Well, there’s not much on television and I’ve seen the summer films for which I didn’t want to wait for DVD,  so I was thrilled to learn of the upcoming “air” dates of Joss Whedon’s Internet musical netcast Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog (via ProgGrrl on Twitter.)

To get the full effect, you have to read Whedon’s announcement, done as a comment on the blog Whedonesque, but here’s the shorthand version. There are three parts, each about 10 minutes long; part one will go up Tuesday July 15th, part two the 17th and part three the 19th. Free, with dreams of future monetization and world domination.

The musical was written by Whedon, his brothers Zack and Jed, and Jed’s fiancée Maurissa Tancharoen during the WGA strike, and stars Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion and Felicia Day. According to the official Facebook page, it’s

“The story of a low-rent super-villain, the hero who keeps beating him up, and the cute girl from the laundromat he’s too shy to talk to. “

You can find a lot more information about the show on fansite doctorhorrible.net.

As a fan, I’m looking forward to watching the show, and will happily purchase merchandise and DVDs and stuff to help Whedon fulfill his nefarious dreams of glory. Plus, Nathan Fillion being all super-heroey. What’s not to like? 🙂

Teaser from Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog on Vimeo.

But that’s not the only reason I am so excited about this production. For the past few months, I’ve been working on some panels for a conference about the impact of the Writers Strike. One panel covers how the writers used social media during the strike to inform the public, encourage and reward fan support and keep union members motivated. For example sites like United Hollywood and initiatives like Pencils for Media Moguls.

The other panel dives deeper into the impact of websites and videos written (and often performed) by the writers and distributed through YouTube, United Hollywood and other Internet sites. Why did they work so well, and how has user generated content changed the entertainment landscape? I’m still waiting for a few pieces to fall into place, which is why I haven’t written much about the panels here or on Marketing Roadmaps. As soon as I can tell you more, I will.

Back to my excitement. Dr. Horrible is a perfect example of how the Writers Strike and its aftermath are changing the entertainment industry. Clearly Whedon has a (more than) slight advantage when bringing his Internet production to market. He is already well-known, with a huge fanbase. His talent attracts top-calibre performers who themselves have significant fanbases.

However, he is using the exact same social media tools available to any aspiring writer, director or performer to promote the show:  Vimeo (a video sharing site), Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, websites and blogs. The show episodes will be netcast for a limited time, and then available for purchase (download and DVD).

That’s the world-changing part of this: anybody can do the same.  And if they are any good, they just might be able to achieve success without the involvement of the major studios. You know, like the one that screwed over Firefly.

Shiny.

[tags] Joss Whedon, Writers Strike, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, social media [/tags]

Warning: No attempt to remain spoiler free ahead. If you haven’t watched “Revelations,” the putative Battlestar midseason four finale, but really the 08 season finale, since the show won’t be back until sometime in early 09, don’t read any further.

It was an excellent episode, wrapping up a number of story threads and leaving no one character in specific jeopardy, which is nice given how long we have to wait for the final episodes, while leaving everyone in the fleet — Cylon and human alike — in absolute limbo. Where to now that Earth is no longer an option?

There was much to like about this episode. Katee Sackhoff was excellent, as always. I loved her reaction when she learned Sam was a Cylon, and I always enjoy every scene she has with Jamie Bamber — and there have been not nearly enough this season. I know some Lee and Kara shippers are disappointed that there wasn’t more interaction between the two, feeling that there was more of a friend vibe than a romantic relationship. My opinion: at least 11 hours, maybe 12 of show to go, depending on whether the finale next year gets the reported extra hour. That’s plenty of time to resolve that storyline. And if you don’t like what Ron Moore and team dish out, there’s always fanfic.

Michael Hogan as Saul Tigh was superb. There is no doubt that this man, Cylon notwithstanding, is totally committed to the fleet and the humans in it. He knows exactly what he is doing when he confesses to Adama; without his revelation, there is no resolution.

Lucy Lawless. Flawless as Deanna. And Mary McDonnell delivered her usual stellar performance, as did the supporting cast.

The core of the episode, though, was the Adamas, two characters we’d not seen nearly enough in the season. If this was why we had to wait so long for significant Edward James Olmos and Jamie Bamber screen time, I’ll consider the wait worthwhile. Adama’s reaction to Tigh’s revelation was heart-wrenching, but the scene where Lee was taking care of his devastated parent was a turning point. As Roslin says later, he saw what had to be done and did it. Even though Adama Sr. retakes his place as Admiral and Roslin returns as president at the end of the ep, it’s clear that a torch has been passed from the older generation to the younger. Adama Sr. and Roslin, even Tigh, are observers. The actors — the ones who move the story forward — are Lee, Kara and Deanna, and to a lesser extent Tory, Sam and Tyrol.

The ending. I can’t say I was surprised. There have been enough hints that when the fleet found Earth it wouldn’t be what they expected.

I’m looking forward to seeing where they take us next. Wish it were sooner than next year, but so it goes. In the meantime, I’ll enjoy the return of Stargate Atlantis next month (still without the Elizabeth Weir character, oh well) and Bones next fall, look forward to the Stargate SG1 film this summer and anticipate the new Whedon series Dollhouse. That’s about as much TV as I can handle at one time anyway 🙂

[tags] Battlestar Galactica [/tags]