"I'm Just a Few Weeks Away From Real, Audible Connection."

I watched the first act as soon as it premiered at 12:01. Yes, I do realize that this is the third entry on the same thing in less than 12 hours. This would be a symptom of the pandemonium I referenced earlier. Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog is funny, witty, cute, and I already love the songs. Or, at least the ones I've heard so far. Nathan Fillion's voice is a surprise -a good one- though his lip syncing needs a little work.

And Dr. Horrible? Billy? Is adorable. Sweet, shy, in love, and utterly into doing vaguely evil things. Willing to steal a whole bunch of gold bars, but scoffs at the idea of fighting in a park populated by kids. It soon becomes apparent how far off his ideas of evil are from the Evil League of Evil, as Bad Horse advocates murder as a way to really push one's application to the top of the pile and Dr. Horrible uses his iPhone to remotely control a vehicle without hurting anyone at all. And he sells his love for the girl he semi-stalks at the laundromat, a girl who is concerned with the plight of the homeless.

The writing is like a gust of fresh and fun air. There are other writers I have begun to admire, whose work makes me happy. Bryan Fuller's Pushing Daisies leaves me with a smile. Aaron Sorkin is a love of my viewing life. Amy Sherman-Palladino is someone else whose creations I enjoy watching. But Joss Whedon, his writing style, his enthusiasm, his weird philosophies that come through his works, is the only writer of any media that consistently gives me an actual high -and a long lasting one at that. It has been 30 minutes since I last watched that 13 minute Act 1, and I'm still grinning. "My application is strong this year. A letter of condemnation from the deputy mayor. That's gotta have some weight so... Fingers' crossed."

Songs about laundry day and longing and building a freeze ray to stop time and find the words to describe his feelings? How could anyone not be charmed by that? Especially with Neil Patrick Harris' gleeful and soulful performance of someone who just isn't really villainy enough, who is just too sensitive and too smart. I'm willing to bet that Bad Horse is villainous and bad to boot, but Dr. Horrible and Moist -his evil moisture buddy, who is a good enough friend and roommate to grab the Dr.'s mail- just seem like ordinary schmoes who don't quite fit in and who want to be... ...better. Who want to be someone worth something, and worth noting.

I also want to point out that this may be the first thing ever Joss Whedon has written where the male character is the focal point of the thing. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, of course, wasn't going to do that. Buffy was supposed to be the lead, and she was. But Firefly, a show mostly about Mal's journey, soon turned into the story of River Tam with Mal growing along side her -Mal finding his purpose by helping her fulfill her own. Which is beyond awesome in that he continually creates dynamic and metamorphic characters, men and women. Characters who change each other and who change the world and are changed by it. That is something I'll rant about another day, why that particular trait in regard to women characters is so astounding. But right now, I have to say that Dr. Horrible is my new fictional boyfriend. And I don't think the focus is going to shift off of him. I could be wrong; there's another half an hour to go. But I'm going to put my money on Joss creating a male character that could hold his full interest -for at least 40 or so minutes.