Friday, December 19, 2008 at 12:25 pm
A Horrible Holiday Gift
Today is the release of the DVD of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog at Amazon.com, and if there is anyone whom you love this holiday season—yourself, for instance—you should buy it for them.
Wait!, you may be saying. Yes, I know Dr. Horrible was number four on TIME's best TV shows of 2008. But I already watched it for free when it streamed at its own website this summer! Or I saw it with a bunch of my buddies, only one of whom paid to download it from iTunes! Ha ha, People Who Try To Make Money By Selling Content In the Digital Era! I have defeated you again!
Not so fast, buddy. Joss Whedon and company have got the drop on you this time. For starters, this ingenious musical comes with the expected behind-the-scenes bits and extras. But there are also a set of brilliant Evil League of Evil application videos, submitted by fans on the Internet, including one from "Tur-Mohel," the world's evilest circumcision-performing supervillain. And there's also not just a commentary: there's a musical commentary. An entire other musical, in fact, within this musical.
Thirteen hilarious songs, sung by the assembled cast, producers, writers and even extras, one of whom gets her own song about her brief moment in the production: "My path up is steep / My God, Joss is cheap / And doesn't mind wasting your time." There's a showstopping number about the writers' strike which led Whedon to create the musical, which even manages to find a rhyme for "Nick Counter," the studios' negotiator in the impasse. And there's a suitably egotistical solo number for star Neil Patrick Harris: "Like that showcase for Liza / It's Neil With an I!"
And you have to buy the DVD to hear it. Foolish mortal, Dr. Horrible has defeated you again! MWAH-hahahahahahaaaaaa!
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James Poniewozik writes TIME magazine's Tuned In column, about pop culture and society. Tuned In, the blog version, is about the stuff we used to call "TV," whether it's in your living room, on your computer or -- once the networks figure out the technology and line up the advertisers -- in your dreams themselves.
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Friday, December 19, 2008 at 12:47 pm
And you have to buy the DVD to hear it. Foolish mortal, Dr. Horrible has defeated you again! MWAH-hahahahahahaaaaaa!
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If only there was some way to download an entire dvd, including extras, from the internet.
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If only.
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Not that I endorse that sort of thing, but needling people with, "you cannot get this for free!" might not be the best way to encourage those younger demo types to actually buy something. Especially when even the most technologically illiterate 18-year-old knows how to get just about any tv show/movie/video game online, for free.
Friday, December 19, 2008 at 12:56 pm
@Ashman: Yeah, to continue the analogy, BitTorrent et al. is kind of like Superman, I guess--a being whose powers make it so omnipotent that it undermines all dramatic suspense.
Friday, December 19, 2008 at 1:48 pm
excellent! i was just updating my holiday wish list and this is a perfect items to receive and watch with the family.
Friday, December 19, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Yes, Ashman, they weren't going to steal it before, but now that a blog made a joke and used an evil laugh, it's a whole new ballgame.
Anyway, stealing something like this would be even more despicable than the regular stealing of movies.
Friday, December 19, 2008 at 4:35 pm
I agree completely about the stealing. I'm also thinking a lot of people who might normally steal this will probably buy it. Several of my friends who are avid BitTorrenters expressed horror when I asked if they were downloading it. Like Rorschach, they felt like it would be worse than normal to steal this. I can't decide if it's a Joss Whedon thing, or a "Good God, man, this is finally quality content on the Internet, let's support it!" thing. Both, maybe.
Friday, December 19, 2008 at 4:39 pm
I remember watching this when it was streaming live online, and I was blown away by it. The acting (of course) was subpar, but the songs were catchy, the idea was hilarious and NPH is the standout star of 2008. Who cares about Tina Fey!? NPH even makes his Old Spice commercials funny.
Friday, December 19, 2008 at 10:03 pm
[...] A Horrible Holiday GiftAnd by "Horrible," he means "Dr. Horrible," so therefore he means "awesome!" holiday gift. [...]
Sunday, December 21, 2008 at 1:32 pm
There were also some excellent Evil League of Evil applicants who weren't featured on the DVD. View my application and more at http://www.furyofsolace.com. Bad things are coming...
Fury of Solace
Doing evil so you don't have to
Somewhere in Los Angeles
Monday, December 22, 2008 at 6:59 pm
I heard that the format the DVD was released in is one that tends to degrade easily. If that's true, then I don't have much reason to buy it, since I usually buy things (books, DVDs, music) for keepers.