I caught act 1 of Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog right as it was coming out. I liked it. It’s weird, quirky, funny…pretty much on par for an internet video in that sense. What’s wildly different about it from others, however, is that it pretty much written, directed, acted edited and launched by show-biz pros rather than john and Jane “I have a video camera” Normal. Check out the trailer:

Teaser from Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog on Vimeo.

The story of the making goes like this, Joss Whedon of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” fame was sick of being sidetracked by the writer’s guild strike and the whole studio system, so he decided to do something *different* – enter the internet, stage right.

What I do know is that Felica Day who plays the Niel Patrick’s love interest Penny and who also worked with Joss on Buffy, has launched a successful online show, “the Guild” and that she is friends with the producer for that show Kim Evey (“Kiko” of Gorgeus Tiny Chicken Machine Show fame) who also happens to married to Greg Benson of Mediocre Films (the man behind “The Retarded Policeman” show). So what I’m thinking is that some of that internet juju probably rubbed off on our boy Joss….which, I don’t know, kinda seemed like something to mention, in that anal -obsessive way of mine.

Act 1 is the lightest and brightest of the bunch. It starts quite nicely with Dr. Horrible vlogging, kinda like a an episode of the Guild, hmmmm. Anyhow, we quickly get thrown into the dilemma that is soon to face Dr. Horrible – love or power…but in a nice way.

Act 2 gets a bit more grim, Penny is falling for Capt. Hammer, Dr. Horrible’s arch-nemisis – played by Nathan Fillion of Firefly fame, and our buddy Horrible is slowly becoming “more evil” because of it

Act 3…well, can’t really say anything without spoiling it, but…dude. Didn’t see THAT coming, sheesh. There might be room for a sequel, however…so you never know.

Here’s the only thing that you need to be aware of…it’s a musical. You’d kind of think that was obvious by the name, but I read a few comments by folks who were “taken by surprise”. Dumbasses. Anyhow, if that’s not your deal, if people suddenly breaking out in song makes you break you in hives, don’t watch it. Otherwise, if you can deal with singing, it’s a safe bet that you”ll enjoy it. Everything about these 3 less-than 15-minute episodes is clever, professional and fun.

Oh yeah, there’s something else that you should be aware of…it ain’t free anymore. Acts 1, 2 & 3 initially were “free for your viewing pleasure” and than, they become a purchasable commodity. Since I missed the 3rd and final episode while it was still free (damn business trips), I had a dilemma…to buy or not to buy.

Eventually, I had to see the end so I shelled out the 4 bucks (give or take) and bought it on iTunes. I’m glad that I did – 1) because I really had to see the last part, 2) becasue the more I reflected on just how well it was made and that this kind of thing could push more attention onto the medium of online videos, I figured the money was more than worth it. I’d encourage you very highly to do the same.

Bottom Line: I give it 5 out of 5 stars. This is what happens when you leverage professional experience into the web. It’s good.

And if you didn’t like my review, go poop on a stick…and read these ones instead. link to another reviewer and another review.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention that although they sing, they don’t dance: That’s a big plus in my book.