Early on in the scripted, singing commentary track for Buffy the
Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon’s web-musical Dr. Horrible’s
Sing-Along Blog, actor Nathan Fillion follows up a tuneful
smackdown of Neil Patrick Harris with dialogue that’s as hilarious as
it is wanky. “The only question you have to ask yourself is ‘How good a
Joey Buchanan was I?'” he informs his co-star. “A man’s Buchananity is
what separates him from reptiles and lawn furniture.” That line
references a One Life to Live character he stopped playing 12
years ago. It also demonstrates much of what’s good and bad about that
musical commentary, the internet sensation DHSAB and the rest of
Whedon’s body of work. The line’s clever, heavy on wordplay and very,
very self-indulgent, panders to fans prone to cultish passion—and
is so much fun. DHSAB was conceived during the Hollywood
writers’ strike and made with the help of Whedon’s extended family (his
brothers and sister-in-law are credited as co-writers). It tells the
ballad-filled story of fledgling super-villain Dr. Horrible’s (the
golden-voiced and always delightful NPH) unrequited love, thirst for
social change and feud with deliciously cheesy superhero Captain Hammer
(Fillion). Not sold? There’s a song about a freeze-ray…
This article appears in Jul 2-8, 2009.
Wow, the Coast is just catching on to this now?
Next you’re going to have to testify about REPO! The Genetic Opera.
I was thinking the same, this has been out for a looong time
it’s hilarious nonetheless
I had just heard about the singing commentary, so it made me want to go back and review it. (Plus, for some reason, Blockbuster only got the the DVD recently, and since I’m based in New Glasgow, Blockbuster is sadly my main DVD-source.)
–Lindsay