---
title: "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog"
year: 2008
kind: "series"
canonical: "https://film.one/tv/dr-horribles-sing-along-blog"
fi1m_id: "dr-horribles-sing-along-blog"
imdb_id: "tt1227926"
tmdb_id: 5739
wikidata_id: "Q842253"
fi1m_score: 81
critics_score: 86
critics_reviews: 6
published: "2026-09-21T21:05:50.528096+00:00"
updated: "2026-09-21T21:06:11.801543+00:00"
region: "SG"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (2008)

Created by Joss Whedon, Zack Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen, Jed Whedon · 14m · Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy

## Identity

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/tv/dr-horribles-sing-along-blog
- **Type:** Series
- **Fi1m ID:** dr-horribles-sing-along-blog
- **IMDb ID:** tt1227926
- **TMDB ID:** 5739
- **Wikidata ID:** Q842253
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1227926/, https://www.themoviedb.org/tv/5739, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q842253

**Fi1m score: 81** · Critics 86 from 6 reviews

*In a sentence:* A lonely man with a lab coat, a webcam and a freeze ray, who would rather sing about the girl than talk to her

> Made on a shoestring during a writers’ strike and released online in three acts, Joss Whedon’s web musical is sharper, sadder and better sung than it has any right to be. Neil Patrick Harris carries it; the woman he is singing about deserves more than a laundry basket.

## Synopsis

Billy (Neil Patrick Harris) is a would-be supervillain who calls himself Dr. Horrible and records a video blog from his flat, answering viewers’ letters and reporting on his freeze ray, which stops time. He wants two things: admission to the Evil League of Evil, run by a horse called Bad Horse, and the nerve to speak to Penny (Felicia Day), the woman he stands beside at the launderette twice a week. His friend Moist (Simon Helberg), whose only power is being damp, is no help with either. A letter from the League demands a proper crime, so Horrible plans to steal a courier van carrying Wonderflonium. Captain Hammer (Nathan Fillion), the city’s square-jawed hero, turns up to stop him, and Penny is standing in the road. Three acts, each about fourteen minutes, with songs.

## Review

During the American writers’ strike of 2007 and 2008, Joss Whedon, with Jed Whedon, Zack Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen, wrote a musical about a supervillain with a webcam. They shot it cheaply, in three acts of about fourteen minutes each, and put it on the internet in July 2008. That explains most of what is on screen: the two or three locations, the small cast, the friends in the chorus. It is also tightly written, funnier than most studio comedies, and sadder than a piece about a freeze ray has any business being. We recommend it, with one caveat about the woman at the centre of it.

Harris is Billy, who calls himself Dr. Horrible and explains his plans to a camera in his flat with the earnestness of a man who has never had anyone else to explain them to. The joke is that he is not frightening. He is a shy, decent young man with an ambition to join the Evil League of Evil, and his villainy amounts to wanting to be noticed. Harris plays this without winking. He sings in a light tenor that cracks in the right places, and does more with a pair of goggles pushed up on his forehead than most actors manage with a speech. When he stands at the launderette next to Penny and cannot make his mouth work, we recognised him, and were not comfortable about it.

Fillion’s Captain Hammer is the other half of the joke. Hammer is the hero, and he is a boor: a man who has never been told no, who treats saving the city as a way of meeting women, and who cannot understand why the little man in the lab coat resents him. Fillion has a large, handsome, untroubled face and uses every inch of it. His entrance, interrupting the heist to sing about what a man’s gotta do while Horrible fumes behind him, is the funniest three minutes in the piece, and we laughed out loud at nothing more than the way he holds his chin. Helberg’s Moist is given about four lines and lands all of them.

Ryan Green shoots it plainly, in a handful of rooms and one street. Billy’s flat is lit the way a webcam would light it, flat and greenish; the launderette is fluorescent and slightly grubby. Shawna Trpcic gives Horrible a white coat, white gloves and welding goggles, so that he looks like a dentist who has been reading comics, and puts Hammer in a black T-shirt with a hammer on it. Lisa Lassek cuts between the blog, where Horrible tells us what happened, and the scenes where we watch it happen, and the two rarely match, which tells us more about him than his songs do. Jed Whedon’s music, written with Joss, is the real surprise: proper melodies, including a second-act duet in which Billy and Penny walk the same streets singing about two cities, one getting worse and one getting better, and the tunes fit together exactly while meaning opposite things.

The caveat is Penny. Day is warm and sings sweetly, and the part is a wish rather than a woman. She is kind to the homeless, kind to Billy, kind to Hammer, and the script never lets her want anything that is not a shelter or a boyfriend. The first act also takes a while to catch; the jokes in the opening blog are ones Whedon has told before, and it is not until Hammer arrives that it finds its pace. And the seams show. A crowd scene has about eleven people in it.

Whedon had done a musical before, the [*Buffy the Vampire Slayer*](https://film.one/tv/buffy-the-vampire-slayer) episode *Once More, with Feeling*, and this is the same trick played smaller and harder: people who cannot say what they mean are made to sing it. The third act takes a turn we will not describe. We had settled in for a comedy and were not given one. It caught us off guard, and then it seemed the only honest place the story could have gone.

Watch all three acts in one sitting. It takes forty-two minutes. Bring someone who will sing along to the horse.

*Fi1m score 81, published 21 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

The reviews are uniformly warm. Most critics take the three-part internet musical as exactly what it sets out to be: small-scale, cheaply made superhero fun with a proper soundtrack, and they find it succeeds on those terms. The praise clusters on the songs, which nearly every review calls catchy, and on the cast. Neil Patrick Harris is singled out most often for his awkward, expressive turn as the would-be villain, with Nathan Fillion close behind. Several critics also note how neatly it fits its moment, with vlogs and homemade celebrity as its subject as much as its method.

The spread is narrow; no review lands below good, and the reservations are minor. Den of Geek finds the first act slow to get going before the songs take hold, and a couple of critics treat it more as a clever experiment than a finished work. The latest review, for the home video release, reports that it holds up.

## Straight answers

**How long is Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, and what is it rated?**

*Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog* has episodes of about 14m. It is a comedy and drama series.

**Where can I watch Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog in Singapore?**

*Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog* is not on any streaming or rental service in Singapore at the moment. It is available in 3 other countries; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily.

**What should I watch after Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog?**

After *Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog*, try [*Flight of the Conchords*](https://film.one/tv/flight-of-the-conchords) (2007, Fi1m 84): Two hopeless men, a flat, a camera and songs that are better than their lives. Then [*Crazy Ex-Girlfriend*](https://film.one/tv/crazy-ex-girlfriend) (2015, Fi1m 82): Musical comedy about wanting the wrong person, sung by someone who knows exactly why.

### Reviews we read (6)

- **The AV Club**, Tasha Robinson (A-): The critic praises the charm of the small-scale DIY production and the catchy songs and performances by Harris, Day, and Fillion. They highlight the clever meta-commentary in the DVD extras. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/dr-horribles-sing-along-blog-1798205408)
- **The Hollywood Reporter** (85/100, inferred): The critic calls the plot fantastic and rooted in the modern cultural moment of vlogs and superheroes, deeming the three-part musical very good overall. They single out its well-produced low-rent fun and timely commentary on accessible celebrities and heroes. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/dr-horribles-sing-along-blog-125880/)
- **Variety** (80/100, inferred): The piece describes the internet musical as high-quality superhero-and-supervillain fun with a swell original soundtrack and fabulous production values. It singles out the strong cast performances, especially Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion, and the cheeky comic-book tone with a love story at its center. [Read](https://variety.com/2008/tv/news/dr-horribles-1-20048/)
- **Collider**, Nico Nico (A+): The critic calls the series the only good thing to come out of the Writers' Strike and praises its creativity, performances, and catchy tunes. The standout element is the music and the cast's delivery, particularly how the songs and acting make the story engaging. [Read](https://collider.com/dr-horribles-sing-along-blog-dvd-review/)
- **Paste**, Christina Lee (85/100, inferred): The review celebrates the series as an entertaining online experiment that remains fresh on home video, with clever twists on superhero tropes and strong musical numbers. It singles out Neil Patrick Harris's nuanced performance, especially his expressive eyebrow acting and awkward charm as Dr. Horrible. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/dr-horribles-sing-along-blog-dvd-review)
- **Den of Geek**, Sarah Dobbs (80/100, inferred): The critic calls it a very Whedon production with strong performances, especially Nathan Fillion's, and highlights the brilliant songs despite a slow start. They note its similarity to Buffy season 6 and express enthusiasm for the rest of the acts. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/culture/joss-whedons-dr-horribles-sing-along-blog-act-i-review/)

## Details

- **Created by:** Joss Whedon, Zack Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen, Jed Whedon
- **Creator:** Joss Whedon, Zack Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen, Jed Whedon
- **Director:** Joss Whedon
- **Writer:** Joss Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen, Jed Whedon, Zack Whedon
- **Cinematography:** Ryan Green
- **Editor:** Lisa Lassek
- **Music:** Jed Whedon, Joss Whedon
- **Costume design:** Shawna Trpcic
- **Producer:** David M. Burns, Michael Boretz, Joss Whedon
- **Cast:** Neil Patrick Harris as Dr. Horrible; Nathan Fillion as Captain Hammer; Felicia Day as Penny; Simon Helberg as Moist; Marti Noxon as Newswoman; Jed Whedon as Bad Horse Chorus #2; Rob Reinis as Bad Horse Chorus #3 / Moving Guy; Otto Michael Penzato as Driver
- **Runtime:** 14m
- **Release (Singapore):** 15 July 2008
- **Genres:** Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy

## Where to watch in Singapore

Not streaming, renting or buying in Singapore at the last check.

Also available in: AU, CA, GB. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## Awards

- Hugo Awards 2009: Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form (won)

## If you liked this

- *Little Shop of Horrors* (1986): Another shy man sings his way into trouble for a woman; the plant is funnier than Hammer
- *Flight of the Conchords* (2007), Fi1m 84: Two hopeless men, a flat, a camera and songs that are better than their lives — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/flight-of-the-conchords.md)
- *The Return of Captain Invincible* (1983): Australian superhero musical with Christopher Lee singing; stranger and cheaper, oddly kindred
- *Megamind* (2010): A supervillain wins, loses the girl, and finds out that was the easy part
- *Crazy Ex-Girlfriend* (2015), Fi1m 82: Musical comedy about wanting the wrong person, sung by someone who knows exactly why — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/crazy-ex-girlfriend.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/tv/dr-horribles-sing-along-blog