I have a lot to catch up on for this blog – my whole trip to San Diego for one – but I wanted to talk about the rest of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog first.
Joss did it again! He lured us in with a likeable villain, a sweet girl with inner strength and a smarmy ‘hero’, all of whom can sing beautiful songs, and then he tore our hearts out. Again. How does he do that in only 42 minutes? How can he (and his brothers and Maurissa) give more depth to his characters in under an hour than some people do in several seasons of TV.
And one of the best parts of the whole thing, seeing “Mutant Enemy presents” at the beginning and the Grrr Arrgh monster with the Mutant Enemy logo at the end.
I’m thinking particularly of Charmed right now, because I’ve been whipping through all eight seasons, partly because I wanted to know why I enjoyed it while it was on the air, and partly because I never got to see the last season, as it changed networks. I liked the magic, I liked the relationship between the sisters, especially Piper and Phoebe, and between Piper and Leo – plus I liked the kids. I find that I really can’t stand Rose McGowan as Paige. I do not get any kind of emotion from her at all. (Apparently she had a strange upbringing so maybe that accounts for it.) Whatever, I find myself impatient with them a lot of the time. And I keep trying not to compare it to Buffy, because it just doesn’t measure up in any way whatsoever. Frankly, I think it should have ended at the end of season 7.
However, Dr. Horrible is a totally different kettle of fish, so to speak. Yes, the supervillain is laughable at times – as is the ‘hero’ – but even over the course of three short acts, these people change. We laugh with and at them and end up crying, and with our hearts, if not broken, at least somewhat bent.
On top of that, the songs stick in my head constantly, even though I haven’t been able to watch it for the past three weeks, since Hulu is back on US-only viewing! 😦 I’m waiting for the soundtrack, which I’m hoping will be available on CD, even if it’s also on iTunes download, and for the DVD with its commentary and Commentary: The Musical and all the extras, including the 10 favourite applications to the Evil League of Evil. I’m working on one myself – actually two and I better hurry up because lots of people have dones theirs already.
If Joss can do with Dollhouse what he has done with DHSAB – as I have no doubt that he can – it should be a wild ride come January. I don’t expect Dollhouse to be similar in tone to Dr. Horrible; as a matter of fact, I think it will be a lot different – much darker, for one thing. But Joss Whedon is known for drawing characters that get to us from the first few scenes and I expect no less from Dollhouse. In the meantime, I’m going to try again to download Dr. Horrible from iTunes because I need to see it again – and again – and again – and yet again.
Ponderings from a Procrastinating Prognosticator 