Dr. Horrible is Wonderful!

Episode 1 of 3 went live yesterday and hmmmm, crashed the servers. That's a good thing, right? It means the world is watching Dr. Horrible, or at least trying to watch. It also marks the successful unfolding of a new marketing model - one that might otherwise be remembered as the Revenge of the Hollywood Writers. Following his Tweets...

drhorrible We love you for crashing the site, we really do. In the meantime, you can go to itunes. Or just wait a few hours, we'll be back up. about 20 hours ago from web

Josh Whedon's mini, super-hero, evil genius, opera is a winner. Dr. Horrible, brought to life by Neil Patrick Harris is irresistibly endearing, in search of love while and on a quest for recognition as an evil superstar - one that reads his e-mail responses from readers on his blog. But where have I seen that face? OMG it's Doogie Howser, MD. Now I am tempted to track down some of his less-memorable work, Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle and its sequel Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay.

Web Scout at the LA Times says, Joss Whedon's 'Dr. Horrible' is a site-crashing success:

“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.

Felicia Day as Penny, the object of Dr. Horrible's affection, captures my heart as well, but I'm easy, especially when it comes to women on a mission for social justice. Day is also the star, script writer and producer of the YouTube based web series The Guild, which won the 2008 "Greenlight Award for Best Original Digital Series Production" at the South by Southwest Festival.

I had no problem seeing Episode 1 and can't wait 'til midnight tonight to logon for Episode 2... with that added server capacity.

Website:	http://www.drhorrible.com/
Starring:	Neil Patrick Harris as Dr. Horrible, Nathan Fillion as Captain Hammer, Felicia Day as Penny
Screenplay By:	Joss Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen, Jed Whedon, and Zack Whedon
Directed By:	Joss Whedon
Produced By:	David Burns, Michael Boretz, and Joss Whedon
Plot Outline:	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. Music by: Joss Whedon and Jed Whedon Lyrics by: Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen Score and Orchestration by: Jed Whedon

Changing the face of Show Business as we know it...

Joss Whedon creator and head writer of the well-known television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly is about to exact his writer's strike revenge on traditional media with the release of a 3-part streaming Web opera. Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog will be released for free on July 15, July 17 and July 19. Then, all three parts will vanish at midnight on July 20, only to reappear as a 42-minute feature for sale as a download and eventually published on DVD.

Whedon explains his theory, "The idea was to make it on the fly, on the cheap – but to make it. To turn out a really thrilling, professionalish piece of entertainment specifically for the Internet. To show how much could be done with very little. To show the world there is another way."

New TeeVee's Lisa Gannes provides the details...
Whedon to Pioneer New Distribution Model