EPIC FU interviews Jed Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen & Zack Whedon at Comic Con

• External Link: blog.epicfu.com

Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog has been inspiring a strong reaction from fans, we have videos, costumes and now tea!

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

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

Whedonage.com talks to PJ Haarsma about his involvement with Dr Horrible.
[Be sure to click on the link, below to read the full interview.]

How did you first become involved in Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog?

Nathan called me one night and asked me if I could make a “thing” that would work on his iPhone. He was vague and I really didn’t understand what he was doing. He mentioned something about a remote, Joss, and a musical. I remember thinking, “I hope you’re not singing.”

Did you meet with Joss Whedon and the rest of the team or was the design done remotely?

Nathan and I did this ourselves. We went back and forth together on the design a few times. I don’t have an iPhone so I would call Nathan to keep testing it out. I tried to make it as interactive as possible. All I knew was that someone was going to push a button to make a van move. When Nathan showed Joss he loved it. He just wanted the GAS and BRAKE buttons to be bigger.

Did you visit the set to see your remote control in action? Will you be doing more work with the team in the future?

Again no. Remember, I’m the guy who didn’t see Firefly until just last year. The whole process was very informal. My friend called and asked for help and I did my best for him. Next thing I know I hear servers are crashing from his project. I’m just glad to have been a part of it. After Nathan announced it at Comic-Con, over 28,000 people clicked on the Softwire link in just 24 hours. I housed the remote on the Softwire server because that just happened to be the one I was working on when Nathan called. If they need something in the future of course I would help.

Have you been following the intense Internet coverage of Dr Horrible and have you been surprised at the amount of interest in it?

I watched the whole thing at Nate’s house laughing the entire time, but I did not expect the enormous response at all. Before the con Nathan called and told me about the strain on the servers from the popularity. He thought if he announced it he might crash my game servers but I told him do it anyway.

Have you seen an increase in traffic since the news broke. Do you think Dr Horrible will change the way future entertainment is produced?

In the past 48 hours over 39,000 people have come to the website. That’s a huge jump in traffic. As for the future of entertainment I don’t know. I would like to think the case of Dr. Horrible illustrates the success artists can obtain when they control their own content, but the suits in Hollywood are a pretty formidable bunch.

• External Link: Full Interview @ Whedonage.com

This genuine remote control “prop” was used during filming was designed by Nathan Fillion’s friend PJ Haarsma, author of The Softwire sci-fi series. If you click on the buttons on the remote below you’ll be whisked away to PJ Haarsma’s websites but they’ll try and open in a tiny little window instead of a whole page so you’d best click on the link at the bottom of this post before trying out the remote!

Despite being super busy with writing for the new TV series Dollhouse, Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog writer (and Captain Hammer Groupie #1) Maurissa Tancharoen took a few minutes out to respond to some questions - thanks Maurissa!

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?