With the series finale of Dollhouse just a few days away, fans of the Whedon named Joss might be wondering what the geek auteur might be up to next. With rumors of a show on FX, Dr. Horrible 2 and aspirations of directing Glee making the rounds, Joss takes some time to tell everyone what’s on his plate this year.

On the sequel to Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog,

(Jokingly) “Sadly, my collaborators don’t have more time on their hands. They all have other jobs, which I think is both rude and disgusting.”

“We very much want to do it. We meet, we hammer out stuff, we have songs, we have ideas, we’re really working it, but it’s a slow-moving train. We’re very passionate about it, and Neil’s been great. He’s always checking in before he takes a gig.”

On directing an episode of Glee this March

“That’s something that’s trying to be worked out, but I haven’t heard whether or not that’s going to take place. I hope so, that’d be great, [but] I don’t know anything about it. I’m just a director on hire for that. I’m a huge fan, [so] I’m going to show up and hopefully put the cameras somewhere useful.”

“I’m going to try to not stalk anyone. That’s going to be my big ambition. I practiced on Jamie Bamber, and I didn’t stalk him for eight days on that episode of Dollhouse. I think I can rock it. I think I’ll be OK.”

On what we can expect from him next,

“I do hope to create something in this calendar year, as well as do jobs for other people, but I haven’t investigated anything besides Glee. That’ll actually take a chunk of time. It means a lot to me—I really want to get it right. So that’ll eat up the better part of a month, intellectually, so I’m holding out for a Joss Whedon joint.”

As a huge fan of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, I can’t wait to see what they cook up for the next installment. While I’d love to see a sequel right away, I’m happy to wait so that they have to get everything right.

That being said, I have no idea what’s going on with this Glee thing. I know Joss is a huge fan of that show and I’m sure he’ll do a great job directing one of the episodes, but I just haven’t been able to get into it. I just don’t get it.

I love musicals. If you don’t believe me, I’ll let you peek at my MP3 player and then you can see just how unmanly I am. Still, I don’t like Glee. I tried watching it. I tried many times, but the only thing I get out of it is a bunch of kids singing songs that I’d rather heard be sung by the original artists rather than a hokey school choir… but maybe it’s just me.

Or maybe it’s not just me. I’ll leave it up to you to either agree with me or put me in my place. What do you think of Joss’ aspirations for the year? Looking forward to Doctor Horrible 2? Is Glee your cup of tea? What should Joss do next?

Source: E! Online

While making the rounds for his hit ABC show Castle, Nathan Fillion spoke with MTV News about all things Hammer and divulged some new information about the highly anticipated sequel to last year’s Emmy award-winning web musical, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along-Blog.

While we’ve previously announced that they’ve been talking about the sequel, everything has been pretty much in the air, but now Fillion sheds some light on the title and some songs. Unfortunately, Fillion stops short of saying exactly what said title would be.

“There are plans. The media for the sequel has not yet been decided, but there is a title.”

Still, a title is a good start. That is, unless the title they decided upon is “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along-Blog 2.” I gotta say that I’m hoping for “The Bride of Dr. Horrible” or some sort of title in which they might be able to logically bring back Felicia Day and her homeless loving character, Penny.

Titles aside, Fillion continues the Horrible talk by mentioning how the trio Whedon (Joss, Zack & Jed) and Jed’s Wife, Maurissa Tancharoenal are currently busy working on the songs and have already finished a couple of them.

“Joss, I was talking to him right before we won the Emmy. He said that he’s finished writing a song or two. He told me a couple of verses to the song.”

Don’t believe me? Think I’m making this up? Check out the video below to hear from Captain Hammer himself.

Even though I’m such a manly man (How manly? I chop down trees… with my hands.), I’m a big fan of a musicals and loved Dr. Horrible. While I didn’t so much enjoy the musical commentary on the DVD, I  cannot wait until this sequel comes out. I only hope that it’s as good as the original.

…and that they bring back my favorite character, groupie #3 (Steve Berg).

"So they say he saved her life..."

We’ll be sure to bring you news of the Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along-Blog sequel as it comes out.

Source: MTV Splash Page

When you think Joss Whedon and musicals, it’s not with dread. His more creative and unique entertainment venues have generated some very popular products. Some examples of those, the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode titled “Once More, With Feeling,” and the latest, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.

Now, Joss Whedon will be adding Glee to his dossier of credits.

Fox ordered the back 9 episodes of the season of Glee and as a big fan of the show, Joss made sure there was so scheduling conflicts when asked by the studio to direct an episode. In fact, Joss had this to say about the news:

“Hey kids and parents of kids and super-old, like ancestor-old-but-not-dead-yet-type people, just poking my oversized head in to say that the rumors are true… unless something very odd happens in the next few months, I will have the privilege of shooting an episode of GLEE. Why GLEE? Because I love cops, serial killers and gritty urban drama (I haven’t seen the show yet). Why me? Because they’re struggling and can’t afford real directors.“

I definitely enjoy his style of side-stepping banter.

Dollhouse fans, DO NOT FRET. He’s lending his directing talent after he’s done with his work on Dollhouse this season.

On Joss Guest Directing

I don’t know if you know this, but Joss has guest-directed episodes of The Office and apparently, if it weren’t for scheduling conflicts, he was apparently super close to directing an episode of Battlestar Galactica.

Oh, By The Way

In case you haven’t heard, Jonathan Groff (Taking Woodstock, Spring Awakening) has joined Glee for up to 6 episodes.

Sources:  Hollywood Insider, LA Times, Whedonesque

Can you believe it?! Nathan Fillion is the lead in a television series that made it to a second season!

Castle, the new hit ABC series is moving full steam ahead into its second season and it looks like it just might have a bright future.

I don’t get it. Everyone who watches Fillion on screen immediately falls in love with the guy and the characters he plays, yet he’s had two shows in a row canceled on him early. Join us as we look back at some key moments in Fillion’s career and talk about his recent successes…

Although, he made a name for himself with Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place alongside Ryan Reynolds, Nathan Fillion’s cult following began with Joss Whedon’s Firefly, which was incredible, but was unfairly treated by Fox and thereby canceled only a fraction into its first season. Fan support managed to bring a great feature film (Serenity) to theaters but it didn’t bank well at the box office.

Next, Fillion played a part in the final 5 episodes of Whedon’s Buffy series which also soon ended. Then, he starred in a show called Drive which lasted approximately one night before it got the axe. I don’t feel too bad about that one though.

After a stint on Desperate Housewives and his role as Captain Hammer in the internet phenomenon that is Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, the Canadian actor finally has a steady gig in a lead TV role.

His latest show is called Castle and if you’ve not watched it, you should. He plays the title character, Richard Castle, a cocky, humorous and lovable New York writer who specializes in writing murder mysteries. The show is about him using is connections with everyone who matters in New York (including the Mayor) to force the department (whose entire staff also loves him) into a partnership with Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic), an officer who happens to be an obsessed fan of his work.

While entirely reluctant to work with Castle, she has no choice and must allow him to tag along to write stories based on their adventures (he loves it when they get called to horrible crime scenes). The show follows Fillion’s character and Beckett as they solve the crimes of the city and while Fillion writes novels about a character based on her. They have their ups and downs as their relationship continues to develop and the viewers get to watch their great interaction on screen.

The show is funny, well-written and full of heart. The best example of the latter is when we get to see Castle at home with his daughter and mother. They represent three extremes that make the perfect family and their relationship and interaction is a treat to watch. The comedy bits of the show only work because its Fillion and I can’t picture the series working with anyone else in the role – he’s made for this part.

Click to continue reading about Castle’s ratings and Nathan Fillion’s other current work…

The evil Dr. Horrible actually interrupted the Primetime Emmy Awards the other night!  How sweet is that?

Over in my article where I gave you a heads up about a Dr. Horrible skit in the Emmy Awards show on CBS, I asked our readers to chime in with what they thought and we got some awesome feedback.

But now, you can see what you missed for yourself if you didn’t catch it live.

The Dr. Horrible skit had the ensemble of the cast from the popular web series which included Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion, Felica Day and Simon Helberg.

For those who haven’t seen the web series, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog is about Dr. Horrible, who is a wannabe bad guy. He’s not a real bad guy – he just can’t quite seem to get bad right.

Take a look at the clip from the Emmys below:

Funny or what?

Source: Sci Fi Wire

After an amazing job hosting the Tony Awards this past June, Neil Patrick Harris was tapped to host The 61st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards.

How was he?

Yet again, pretty amazing. It seems as if he elevated the entire production to another level.

When the show first started and Neil came out singing, I have to be honest, I really didn’t enjoy it. I thought that while Neil has an amazing voice, the song just wasn’t anything great. Especially when compared to everything else that would happen during the course of the night.

Still, I didn’t give up hope. I love Neil Patrick Harris (NPH) and knew that ultimately he would do a great job. His background in acting, magic and Broadway created this perfect Doogie Howser showman. He didn’t disappoint. His jokes were great. His delivery was casual, but cool. I honestly believe that everyone in attendance thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

I must take a moment to talk about the production value and set design. They were wonderful. I loved how everything was placed on the stage; from the orchestra to the control room, you could see everything as it was happening and the way they went in and out of commercials with the multi-camera views and the directors’ voice cueing up the next shot. Just great.

Alright, now back to the awards…

The show kicked off with “Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series” and good thing the hilarious Vanessa Williams showed her comedic prowess by being the only person not to go along with the joke of wearing goofy glasses during the nominee announcement. At that point I wasn’t so much interested as who was going to win because I had turned all my magical powers (What? I have them.) on making sure that she didn’t.

Luckily, that didn’t happen and the delightful, ball of energy, Kristin Chenoweth, came away with the award. She’s great and always puts a smile on my face. I was a big fan of Pushing Daises and was sad to see it get canceled. It seems like Brian Fuller just doesn’t have much luck with his television series. While always imaginative and playful, they just don’t last. First it was Dead Like Me and now Pushing Daises.

After that was “Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series,” of which 30 Rock was nominated for 4 out of the 5 spots. It’s really great that a show like 30 Rock gets the acknowledgment that they deserve.

Next was my biggest disappointment of the night, “Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series.” I have to be honest here and say that I’ve never liked Two and a Half Men. I don’t understand what’s funny about that show and for some reason it bugs me when people enjoy it (I know, I’m a horrible person). That being said, I do like Jon Cryer… as “Duckie” in Pretty in Pink, but nothing more.

I was so sad that 30 Rock’s Tracy Morgan didn’t win. I’m still not sure if I even thought he was the most talented actor in the group. I believe I just wanted to see what he had to say. I know that I can’t be the only one. I love just making things up and doing a horrible Tracy Morgan impression. You can say anything and believe he just might say it (“Live every week like it’s Shark Week”).

“Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series” followed and once again I was a bit disappointed. I love Sarah Silverman and felt that she didn’t necessarily deserve the award for her show, The Sarah Silverman Project, but because, in general, she always delivers the laughs. Case in point was her wearing a fake mustache while the camera was on her during the nomination announcement, but playing it completely straight. I had a feeling that Toni Collette would win. I had watched United States of Tara and completely give her credit for doing so many characters.

I just feel that my hatred of Diablo Cody skewed my opinion on this, but that’s her fault for being really horrible with her “hip” references. Ain’t that right, Baby Ruth, Mac & Cheese Daddy? (See… completely took those lines out of Juno 2: Judgment Day.)

At various times, the awards were broken up with little bits by NPH. Some of them involved Harlem Globetrotters, “The Best Seat in the House” and others, like this, involved him railing on how he didn’t win. With a live feed of Jon Cryer in the press room on all the screens, NPH asked a question from his pulpit on the main stage. He just wanted Jon to make sure that the envelope actually said “Jon Cryer.” It was a great way to break up the monotony that comes with award shows.

After a wonderful acceptance speech from Tina Fey about winning her Schmemmy last weekend, it was on to “Outstanding Directing In A Comedy Series.” The Office took the award for the episode “Stress Relief” and I’m content with that. I understand that this past season of The Office had many weak points. It always seemed that some great episodic storylines were always paired up with weak/unfunny subplots. “Stress Relief” is a perfect example of this. The opening of this episode always makes me laugh, but the great story line of Dwight screwing up got weighted down by that horrible Jack Black/Cloris Leachman illegal movie downloads subplot.

Rob Lowe came out, made some Dr. Vegas quips and then it was on to “Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series.” It was pretty obvious who was going to win. It was either going to be Tony Shalhoub or Alec Baldwin. I had a feeling it might Tony Shalhoub because Monk is ending. Nope, Alec Baldwin won it yet again and it’s completely deserved. He’s great on 30 Rock. Although, I don’t think he should count on winning it next year because I have a feeling Tony Shalhoub will be picking that up as a swan song to Monk.

That was the close of the comedy section until the big award, but they saved that for the end. Up next was reality and I’m not going to be so wordy with these awards. I’ll just make some comments.

(Pg 2 for winners in Reality and Drama)

According to Entertainment Weekly, Neil Patrick Harris will be heading a Dr. Horrible-themed number somewhere in about the middle of the show.

For those Whedon / Harris / Horrible fans who might possibly be watching the Emmys, come on back and let us know how the skit went.

We’d love to know!

UPDATE:  Check out the video of the skit at Dr. Horrible Emmy Video Skit!

Source: Entertainment Weekly

Joss Whedon finally received some official recognition with his work on Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.

On Saturday, (9/12/09) Joss Whedon won the Emmy for short-format live-action entertainment programs.  Way to go Joss!

This is his first Emmy and his 2nd such nomination.  His first Emmy nomination was for the silent episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode titled “Hush.”  (That was one creepy good episode.)

Horrible was part of a new Emmy category recognizing what they call short-format-action-entertainment, which I presume is a category for web-shorts and other like entertainment.

Again, this is an awesome recognition for Joss Whedon and if you haven’t caught this musical short yet, trust me, you won’t be disappointed.  I went into it very tentatively because I’m not that fond of musicals, and just like the musical Buffy episode, “Once More With Feeling”, it was pretty good.

Source:  Sci Fi Wire

Joss Whedon spoke to a group of reporters this week at a Paley Fest Panel and revealed some of the ideas he has for a sequel to Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog as well as well as how we might be seeing it.

For those of you not familiar with Whedon’s successful internet project, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog is a 43-minute musical film, separated into three episodes, that was made available for viewing online for free (for a limited time) and later available for purchase through iTunes and on DVD.

The series featured the incredible cast of Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion, Felicia Day and Simon Helberg and it earned a huge fan-following, critical acclaim and multiple awards. It even went as far as earning a #15 spot on Time magazine’s top 50 inventions of 2008.

Needless to say, Whedon discovered a new outlet for his creativity and at a perfect time with the issues and uncertainty surrounding his new network television series, Dollhouse. Since Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog debuted online, the fans have been anxiously awaiting for more content in the form of a sequel.

Fortunately enough, the cast members and the Whedon brother creators are interested in a sequel and the Dr. Horrible phenomenon was successful enough that it could gain studio financing for a larger-scale follow-up. However, Whedon’s intentions are to keep the Dr. Horrible show low-key and intimate like the first one.

“Well, we don’t want to be beholden to anybody… We want to do the product the same way we did the first one, which is out of our hearts, and then go to people [and say], ‘OK, if you’re interested in this, this is what it is.’ Besides, it could be something theatrical. It could be something on the Internet again, where it’s done on the fly and it all comes from us. We don’t know how we want that to be. The best thing to do is to write it. Then we can start deciding a business model based on the script.”

A full-length feature film is not out of the realm of possibility, however, as Whedon and co. are considering all opportunities at continuing the Dr. Horrible mythos.

“We’ve talked about doing an actual studio film, and we’ve talked about doing an independent tiny little thing… We’ve talked about everything in between, the bumper sticker, whatever format.”

Sci Fi Wire pointed out that in a separate interview, Joss Whedon’s brother, Jed, revealed that they have a story in mind and that it’s pretty big – big enough for a significantly longer sequel.

Are you a Dr. Horrible fan and if so, how do you want to see the sequel?

Source: SCI FI Wire

So… what, exactly, is the deal with Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse?

Thursday and Friday, the Internet went nuts with worry that the number of episodes the Fox Television Network is said to be airing for Dollhouse was being short changed. The info distilled into a hyperbole of rumors saying Dollhouse was canceled because the season was being cut short. The truth of the matter is that Fox paid for 13 episodes, but only planned on airing 12.

Which makes us wonder: What’s up with that?

The Dollhouse History

June 4th 2008, Screen Rant reported that Fox was going to give Whedon a 7 episode run of Dollhouse, without airing a pilot for the show. They also gave it a Monday time slot, being the lead-in show for 24.

June 15th 2008, we reported that Fox “asked” for the first episode of Dollhouse to be reshot. It’s here that we felt something was up.

Late July of 2008, fans were starting “Save Dollhouse” websites (before the show even started airing). Joss addressed the re-shoot at Comic-Con, saying that the show jumped right into the story line and reshooting Dollhouse created more background to understand, emphasizing that nothing was removed from the show, just rearranged.

He also noted that they had 13 webisodes planned to accent all the network episodes.

September of ‘08, the production for Dollhouse was shutdown. They said that Joss had to take a break from production and get back into writing the show. Joss himself said he asked for the stall.

November 8th, 2008 it was announced that Dollhouse was being moved to Friday nights. It went from a lead-in for a popular show to a Friday night slot following a show that already had ratings issues. November 8th is thereabouts when the fanbase of Whedon went into a tizzy of sorts, and I was right there with you.

The move to Fridays left Whedon feeling mixed, as he said “I’ve had a bad experience on a Friday; you may have heard about it.” (Referring to the prior cancellation of Firefly) But he also expressed supportive thoughts on the issue, like being paired with The Sarah Connor Chronicles was good.

As the series premiere approached air time, we started seeing something we’re not used to seeing from Whedon: Sex-laced ads and then episodes that weren’t what I felt were Whedon creations. Despite his saying at one point that he wanted to go in a different direction with this show, I’ve never seen any of his work demonstrate such an overt air of suggestive sexuality from women in any of his shows. He writes strong, commanding female roles, not objects.

Present Day

Starting back on March 20th and April 3rd, the show started representing a stronger vision of what Whedon considers Dollhouse to be about. It comes back to the first 5 episodes being altered by Fox. Why, I don’t know. This stronger vision is what I presume to be more of how Whedon envisioned the flow of the story.

We were apprehensive when Dollhouse got stuffed into Friday nights with an already ratings-weak show in The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Hence why we feel like Dollhouse is an endangered species.

Or more to the point, the show looks like it was handled exactly as Fox has handled Joss Whedon franchises before – with curious and interesting logic (for lack of a more polite way to say it).

The ratings have been dwindling from week to week, despite strong DVR numbers.  That’s not the key demographic to getting a show a repeat season.

So What Is Up?

So is Fox shorting us an episode? It would seem so, but it’s not. Fox ordered 13 episodes, but is only airing 12. One of the 13 episodes was considered to be un-airable by Fox execs, and the season was subsequently planned out with 12 episodes.

But when Felicia Day tweeted that her episode, the 13th episode, wasn’t going to air, folks went nuts. At this point not too many people had seen the TV By The Numbers info or our own info yet, so the Internet did what it does best, and most expeditiously: It lashed out at Fox.

What we were missing was that the 13 episodes ordered also included that un-airable pilot episode. That’s the episode that had been shot, “reconceived,” and was still never was considered for airing.

The last two episodes that are scheduled to air are a two-part closure to the season. The two episodes together were created as the season finale. They answer a number of questions about the Dollhouse and the actives. Though it’s not being treated as a cliffhanger, it will raise some questions that can lead us into that potential second season, should that happen.

So there you have it as far as the conspiracy issues that were ablaze over the last few days.

It still falls back on how Fox has handled Dollhouse and this furor is just something they only have themselves to blame. All the while, Minear and Whedon had to continually step in to defend the network’s behavior.

I get Fox being worried about creating a viable product. But I also think they needed to trust Whedon to create a decent product and treat the product in the way he envisioned it.

I’m not defending Fox in any way. Trust me. Yes, this is not the first time a Dollhouse scenario had to be explained away by its creators. Sure, moving the show to Fridays seemed self destructive on Fox’s side. Sure, rearranging episode order was an unpopular management choice.  So no, I’m not defending them. But I think this was just a simple misunderstanding and the misguided beast called Fox gets to skate this once… again.

I’m sure we don’t have to wait long to find another mishap on the horizon. Though I’d love to see Dollhouse pop back in for a 2nd season on a night that might carry it further, I’m not holding my breath on whatever decision Fox makes. Heck, at this point, I’d suggest Whedon take it to a cable network or even go viral and turn to the faithful medium that’s always here for him. The Internet.

Amongst The Despair, Good News

Me, I’m still waiting for Universal to exercise the rights they bought to Whedon’s Goners, if that’s ever going to happen. That and the other good news we can focus on is that Joss Whedon has come up with a title for the 2nd installment in the tale of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. And yes, as Nathan Fillion says, “Color me in!”

Sources: E Online, HitFix, TV Squad,

In one of the articles I was reading, a line in the opening paragraph said:

“…Dollhouse, has convinced him to abandon TV for good. His alternative medium: Web serials.”

Wow. Is that for real?

Wharton University of Pennsylvania was talking about how Joss Whedon wants to change the way Hollywood does business. As I’ve said before, he’s working within the system when he doesn’t balk at things like getting his new show shoved to Friday nights. Then again, maybe collectively FOX and Whedon knew something was up.

But it’s hard to ignore the success of Dr Horrible’s Sing Along Blog on the internet. From the initial free release, to iTunes, to Hulu and then to DVD, the skit did well and Wharton Univ. called it “something of a case study for marketing independently produced content.” Basically, Whedon spent $200k on the production and despite all the free avenues of release, he doubled his money… so far. But he also did it right. Unlike The Dark Knight, Whedon added a ton of extras to the DVD release, as it should be.

This success must be a real thorn in the side of the likes of Sony, Disney and Warner Brothers just to name a few. A few what? A few companies trying to make a go at it on the internet too.

In my mind, and I am seriously reading between the lines, Joss is tired of getting the runaround by the networks and he knows his content can be successful. I’m trying to ignore the Dollhouse premiere when I say that. Yet I can’t help but note how he had to rewrite the premiere episode and he was quick to say it was his doing… but was he just playing within the system? Are the miserable ratings really the fault of FOX yet one more time? I feel your pain Joss.

With the Dr Horrible project he laid down a gross participation scheme for the key actors and writers. All the while the writers guild was negotiating for what he called “one-tenth of a yen.”

I don’t want to paraphrase his take, so let me put a quote out there:

“When the studios talk about the difficulty of monetizing the Internet, they’re not lying. There are a lot of paradigms wherein you aren’t making that much money. But it’s all pure money for them because they have these libraries they can just put on. They’re really not interested in putting on original stuff because they can just throw the libraries on and make free money off of that. None of us is in that position.”

“For [the studios] not to offer the creative community a percentage of what they make — they say, “oh, it’s too difficult” and “we’re not going to make any money” — is disingenuous to the point of criminality. What they’re making is pure profit. For them to shut out the people who actually created the content is something that should be looked into by a federal investigatory committee.”

And right now, with Dr Horrible, he realizes it’s a model he can build on. I had pointed out back in July of ‘08, that Joss said he’s not trying to bring down the studios but things are changing and they need to look at that evolution and not ignore it. As he puts it, if you’ve seen it on a movie screen, you’ll see it on your phone. But he wants to see a system were independent production can thrive in this kind of environment which breeds creativity.

What does he really like about the internet? The idea that you can make things cheap with people you trust where you can do what you think is right and not have to worry. (Is it me, or am is there something to seriously read between the lines there?)

In a sidebar of a note, he reflected on his trying to write the script for a proposed Wonder Woman movie, Warner Brothers never told him exactly what they wanted in detail. By the time he rewrote a script, they told him not to.

In his unique and funny way of putting things, he said, “They didn’t tell me to leave, but they showed me the door and how pretty it was. Would I like to touch the knob and maybe make it swing?”

I added this because I think it contributes to my suspicions.

But right now, he’s got a deal going with a nameless Silicon Valley company to create more content for the internet… and I can’t wait. Joss, being able to create his own vision without interference can be a wonderful thing.

When he did Dr. Horrible, he had a few other ideas. But he won’t fess on those because he says he still might do them too.

You, the reader, may have found it apropos that I used the shot of the Firefly to head this article.  That’s about when things started to go south in network land for Joss and all of his fans.   So to answer my opening question, is this for real?  Is he looking at Web serials rather than TV series?

I didn’t find anything saying otherwise.  He may very well have given up on the standard restrictive nature of advertiser-run network situations.

When asked what he thinks the media landscape will look like in 5 years, he said “he’s so brilliant, he doesn’t dare say… or that he has no idea.”

For you wanna be hopeful executive producers out there, here’s a parting bit of wisdom or guidance from Joss Whedon himself:

“I can’t stress enough that I believe the best thing in the world is for everybody who feels like they have a story to tell, to tell it.”

Sources: Wharton.edu, LA Times, Rolling Stone, Digital Spy, Image: IMDB

The short version: For a three-part Internet show that lasts only 43 minutes, Joss Whedon packs in a complete story with well timed song, bits of action and a tragic love story – all wrapped up as a misguided tragedy that is pretty entertaining.

Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog is a three-part, 43 minute Internet Series musical comedy drama created by Joss Whedon during the writers strike and stars Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion and Felicia Day. It’s best described as “a villain’s tragedy with a ‘happy’ ending.”

Warning:  The review can be deemed story spoilers!

The episode opens with Dr. Horrible (Neil Patrick Harris) practicing his evil laugh. He admits to working with a vocal coach to help improve said evil laugh. He’s trying to become a member of the Evil League Of Evil, led by Bad Horse, the leader of the gang who rules with an “iron hoof”.

Horrible’s application to the evil gang comes under consideration, but he has to do something evil enough for them to consider his admittance. The problem is he wants to be evil, but there’s a good side deep down that the viewers get a drift of early on.

But Dr. Horrible wants to be evil, which is fine, except for two little things: Penny (Felicia Day), the girl he’s head over heels about, and Capt Hammer (Nathan Fillion), who always shows up to thwart his evil deeds.

Horrible’s attraction to Penny keeps him stuck on the bubble between good and evil, and her influence could ultimately bring him to the good side-that is, if he ever attempted to talk to her. That all changes when one of his evil deeds brings “his” Penny and the self absorbed Capt. Hammer together. Penny and Hammer start dating, and that union sets the stage for Horrible to dive deep into his own deluded form of semi-darkness.

One slight flaw of Dr. Horrible is that he keeps a video blog, where he tends to forecast his evil plans. Sadly, the first escapade he planned to get him into the Evil League of Evil got trounced because, well, the police and Capt Hammer watched his blog and were waiting for him.

As the show comes to a close, Dr. Horrible finally gets Capt Hammer where he wants him, freezing him with his freeze ray. Yet, as Horrible sings on to his blog to rant about his soon-to-be victory, the freeze ray battery dies; Horrible sees this and says, “That’s not a good sound,” just as Hammer breaks free and pops him. Hammer grabs Horrible’s death ray gun, but it backfires, blowing Hammer across the room, while Penny takes shrapnel to the chest and dies. (Whedon kills off another female character!)

Everything changes for Horrible as he’s pinned for the murder of Penny; Hammer is devastated by his own loss (of the fight with Horrible, not his girlfriend,) and, with a murder beef to flesh out his rap-sheet, Horrible gets into the Evil League Of Evil.

THE END.  Now read on for my opinions!

Face it, what network would finance a musical about good and evil? Who cares. Joss Whedon went ahead with his plan and judging from the resounding success it has had with his followers, this was a great move in the Joss-Verse.

My first take on this Internet show brings me back to the days when I used to go see The Rocky Horror Picture Show at midnight. (I won’t tell you what I wore.) However, with Rocky Horror, you needed a theater full of crazy people to have fun, while Dr. Horrible is just fun and engaging. It stays entertaining throughout, and if you were ever a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes like the musical episode, Once More, with Feeling, this is either on par with or much better than that. I can see Dr Horrible having a heck of a fan following as a new kind of cult classic that could replace The Rocky Horror Picture Show, if it ever makes it off the Web and into theaters.

Each actor portrayed their role convincingly and I believe they had fun doing it. (Actually, I heard them say they had fun doing it when I attended the Dr. Horrible panel at the San Diego 2008 Comic-Con. ) At the panel, Joss said the future is rolling on with entertainment branching onto the Internet, and that you can’t ignore it. He said there’s a new way to put out media that involves all of us, the fans, and not so much some ‘other people.’ He pointed out that he’s not trying to bring down the studios, but things are changing and they need to look at that evolution and not ignore it.

IF you’re wondering, there will be more Dr. Horrible coming, including a DVD and a soundtrack.

For now, you can catch Dr. Horrible on Hulu with limited commercial interruption. It’s worth it. Check it out before it goes away and becomes a purchase-only commodity.

If I were to rate this: though I don’t like stand-alone type single episodes, and am not really a musical fan, I’d give it a 4.5 out of 5, and that’s only because I’d be nervous to say 5 out of 5!

The other disclaimer is that I am sure this is a shoe-in with Joss Whedon fans, and it’s good enough to draw an audience from amongst those who aren’t on that band wagon. If you’re one of those that don’t quite get where Whedon is coming from with his work, I still think you might enjoy Dr. Horrible, so give it a try.

Source: Dr. Horrible Official Site

Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog is a three act internet flick about a lovelorn wannabe-supervillain who tends to break out into song.

As the panel started and Joss Whedon was introduced, a complete standing ovation erupted from the audience.  The crowd truly appreciates the work he has done, presently does and I suspect, will do in the future.

He was also joined on-stage by Dr. Horrible writers Jed and Zach Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen, and the cast – Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion, Felicia Day and Simon Helberg. Neil Patrick Harris brought weaponry in the form of the freeze ray gun used in the short series, maybe in case the questions got out of hand.

They went immediately to audience questions and some of the highlights from the panel were:

We’ll be seeing more Serenity Comics.

Sugar shock will be available in print on the Dark Horse MySpace collection.

His project with Drew Goddard, Cabin in the Woods is a go, but Screen Rant readers already knew that because we touched on that earlier.

He was asked if he’d ever have a happy ending in any of his creations and Harris piped in that he does seem to “kill off a lot of chicks.” Felicia piped in that she liked the ending of Dr. Horrible and Whedon tried to weakly defend himself by saying he does like happy endings…  But later he said he basically has two tricks -  He either kills characters or outs them!

A sobering question was asked by a person who claimed she had a deteriorating brain condition and asked what they do to stay focused on being happy.  Fillion replied that his brain is deteriorating and he’s pretty happy!  And there’s a whole bunch of coined Zen phrases that will tell you how to get happy.  Whedon added a nice touch of reality by saying that surrounding himself with family / loved ones does the trick.

Someone mistakenly noted that “… in Doctor Who“  … Which got raised eyebrows from the panel and jeers from the crowd, and one of the panel stoically said:  You do mean Dr Horrible, right?  The questioner replied: Isn’t that what I said?

The question was that it was noticed that Dr. Horrible wasn’t wearing his costume in the final scene and wondered if that meant something, or did Dr. Horrible just forget to do his laundry?  Harris said there are many ways to interpret that scene…  and left it at that.

When the panel was asked about their favorite episode, they pretty much said “This?”

Joss was asked what is his most memorable moment in the “Joss-Verse“.  His reply:  “The whole Verse?”

A funny moment in the panel was when Felicia Days was asked what her favorite scene was in ‘Horrible‘ and she was sitting there with her hands under the table and looked up and said… “What was the question?  I was Twittering“  The panel gave her the funniest look.  It seems not everyone on the panel knows about Twitter, and Felicia put her hands back on the table top and more or less implied that “it’s not what it looks like!”

There will be more Dr. Horrible coming at us, but no details were granted to our ever keen ears.

Whedon was asked how he gets past all his shows being horribly canceled and he replied by taking it one episode at a time – and the power of the internet puts the power more in his hands.  He said that the future is rolling on in and you can’t ignore it.  There’s a new way to put out media that involves all of us, the fans and not so much some ‘other people’.

He wanted to point out that he’s not trying to bring down the studios but things are changing and they need to look at that evolution and not ignore it.

If anyone was curious, the Shoulder Dance in Dr. Horrible was Harris’s creation.  After having been in the laundromat filming all day, Harris just wanted to do something odd.  It will make it’s way to the DVD as an extra.

Oh, did I say DVD?  Yep, there will be a Dr. Horrible DVD and soundtrack coming soon.  Whedon is putting out an online contest where fans can enter short video clips and the ten best will be featured on the DVD.

There was one moment where Whedon was asked what he saw in Nathan Fillion’s personality to cast him as Captain Hammer and he replied:

“Nathan is a superhero kind of dick who’s the swarmiest Mother-F’r”.  To quote Whedon:  “He brings it best… Shatner, your time is done!”

At the close of the panel Neil Patrick Harris said in a humorous overtone that “I just realized I’m at Comic-Con… I might have thrice uttered the f-word.. I’m sorry!” Earlier he recounted his trying to learn his song and he sing the first few words, forget the rest, “f”, then he’d do it again with a few more words, then “f”!

That was it as far as some of the fun stuff I took away from the Dr. Horrible panel.