Sunday, July 6, 2008

Dr. Horrible



Though this is not directly related to a book, I do think Joss Whedon is a writing god. Here is a little project that he and some friends are working on called Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog. Here is Joss's explanation of what this project is all about:

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. Aided only by everyone I had worked with, was related to or had ever met, I single-handedly created this unique little epic. A supervillain musical, of which, as we all know, there are far too few.

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. To give the public (and in particular you guys) something for all your support and patience. And to make a lot of silly jokes. Actually, that sentence probably should have come first.

I know not everyone is a Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan, but how can you not like a "supervillain musical" that stars both Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion. I, for one, cannot wait.

P.S. I promise a more literary post soon . . . really soon.

5 comments:

holdenj said...

Wow, yet another creative use of the web. Anxiously awaiting July 15!

julienj said...

E and I have been watching episodes of "Firefly" every night after the kids are in bed, so my appetite for more Joss Whedon is whetted!

crossons said...

ok, and I'm sadly so out of it I don't even know who Joss Whedon is.... maybe I shouldn't admit it!

julienj said...

Well, this is a little off-topic, since he's the creator of several TV series, including "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Angel," and "Firefly." He creates amazing worlds with vivid, realistic characters, and he uses language very cleverly.

Doc Jen said...

Don't feel bad, S, for not knowing who Joss Whedon is. Many don't. But I think you'd like him and his oeuvre (love that ten dollar word!).

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (much like the HBO series, The Wire) is very novelistic. There's a big arc that connects all the episodes in a season so that something that happens in week #2 has a connection that happens in week #12. I like TV shows that are like books--and get annoyed when it's clear a TV series doesn't know where it's going.

By the way, Whedon also has penned a number of graphic novels (to make a more literary connection).