Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog: Joss Whedon, NPH

I've just watched Buffy creator Joss Whedon's, latest work, "Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog" and I'm pleased with what I've seen. For this week only, Whedon is releasing 3 separate acts of a super-villain musical starring none other than geek god, Neil Patrick Harris. NPH's catch-phrase, "I have a PhD in horrible-ness", along with his rants on unrequited love, are reminiscent of his days as Doogie Houser MD. The series is a welcome addition to the internets with Nathan Fillion, (Firefly's Captain Malcolm Reynolds) cast as Dr. Horrible's arch-nemesis, Captain Hammer.

When asked why he created the series Whedon writes:

Once upon a time, all the writers in the forest got very mad with the Forest Kings and declared a work-stoppage. The forest creatures were all sad; the mushrooms did not dance, the elderberries gave no juice for the festival wines, and the Teamsters were kinda pissed. (They were very polite about it, though.) During this work-stoppage, many writers tried to form partnerships for outside funding to create new work that circumvented the Forest King system. Frustrated with the lack of movement on that front, I finally decided to do something very ambitious, very exciting, very mid-life-crisisy. Aided only by everyone I had worked with, was related to or had ever met, I single-handedly created this unique little epic. A supervillain musical, of which, as we all know, there are far too few.

And Whedon did indeed employ everyone he knew. Jed Whedon, the show's co-composer is Joss Whedon’s half-brother. Zach Whedon, Joss Whedon's other brother wrote the comic accompaniment, Captain Hammer: Be Like Me!. And Maurissa Tancharoen co-host of the Whedon collaboration, Nervous Circus, also co-wrote Dr. Horrible. Essentially, it's a Whedon soup with an NPH garnish.

After July 20, 2008, the entire Dr. Horrible series will be taken down and downloads will be available for a small fee. A DVD version will also be available shortly after. The Whedon's were avid campaigners for the Writers Guild and are hoping to find new forms of entertainment funding. Below is one of their many YouTube collaborations.

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Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog: Joss Whedon, NPH

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