Dr. Horrible's Overwhelming Demands

Take Joss Whedon, singing, and Neil Patrick Harris. Combine with a video blog and watch demand generate electronic gridlock.

Let's back up a minute. Joss Whedon, creator of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and cult-hit "Firefly," had some idle time on his hands during the most recent Hollywood writers' strike, so he sat down with his family and crafted a low-rent web musical, "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog." It turned into a six-figure project as Whedon cast Neil Patrick Harris as the anti-villain, borrowed a page from his Buffy days and put in music, and built a business model around the project.

A play in three 15 minute acts, Act I was released on July 15 at midnight to complaints from overseas viewers not able to reach it (Hulu doesn't allow overseas viewers) and with so many people trying to see it that it literally brought the house, er, website down. People who were willing to pay $1.99 to iTunes to download Dr. H. couldn't get it.

But Dr. H is available completely free and free of ads for the first week. After that, Whedon expects newly minted cult fans to make some coin through merchandising, iTunes sales, and DVDs.  Plus there's always room for sequels.

For more:
- Lighten your day and contribute to the hype at Dr. Horrible
- LA Times deep dive into Dr. H

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