Dr. Horrible Conjures Up Internet Buzz
At the start of the 2007-2008 strike by the Writers Guild of America, Entertainment Weekly speculated on a potential scenario regarding the central issue of compensation for Internet video content. “It'll be interesting to see what 12,000 unemployed screenwriters can do on the Internet,” the magazine wrote on November 8, 2007. “In fact, that could be the ironic twist ending we’ve been looking for: Hollywood writers figure out a way to make so much money from the Internet, the studios and networks end up asking them for a piece of the action.” Although it has yet to be determined if any financial bounty will come from such endeavors, EW proved prophetic nonetheless as television producer Joss Whedon used the strike-induced hiatus to create a three episode webseries, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.
“During the strike I started writing a musical intended as a limited Internet series, three episodes of approximately ten minutes each,” Whedon posted on the fan-based Whedonesque weblog in mid-March. “Writing with me was my brother Jed, his fiancée Maurissa, and my other brother Zack. To my shock and surprise, we finished it. To my greater shock and surprise, we managed (with the help of many people I’ll be praising at length soon) to drag it into preproduction. And today, after a grueling week of writing everything ever while trying to be a producer, I got to start shooting.”
This is not the first time that Joss Whedon, who created Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Firefly, has turned his writing talents to the musical realm. One of the most critically acclaimed episodes of Buffy, “Once More With Feeling,” featured a dancing demon who cast a spell over the town of Sunnydale that caused residents to break into song. The season six episode was even shown in theaters across the country in a Rocky Horror interactive fashion, with fans in attendance singing along. Unfortunately, such showings were eventually forced to end due to legal considerations.
Whedon still maintains a cult-like status on the Internet, however, and although no premier date has been set for Dr. Horrible, a fansite for the project has already popped up on the World Wide Web. “When I heard that Joss Whedon and Nathan Fillion would be working together again my reaction was immediate,” the site’s creator explains. “I knew a lot of people would be excited about the project and that meant there were going to be a lot of people looking for information. A quick search showed there wasn’t yet an official site and the best way to spread information when there’s no official site is through a fan site.”
Nathan Fillion, who worked with Joss Whedon on Firefly as well as its big-screen adaptation, Serenity, is cast in Dr. Horrible as Captain Hammer. The webseries—which Whedon describes as “the story of a low-rent super-villain, the hero who keeps beating him up, and the cute girl from the laundromat he’s too shy to talk to”—also includes Neil Patrick Harris as Dr. Horrible and Felicia Day (who portrayed potential slayer Vi in Buffy) as Penny. Day is no stranger to the world of the webseries, as she produces, writes and stars in The Guild, an Internet series about a group of gamers that recently won Best Series in both the 2008 Yahoo! Video Awards as well as the 2007 YouTube Awards.
“To be involved in this project is a dream come true,” she told Dynamic Forces in regards to Dr. Horrible. “I am so privileged to be working with actors of the caliber of Neil and Nathan, they are inspiring and intimidating and hilarious all at once! And the story runs the gamut of emotions: It is a true epic.” Day’s excitement goes beyond simply working with Joss Whedon again, however, as she likewise believes the television producer will bring attention and legitimacy to the webseries medium. “I’m excited because, as a scripted web creator, we haven’t gotten any mainstream respect for our work, and having Joss do his thing on the internet will legitimize the media format,” she said.
In some ways, the project has already drawn attention to that format. “To be honest, before Dr. Horrible was announced, I’d always intended to check some (webseries) out but never got around to it,” the Dr. Horrible fansite creator revealed. “I have since watched, and very much enjoyed The Guild.” Whedon’s project has also given them a new appreciation for Internet video. “I think it’s the way of the future,” they added. “I don’t think anything will hold it back and I won’t be surprised if in five years time we’re all watching regular TV on the Internet. There’s so much more ability to provide for those whose tastes aren’t met through traditional media, for those who want something more intelligent than the ‘reality’ TV that’s being forced on us more and more frequently.”
Although Dr. Horrible is still somewhat shrouded in secrecy, various online blogs have given clues to the project’s scope. Norma Jean, an actress cast in the webseries, recently posted about filming a scene at a Homeless Shelter Soup Kitchen: “The songs and lyrics are incredible. The electricity of the actors unmatched and certainly, no one does a story like Joss Whedon. His directorship was superb! Someone pinch me, I'm a small town girl who just made some Hollywood history.” And blogger Jonathan apparently had his apartment used as the lair of the titular Dr. Horrible.
“It was a great day,” he wrote of the experience. “My house was full of this creative organized chaos that is the synthesis of thirty-five really creative, handy people all coming together to accomplish a goal. It was fantastic. It was tiring. I actually enjoyed watching them do the same scene ten times and watching Joss direct and seeing (Neil Patrick Harris) act. It was a completely new experience for me and I really appreciated seeing the process.”
In many ways, Joss Whedon has always been a trendsetter. Although neither Buffy nor Angel were ratings juggernauts, they left an impact on the television industry nonetheless. Both were “officially” continued in comic book format in 2007, with Buffy Season Eight continually ranking in the upper tier of monthly comic book sales. The short-lived Firefly—which was cancelled by FOX after only eleven episodes—has sold over a half-million copies on DVD and spawned a major motion picture continuation entitled Serenity. Despite Firefly’s low ratings, FOX green lit a new Whedon series, Dollhouse, a few weeks before the writer’s strike commenced based solely on a pitch-session with the Buffy mastermind.
It is on the Internet, however, where Joss Whedon achieves “rock star status,” and where his millions of loyal fans most demonstrate an ability to “flex their muscles.” When the writers strike first erupted, for instance, it took a scant five hours and fifteen minutes for Whedon fans to organize in support of the WGA by sending pizzas to the picket lines. The Firefly community, meanwhile, has held annual charity screenings of Serenity under the tagline “Can’t Stop the Serenity,” raising $65,000 for Equality Now in 2006 and an additional $106,000 in 2007. With this kind of a rabid online fanbase, Whedon’s entry into the realm of the webseries could legitimately have positive ramifications on the medium.
“I think that there’s something about Joss’ work that is meeting the needs of a large part of the community that isn’t necessarily met anywhere else,” the creator of the Dr. Horrible fansite says of Whedon. “There’s a level of intelligence about Joss Whedon’s work that I think attracts people who are looking for something that can be both thought provoking and funny without feeling preachy, and people are thankful for that. I know that in getting to know other fans of Firefly, over time we’ve noticed that we have more and more in common with each other than we first realized and that draws us together as a community. With shows being cancelled people united in a common purpose, and while that purpose is still important, the community that developed has grown beyond that. To be honest, I also think that the cast of shows like Firefly has a lot to do with it. Everyone knows that they’re a great group of people, not just great actors, and fans want to give them something back for what they gave to us.”
From the small screen to the large, from comic books to an extraordinary Internet fanbase presence, Joss Whedon has always been at the forefront of the cutting-edge. And although only time will truly tell, odds are that Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog will place Whedon at the forefront of the webseries revolution as well.
Anthony Letizia (April 14, 2008)
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