved 2008-07-14.
  5. ^ Spelling, Ian (2008-05-19). "Whedon's Dr. Horrible Almost Done". SCI FI Wire. SCI FI. Retrieved 2008-06-27.
  6. ^ Spelling, Ian (2008-06-02). "Joss Whedon offers a sneak peak at his brand-new Dollhouse". SCI FI Wire. SCI FI. Retrieved 2008-06-27.
  7. ^ Gelman, Vlada (2008-06-25). "Whedon's 'Horrible' Trailer". Television Week: Blink. Retrieved 2008-07-18. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help); Unknown parameter |Publisher= ignored (|publisher= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ "Joss Whedon To Record First Ever Musical DVD Commentary". Cinematical. 2008-07-1. Retrieved 2008-07-1. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
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