Whedon launches new miniseries on the Web only

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BY MICAH MERTES / Lincoln Journal Star

Joss Whedon, the wonderful man behind the shows “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Firefly,” is shaking up the TV universe with a silly, new, made-on-the-cheap miniseries that’s running online.

The first act of his supervillain musical “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” premieres Tuesday on the site drhorrible.com. Act Two will go up on Thursday, and Act Three debuts Saturday. Each act will stream for free, but all three parts will vanish at midnight Sunday. Eventually, Whedon said, the whole series will be available on DVD.

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Neil Patrick Harris stars in Josh Whedon's "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog," debuting Tuesday.

Neil Patrick Harris stars in Josh Whedon's "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog," debuting Tuesday.

Related Link(s):

To watch the show

Check back for a review

Be sure to check www.journalstar.com/living/402 on Wednesday for a review of Act 1 of "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog."

“Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” was borne from Whedon’s boredom. On the site’s blog, Whedon explains the ennui and kernel of inspiration that led to this project:

“Once upon a time, all the writers in the forest got very mad with the Forest Kings and declared a work stoppage. The forest creatures were all sad; the mushrooms did not dance, the elderberries gave no juice for the festival wines, and the Teamsters were kinda pissed. (They were very polite about it, though.) During this work stoppage, many writers tried to form partnerships for outside funding to create new work that circumvented the Forest King system.

“Frustrated with the lack of movement on that front, I finally decided to do something very ambitious, very exciting, very mid-life-crisisy. A supervillain musical, of which, as we all know, there are far too few.”

The series stars Neil Patrick Harris as the titular villain.

Dr. Horrible works out his master plans in his shoddy lair (his basement), but he’s continually foiled and beaten up by Captain Hammer (Whedon regular Nathan Fillion). Can Horrible overcome his insufferably cocksure nemesis? Can he reach world dominion? Can he finally talk to the cute girl at the Laundromat without being awkward?

Besides the quasi-revolutionary way Whedon is distributing his series, early buzz for “Dr. Horrible” is great. And for us Whedon worshippers, a new Whedon project is a cause for joy no matter how we see it.

Reach Micah Mertes at 473-7395 or mmertes@journalstar.com.