Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
Encyclopedia
Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is a 2008 musical
tragicomedy
miniseries
in three acts, produced exclusively for Internet
distribution. Filmed and set in Los Angeles
, the show tells the story of Dr. Horrible (played by Neil Patrick Harris
), an aspiring supervillain
; Captain Hammer (Nathan Fillion
), his nemesis; and Penny (Felicia Day
), their shared love interest.
The movie was written by writer/director Joss Whedon
, his brothers Zack Whedon
(a television writer) and Jed Whedon
(a composer), and Jed's wife, actress Maurissa Tancharoen
. The team wrote the musical during the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America 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. On October 31, 2008, Time
magazine named it #15 in Times Top 50 Inventions of 2008. It also won the People's Choice Award for "Favorite Online Sensation", and the 2009 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form. In the inaugural 2009 Streamy Awards
for web television, Dr. Horrible won seven awards: Audience Choice Award for Best Web Series, Best Directing for a Comedy Web Series, Best Writing for a Comedy Web Series, Best Male Actor in a Comedy Web Series (Harris), Best Editing, Best Cinematography, and Best Original Music. It also won a 2009 Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class – Short-format Live-Action Entertainment Programs.
The song is cut short by his "evil moisture buddy" Moist, who brings up a letter from Bad Horse, the leader of the Evil League of Evil. The letter informs Dr. Horrible that his application for entry into the League will be evaluated, and that they will be watching for his next heinous crime ("Bad Horse Chorus").
The following day, Horrible prepares to steal a case of wonderflonium for his time-stopping Freeze Ray by commandeering the courier van using a remote control device. Penny happens to be on the same street ("Caring Hands"), and appears asking him to sign a petition to turn a condemned city building into a homeless shelter. However, the remote requires his attention, and he appears uninterested in her and her cause. As Penny leaves, Horrible is conflicted, but opts to steal the wonderflonium, telling himself that 'A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do' ("A Man's Gotta Do").
When Horrible remotely drives the van away, Captain Hammer appears and takes over Horrible's song, smashing the remote control receiver and inadvertently causing the van to veer towards Penny. Hammer pushes her out of the way (into a pile of garbage) just as Horrible regains control of the van and stops it, making it appear that Captain Hammer stopped the van with his bare hands. The two confront each other, with Hammer slamming Horrible's head on the van's hood, but Penny emerges to thank Hammer, making him forget about beating up Dr. Horrible. As Hammer and Penny serenade each other, Horrible makes off with the wonderflonium.
On his blog, Horrible reveals that his Freeze Ray has been completed, and that he plans to use it the next day. The following post reveals that he has failed, as Hammer and the LAPD
watch his blog, and they were ready for him. He then receives a phone call from Bad Horse and is reprimanded, saying that the only way to be inducted now is to commit an assassination ("Bad Horse Chorus (Reprise)"). Horrible is conflicted and can't decide on a victim, or even if he wants to commit a murder at all, even though the League will deny his application or even kill him, if he doesn't.
Billy chats with Penny over frozen yogurt, at the laundromat, about his problems ("Penny's Song"). As they grow closer, Penny mentions that Captain Hammer is planning to drop by. Billy panics and tries to leave, only to run into Hammer as he walks in. They feign ignorance on recognizing each other, but when Penny leaves them alone, Hammer taunts Horrible about his crush on Penny, happy to be taking the thing that Dr. Horrible wants most. It becomes obvious that Hammer doesn't really care about Penny but just wants to sleep with her to spite Horrible. Horrible decides to kill Hammer as his heinous crime for admission to Bad Horse's Evil League of Evil ("Brand New Day").
At the opening for the new homeless shelter, where a statue of Captain Hammer will be unveiled, Captain Hammer begins a speech of encouragement to the homeless, but it degenerates into selfish, condescending praise of his own excellence and relationship with Penny ("Everyone's a Hero"). Penny, embarrassed and disillusioned, quietly tries to leave as the crowd joins in singing Hammer's song, but they are interrupted by the appearance of Dr. Horrible, who uses the Freeze Ray on Captain Hammer, cutting his song short. Dr. Horrible taunts the shocked crowd and declares that they cannot recognize that Hammer's disguise is "slipping", and he reveals a second, more lethal laser gun: his completed Death Ray ("Slipping").
At last, Horrible aims the lethal weapon at the frozen form of Captain Hammer, but hesitates. At that moment the Freeze Ray unexpectedly fails, and a suddenly revived Hammer punches Horrible across the room. The Death Ray falls from his hands, damaging it. Hammer then picks up the Death Ray, turns it on Horrible, and triumphantly completes the final note of his prior song. However, as Hammer pulls the trigger, the damaged Death Ray misfires. The weapon explodes in Hammer's hands, injuring him and causing him to feel pain, apparently for the first time in his life. He flees, a wailing wreck, asking for "someone maternal." Dr. Horrible realizes suddenly that he has succeeded in vanquishing his nemesis, but still having not committed the murder required by the League. Unfortunately, he discovers Penny slumped against a wall, gored by shrapnel from the exploding gun. Tragically, she dies in Horrible's arms, deliriously reassuring him that Captain Hammer will save them.
Dr. Horrible declares Pyrrhic victory
, with "the world [he] wanted, at [his] feet," seeing that her death is ironically the murder he required. In the aftermath, Horrible gains infamy and becomes a member of the League, striding into a party in celebration of his induction, attended by Moist and the villains Pink Pummeller and Purple Pimp. Captain Hammer is seen on a psychiatric couch sobbing to his therapist. Dr. Horrible, donning a new outfit red coat, black gloves and his goggles covering his eyes takes his seat at the League, composed of Tie-Die, Snake Bite, Professor Normal, Dead Bowie, Fake Thomas Jefferson, Fury Leika, and Bad Horse (an actual horse). He addresses the camera, saying, "now the nightmare's real," and in working "to make the whole world kneel," that "[He] won't feel...". He completes the line "...a thing," in a final blog post as a numb-looking Billy, out of costume and looking lost in the midst of his lab. ("Everything You Ever")
on September 1, 2008 and was released on CD in the US on December 15, 2008.
Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog Soundtrack made the top 40 Album list on release, despite being a digital exclusive only available on iTunes.
Act II
Act III
Several colleagues of Joss Whedon
have cameo roles in the series. Marti Noxon
, an executive producer on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, portrays a newsreader alongside Buffy and Angel writer David Fury
. Buffy and Angel writers Doug Petrie
and Drew Goddard
cameo as supervillains Professor Normal and Fake Thomas Jefferson
, respectively. Jed
, Joss, and Zack Whedon
all provide the singing voices of Bad Horse Chorus. Zack also plays the man who rolls the gurney with Penny on it out of frame, and Jed Whedon also appears as the supervillain Dead Bowie
, while Maurissa Tancharoen
plays a superhero/supervillain groupie as well as the background voice on "Everything You Ever."
.
The production of the DVD included a contest, announced at Comic-Con
, in which fans submitted a three-minute video explaining why they should be inducted into the Evil League of Evil. Ten winning submissions have been added to the DVD release.
release to follow. If successful enough, an official DVD
would be greenlit
, which Whedon planned to have some "amazing extras".
The musical's fansite launched in March 2008 (despite the official site containing nothing more than a poster at the time) and was the first place to publicly release the teaser trailer three months later on June 25, 2008.
, accessible internationally (unusual for the US-based service whose videos are typically not accessible to Internet users who reside outside the US) and free to watch (ad-supported). Act I premiered on Tuesday, July 15, 2008 Act II followed two days later on July 17, and Act III surfaced on July 19. The episodes were taken offline on July 20 as planned, but became available again on July 28. The show was later (date unknown) restricted to the United States only.
On October 10, 2009, all three acts were made available via iTunes for the UK and Australia. The film is also available from Amazon Video on Demand. On November 29, 2009 all three acts, both separate and together, were taken off Hulu. On February 22, 2010, the full feature became available to stream on Netflix, with all three episodes appearing sequentially.
reported that pre-orders of the Dr. Horrible DVD were "booming".
The DVD was released exclusively at Amazon.com on December 19, 2008 in the United States and on January 13, 2009 in Canada at Amazon.ca.
The DVD is region free
. During pre-ordering the Amazon page stated the discs would be manufactured on demand using recordable media
. Although some customers report receiving DVD-R discs (identified by a purple data-side), most are receiving pressed discs.
On June 2, 2009, a new release of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog was produced by New Video Group, which included the same materials as the Amazon DVD but was distributed through regular retail outlets. A Blu-ray version was released on May 25, 2010 from New Video Group.
Special features on the DVD and Blu-ray include Commentary! The Musical; commentary by the cast and creators; behind-the-scenes featurettes on the making of the movie and the music; the top 10 Evil League of Evil application videos from fans; and four easter eggs
.
comments that one song "wasn't even about the movie, it was about itself", which he claims is as pointless as "breaking the ninth wall
". As of January 5, 2010, Commentary! The Musical has been for sale on the iTunes Music Store.
On November 29, 2008, Joss Whedon blogged about Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog and stated that, "We've been able to pay our crew and all our bills".
. The first three were through its online comics anthology
Dark Horse Presents
, the fourth was a special release as part of the "One Shot Wonders" series. All were written by Zack Whedon.
All four stories were collected in Dr. Horrible, and Other Horrible Stories by Dark Horse Comics, in September 2010 (ISBN 978-1-59582-577-3). The collection also features an additional story about the Evil League of Evil.
, with showings reaching standing-room-only capacity. Felicia Day
showed up to one of the showings.
Stage productions of the show have become very popular at colleges and high schools.
In November 2010, Cult Classic Theatre in Glasgow, Scotland, performed the first official UK production of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.
In January 2011, Balagan Theatre performed Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog at the ACT Theatre
's Allen Theatre in Seattle. The production was reviewed by Broadway World. A televised performance of a concert version of "Freeze Ray" can also be viewed.
In Ireland, an official production of the musical was performed in Trinity College Dublin by the college's drama society; The DU Players. The show took place from October 25–29, 2010.
2009 Hugo Awards
2009 People's Choice Awards
2009 Primetime
Creative Arts Emmy Awards
During the broadcast of the 2009 Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony, which was hosted by Harris, a speech by representatives of Ernst & Young
was "interrupted" by a sketch featuring Harris as Dr. Horrible and Nathan Fillion as Captain Hammer, with cameos by Felicia Day and Simon Helberg.
On April 3, 2010, Zack and Jed Whedon announced to representatives of fan site Whedonopolis that they were starting work on the script that afternoon, although verifying this claim could be difficult.
In a New York Times interview in April 2011, Whedon said, "We've got several songs near completion and we've got a very specific structure," and that the stars of Dr. Horrible have sung the songs at casual gatherings.
Neil Patrick Harris says that a possible date for Dr. Horrible 2's principal photography is during the 2011 How I Met Your Mother
hiatus.
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
tragicomedy
Tragicomedy
Tragicomedy is fictional work that blends aspects of the genres of tragedy and comedy. In English literature, from Shakespeare's time to the nineteenth century, tragicomedy referred to a serious play with either a happy ending or enough jokes throughout the play to lighten the mood.-Classical...
miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
in three acts, produced exclusively for Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
distribution. Filmed and set in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, the show tells the story of Dr. Horrible (played by Neil Patrick Harris
Neil Patrick Harris
Neil Patrick Harris is an American actor, singer, director, and magician.Prominent roles of his career include the title role in Doogie Howser, M.D., Colonel Carl Jenkins in Starship Troopers, the womanizing Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother, a fictionalized version of himself in the Harold...
), an aspiring supervillain
Supervillain
A supervillain or supervillainess is a variant of the villain character type, commonly found in comic books, action movies and science fiction in various media.They are sometimes used as foils to superheroes and other fictional heroes...
; Captain Hammer (Nathan Fillion
Nathan Fillion
Nathan Fillion is a Canadian actor, currently starring as Richard Castle on the ABC series Castle. He is also known for his portrayal of the lead role of Captain Malcolm Reynolds in the television series Firefly and its feature film continuation, Serenity.He has acted in traditionally distributed...
), his nemesis; and Penny (Felicia Day
Felicia Day
Kathryn Felicia Day is an American actress, known for her work as "Vi" on the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and for parts in movies such as Bring It On Again and June, as well as the Internet musical, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog...
), their shared love interest.
The movie was written by writer/director Joss Whedon
Joss Whedon
Joseph Hill "Joss" Whedon is an American screenwriter, executive producer, director, comic book writer, occasional composer and actor, founder of Mutant Enemy Productions and co-creator of Bellwether Pictures...
, his brothers Zack Whedon
Zack Whedon
Zack Whedon is an American screenwriter and comic book writer. He graduated in 2002 with a film degree from Wesleyan University where he served as president of the Eclectic Society...
(a television writer) and Jed Whedon
Jed Whedon
Jed Tucker Whedon is a screenwriter and musician. Jed is from a family of writers: he is the son of screenwriter Tom Whedon, grandson of screenwriter John Whedon, and the brother of screenwriter Zack Whedon and producer/director/writer Joss Whedon...
(a composer), and Jed's wife, actress Maurissa Tancharoen
Maurissa Tancharoen
Maurissa Tancharoen Whedon is an American actress, singer, dancer, television writer and lyricist.She co-wrote Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog and appeared onscreen as Groupie #1, as well as on the DVD audio track "Commentary! The Musical," in which she sings about the scarcity of non-stereotyped...
. The team wrote the musical during the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike
2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike
The 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, more commonly referred to as simply the Writers' Strike, was a strike by the Writers Guild of America, East and the Writers Guild of America, West ....
. 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. On October 31, 2008, Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine named it #15 in Times Top 50 Inventions of 2008. It also won the People's Choice Award for "Favorite Online Sensation", and the 2009 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form. In the inaugural 2009 Streamy Awards
Streamy Awards
The Streamy Awards, popularly known as the Streamys, are presented annually by the International Academy of Web Television to recognize excellence in the arts and science of web television production, including directing, acting, producing, and writing. The formal ceremony at which the awards are...
for web television, Dr. Horrible won seven awards: Audience Choice Award for Best Web Series, Best Directing for a Comedy Web Series, Best Writing for a Comedy Web Series, Best Male Actor in a Comedy Web Series (Harris), Best Editing, Best Cinematography, and Best Original Music. It also won a 2009 Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class – Short-format Live-Action Entertainment Programs.
Plot
Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog consists of three acts of approximately 14 minutes each. They were first released online in July 2008 as individual episodes, with two-day intervals between each release.Act I
Dr. Horrible is filming an entry for his video blog, giving updates on his schemes and responding to various emails from his viewers. Asked about the "her" that he often mentions, he launches into a song about Penny, the girl he likes from the laundromat ("My Freeze Ray").The song is cut short by his "evil moisture buddy" Moist, who brings up a letter from Bad Horse, the leader of the Evil League of Evil. The letter informs Dr. Horrible that his application for entry into the League will be evaluated, and that they will be watching for his next heinous crime ("Bad Horse Chorus").
The following day, Horrible prepares to steal a case of wonderflonium for his time-stopping Freeze Ray by commandeering the courier van using a remote control device. Penny happens to be on the same street ("Caring Hands"), and appears asking him to sign a petition to turn a condemned city building into a homeless shelter. However, the remote requires his attention, and he appears uninterested in her and her cause. As Penny leaves, Horrible is conflicted, but opts to steal the wonderflonium, telling himself that 'A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do' ("A Man's Gotta Do").
When Horrible remotely drives the van away, Captain Hammer appears and takes over Horrible's song, smashing the remote control receiver and inadvertently causing the van to veer towards Penny. Hammer pushes her out of the way (into a pile of garbage) just as Horrible regains control of the van and stops it, making it appear that Captain Hammer stopped the van with his bare hands. The two confront each other, with Hammer slamming Horrible's head on the van's hood, but Penny emerges to thank Hammer, making him forget about beating up Dr. Horrible. As Hammer and Penny serenade each other, Horrible makes off with the wonderflonium.
Act II
Dr. Horrible stalks Penny and Captain Hammer on their dates; Horrible sings of the misery of the human condition, and Penny sings of hope and the possibility of redemption ("My Eyes"). Penny and Horrible, known to her as Billy, begin to talk openly as friends.On his blog, Horrible reveals that his Freeze Ray has been completed, and that he plans to use it the next day. The following post reveals that he has failed, as Hammer and the LAPD
Los Angeles Police Department
The Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With just under 10,000 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 4.1 million people, it is the third largest local law enforcement agency in...
watch his blog, and they were ready for him. He then receives a phone call from Bad Horse and is reprimanded, saying that the only way to be inducted now is to commit an assassination ("Bad Horse Chorus (Reprise)"). Horrible is conflicted and can't decide on a victim, or even if he wants to commit a murder at all, even though the League will deny his application or even kill him, if he doesn't.
Billy chats with Penny over frozen yogurt, at the laundromat, about his problems ("Penny's Song"). As they grow closer, Penny mentions that Captain Hammer is planning to drop by. Billy panics and tries to leave, only to run into Hammer as he walks in. They feign ignorance on recognizing each other, but when Penny leaves them alone, Hammer taunts Horrible about his crush on Penny, happy to be taking the thing that Dr. Horrible wants most. It becomes obvious that Hammer doesn't really care about Penny but just wants to sleep with her to spite Horrible. Horrible decides to kill Hammer as his heinous crime for admission to Bad Horse's Evil League of Evil ("Brand New Day").
Act III
The city is abuzz with Captain Hammer's crusade to help the homeless and he is considered the city's new hero; Penny ponders her relationship with Captain Hammer, waiting at the laundromat to share frozen yogurt with an absent Billy; and Dr. Horrible goes into seclusion while obsessively constructing a Death Ray to kill Captain Hammer once and for all ("So They Say").At the opening for the new homeless shelter, where a statue of Captain Hammer will be unveiled, Captain Hammer begins a speech of encouragement to the homeless, but it degenerates into selfish, condescending praise of his own excellence and relationship with Penny ("Everyone's a Hero"). Penny, embarrassed and disillusioned, quietly tries to leave as the crowd joins in singing Hammer's song, but they are interrupted by the appearance of Dr. Horrible, who uses the Freeze Ray on Captain Hammer, cutting his song short. Dr. Horrible taunts the shocked crowd and declares that they cannot recognize that Hammer's disguise is "slipping", and he reveals a second, more lethal laser gun: his completed Death Ray ("Slipping").
At last, Horrible aims the lethal weapon at the frozen form of Captain Hammer, but hesitates. At that moment the Freeze Ray unexpectedly fails, and a suddenly revived Hammer punches Horrible across the room. The Death Ray falls from his hands, damaging it. Hammer then picks up the Death Ray, turns it on Horrible, and triumphantly completes the final note of his prior song. However, as Hammer pulls the trigger, the damaged Death Ray misfires. The weapon explodes in Hammer's hands, injuring him and causing him to feel pain, apparently for the first time in his life. He flees, a wailing wreck, asking for "someone maternal." Dr. Horrible realizes suddenly that he has succeeded in vanquishing his nemesis, but still having not committed the murder required by the League. Unfortunately, he discovers Penny slumped against a wall, gored by shrapnel from the exploding gun. Tragically, she dies in Horrible's arms, deliriously reassuring him that Captain Hammer will save them.
Dr. Horrible declares Pyrrhic victory
Pyrrhic victory
A Pyrrhic victory is a victory with such a devastating cost to the victor that it carries the implication that another such victory will ultimately cause defeat.-Origin:...
, with "the world [he] wanted, at [his] feet," seeing that her death is ironically the murder he required. In the aftermath, Horrible gains infamy and becomes a member of the League, striding into a party in celebration of his induction, attended by Moist and the villains Pink Pummeller and Purple Pimp. Captain Hammer is seen on a psychiatric couch sobbing to his therapist. Dr. Horrible, donning a new outfit red coat, black gloves and his goggles covering his eyes takes his seat at the League, composed of Tie-Die, Snake Bite, Professor Normal, Dead Bowie, Fake Thomas Jefferson, Fury Leika, and Bad Horse (an actual horse). He addresses the camera, saying, "now the nightmare's real," and in working "to make the whole world kneel," that "[He] won't feel...". He completes the line "...a thing," in a final blog post as a numb-looking Billy, out of costume and looking lost in the midst of his lab. ("Everything You Ever")
Soundtrack
The musical contains 14 songs, including credits and reprises, but at the time of broadcast the song titles were not identified. The soundtrack was released through the iTunes StoreITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
on September 1, 2008 and was released on CD in the US on December 15, 2008.
Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog Soundtrack made the top 40 Album list on release, despite being a digital exclusive only available on iTunes.
Musical numbers
Act I- "Dr. Horrible Theme" – Instrumental
- "My Freeze Ray" – Dr. Horrible
- "Bad Horse Chorus" – Bad Horse Chorus
- "Caring Hands" – Penny
- "A Man's Gotta Do" – Dr. Horrible, Penny & Captain Hammer
Act II
- "Dr. Horrible Theme" – Instrumental
- "My Eyes" – Dr. Horrible & Penny
- "Bad Horse Chorus (Reprise)" – Bad Horse Chorus
- "Penny's Song" – Penny
- "Brand New Day" – Dr. Horrible
Act III
- "Dr. Horrible Theme" – Instrumental
- "So They Say" – Movers, Captain Hammer Groupies, Penny, Captain Hammer, News Anchors & Dr. Horrible
- "Everyone's a Hero" – Captain Hammer & Groupies
- "Slipping" – Dr. Horrible
- "Everything You Ever/Finale" – Dr. Horrible & Groupies
- "End Credits" – Instrumental
Cast
- Neil Patrick HarrisNeil Patrick HarrisNeil Patrick Harris is an American actor, singer, director, and magician.Prominent roles of his career include the title role in Doogie Howser, M.D., Colonel Carl Jenkins in Starship Troopers, the womanizing Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother, a fictionalized version of himself in the Harold...
as Billy/Dr. Horrible: An aspiring supervillainSupervillainA supervillain or supervillainess is a variant of the villain character type, commonly found in comic books, action movies and science fiction in various media.They are sometimes used as foils to superheroes and other fictional heroes...
of the mad scientistMad scientistA mad scientist is a stock character of popular fiction, specifically science fiction. The mad scientist may be villainous or antagonistic, benign or neutral, and whether insane, eccentric, or simply bumbling, mad scientists often work with fictional technology in order to forward their schemes, if...
variety with the catchphrase, "I've got a Ph.D in Horribleness." He desires to become a member of Bad Horse's Evil League of Evil and use his inventions to take over the world and enact social change for the betterment of humanity. His socio-political beliefs include the paradoxical idea of autocratic anarchismAnarchismAnarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
: "The world is a mess, and I just... want to rule it." As Billy, he struggles to make a romantic connection with Penny. - Felicia DayFelicia DayKathryn Felicia Day is an American actress, known for her work as "Vi" on the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and for parts in movies such as Bring It On Again and June, as well as the Internet musical, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog...
as Penny: Dr. Horrible's love interest. She is idealistic and generous and volunteers at a homeless shelter. - Nathan FillionNathan FillionNathan Fillion is a Canadian actor, currently starring as Richard Castle on the ABC series Castle. He is also known for his portrayal of the lead role of Captain Malcolm Reynolds in the television series Firefly and its feature film continuation, Serenity.He has acted in traditionally distributed...
as Captain Hammer: Dr. Horrible's archenemyArchenemyAn archenemy, archfoe, archvillain or archnemesis is the principal enemy of a character in a work of fiction, often described as the hero's worst enemy .- Etymology :The word archenemy or arch-enemy originated...
. Hammer is self-centered and possesses super-human strength and near-invulnerability. He enjoys harassing Dr. Horrible even when the situation does not warrant it. - Simon HelbergSimon HelbergSimon Maxwell Helberg is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as Howard Wolowitz in the sitcom The Big Bang Theory. In its fourth season, he also appeared on the sketch comedy series MADtv for five episodes...
as Moist: Dr. Horrible's friend and sidekick, who has the underwhelming ability to dampen things. Dr. Horrible calls him "my evil moisture buddy."
Several colleagues of Joss Whedon
Joss Whedon
Joseph Hill "Joss" Whedon is an American screenwriter, executive producer, director, comic book writer, occasional composer and actor, founder of Mutant Enemy Productions and co-creator of Bellwether Pictures...
have cameo roles in the series. Marti Noxon
Marti Noxon
Martha Mills "Marti" Noxon is an American television and film writer first known for writing and producing Buffy the Vampire Slayer.- Production :...
, an executive producer on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, portrays a newsreader alongside Buffy and Angel writer David Fury
David Fury
David Fury is an American television Screenwriter and Producer, best known for his work on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Lost, 24, and Fringe.Fury was a Co-executive producer and Writer for the first season of Lost...
. Buffy and Angel writers Doug Petrie
Doug Petrie
Doug Petrie is an American screenwriter, director, and producer. Best known as a writer, director, and co-executive producer on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He co-wrote the screenplays for the Fantastic Four film and Harriet the Spy. He has also written for the television shows Angel, The 4400 and Tru...
and Drew Goddard
Drew Goddard
Drew Goddard is an American film and television screenwriter and producer best known for his collaborations with Joss Whedon and J.J. Abrams .Goddard joined the crew of Lost as a freelance writer for the first season in 2004...
cameo as supervillains Professor Normal and Fake Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
, respectively. Jed
Jed Whedon
Jed Tucker Whedon is a screenwriter and musician. Jed is from a family of writers: he is the son of screenwriter Tom Whedon, grandson of screenwriter John Whedon, and the brother of screenwriter Zack Whedon and producer/director/writer Joss Whedon...
, Joss, and Zack Whedon
Zack Whedon
Zack Whedon is an American screenwriter and comic book writer. He graduated in 2002 with a film degree from Wesleyan University where he served as president of the Eclectic Society...
all provide the singing voices of Bad Horse Chorus. Zack also plays the man who rolls the gurney with Penny on it out of frame, and Jed Whedon also appears as the supervillain Dead Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
, while Maurissa Tancharoen
Maurissa Tancharoen
Maurissa Tancharoen Whedon is an American actress, singer, dancer, television writer and lyricist.She co-wrote Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog and appeared onscreen as Groupie #1, as well as on the DVD audio track "Commentary! The Musical," in which she sings about the scarcity of non-stereotyped...
plays a superhero/supervillain groupie as well as the background voice on "Everything You Ever."
Production
Joss Whedon funded the project himself (at just over $200,000) 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." Some of the music was influenced by Stephen SondheimStephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
.
The production of the DVD included a contest, announced at Comic-Con
Comic-Con International
San Diego Comic-Con International, also known as Comic-Con International: San Diego , and commonly known as Comic-Con or the San Diego Comic-Con, was founded as the Golden State Comic Book Convention and later the San Diego Comic Book Convention in 1970 by Shel Dorf and a group of San Diegans...
, in which fans submitted a three-minute video explaining why they should be inducted into the Evil League of Evil. Ten winning submissions have been added to the DVD release.
Recording locations
Dr. Horrible was recorded at a number of Los Angeles area locations:- Songs were recorded in a small studio set up in Joss Whedon's loft.
- The Coin Wash laundromat is located at 1372 Sunset Boulevard, near Echo Park.
- There are a number of photos posted in numerous places on the Web of the cast and crew taken at DC Stages, 1360 East 6th Street (at Mateo Street), Los Angeles.
- The outdoor scenes featuring the Captain Hammer "groupies" were recorded on East 6th Street near the northeast corner of South Central Avenue, within walking distance of DC Stages.
- The lake with the paddleboat is Echo Park Lake.
- Dr. Horrible's home, used for blogging scenes as well as the final party scene, is the house featured in the "Mad Scientist House" episode of Monster House.
Distribution
Whedon has said that the plan was to find a venue for the series that would enable it to earn its money back and pay the crew. This plan was to release the show onto the Internet, with an iTunesITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
release to follow. If successful enough, an official DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
would be greenlit
Greenlight
To green-light a project is to give permission or a go ahead to move forward with a project. In the context of the movie and TV businesses, to green-light something is to formally approve its production finance, thereby allowing the project to move forward from the development phase to...
, which Whedon planned to have some "amazing extras".
The musical's fansite launched in March 2008 (despite the official site containing nothing more than a poster at the time) and was the first place to publicly release the teaser trailer three months later on June 25, 2008.
Online
The episodes first aired at the Official Dr. Horrible website, hosted on HuluHulu
Hulu is a website and over-the-top subscription service offering ad-supported on-demand streaming video of TV shows, movies, webisodes and other new media, trailers, clips, and behind-the-scenes footage from NBC, Fox, ABC, and Obstacle on October 20th 2011 Nickelodeon and CBS and many other...
, accessible internationally (unusual for the US-based service whose videos are typically not accessible to Internet users who reside outside the US) and free to watch (ad-supported). Act I premiered on Tuesday, July 15, 2008 Act II followed two days later on July 17, and Act III surfaced on July 19. The episodes were taken offline on July 20 as planned, but became available again on July 28. The show was later (date unknown) restricted to the United States only.
On October 10, 2009, all three acts were made available via iTunes for the UK and Australia. The film is also available from Amazon Video on Demand. On November 29, 2009 all three acts, both separate and together, were taken off Hulu. On February 22, 2010, the full feature became available to stream on Netflix, with all three episodes appearing sequentially.
DVD and Blu-ray
On November 28, 2008, the Official Dr. Horrible website announced that pre-orders were being taken for the DVD. The following day TubefilterTubefilter
Tubefilter, Inc. is a privately held company based in Los Angeles, California that operates media properties focusing on the online entertainment industry. Tubefilter is best known for Tubefilter News, a blog targeted at the producers and distributors of web television content where the best in...
reported that pre-orders of the Dr. Horrible DVD were "booming".
The DVD was released exclusively at Amazon.com on December 19, 2008 in the United States and on January 13, 2009 in Canada at Amazon.ca.
The DVD is region free
DVD region code
DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region...
. During pre-ordering the Amazon page stated the discs would be manufactured on demand using recordable media
DVD recordable
DVD recordable and DVD rewritable refer to part of Optical disc recording technologies. DVD optical disc formats that can be recorded by a DVD recorder, , either write once or rewritable format written by laser, as compared to DVD-ROM, which is mass-produced by pressing, primarily for the...
. Although some customers report receiving DVD-R discs (identified by a purple data-side), most are receiving pressed discs.
On June 2, 2009, a new release of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog was produced by New Video Group, which included the same materials as the Amazon DVD but was distributed through regular retail outlets. A Blu-ray version was released on May 25, 2010 from New Video Group.
Special features on the DVD and Blu-ray include Commentary! The Musical; commentary by the cast and creators; behind-the-scenes featurettes on the making of the movie and the music; the top 10 Evil League of Evil application videos from fans; and four easter eggs
Easter egg (media)
Image:Carl Oswald Rostosky - Zwei Kaninchen und ein Igel 1861.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Example of Easter egg hidden within imagerect 467 383 539 434 desc none...
.
Commentary! The Musical
The DVD and Blu-ray versions of Dr. Horrible include as an extra Commentary! The Musical, a commentary track comprising entirely new songs performed by the cast and crew, thus creating a whole other musical on its own. The actors and writers sing various songs both as solos and with the entire company, playing versions of themselves. Commentary! is partly self-referential, and one of the co-creators, Jed Whedon, self-referentiallySelf-referential humor
Self-referential humor or self-reflexive humor is a type of comedic expression that—either directed toward some other subject, or openly directed toward itself—intentionally alludes to the very person who is expressing the humor in a comedic fashion, or to some specific aspect of that...
comments that one song "wasn't even about the movie, it was about itself", which he claims is as pointless as "breaking the ninth wall
Fourth wall
The fourth wall is the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play...
". As of January 5, 2010, Commentary! The Musical has been for sale on the iTunes Music Store.
Musical numbers
- "Commentary!" — Company
- "Strike" — Company
- "Ten-Dollar Solo" — Stacy Shirk (as Groupie #2), Neil Patrick Harris
- "Better (Than Neil)" — Nathan Fillion
- "It's All About the Art" — Felicia Day
- "Zack's Flavor" — Zack Whedon, female backups, Joss Whedon
- "Nobody Wants To Be Moist" — Simon Helberg (as Moist)
- "Ninja Ropes" — Jed Whedon, Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion
- "All About Me" — Extras
- "Nobody's Asian in the Movies" — Maurissa Tancharoen
- "Heart (Broken)" — Joss Whedon, backups (Jed Whedon, Zack Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen)
- "Neil's Turn" — Neil Patrick Harris
- "Commentary! (Reprise)" — Company
- "Steve's Song" — Steve Berg
Profits
All proceeds from iTunes and DVD sales will go toward paying the cast and crew of Dr. Horrible, who were not compensated at the time.On November 29, 2008, Joss Whedon blogged about Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog and stated that, "We've been able to pay our crew and all our bills".
Comic books
Tie-in comic books for Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog have been released by Dark Horse ComicsDark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
. The first three were through its online comics anthology
Anthology
An anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...
Dark Horse Presents
Dark Horse Presents
Dark Horse Presents was the first comic book published by Dark Horse Comics in 1986 and was their flagship title until its September 2000 cancellation. The second incarnation was published on MySpace, running from July 2007 until August 2010...
, the fourth was a special release as part of the "One Shot Wonders" series. All were written by Zack Whedon.
- "Captain Hammer: Be Like Me!" was released in issue #12 and featured art by Eric Canete.
- "Moist: Humidity Rising" was released in issue #17 with art by Farel DalrympleFarel DalrympleFarel Dalrymple is an American artist and alternative comics creator. He is best known for his award-winning comics series Pop Gun War.-Career:...
. - "Penny: Keep Your Head Up" appears in issue #23 with art by Jim RuggJim RuggJim Rugg is an American cartoonist and illustrator from Pittsburgh known for his tongue-in-cheek evocation of 1970s-era comics and pop culture. His graphic novels and comics collections include Street Angel, Afrodisiac, The P.L.A.I.N...
. - "Dr. Horrible" was released a special one-shot comic, detailing Dr. Horrible's origin story, with art by Joëlle Jones.
All four stories were collected in Dr. Horrible, and Other Horrible Stories by Dark Horse Comics, in September 2010 (ISBN 978-1-59582-577-3). The collection also features an additional story about the Evil League of Evil.
Book
On March 29, 2011, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog Book (ISBN 978-1-84856-862-4) was published by Titan Books. The book contains essays by Whedon, Fillion, Harris, Day, and Helberg; the complete shooting script; the script for Commentary: The Musical; and piano/vocal sheet music for Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.Events
On August 29, 2008, the first authorized sing-along version of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog was hosted at Dragon*Con in Atlanta, GeorgiaAtlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, with showings reaching standing-room-only capacity. Felicia Day
Felicia Day
Kathryn Felicia Day is an American actress, known for her work as "Vi" on the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and for parts in movies such as Bring It On Again and June, as well as the Internet musical, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog...
showed up to one of the showings.
Stage productions of the show have become very popular at colleges and high schools.
In November 2010, Cult Classic Theatre in Glasgow, Scotland, performed the first official UK production of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.
In January 2011, Balagan Theatre performed Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog at the ACT Theatre
ACT Theatre
ACT Theatre is a regional, non-profit theatre organization in Seattle, Washington, USA. Gregory A. Falls founded ACT in 1965 and served as its first Artistic director; at the time ACT was founded he was also head of the Drama Department at the University of Washington...
's Allen Theatre in Seattle. The production was reviewed by Broadway World. A televised performance of a concert version of "Freeze Ray" can also be viewed.
In Ireland, an official production of the musical was performed in Trinity College Dublin by the college's drama society; The DU Players. The show took place from October 25–29, 2010.
Awards
2009 Streamy Awards1st Streamy Awards
The 1st Annual Streamy Awards were held on Saturday, March 28, 2009, at the Wadsworth Theatre in Los Angeles, California. Over 1,300 audience members were in attendance. The show was broadcast live via microwave.-External links:*...
- Audience Choice Award for Best Web Series
- Best Male Actor in a Comedy Web Series Neil Patrick Harris
- Best Directing for a Comedy Web Series
- Best Writing for a Comedy Web Series
2009 Hugo Awards
- Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form
2009 People's Choice Awards
People's Choice Awards
The People's Choice Awards is an American awards show recognizing the people and the work of popular culture. The show has been held annually since 1975 and is voted on by the general public. The People's Choice Awards air on CBS and are produced by Procter & Gamble and Survivor magnate Mark Burnett...
- Best Internet Phenomenon Award
2009 Primetime
61st Primetime Emmy Awards
The 61st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards took place on September 20, 2009. CBS broadcast the Primetime event and E! the Creative Arts event; both take place at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California. The nominations for the Awards were announced on July 16....
Creative Arts Emmy Awards
- Outstanding Special Class Short-format Live-Action Entertainment Programs
During the broadcast of the 2009 Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony, which was hosted by Harris, a speech by representatives of Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young is one of the largest professional services networks in the world and one of the "Big Four" accountancy firms, along with Deloitte, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers ....
was "interrupted" by a sketch featuring Harris as Dr. Horrible and Nathan Fillion as Captain Hammer, with cameos by Felicia Day and Simon Helberg.
Nominations
2008 Constellation Awards- Best Science Fiction Film, TV Movie, or Mini-Series of 2008
- Best Male Performance in a 2008 Science Fiction Film, TV Movie, or Mini-Series (Neil Patrick Harris as Dr. Horrible)
Sequel
Joss Whedon has announced that a sequel is in the works which may take the form of another web series or even a feature film. Nathan Fillion has also said that he knows the title of the sequel, but is unwilling to reveal it at this time.On April 3, 2010, Zack and Jed Whedon announced to representatives of fan site Whedonopolis that they were starting work on the script that afternoon, although verifying this claim could be difficult.
In a New York Times interview in April 2011, Whedon said, "We've got several songs near completion and we've got a very specific structure," and that the stars of Dr. Horrible have sung the songs at casual gatherings.
Neil Patrick Harris says that a possible date for Dr. Horrible 2's principal photography is during the 2011 How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother is an American sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 19, 2005, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays.As a framing device, the main character, Ted Mosby with narration by Bob Saget, in the year 2030 recounts to his son and daughter the events that led to his meeting...
hiatus.