Posts Tagged ‘dr. horrible’

OK, I'm not really sure what the connection to Father's Day is here. Was Billy overcompensating for an abusive father? Was Captain Hammer a victim of some childhood hammering himself? Was Penny using her work with the homeless to make up for the paternal connection she never had?

Or do the Horrible people figure your dad might like some cool stuff and this is as good a reason for a sale as any?

Either way, many of the Dr. Horrible tees are on sale for $15 (10 bucks off usual price) and they now have bundles where you can get sets of shirts, totes, hats, and more for a reduced price. Fiendishly brilliant.

Happy Father's Day, you evil people, you.

Continuing in their scheme to take over the world via herbs soaked in hot water, Adagio Teas has one for whatever side of the whole good/evil thing you're presently on.

Dr. Horrible's Tea of Evil: A tea as dark as the Dr.'s heart. This black tea is highlighted with berry blues and a hint of vanilla in honor of the frozen yogurt he shares with his love. May be served with or without sweatener. Honey makes a perfect compliment to this tea.

Captain Hammer's Corporate Tool tea: An over-the-top hero, like the Captain, needs a patriotic tea. But this black tea is over-the-top too with apple, caramel and cream. Think of it as a gooey apple pie for our hunky, cheesy hero!

There are also teas for Penny, Moist, Dollhouse's Echo, Dexter, assorted Buffy characters… all created by users in the Adagio community. I'm thinking there's probably some trademark infringement going on, but it's soothing and relaxing trademark infringement so what the hell.

If the DVDs and  soundtrack isn't enough – and it isn't – go check out the free Dr. Horrible comics at Dark Horse Presents. First up is "Captain Hammer: Be Like Me," written by Zack Whedon, drawn by Eric Canete and colored by Dave Stewart. Excellent look at Captain Hammer's life before the events of the show, and hilarious all by itself. Read it here.

Then there's "Moist: Humidity Rising," Dr. Horrible's sidekick's awesome origin! Well, kind of awesome. Well, not really. I wasn't as impressed with this one, even though Zack penned it as well (art by Farel Dalrymple and Dan Jackson). It hits all the points – got his powers, met Billy, dreamed henchmen dreams – without any memorable lines or interesting twists or much plot at all. It's just… there. Which, come to think of it, also describes Moist, so maybe it works after all. Read it here.

And out this week, "Penny: Keep Your Head Up," by Zack Whedon and Jim Rugg, a sweet tale of her activist beginnings.

Spotted at Whedonesque, these fan cakes are perfect for snacking while you're making evil plans, sharing with the homeless, or using as a delicious shield while thwarting evil plans. Mostly, they're just cool. Cake goggles? Amazing.

On a huge freestanding display holding hundreds of copies in neat rows underneath a massive, spinning cardboard-and-PVC diorama of Captain Hammer and Dr. Horrible battling over the Death Ray rifle while Penny looks on and…

Actually they weren't even on the New! rack at Best Buy, they were over in the TV section next to the boxset for Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. But they were there! Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, the handmade Internet sensation, is now available in stores. Best Buys, anyway. And other stores can order them. Ask your local Blockbuster to get some in.

Or if you still want to order online, you can now get them at Barnes & Noble ($13.49), Borders ($13.99), DeepDiscount.com ($9.27), Walmart ($10.32), Best Buy ($9.99), or from many other retailers. You can even get it from Netflix and Blockbuster Online now!

Yessss… it's all coming together now…

PaleyFest 2009 was this year's annual 10-day event honoring the best of the small screen, held at the Paley Center for Media in L.A. Creators and stars of many of your favorite shows got up on stage and talked about, well, everything, unscripted and unsupervised. iTunes now has those panels for sale at $1.99 a pop, and the crew from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is one of the funnest.

Gathered together onstage was Joss, Nathan Fillion, Felicia Day, Zack Whedon, Jed Whedon, and Marissa Tancharoen, which was almost everybody. "I'm so happy, I can't even tell you guys," Nathan said, emotion welling in his voice, "how much joy it brings to my heart… that Neil couldn't make it."

Behind the scenes details, where they found inspiration, and plans for the future make this an excellent companion for your Dr. Horrible DVD, which hits stores today, hint hint. One hour, eight minutes.

I also highly recommend the star-studded, hilarious panels for "Pushing Daisies, "House," "Dollhouse," "How I Met Your Mother," and "Monk," but they're all pretty good.

The Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog DVD is almost here!

Well, actually you've been able to get one for months now through Amazon's own DVD publishing system. But tomorrow it'll be available in other online stores, and even in real, physical, walk-in-and-buy-one shops! As far as I know it's the same DVD, with the same contents and extras (crew and cast commentary, original musical "Commentary!" commentary, various making-of videos, the 10 best fan-submitted Evil League of Evil video submissions, some Easter eggs, etc), but now if you've avoided buying it from Amazon for whatever reason, you have no more excuse.

Get it at Barnes & Noble ($13.49) or Best Buy (just #9.99)

Or sign up to be notified when the Blu-Ray version will be available! Evil has never been so high-def!

While you're waiting, don't forget the soundtrack or the many fine shirts and other merchandise available:

Shirts and accessories available from the Dr. Horrible store (the Dr. Horrible cartoon shirts and the Team Hammer tees are also currently nearly half price at TFAW.com)

It's good to be reminded that all viewers have exactly the same tastes, so that all entertainment can be judged on a single basis. Of course you can compare "House" to "M*A*S*H," "24" to "The Simpsons," "Gilligan's Island" to "The Wire." They're all TV shows, so therefore they all have the same tropes, the same context, and the same audience. Thank you, New York Times, for reminding us of this simple truth.

Namely, in this article by Mike Hale, wherein he analyzes the aesthetic and commercial appeal of "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog" and finds it somewhat wanting. Not compared to other Web content, of course, it's fine there, a diamond in the muck. But when compared to television, it needs "beefing up."

If the comparison is with television, the answer is murkier. On that scale “Dr. Horrible” falls somewhere between an amusing trifle and a dramedy that won’t make it to the 13th episode.

[...]

…you may prefer the slacker aesthetic of “Dr. Horrible” to the formulas of network television, but even in the summer doldrums, 45 minutes (after commercials) of “The Closer” or “Legally Blonde the Musical: The Search for Elle Woods” is a superior piece of craftsmanship. (And even on its own anti-mainstream terms, “Dr. Horrible” has a ways to go to catch up with “The Sarah Silverman Program.”)

Really? "The Sarah Silverman Show" is the anti-mainstream bar all shows must strive towards? Maybe if "Dr. Horrible" had more poop jokes it would have passed muster.

I have no problem with people criticizing the show on its own merits and faults – there are plenty of both. But condemning it because it's not as good as "The Sarah Silverman Show" or "The Closer" – two more different shows you'll be hard-pressed to find – is ridiculous. Although actual criticism may be tricky and require more than 15 minutes, I'll have to ask.

"Prominent gay subtext"? Really?

"Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog" is now available, for free (but ad-supported) at MySpace and on Hulu. Woo hoo!

Which means I can also embed it here, and I think I shall. Enjoy.

Let's start our wish list now! We know we'll get all three acts of the show, commentary, and a separate, musical commentary. Most likely we'll get a Making-Of feature, something on the music, and bloopers. What else would you like to see, to make this the most incredible Horrible DVD ever? Here's my suggestions:

- An extra Dr. Horrible story, filmed for the DVD

- Promos from the characters; Captain Hammer talking to schools, Penny talking about the homeless shelter, Dr. Horrible doing something court-appointed ("Kids! Don't do evil!")

- A karaoke version

- A fan commentary, with notable fans giving their reactions (your assistant has my e-mail, Mr. Whedon)

- Features on the people involved, fan reaction, media reaction

- Video of the Comic-Con panel

- A RiffTrax commentary, already bundled in

- A feature showing the making of the Making Of feature

- A small comic book (a la the Serenity comic that came bundled with the Best Buy version of the Serenity Special Edition DVD) of “Captain Hammer: Be Like Me”

- The original storyboards, possibly in napkin form

- A feature on the already-existing mad science apartment that was used

- The entire run of "Apartment 4B" by Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen, including the 1st episode

- A feature on the special effects, done with all the gravitas and detail as anything about Gollum on the LoTR DVDs. "Here we had to sync up Nathan leaping off a chair into frame just as the van careened by, so it really looked like he was jumping off the van. Timing was critical for it to really feel right, so we were there, oh god, almost 7 minutes before we were finally happy with it, but that's the kind of dedication we put into it. Then we had a Snickers."

And most importantly:

- Previews of the sequel

What do you want to see?