Now that all three acts of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog are out, I feel like I can at all accurately talk about it.
The story, in short, is one of a man who’s looking to become the superstar he thinks he can be and of his journey to eliminate the obstacles in his way.
In this case, though, the man is Dr. Horrible (Neil Patrick Harris, whose face is made for Joss Whedon’s writing) - whose alter-ego is the shy Billy - and his quest to enter the Evil League of Evil. Standing in his way is Captain Hammer (Whedon regular Nathan Fillion), a self-involved hero who winds up coming between Billy and Penny (Felicia Day), the girl he pines after at the local laundry but can’t get up the nerve to speak to.
The series is everything you would want from something written and directed by Whedon. It’s funny, heart-breaking, tongue-in-cheek and sincere all within the space of a couple of minutes and all completely believable. It’s actually a little insane how good it is, with all three acts totalling less than 45 minutes. And the story takes a sharp left turn about halfway through the final chapter that turns everything we’ve seen before on its head. I won’t spoil it if you haven’t already watched it, but just remember that Joss Whedon does not like his characters - even the bad guys - to be happy at all.
The show has disappeared from its title site as the producers prep for a DVD release, though you can still download them from iTunes. That’s just part of the unique distribution plan for the series, a plan that’s meant to change the way content is brought to the audience.
However you view it, it’s definitely worth checking out.
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Chris Thilk