Joss Whedon's 'Dr. Horrible' is a site-crashing success

Dr. Horrible, played by Neil Patrick Harris, is up to no good in his Horrible lab. (Photo credit: Amy Opoka.)

Dr. Horrible is good!

And that’s exactly his problem. The title character of the landmark new Web musical, “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog,” played by the lovable and unmenacing Neil Patrick Harris, dreams of gaining admission to the vaunted Evil League of Evil, home of the baddest baddies in the land. But he’s kidding himself. Dr. H. is too skittish to harm innocents or wreak much havoc. The ray guns he invents never seem to work that well, and his cackle is so wimpy he’s hired a voice coach.

Plus, what kind of criminal mastermind has a blog?

Ask Joss Whedon. He’s the guy who’s built a career on bending genres. In “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” he dreamed up a 16-year-old girl who sent vampires back to hell. And “Firefly,” Whedon’s short-lived 2002 TV show, was a Western, except, in space.

So it’s only fitting that Whedon would create a show like “Dr. Horrible.” He makes bad guys into good guys and good into bad, writes a superhero epic where every three minutes the characters break out in song, and most death defying of all, he puts the whole thing on the Internet.

High-profile names and studios have been trying to conquer the Web for several years now—Sony, Disney, Warner Brothers, MySpace and Michael Eisner’s Tornante company have all created operations dedicated to churning out online programming. Last year, “thirtysomething” creators and industry heavies Marshall Herskovitz and Ed Zwick released the online show “quarterlife” which even enjoyed a one-episode stint on NBC. But not a single one of these industry efforts has managed to find a mainstream audience. Kids in Nebraska making YouTube movies behind the barn have won more viewers. Really, I’m not joking.

But Dr. Horrible looks to have a different fate. The first of the show’s three 15-minute episodes went live Tuesday at midnight and immediately, international viewers were screaming that they couldn’t watch it (the Hulu video player they were using didn’t work overseas). And those of us who tried to pay $1.99 to download the show from iTunes couldn’t do that either. Still, those were the least of “Dr. Horrible’s” problems: by the time U.S. viewers woke up yesterday, so many people were clamoring to watch the show that its web site crashed completely, sending the makers scrambling to find more bandwidth.

“Dr. Horrible,” you see, has the Internet cooked into its DNA. Rather than being a top-down, studio controlled production, it began earlier this year as a kind of dinner table brainstorm between Whedon, his brothers Zack and Jed, and Jed’s fiancée Maurissa Tancharoen.

Whedon had been kicking around the idea for a musical about “a low-rent super villain,” which made sense as a character the Web world could relate to.

Not that everyone on the Internet is a nerd, Whedon explained in an e-mail. “We’re long past the age of 'everybody on the Internet watches "Star Trek" and lives in their parents’ basement.' But there is a modern societal truth about the kind of guy who needs to tell the world his troubles and show off his talents.” At the time, Hollywood and the Whedons’ various projects were shut down because of the writers’ strike. That was a lot of creative mojo with no place to go.

“We’re family, and we’re sitting here doing nothing,” recalled Tancharoen. “So let’s get together and write something, whether it’s for $100 or whatever it turns into.”

Problem was, said co-writer and music maestro Jed Whedon, “Joss Doesn’t think small.” Soon the little idea of the Whedons messing around in front of their computers’ web cams started growing. “When he started thinking on a more massive scale, it made it a lot easier to come up with stuff,” Jed continued. “We started thinking outside of the apartment, and into the streets, and it just evolved.” Before long, it had evolved into a 45-minute musical with a crew of dozens, a celebrity-rich cast, and a budget in “the low six figures,” said Whedon.

Whedon tapped friends and called in favors to get the production staffed and cast. It doesn’t hurt, of course, that among his friends is Harris, a Broadway musical veteran and Emmy nominee. And for the role of Dr. Horrible’s narcissistic nemesis Captain Hammer, Whedon phoned up buddy Nathan Fillion, the leading man in Whedon’s “Firefly” and actor on “Desperate Housewives.” “Buffy” alum Felicia Day, another trained singer, rounds out the cast—her lyrical performance as Dr. Horrible’s crush, Penny, is bound to paralyze geeks’ hearts.

“Joss must come up with brilliant, out-of-the-box ideas all the time, the way regular people come up with to-do lists,” Day wrote in an e-mail. “When Joss invites you onto a project described as a supervillain Internet musical, you don’t blink, you just say ‘yes please!' "

Even with the stars, the big crew, and permission to use the Universal Studios backlot (eerily, the location where they shot was completely destroyed by the June fire), Dr. Horrible manages to retain a casual, low-stakes feel. Not quite YouTube-low, thankfully, but neither is there the slightest evidence of corporate fingerprints—the Minus Touch.

“We had nobody to check in with, said Tancharoen. “There was nobody giving us notes. There were no rules—and there still aren’t. That’s why the Internet is cool.”

Harris remembered a scene during the 7-day shoot when the sun had gone down and there was no longer enough light to get the shot. “Someone just grabbed a flashlight and shined it on my face,” he said. They got it in one take.

“We had the freedom to behave like professional amateurs,” he said. “And that sort of worked into the vibe” of the show.

A key element of that vibe is what Whedon called “the silly.”

“The things that have hit on the Internet have almost all had that quality,” Whedon wrote to me. “From 'Star Wars' kid, to 'The Landlord,' to 1,500 prisoners doing 'Thriller.' Not just the I-made-it-myself aesthetic, but the truly, transcendently goofy. The absurd (which is important to me, as an Absurdist) is part of the Internet’s identity.”

Whedon’s awareness of the Internet’s prevailing mood also played into his decision to make “Dr. Horrible” completely free—and free of advertising—for the entirety of its first week. But really? You’ve got a show that even with zero paid promotion has generated enough buzz to crash servers during the first hours it was available, and you don’t want use all that heat to mint some Whedon Dollars?

“Some brows have furrowed at the idea of putting it out for free,” Whedon said. “But that was part of our mission statement from the first: to create an Internet event for the fans (and others) to enjoy because we enjoyed it so much.”

Still, even if he takes a small hit in the short term, Whedon said that with merchandising, iTunes sales, and DVDs, he expects that Dr. Horrible “will go into the black within the first year.”

Also, without giving anything away, there’s plenty of potential for sequels. As is his wont, Whedon has populated this tiny universe with a host of barely developed characters, all of which cry for further treatment. (My favorite: an Evil League of Evil villain named “The Fake Thomas Jefferson.”)

Whedon jokingly admitted that the idea of a follow up had crossed his mind.

“We’re too busy talking about the giant Broadway adaptation, the much longer film version and the musical commentary that we’re writing now.” (As in, a sung DVD commentary.)

“But have I thought up the sequel?” he answers. “Yeah, sort of.”

Related:

Q&A: Whedon examines 'Dr. Horrible'
Whedon Expects 'Horrible' to break even
Photo Gallery: Behind the Scenes of 'Dr. Horrible'

Comments

[Jimmy Rogers]

I really hope this gets turned into a full-time show! Here's is my review, if anyone wishes to read it:
http://masontechbeat.blogspot.com/2008/07/dr-horrible-may-be-my-new-favorite-show.html

[Yogacat]

I would be willing to pay to see Whedon's work, but sadly it doesn't seem to be available to buy on international I-Tunes. I respect and admire Wheadon's distribution idea, but if you are going to make an "Internet Event", you should remember that the internet is not exclusive to America. One of the 'w's in www stands for world.

[Brenda]

Speaking of Kids in Nebraska making movies, you really should check out "Awesome Rangers". Very funny and pretty well done. The series is written and produced by the Anime Club at UNL.

[: )]

You linked to a fan page, not the actual site (.net/.com).

[David Sarno]

Thanks - I did that because the Dr. Horrible site was down most of the day. The link is now switched back.

[Paul]

Meh. It was okay.

[David Kamatoy]

Wow! I have to watch this with Comic Con coming up. I often ask the question.. What is Joss Whedon working on these days during my show to a few chuckles. But this is obscurely cool

[Josh]

Plain and simple - that was awful! I couldn't get through 3 minutes, including jumping around. Firefly may have been a little campy, but at least it was fun and clever. It just goes to prve that having a name doesn't mean you have mutable talent.

[thatcostuemgirl]

It's now available internationally.

[V. Jones]

"A western, except in Space,"You forgot to add that it was FANTASTIC! I was so disappointed yesterday when I couldn't get Horrible to work, I kept emailing my sister but she couldn't get the page to load either. Now where just waiting...anxiously

[muD]

You mean someone knows how to tap into a business model that works with this century's technology rather than trying to sue people into last century's technology-based model. Whedon will make some money without suing grandmothers in Duluth. The RIAA and MPAA can't die soon enough.

And speaking of Whedon why has it taken so freakin long for him to get another TV series?

[emmapeel]

What is happening here is about to change the world of TV and movies forever. If just enough people can sign in for a monthly payment for their favourite show, what would we need TV for, if we can all watch it on the net?

AND if the producer aka Joss Whedon has the full creative controll, than there will not be another "FIREFLY" desaster, where idiots in suits in a company named FOX cancelled the best TV series ever...

I think if we are enough we can do the impossible again !

and by the way the musical is absolute hillarious, specially the SINGING part !

the captain is BACK !

enjoy

[malcolm reynolds]

Captain Hammer? Captain bummer! I thought this was supposed to be an internet event so all the fans could see it at the same time for free. Now I think it was simply a pr stunt to get people to sign-up for itunes and pay for it. This isn' some indy fillmmaker who was surprized to find out how popular his youtube video turned out to be, it's a professional with an itunes deal in place that has been hyping his video for weeks. "Wow! We were so shocked that lots of people tried to see out lil' movie! We had no idea that Joss Whedon had so many fans! Let's issue a statement! "Don't forget to mention that new show on Fox and that yoou can buy the download on itunes!"

Cynical, much?

[Mike]

This looks like a Dr Steel Rip off hands down. Lol Has the media sunk so low they cant find fresh material these days?

[CALIFORNIAMARTY]

The young and beatiful Maurissa Tancharoen has many other credits, doing the Baby Bad version of Michael Jackson's I'm Bad as the boy with the rising son headband, her early Pretty in Pink dance and singing group to writing produced plays, fine acting , writing for television, selling screen plays, to partnering with her brother, choreographer to Britney, and Madonna. producer and director, Kevin Tancharoen in two MTV hits one with J-Lo. Kevin was recently chosen to direct the new screen version of "Fame" Not bad for a twenty three year old wiz kid and his talented sister. Kudos to their parents.

[Toy Soldier SubZ]

Toy Soldier SubZ reporting and this.. this sickens me. To degrade and attempt to destroy the good doctors image like this. How dare you attempt to harm the good doctors name. Doctor Steel is a good man, and he deserves much much more respect than this horrid “Dr. Horrible” theft.

http://www.doctorsteel.com

The true site, the original, the genius, the man who deserves the respect. The music is irritating, the script are poorly written

As a loyal member of Dr. Steel’s Army of Toy Soldiers, I will see to it personally that Dr. Horrible is destroyed. http://www.toysoldiersunite.com

[Joss Is Boss!!]

Oh, STFU . Seriously, you all act as if this ‘Dr. Steel’ owns the whole ‘Mad Scientist gig’. Th fact is that’s been around way before Dr. Steel or Dr. Horrible. This is just a ploy for all you ‘Soldiers’ to get some free publicity for your virtually unknown Dr. Steel. It’s sad really , that the only way you can get any attention thrown at this guy is to ride Joss’s coat tails and claim he stole the idea .

[Sam E.]

There are other similaritys between Dr Steel and Horrible.
For one, Dr Steels first album was called the Read-along album. Sound familiar?

Toy Soldiers dont mind other mad scientists (Look at Agamemnon Tiberius Vacuum, he has become allies with the doc) but this seems to be to similar to the doctor without any credit.

[NYFREDDY]

Big hit, great fun, modern, opera and Mel Brooks could learn something from the understatement and charm.

If you didn't care for it you should immediately have an MRI with contrast.

[kcdrew]

How can you not love this short movie? Neil Patrick Harris is a hoot. Who knew he could sing? And the whole thing of making fun of blogs and bloggers–how great is that?

Has anyone mentioned it seems a perfect metaphor for our dolt President?? Think about it–-likeable, not very bright but ambitious guy has big plans, they come to be and wreck things, in the end. It’s perfect. It’s W all over, guys.

Just wait ’til Halowe’en, folks. It’ll be all “Dr. Horrible”, “The Hammer” and “Moist” costumes!

[Michael]

@kcdrew: you're right, NPH is a rockin' singer. In fact, he starred in the LA production of the musical "Rent" a few years ago, so his vocal chops were already known to fans of musicals. It's awesome that a more mainstream audience knows now, too!

[jackdemon]

dr. steel fans have got to go. i consider myself pretty internet savvy and i had never heard of steel until the "toy soldiers" started blasting him on the imdb forums. i dont see any similarities beyond they both being stereotypical mad scientists with musical inclinations. get over urselves, for real

[Jim Treacher]

"Has anyone mentioned it seems a perfect metaphor for our dolt President??"

To people like you, what isn't?

[hpets]

I know the Broadway thing was said as a joke, but honestly, I would do quite the happy dance if this ever became a stage thing! It absolutely could be done, too; look at "The Producers."

[Eidolon]

Actually, who cares about Dr. Steel?

If you want to see a good Mad Scientist bit, go to Phil Foglio's "Girl Genius" webcomic.

[TJ Craig]

It's exciting to know that this series is getting decent coverage. I'm a recent film school graduate and am relieved to see that the internet is and will be a forum that democratizes the media industry.

However, Wired Magazine's recent cover on Apple, EVIL GENIUS, documented how f-ed up Apple's policies are; how the music biz was taken to the cleaners and hopefully The LA Times and the video creative community won't be punked the same way the recording business has been.

[Paula the Cat]

I have to say that I enjoyed everything about Dr. Horrible. I cannot get the songs out of my head and have gone about my house humming "Laundry Day, see you there, under things, tumbling" AHHH! It's as bad as when I got "Give me something to sing about!" stuck in my head. Like Dr. Horrible... be careful what you wish for, you may get it.... The Hero died and he got into the E.L.E.

[PauladaCat]

Whedon created a brilliant work with brilliant artists to come to his "house" to "play" It was incredible fun to watch because you know the people involved enjoy hanging out with Joss. The actors in it are great, but having said that, you can't force the sense of fun that comes out in the teleplay. It LOOKS like they are having fun!

Aside from the unadulterated joy to watch, I think Whedon's Trademark, "I'm not afraid to kill off people you have come to like" is just killing me. Because you become so wrapped up in the fun, You don't really see it coming. It's like a Mac truck coming at you and all you see is the very pretty chrome grill... ooooo, Shiny! BAM! OW! I think this is what PAIN feels like!

[STAR]

OOhh wow I just looked up Dr.Steel his music is awesome!!! Of course this is a funny show and I like Joss Wheaton's stuff, but this guys music is BA! Check it out! www.doctorsteel.com :)