Photos from Whedonopolis used with permission click to enlarge

Nathan Fillion’s interest in the iPhone game Ninja Ropes was first revealed to the public at the Dr. Horrible screening in Los Angeles at Halloween when he showed up in an impressive Ninja Ropes costume.

When the Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog DVD was released fans were able to hear Nathan singing about the game in the song “Better than Neil” (“Who’s got the high score on Ninja Ropes?”) .

The DVD’s “Commentary! The Musical” also features an entire song dedicated to the game.

We spoke to the Ninja Ropes creator “Sarkscape Games” about the game.

How long have you been creating games?

Sarkscape Games: About a year, since I opened sarkscape.com website. I’m not a professional game developer, it is just my sparetime hobby. When iPhones entered the market I decided it is worth to try to make something interesting for them.

For those that aren’t familiar with the game, can you give us a bit of a description of Ninja Ropes?

SG: This is basically a game of attention and reaction. By controlling two springy ropes you should lead a ninja through outer space.

When did you first hear about Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog?

SG: In the middle of December 2008, when a first preliminary review of the DVD came out and I found a mention of the Ninja Ropes song in it through Google.

Before the commentary came out, did you have any idea that the team enjoyed your game so much?

SG: Absolutely no.

What was your reaction when you discovered there was a song written about your game that was included in Commentary! The Musical?

SG: I was completely stunned. This was the last thing I could expect. Even now somewhere deep in my mind I have doubts this all really happened.

Have you had any contact with the Dr. Horrible team?

SG: No, but I wish to have

Have there been an increase in traffic to your site since the Dr. Horrible DVD was released?

SG: Yes, but not very much.

Are there any hints you can give to beginners of the game?

SG: The game is simple when you know it’s mechanics. The more speed of your falling, the more speed you will have after shrinking of the rope. Use both ropes and remember locations of the gravity vortexes.

Do you have any other games people might be interested in?

SG: You can see all of my games on sarkscape.com. There are a logical puzzle Block2Lock (which I personally use as a time killer) and an action game Mass Defense (which strangely makes me very nervous when I’m playing it).

Currently I’m planning a native game for iPhone and possible for the other touch-screen devices too. Hope you don’t miss it when it will be released.

Do you have anything else you’d like to add?

SG: Well, I would like to thank Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, Nathan Fillion, Neil Patrick Harris and all cast and crew for the superb musical, hilarious commentary and the great song about my game.

And, of course, thanks to all people who play my games. I’m happy that you like them.

Play Ninja Ropes Extreme right here!
(Doesn’t work in Internet Explorer)
Click Play to begin and don’t forget to leave us a comment on your high score

[Hint: Don't forget to check the Top 15 high scores!]

Michael Boretz

Brian Wiser: I’m Brian Wiser and I’m speaking with Michael Boretz, producer of Dr. Horrible. Thanks for joining us Michael.

Michael Boretz: You’re very welcome.

BW: You worked with Joss for a number of years before Dr. Horrible. Can you tell us a little about your history with Joss and how you came to work for him?

MB: I was working on a Sony movie as a production secretary called Identity with John Cusack, Ray Liotta, and Amanda Peet. The producer’s assistant, a guy named Rupert Cole who was a friend of mine, was going to try to bring me on as the producer’s second assistant. That didn’t work out because he stopped working for her. While I was back home at a golf outing with my family, I got a call from Rupert saying that his roommate, Kelly Wheeler, who I had met once before, was the producer’s assistant on Buffy, and that Joss Whedon was looking for an assistant. I wasn’t very well versed in Buffy or Angel (Firefly wasn’t out yet at that time) so I had to do a little bit of research. I wound up trying to memorize all the seasons’ arcs before my interview. I was very nervous. And then when I met with Joss we didn’t talk about any of that stuff. I think he picked me over the other person he was considering because, quite frankly, I didn’t frighten him or possibly I made him laugh. At one point I remember in the interview I could tell he was starting to get a little bored so I tried to make him laugh and it worked. I attribute landing the job to that moment.

BW: I think it’s always a good idea to show the interviewer that there is an actual live, creative person on the other end, so that was very smart.

MB: Yeah, I was grateful he didn’t have me quote Buffy, but I don’t think that was the most important thing for Joss. I think he just wanted somebody he felt had good organization skills and someone he saw playing more of a producer role one day. So that was how I came to work for Joss and I worked as his assistant for a period of about five years while he had three shows on the air, through Serenity up until recently.

BW: That’s an incredible opportunity you’ve had to see things from the inside perspective of how Joss’ mind works. Having spent so many years with Joss, what are some things you may have learned from him that may have influenced your approach to producing Dr. Horrible?

MB: Well, working with Joss for so many years on multiple projects allowed me to be able to understand what he was looking for creatively and how to communicate that vision to others. This gave me the ability to be an effective producer for him. The script and the songs were already written by Joss, Jed, Maurissa and Zack when he called me in to talk about this musical short project he wanted to do. He had seen my short film Splitting Hairs which I had done and put together while I had worked for him. He was nice enough to give me the time to work on it, and I shot Splitting Hairs while he was in post production on Serenity. So he had seen my short, known what I was capable of, and asked me to help him with Dr. Horrible. And what I did was immediately start to think of key crew who would be willing and able to help us with this project. Since he didn’t have a whole lot of money and was funding it himself, it was important that we got people who were not only willing to help us out, but also people who were very familiar with how Joss works. Lisa Lassek agreed to edit it and Shawna Trpcic who did costumes for Angel and Firefly jumped aboard as well. Loni Peristere from Zoic agreed to do the VFX and I brought in my production designer from Splitting Hairs, Alethea Root. We also brought on as our director of photography Ryan Green who was our camera operator on Serenity. So it was helpful having those years of experience to know the people, and then once they were hired, to be able to communicate effectively with them to relay Joss’ vision and help facilitate getting us into production quickly.

BW: Joss called in favors such as getting a discount on the Universal backlot. The way Dr. Horrible was envisioned and with the limited budget and resources you had to work with, what were some of the other challenges you faced getting it off the ground?

MB: We had a limited budget and we just had to make Dr. Horrible at a reasonable amount. I’d say that was our biggest challenge. It was only through the help of those who know Joss and were excited to be part of the project that allowed us to overcome our budgetary restrictions. A lot of the key crew worked for free and others at a reduced rate with the goal that if Dr. Horrible became profitable we would then compensate them. People willing to work on a labor of love and bringing it in on budget was what made the production possible.

BW: It says a lot about Joss that people are willing to do anything and everything they can to help make his projects successful. Having that history with him no doubt helped immensely.

MB: What I’ve witnessed over the five plus years I’ve known Joss is he really inspires people on multiple levels. He’s talented and so obviously the writing itself people love. On top of that he inspires people not only with that talent but when you meet him he’s very charming, he has a great sense of humor, and he’s very down to Earth. It’s kind of amazing. You’re in awe of this guy when you meet him because you expect him to not be so approachable and not so open and warm, and he is. He creates that kind of environment on the set as well. And that’s why people like to come back and continue to work for him and are willing to do favors. So, you have this great working environment on set. You have a lot of fun because the project you are working on has great dialog, it has fun actors, and everybody is on the same page. And on top of that you have this genre bending story with lots of jokes, lots of action, and great songs — it’s a lot of fun. It’s not like we’re all signing up to do some kind of period piece or something that’s just overly depressing, like the American political system.

BW: It would be a very different world if everyone worked the way Joss works. With the sales of the show and soundtrack on iTunes, can you say if you are in the black?

MB: I haven’t seen the books but things are moving in the right direction.

BW: There is always some risk when entering new territory the way this was released, but I’m sure the fans and Joss have faith that you’ll prevail very shortly with the stellar sales on iTunes. Can you comment on when the DVD or CD-based soundtrack may be available?

MB: The goal is for both the DVD and CD to be available for pre-order in the near future and hopefully they will be shipping before Christmas.

BW: That’s beautiful! I know what everyone will be getting for Christmas this year! We know that there will be a musical commentary track and Evil League of Evil applications as part of the DVD special features. Are there any other special features you’re planning on, or any other ways of involving the fans?

MB: There will be a bunch of fun stuff on the DVD. I think fans are gonna be stoked.

BW: That was a brilliant idea with the Evil League of Evil applications and getting the fans even more involved and becoming a part of that world.

MB: We got over 650 applications! It’s been a lot of fun. I’ve watched a bunch of the applicant’s submissions and it’s a blast.

BW: It’s interesting how much the fans have embraced Dr. Horrible in a variety of ways. I attended DragonCon and there were several Dr. Horrible sing-a-long performances in the style of the Buffy musical. I actually performed in one myself and it was great fun.

MB: What role?

BW: I was one of the Bad Horse Trio.

MB: Sweet!

BW: The first performance had over 2,000 people in the audience and not everyone was able to get in. And at the end, people from the audience gave homemade Evil League of Evil ribbons to everyone who participated. It’s fun to see how it keeps perpetuating and growing.

MB: Wow, that’s so cool. Great to hear that people are having so much fun with it.

BW: In addition to T-shirts, what kind of merchandise can we look forward to? Singing greeting cards and action figures?

MB: Maurissa informed me that new T-shirts are about to launch on Jinx very soon.

BW: Are there any plans to enter Dr. Horrible in film festivals or show theatrically?

MB: There are many plans in the works. We have to make sure we get our ducks in a row first. The real focus right now specifically is making the DVD and CD available.

BW: Do you think that the incredible success of Dr. Horrible has created an opening for others to follow a similar path releasing films online and being more of an online experience initially? Do you think you’ve paved the way for more things like that in the future?

MB: It seems that way. People, both independents and within the studio system have taken notice of Dr. Horrible. We’ve received a very positive response and I hear more and more about individuals shooting webisodes. I have people contacting me trying figure out how to monetize them and make a success out of them. So yes, I think Dr. Horrible has in a sense opened up people to this and shown them that it can be done successfully. I think that the effects of this project are greater than we ever could have hoped for. For one, it’s a hilarious short film musical. It’s unique, a rarity, and on top of that it’s an industry game changer.

BW: It definitely is. Of course it would be wonderful if this could continue with other Dr. Horrible productions. Do you think there may be the possibility of a TV series or movie?

MB: There are a lot of plans and a sequel in some form is a likelihood.

BW: That’s excellent news and will make a world of people very happy.

MB: Yes, I think those are the intentions for Joss, Jed, Maurissa and Zack. And in between doing double duty on Dollhouse, Fringe and trying to get everything else done, that’s definitely the next step after getting the DVD out — figuring out what’s next.

BW: In addition to producing Dr. Horrible, you had a nice cameo role. Is this the first time you’ve been involved as an actor and how did you find that experience?

MB: It was a terrifying experience. It was our first day of shooting and I believe it was even the first scene up. I was there to wear a “producer’s hat” so to speak, and I remember I had to put on this moving guy uniform which was a little tight. It was this one-piece thing and when I zipped it up I could barely breathe. It was more like a girdle. And all I had to do was say “it’s about time” which had been recorded by Joss previously, prerecorded with Jed. I had to land on my mark and I was totally insecure and Joss luckily took it easy on me and gave me some good direction. It took about four takes which also involved getting the camera right. I’m glad I did it. Even though I was very self-conscious, in hindsight it was so much fun.

BW: A fun and memorable experience without a doubt. That’s always nice to see things from different perspectives — acting, directing, and producing. You’ve had so many wonderful experiences with Joss. Are there any hidden meanings or inside jokes in Dr. Horrible that people haven’t discovered yet? Something in the background, a phrase that was used, or something that would be funny when discovered?

MB: You’ll have to ask the writers that one.

BW: Is there anything you’d like to say the fans in closing?

MB: What I would like to say to the fans is that none of this could be possible without them — the success that we’ve had. The response has been amazing. And this isn’t some kind of gratuitous suck up. It’s that people have been contacting me about shooting webisodes and they want advice on how to make it a success. And the truth is, it couldn’t have been done, as it’s becoming a habit now, without the fans’ support. It’s one thing to shoot something, and shoot something that’s good, but without Joss’ loyal, excited and enthusiastic fanbase we wouldn’t have had the spread, the number of hits and views, and it wouldn’t have been so high up on iTunes. This would not be possible without the fans. It really wouldn’t be. So thank you.

Felicia Day

If you’ve been following Dr Horrible you’ll know that Felicia Day has done interview after interview after interview since Dr Horrible started gaining attention. Recently Felicia Twittered that she’d had to decide “No more interviews. That’s it. I could spend all day at mixers and doing interviews, but I gotta make more stuff to interview about!” so the Dr Horrible Fan Site is very thankful to Felicia for granting us one final interview… Thanks Felicia!

If you had written Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, how would Act III have ended?

FD: I see no reason to morning quarterback (yipes, was that a sports term I just used?!?!). It was set up so beautifully that the way it ends is the only way it could have ended in my opinion. It was perfect. Had it been more upbeat, I think it would have not had the impact it did. Art should provoke and not placate. I think all the controversy is a compliment, not a detraction.

Some people have criticized Penny’s character saying she’s not strong enough and doesn’t live up to Joss Whedon’s usual portrayal of strong women characters, do you have an opinion on that issue?

FD: Does every woman character have to be “strong”? What does that mean anyway? To me Penny represented the normal life that Horrible craved, someone who didn’t judge, someone who cared about others before she cared about herself. She wasn’t kicking people in the face, but she was true to herself and brave enough to be “good” in the face of a cynical society. Just because she was naive doesn’t mean she was weak. Personally, I loved playing her.

Last time I spoke to you, I asked if you would be interested in doing a sequel if given the opportunity, you joked that you’d work Craft Services if you had to. Now that we all know what happens in Act III do you think we’ll see Penny return in some way if there’s another episode?

FD: People read waaay too much into that Craft Services remark! I always talk about craft services! Because frankly, it’s one of the great things about filmmaking: An open trough of food to snack on all day featuring thing you’d never buy at home, like processed cheese and crackers. Who wouldn’t want to work in Hollywood with that as a perk! As for a sequel, I can only cross my fingers! Of course I’d love to come back somehow, but only if it served the vision of the Horrible creative collaborative. If they’re reading this, I can also snap a mean clapboard.

Did you have any expectations about how people would respond to Dr Horrible before it went “live”?

FD: I’m so tied to the net I practically have an Ethernet cord plugged directly into my brain, so it was obvious to me that Joss + Whedon Fan Base + Amazing Product would be a phenomenon. That said, the reality of it was more overwhelming than I could have ever envisioned. It’s one thing to say “it’s going to be huge”, but to see an independently produced show in the #1 slot of iTunes and featured in a spread in Entertainment Weekly, that was nothing anyone could have predicted.

Last week was your first visit to Comic Con – what were your thoughts as a visitor?

FD: Uh, wow. Can we say unprepared?! I had no idea they constructed buildings to accomodate that many people! It was insane! When I was rushing from place to place I kept lamenting the fact I was so packed that I couldn’t stop and shop. When we walked on stage for the Dr. Horrible panel and like 3,000 people were cheering, man. I know why Miss America ladies cry now, sorry I made fun of them all my life. It was overwhelming, like the whole weekend.

What was the experience like as a guest?

FD: Crazy!! I literally couldn’t walk sometimes because so many people would recognize me! The thing I’m proudest of is that when I was in the more “corporate” section of the exhibit floor, I didn’t get stopped much, but when I was on the independent vendor side, I wouldn’t make it two feet without a wave. I love that!

Do you have a favourite fan encounter from Comic Con?

FD: When Irrel (http://twitter.com/irrel) gave me the cutest fan art for Dr. Horrible of me, Dr. Horrible and Hammer. She also did fantastic fan art for The Guild that I found online later, you can see it on The Guild site, www.watchtheguild.com. It was so amazing, I will treasure that drawing and meeting her.

Will you ever confess to Twittering in public again?

FD: LOL I love that moment, I turned as pink as my sweater! The only revenge I have is that I’m sure that I’ve created a few thousand Twitterholics like myself after that incident. Take that!

Do you ever worry that being so open with fans will create problems for you, do you think there will come a time when you’ll have to back off a little?

FD: Due to the massive influx of communication, I am finding that I can’t really answer nearly as many emails/msgs etc. which sucks, but I still try to read everything at least. I could spend 9 hours a day just answering Facebook messages, which does no one good if I have no time to write or produce other things That said, I’ll never consider it a “problem” until someone shows up on my doorstep (please don’t do that, haha).

As someone who is so involved in the social networking community, what was your reaction to seeing Dr Horrible on the front page of MySpace this week?

FD: I was pretty geeked out (Did you see my Twitter? ) I was particularly struck that it was getting so many views. A lot of web people have “theories” about length of videos, what viewers will tolerate, but Dr. Horrible shows that it’s quality that keeps people watching, not arbitrary length.

What impact do you think the success of Dr Horrible will have on your career?

FD: Of course I hope it opens doors for me in mainstream TV and movies, but honestly I’m most excited about the opportunities to keep producing and acting in web content. I love being on the forefront of a media revolution, and Dr. Horrible definitely lends web video more legitimacy and will forge new pathways for creators everywhere.

The second season of The Guild should be out in September, is there anything else you’re working on we can look forward to?

FD: We’ll be shooting The Guild Season 2 in September, so release may be pushed to October. It’s all about getting the funding pushed through at this point. I have a Guest Star on House airing in September that I’m looking forward to, and I’m writing another show with Machinima.com, a sitcom set in a game world. In my “spare time” I’m also developing a few other projects for the web and other media. There are so many opportunities for me right now I just need the time to figure out what direction I want to go and do it!

I spoke with Dr Horrible Tea of Evil creator Brenda Alvarado about her creation.

DrHorribleTeaOfEvil.mp3
Press play to start the audio

Dr Horrible Tea of Evil

A tea as dark as the Dr.’s heart. This black tea is highlighted with berry blues and a hint of vanilla in honor of the frozen yogurt he shares with his love.

Contains: ceylon sonata, vanilla, berry blues

Captain Hammer Corporate Tool Tea

An over-the-top hero, like the Captain, needs a patriotic tea. But this black tea is over-the-top too with apple, caramel and cream. Think of it as a gooey apple pie for our hunky, cheesy hero!

Contains: apple, caramel, cream

For more details:
[Please note, these are not an official Dr Horrible or licensed item]

• Dr Horrible Tea
• Captain Hammer Tea
• Email Brenda with your suggestions for the Capt. Hammer tea austinglobe [at] excite.com

By all accounts Comic Con was a big success for Dr Horrible, were you all happy with the response?

MT: We were overf’injoyed. The general response to Dr. Horrible has exceeded our wildest expectations. And then the packed panel and screening(s) full of Horrible love?! We all felt like rockstars. Except for Joss. He felt like a giddy schoolgirl. With a brand new pair of knee-high socks.

You got your wish and some people went along dressed as Dr Horrible & Captain Hammer – that must have been great to see?

MT: I believe we have pictures of these AWESOME people on our myspace and facebook pages.

It was mentioned by Jed during the Q&A session that you weren’t going to discuss “what may have happened if there’d been an Act 4″ because there WILL be more. Is this just hopeful thinking or is something definitely going ahead?

MT: Jed was drunk with power and just wanted to hear the crowd cheer. But hopeful thinking led to Dr. Horrible in the first place. So there you go. There is no timeline, but yes, oh yes, there will be more.

Jed also said the soundtrack would be available to download on iTunes in the next couple of weeks, will there be an actual CD release too?

MT: Look at that Jed, put him in front of thousands of people and just blah blah blah.

I will soon be reprimanded for that sentence because at this very moment, as I type this, he is slaving away in the next room mixing and mastering. Because I told him to. Yes, check your iTunes for the soundtrack sooner than later.

How far away is the DVD release?

MT: Stocking stuffer?

News of Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog has been sweeping across the internet at an alarming pace this week, featuring on the front page of websites like the LA Times, Google Entertainment, MSN.com and TIME. Within 24 hours of the launch of Act 1 on Tuesday the musical had climbed to the number one spot on iTunes video downloads proving that it may have what it takes to change entertainment as we know it. In fact it was so popular that it crashed their server when a thousand people attempted to watch the video in the same instant .

I was delighted to have the opportunity to chat with two of the creative minds behind Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog earlier today. Jed Whedon and fiancé Maurissa Tancharoen took some time out during a very busy week to talk about the musical.

Dr Blog Bot: Let me start by saying Happy Birthday

Jed Whedon: Oh, thank you very much, thank you very very much, it’s been a wonderful one so far.

DBB: That’s great, was it planned to launch this on your birthday so when it went really well it was a great birthday present?

JW: It wasn’t, but it worked out that way so I’m happy. I will be actually launching Act III instead of having a little shindig but then I’m gonna go out and play a gig with my brother Sam in downtown Los Angeles so that’ll be fun to have some drinks.

DBB: Good way to spend a birthday… Now Dr Horrible has obviously been pretty successful, you were obviously expecting a lot of traffic and made preparations to account for that but the servers crashed because there was so much and you had all sorts of problems, did you expect this kind of reaction from people?

JW: Not exactly, I mean we knew that Joss’ fans are very loyal and very web savvy and they’re very educated about what’s coming up so we did expect some people to sign on, we definitely approached it from a grass roots point of view, we didn’t think that it was going to go crazy and we were just hoping it would build over time, people would start to spread the world and people would enjoy it. We didn’t expect everybody to try and see it at once. So, that’s where the error occurred but now that’s fixed so there are no more worries in that department and it’s going as well as we could have hoped. It’s hard to get the word out on something like this but it seems like everyone’s doing a good a job as anyone could hope for.

DBB: I heard that at one point something like 1000 people tried to access the server within one second, is that right?

JW: Yeah well they take a picture, a kind of snapshot when there’s a huge problem and I got a call from the hosting company in a kind of panicky shaky voice call that basically said within that snapshot a thousand people had tried to log on in that instant which, you know I don’t know what that means but it’s thrilling… and so, you know, we couldn’t just upgrade, we had to move to a bigger server and that’s why we were down for so long which was a frustrating, long day for me but now it’s up and I have no more worries about that kind of stuff. We were averaging about 200,000 hits an hour which I think also had to do with the fact that it wasn’t initially available overseas so once that was opened up we sort of had a swell.

DBB: There was a bit of a panic from people round the world who couldn’t access it and a lot of people were being a bit critical but you had intended for it to be available internationally from the start, is that right?

JW: We don’t like people who aren’t American [Joking] we were trying to think of everything and that was the one question we didn’t ask when we were talking to Hulu about the actual hosting of the video, we didn’t even think to ask it but as soon as we launched and the first blogs were “why can’t I see it” and we went into panic mode and the people of Hulu were up that night re-writing the code and getting it in order and it opened up some time in the night but no it definitely wasn’t planned and we were extremely sad that the launch was tainted by sadness and disappointment… so you couldn’t see it right away, I’m guessing from your accent..

DBB: No, I was one of the ones that was going “what??” but you did an amazing job getting it fixed so quickly, so on behalf of international viewers, thank you.

JW: We also apologise that there was any delay, we also know for all of the overseas people that getting access to content from over here is a long process and so it was an exciting idea that it was going to be available so it must have been disappointing.

MT: We were very very very sorry about that.

DBB: Speaking of the international issues, a lot of people are wanting to buy it on iTunes and that’s currently not available outside the US and Canada I believe, is that something that’s going to be changed at some point or is there something that’s preventing that from being available?

JW: Well, you know the one thing about iTunes is that each market is a whole different process to get it available, the easiest one I guess is Canada, I don’t’ know why, that one was easy to pull off quickly

MT: We’re working on that

JW: Yes, definitely our goal to have it available in as many places as quickly as possible because that’s sort of the point of the whole thing is “why not”.

DBB: Is it frustrating from your perspective to have people in Australia and the UK and all over the world saying “We want to give you money”, and not being able to just do it instantly?

JW: Well, yeah, we’re always frustrated when people aren’t allowed to give us money

MT: [Joking] Yeah, we spend a lot of time on the streets asking for money and it doesn’t really work in our favour

JW: So we were like lets try it on the internet… I mean at this point, we really want everybody to see it and get excited about it you know a lot of Joss’ shows, Firefly I guess is the one I’m talking about, after being cancelled kind of grew on the internet and lives on in fans who want to see it still and that’s entirely based on this word of mouth and this spread of the enjoyment of the content and so that’s our plan with this, we think it will eventually be available everywhere and we certainly want people to be excited about it when it is, or still excited about it.

DBB: Speaking of iTunes, a lot of people are wanting to know if there’s going to be a sound track available.

MT: Oh yes, and we’re currently working on that as well, soon, not very soon but

JW: As soon as possible

MT: As soon as possible. With everything we have going on, the things we want to accomplish keep piling up so we’re trying to pick away from the pile as quickly as humanly possible.

JW: Yeah, we have to do a little remixing and remastering for the actual soundtrack and so that’ll take a little time and right now because we’re doing this ourselves, we’re just trying to get Act III up. But then, next week..

MT: I think we’ll have time, Jed will have time, that’s all in Jed’s hands pretty much the mixing and mastering with the sound track.

JW: But with Dollhouse and we’ve got Comic Con next week you know and we’re going to try and get it out as fast as possible because we want people to rock it in their cars.

MT: Oh Yeah

DBB: I’m sure that right now people all around the world are watching this and singing along because they’ve already learnt half the words.

JW: Oh that’s great, awesome.

MT: I’ve seen also the sort of speculation on song titles that I love, that tickles my little heart. So I feel that once we release the CD with the actual titles and lyrics and everything it’ll be fun for everyone to be like “Oh! That’s what it’s called”

JW: Also, I see some people have transcribed the lyrics which is helpful too.

DBB: Speaking of the sound track and people singing and so forth, is there potential in the future for people to be able to hold public screenings of Dr Horrible and have big massive sing-alongs.

MT: I feel like we’re open to all the possibilities of what can happen with Dr Horrible.

JW: Joss loves those

MT: Yeah, we want more than anything to have people at midnight screenings singing along to Dr Horrible. We want more than anything to have a bunch of people at Comic Con dressed as Dr Horrible, that, I think that would signify success for us.

DBB: I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see people showing up dressed as Dr Horrible, or Captain Hammer or something…

MT: Captain Hammer, that would be awesome.

JW: I’m gonna try and get Nathan to dress as Captain Hammer at Comic Con to just see what happens to him. I’m going to try and get him to dress as Captain Hammer when we hang out and just see what happens and see if his personality changes.

MT: Or have him dress as a Captain Hammer groupie have him wear one of those red shirt with his own face on it.

DBB: I must say I can’t imagine anyone else play such a smarmy, strange character and play it so over the top but still be really enjoyable to watch, I think Nathan does an amazing job with that.

JW: Yeah, I mean I had never actually seen him be that much of an asshole and so when we did our first reading, I knew I loved him and I knew he was exceptionally hilarious and talented, but only when he read the lines did I realise how perfectly he was cast and Act III will show him off well as well.

MT: After the first read through we all came together and were like “wow, Nathan was born to play a smarmy superhero. And his voice was very impressive, he can sing, the man can sing.

DBB: They’re all amazing, I think people have been quite surprised at how good these actors do sound when they sing.

MT: Right, Neil goes without saying, he’s a Broadway baby and Felicia has such a beautiful, angelic voice and we’re all just so pleased with our cast, they’ve all be so wonderful.

JW: It was very fun, the whole recording process was extremely fun and there was a lot of hilarity and it came out better than we could have hoped.

DBB: Are we going to see some of that behind the scenes stuff on the DVD?

JW: There’ll be behind the scenes, we filmed a lot during the process and yeah, we’ll cutting that up to make it enjoyable.

MT: There will be plenty of juicy morsels for you to ahh, enjoy on the DVD.

JW: Yeah, our DVD dreams are non-stop, our aspirations are high.

MT: Every day I think we come up with some new silly thing to go on the DVD. It’s like a non stop romp over here since the day Dr Horrible was conceived, we’ve just been playing the whole time and pretty much every ridiculous thing we think of makes it into the actual product.

DBB: Who’s idea was it to the pots and pans in the opening scene look like Serenity?

JW: I think that’s just coincidence but it’s a great conspiracy. The house we shot in, I mean honestly, this guy just had a house that was perfect, it was insane, we walked onto that set but it wasn’t a set. I guess it had been made over by some reality show when the come in…

MT: Wasn’t it called Monster House or something?

JW: Yeah, so it is possible, he may have arranged the pots and pans to look like Serenity, he may have done that, you’ll have to ask him, I’m sure you can find him on the internet, get on him, we need to know, we need to get to the bottom of this!

MT: But it was pretty amazing

DBB: It is quite amazing to look at it, I didn’t notice it at first, and when someone posted it I went and had a look and thought “that does look like Serenity”

JW: I’m going to take a look at it right now.

MT: I’m trying to find his house online so that we can give you his name..

JW: He was very nice to allow us to invade his home.

MT: Oh, and we invaded his home for a very long day. [Dr Blog Bot edit: see our earlier article for details about where it was filmed]

DBB: Do you have a favourite song from Dr Horrible?

MT: We love all of Joss’ songs. We have a funny thing going on, Joss is like “I like your guys’ songs better” and we’re like “your songs are better than our songs”, so, what would be our favourite… it’s coming up. It’s coming up in Act III

DBB: Ok, we’ll leave that question so we don’t’ give away any spoilers then. Do you have a favourite line from the movie?

MT: “The Hammer is my penis”, curtesy of young Zackary Whedon

DBB: I think that one’s gone down well with all…well most of the fans anyway, there’s been a couple of concerns but..

JW: When we were filming that, I mean, everybody on set had their hand over their mouth trying so hard not to laugh. He did I think four or five takes of it.

MT: Four of five takes, each one absolutely perfect, and everyone dying every single time he said the line, each one got funnier

DBB: I don’t know how he did it with a straight face.

MT: And how Neil maintained is quite a feat.

JW: He’s a pro.

DBB: Can you tell me, what happens if wonderflonium gets bounced?

JW: Well, you know what, I don’t know if anybody knows, nobody has dared bounce it.

MT: No, but I will say that New York street did burn down at the Universal back lot, that’s all I’m saying…

DBB: Ok… Now you’ve both started working on Dollhouse recently, was that anything that sort of came out of Dr Horrible or was it going to happen anyway?

MT: We were being submitted for staffing on various shows it was all sort of, the timing of everything was really just organic, the strike happened, we were all sitting around, out of work writers, and decided to get together and do something fun which became Dr Horrible and then we finished shooting Dr Horrible and it was time to staff up for … well Joss’ show had been in the process of being staffed up and it was all sort of serendipitous and we liked working together obviously, and it’s been…

JW:..It’s continuing…

MT: Yeah, it’s continuing the fun, I really will say, the fun just doesn’t stop.

JW: It’s a great staff too on Dollhouse so it’s an extremely positive experience working over here, and it’s easy to come to work every day.

MT: And we’re learning a lot from really great people, Tim Minear, Liz Craft, Sarah Fain, Steve DeKnight, I mean it’s like heavy-hitters in the room.

JW: And that Joss guy’s kinda smart too.

MT: Yeah, I guess Joss is ok, his ideas are alright.

DBB: So you think you could stand to keep working with him then?

MT: Yeah, maybe they gotta pay us a little bit more but…

JW: I don’t know, I’m outta here [joking]

DBB: How do you find working with each other?

MT: Everybody asks us that and it’s starting to get to the point we’re like … “should we start hating each other?” But no, actually it’s fine, we were working from home for a while anyway prior to coming to an office every day on Dollhouse, we were both doing freelance from home so we’ve been in each other’s faces for the majority of our relationship and I think it’s just going to continue to stay that way…. It’s Jed’s Birthday

JW: Yeah, she got me a new laptop which is just awesome.

MT: Yeah, I got him a new Macbook and he’s very happy about it, funny thing is is when I went to pay for it the guy at the Apple store looked at my credit card and he’s like “oh, no, wait, I mean, wait, you’re Mar… no, you can’t…wait.. did you write Dr Horrible? [laughs] and I said ‘yes” you know my name’s ridiculously long.

JW: You can now officially pronounce it for the masses.

MT: Oh, yes, my name is “Maurissa Tancharoen” and it is a Tai surname.

JW: Now we don’t’ have to put it on the DVD.

DBB: One of the things I’ve been wondering about myself, Dr Horrible when it was first conceived was going to be totally different by the sound of it, a much smaller, less finished product, is that accurate?

JW: I guess Joss’ first idea was that it would be a podcast or something and then when we all started working on it we were thinking we would play the parts and do it on our webcam because Maurissa and I had done some stuff like that and Zack and Maurissa and I did a strike video and so it started that way and when we started writing songs and Joss started talking about bigger people playing it and so it just expanded and expanded…

MT: I think our first official creative meeting Joss had Freeze Ray written and he sat on his little keyboard and played it for us and then all of a sudden the world of Dr Horrible started to come clear to us and it all evolved from there.

JW: Yeah, and then we came to the next meeting and we had a little…

MT: Yeah, Jed and I had the next song and then yeah, everyone just kept going back and forth and it became what it is today.

DBB: Was it hard to decide where to draw the line so that it didn’t become something that seemed like it shouldn’t be on the internet?

JW: We didn’t really think about it, we just kind of made it, we honestly didn’t think about it, I guess we knew we were going to make it three acts from the beginning, we didn’t know how long they were going to be but we just sort of made it … we just kind of went and didn’t care how it came out or what it ended up being we just wanted to make the characters likeable… or unlikeable depending which one we’re talking about, and you know we didn’t really worry about the end product as long it’s something you, as a writer, as long as it’s something you would want to see, that’s how you judge whether or not it’s any good. At least that’s they way I do it.

DBB: Is there any one particular thing that stands out to you that was either really good or really bad about the whole process?

JW: Umm, well Felicia is you know, just a terrible diva.

MT: Oh my gosh, her makeup entourage, her hair entourage, her dream analyst, I mean it’s just out of control

JW: That is a lie [laughs]

MT: We’re kidding, we’re kidding. I will say every part of it was…

JW: The worst part of it was dealing with the web stuff on the day of the launch,

MT: We were freaking out about all of that

JW: That was the hardest part, everything else has just been an organic fun process, trying to make it … but that was the one part where we were pulling our hair out.

DBB: Nobody can plan for getting a thousand hits a second that would take anybody by surprise… One last question?

MT: Absolutely

DBB: You’ve both got to answer this separately, if you were applying to the Evil League of Evil, what would your laugh sound like?

MT: Jed… go ahead…

JW: Well the thing is, I’m actually IN the Evil League of Evil so I don’t even have to audition but unfortunately you do Maurissa.

MT: Umm, well let’s see, I’m Asian, how should I do this? [crazy laugh]

DBB: That’s great, thank you so much both of you for taking some time out to talk to me it’s been a pleasure.

MT: Absolutely, thank you.

DBB: Have a great day and I hope this continues to be a huge success for you.

MT: We do too. Thank you.

JW: Thank you for all your help.

Felicia Day

If you suspect you might have spotted Felicia in the laundromat before Dr Horrible, either you live in LA or you’ve seen her in the Cheetos commercial!

Felicia is currently shooting a new commercial and preparing to go to Comic Con with The Guild next week, but she took some time out to do an email interview with Dr Blog Bot:

Dr Blog Bot: Firstly, congratulations, I have yet to see anyone say anything negative about what we’ve seen so far of Doctor Horrible.

Doctor Horrible certainly hit the internet with a bang yesterday – crashing the official site and taking a few other victims with it including your own blog, I’m guessing rebuilding your website wasn’t on the top of your list of things to do when the first Act was released?

Felicia Day: Well, it was a two tier approach for my site really, haha. I had found a new skin for the whole site before the weekend, and I was rushing to get it all converted before Dr. Horrible premiered, but unfortunately, the site got broken. I have a knack for doing that. Then, while I was trying to get it back up with the help of my webmaster IM buddy, the influx of traffic kicked it while it was down. Sad face. But, good thing it’s up now. Seriously under construction but up. I definitely learned my lesson and will put it on lockdown mode when anything else every premieres with my face in it, LOL.

DBB: Back in March you blogged about the Doctor Horrible Fan Site (thanks for being the first to call us official!) and you seemed surprised that it had popped up so quickly, a lot has happened since then, does it still surprise you that fans have been so enthusiastic about this?

FD: Surprised, not really. Whedon fans are the most awesome, supportive bunch on the internet. I know a lot of them helped “The Guild” get as popular as it is, so I predicted that “Horrible” would be huge even before we filmed. And on top of the built-in fan base, anything Joss does is amazingly creative and unique. I’m a firm believer of quality attracting eyeballs because people generally have good taste and “Dr. Horrible” is a fantastic project. Objectively.

But to add to that, it was kinda weird/funny that the day I discovered doctorhorrible.net I blogged about it, and then doctorhorrible.net blogged about me blogging about it. Very meta internet moment.

DBB: It looks like Doctor Horrible was as much fun to film as it is to watch, did you enjoy working with Neil Patrick Harris & Nathan Fillion?

FD: I couldn’t have had a better time on set. I’ve been pretty lucky in my career, always working with people who inspire me and who I can learn from, and Neil and Nathan are at the top of that list. They are so experienced, they never waste a moment on camera, it’s staggering. I hope some of it rubbed off on me. I also thought we worked well together, had good chemistry. Of course, who couldn’t have chemistry with those sexy hunks of manhood. Oh wait, this is an interview. Must censor myself.

DBB: Who’s your (Felicia not Penny) favorite, Doctor Horrible or Captain Hammer? (Why)

FD: I definitely go for the more cerebral type, so I’d have to say Doctor Horrible. Guys with egos don’t really attract me. Horrible probably had a crappy childhood, he has that wounded thing going for him. I’d take him on a mini-golf date and make him cupcakes.

DBB: Given the opportunity, would you like to be involved in any potential “sequel” of Doctor Horrible?

FD: Yes, please. I’ll do craft service if they need it!

DBB: Do you think the “Doctor Horrible” effect will flow through to The Guild (eg. do you think interest will increase)?

FD: Yes, I do think that it will enable me to pull in more non-gamers and get more mainstream media attention. The thing that’s so awesome about “Horrible” is that it’s going to lend legitimacy to made-for-internet shows. Right now unless you’re bought by a big fancy studio no Hollywood-types pay attention. It takes someone of Joss’ stature to do it independently and do it successfully to make the venue more “respectable”.

DBB: Having seen how Doctor Horrible was put together, will it affect the way you approach season II of The Guild?

FD: It definitely makes me want to keep it as independent as I can. I’ve gotten a lot of offers for the show but retaining creative control is something that is a priority for me. For a while I was waiting for a production partner to even write the second season, but I decided to stop waiting and start writing, because worst case scenario I cobble together funding and just get it out there. “Dr. Horrible” shows me it’s all about not waiting for permission to create. The audience will be there, and they will love it. Just get it made.

DBB: In 5 or 10 years time do you think people will still be watching television as we know it today or is this really the beginning of a new era in entertainment?

FD: I think that it will be a strange hybrid of what we experience, a more “watch on demand” situation probably merged with the internet. We already see technology like this available right now with Netflix, Apple TV, etc. It will just be more seamless and convenient for the regular user.

DBB: If there was one piece of advice you could give to someone thinking about starting their own web series, what would it be?

FD: Do your research: learn how a set works, get your releases. Make sure the script is good before you shoot, and realize that the most work is AFTER you get it shot. And most importantly, tell a story that is unique to you, not something that you’re copying or writing to please people or make a “hit”. Tell it for yourself, and people will find it and enjoy it. That’s what Jed, Joss, Zach and Maurissa did. And look at the wonderful thing they made!

DBB: Finally – Is there anything you’d like to say to anyone who may not have seen Doctor Horrible yet?

FD: Just to definitely tune it! It’s a revolution happening before your eyes. With pretty songs. And stunts. And my hair looks good so…bonus!