Slide 1

ENGL 3815 Survey of Popular Culture

Fall 2013PH 321Dr. David Lavery

Chapter 3: Bonus Materials: Digital Auras and Authors

2Dr. Horribles Sing Along Blog(Webcast, 2008)

A Hole in the World (Angel 5.15)4

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Rat Saw God (Veronica Mars 2.6)6

7xx

Whedon studied at Wesleyan Universitywith Michael Bay.8

Kai & Joss

Bay & Latest Supermodel9

Whedon and Jeanine Basinger10

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12

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Essay by Whedon in new MSCL DVD box set.15

[W]e are left with the most crushing cliffhanger in history [on My So Called Life, with Angela going off on her date with Jordan Catalano having just discovered that it was actually Brian Krakow (or, as I affectionately call him, me) who wrote her those love letters. (Joss Whedon, Reality TV; my emphasis)Brian Krakow (Devon Gummersall))16

or as I affectionately call him me17

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199220

199721

199922

200223

2009-2010

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Buffy Season Eight

2007-201125

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Whedon directs Business School(The Office, 2007); Dream On (Glee, 2010)

28The Horrible Website

2012

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Thanks to Hillary Robson

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Thanks to Hillary Robson32Thank you.

The Horrible Website

Dr. H, Captain Hammer, Penny

Hammer and Horrible

Dr. Horrible (Neil Patrick Harris)The Horrible Cast

Penny (Felicia Day)

The Horrible CastCaptain Hammer (Nathan Fillion)

The Horrible CastMoist (Simon Hedberg)

The Horrible CastDr. Horribles Sing-Along Blog (hereafter DHSAB) premiered, free (for a limited time) on the web, posted, one act at a time, July 15th, 17th, and 19th of 2008. Horrible then disappeared (midnight July 20th), available only on ITunes until its release on a DVD late in the year.

Once upon a time, all the writers in the forest got very mad with the Forest Kings and declared a work-stoppage. The forest creatures were all sad; the mushrooms did not dance, the elderberries gave no juice for the festival wines, and the Teamsters were kinda pissed. (They were very polite about it, though.) During this work-stoppage, many writers tried to form partnerships for outside funding to create new work that circumvented the Forest King system.Horribles Origin Myth

Frustrated with the lack of movement on that front, I finally decided to do something very ambitious, very exciting, very mid-life-crisisy. Aided only by everyone I had worked with, was related to or had ever met, I single-handedly created this unique little epic. A supervillain musical, of which, as we all know, there are far too few.Horribles Origin Myth

[T]o make it on the fly, on the cheapbut to make it. To turn out a really thrilling, professionalish piece of entertainment specifically for the internet. To show how much could be done with very little. To show the world there is another way. To give the public (and in particular you guys) something for all your support and patience. And to make a lot of silly jokes. Actually, that sentence probably should have come first.The Horrible Master Plan

DHSAB was quintessential Whedon: naughty, hilarious, cultish, exhilarating, genre-bending, virally memorable (especially its catchy music and Sondheim-goes-geek patter lyrics)a near-perfect manifestation of the loser aesthetic identified by Richard Burt and elucidated by Matt Hills (Fan Cultures) that had been Whedons TV auteur signature in Buffy, Angel, and Firefly. And, needless to say, it was inherently collaborative.--David Lavery, Joss: A Creative Portrait of the Maker of the Whedonverses

The end of 2008 brought many accolades for this TV show that has never been shown on TV (Guardian). The American Film Institute, for example, named the Dr. one of the 10 Moments of Significance for the year, and Time Magazines James Poniewozik perplexingly designated it one of the top ten television shows of the year. Much deserved praise indeedexcept for the minor caveat that Dr. Horrible has never aired on television. As a fully-loaded, highly original DVDfeaturing perhaps the first ever sung commentary trackDHSAB achieved best seller status on Amazon.com.

Dr. Horrible as . . .Convergence CultureTransmedia Storytelling

Whedon discounts any claim to internet guru statusclaiming to be so ignorant he cant even find pornor being a business pioneer--Somebody coming to me for business advice is like somebody asking a guy who makes balloon animals how to pick up women.

Im interested in being an Internet Roger Corman [pictured]. Hes responsible for a slew of the greatest directors of the last couple decades, because he was the only B-movie system that there was. Now the whole world can be that system.--Joss Whedon (Rosen 33)