Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog
The Internet
Very few people get Aerial Telly‘s respect like Joss Whedon. Cutting his teeth as a writer on Roseanne, his auteurial adventures in television gave the world Buffy, Angel and Firefly – in short, some of the finest TV ever made. He creates compelling believable worlds peopled by memorable conflicted characters. He deals with big themes brilliantly and never sells his characters out. He writes with integrity and never shirks tough decisions. He’s very, very funny. So Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog just has to be a triumph, right? You damn fucking right it does.
"Billy badly wants to put his cock in Penny and he figures that by becoming a world-famous supervillain he will impress Penny enough for her to let him put his cock in her. It’s positively Shakespearean."
The project, conceived during the writers’ strike, is something of a family affair with Zack and Jed Whedon getting co-writing credits along with Jed’s fiancée, actress Maurissa Tancharoen. Dr Horrible (Neil Patrick Harris) is a rising supervillain who blogs about his despicable deeds on that the Internet. But Billy (as Horrible is known to his friends) is just a pussycat really. And his pussy kryptonite comes in the form of a girl – Penny (Felicia Day), a moderately attractive pie portion from the laundromat. Billy badly wants to put his cock in Penny and he figures that by becoming a world-famous supervillain he will impress Penny enough for her to let him put his cock in her. It’s positively Shakespearean.
"Hammer finds his way into the heart and panties of Penny. If it wasn’t personal before (which it was) then it certainly is now (just more so)."
But there’s trouble in the mix in the form of Captain Hammer (Nathan Fillion), a rugged superhero, square of jaw and shite of brain. Frequently foiling Doctor Horrible’s plots, Hammer is loved by all despite being a preening narcissistic moron. Predictably, Hammer finds his way into the heart and panties of Penny. If it wasn’t personal before (which it was) then it certainly is now (just more so). The stakes are raised and Billy must now do something truly diabolical to settle the score.
Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog is a joy. Perfectly paced, funny as hell with superb songs, it’s terrifically efficient with not a single scene, line or joke wasted. Captain Hammer is a gloriously punchable cretin and Nathan Fillion clearly has the time of his life playing him. Whedon’s previous venture into musical theatre the Buffy musical episode Once More with Feeling was a tour de force and he’s come up with the goods again. Neil Patrick Harris is a strong comic actor as he showed in How I Met Your Mother – it’s a smart piece of casting.
"It goes to show what is possible with talent, will and wit. This is why any of us become writers – to tell the world as it should be."
It’s another triumph of the imagination for Whedon. Self-funded, he and his co-writers had complete creative control and they are promising a DVD with "some amazing extras". It goes to show what is possible with talent, wit and will. This is why any of us become writers – to tell the world as it should be.
The best thing about it: Nathan Fillion.
The worst thing about it: Its brevity.
The verdict on Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog: So good I may actually buy the DVD1
Marks out of 10: 8
1 Fuck you. Aerial Telly does not buy DVDs
Imagined: 6th August 2008
