Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog | Neil Patrick Harris Fan

Neil on Conan tomorrow (April 2nd)

By Rach | Published Sun Apr-1-12 -

Neil will be a guest on Conan, tomorrow (Monday, April 2nd) at 11/10c on TBS.

And if you’re a Netflix subscriber, you can now watch Doctor Horrible on instant watch.

These days, the amount of web series available online rivals that of actual television programming. In addition, the once held misconception that web series are some how inherently inferior to TV shows is largely dying off. One such web series that helped buck that notion is 2008’s Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. But don’t worry if you didn’t catch it online, no need to search and watch it episodically. Netflix’s has added the movie version, which is essentially the full length story arc sewn together, to its Watch Instantly service. Don’t have much time to spare? Fear not, this genre gem is less than 45 minutes long.

Source

Posted in Interviews | Also tagged Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, Interviews: TV, TV: Conan
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San Diego Comic-Con 2011

By Hilary | Published Mon Apr-18-11 -

There are now a little over three months until San Diego Comic Con and both Rach and I will be attending this year.

It’s too soon to know which TV shows and films will be represented at the convention however previous NPH projects have had a presence at the event – after all, this is a man who has voiced Peter Parker/Spider-Man (plus the Amazing Spider-Man in the recent video game, Nightwing and Barry Allen/The Flash. Really now, surely Joss Whedon must be able to find a space for him in The Avengers? This year we have a new Harold & Kumar movie to look forward (A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas) and certainly the stars of that franchise are no strangers to Comic Con.

And of course let’s not forget The Smurfs! If they can invade New York, is San Diego any safer?

One thing’s for certain: thanks to Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, Neil is pretty much destined to always have a place in con-goers hearts. If we hear about any specific events planned for this year’s convention we’ll be sure to let you know and hopefully we’ll also be in a position to report back on these.

Posted in Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, Events | Also tagged Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, Movies: Harold & Kumar, Movies: The Smurfs, San Diego Comic Con
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Official Dr. Horrible companion book – out now!

By Rach | Published Sat Mar-26-11 -

Titan Books very kindly sent us a review copy of the new official Dr Horrible companion, which is out now in the UK, and released on Tuesday in the US. The 160 page book is packed with previously unreleased pictures, from the first table read through production and on to San Diego Comic Con and the various awards ceremonies that Dr Horrible was recognised at.

The design is gorgeous, with full colour pictures on almost every page in the first half of the book. Nathan, Felicia, Neil, and Simon Helberg have all written a page for the book, with Neil contributing the afterword and Nathan’s introduction coming in the guise of Captain Hammer.

The round-table interview with Jed, Joss, Maurissa and Zack is funny and reveals a lot of details about the early stages of production, and there’s a four page costume spread in which costume designer Shawna Trpcic goes into detail about the thought process behind most of the characters’ costume choices. Handwritten original lyric sheets and scribbled copies of Joss’ notes are a joy to look through, too.

The double page spread about the group’s trip to the 2008 San Diego Comic Con is also a nice addition, with a lot of photos and snippets from the panel discussion held that day, as well of pictures of some of the costumes that fans at that (and other) conventions have come up with!

The only slight disappointment is that a good portion of the book is taken up with content that’s either well known or only of interest to a select portion of the book’s audience. The sheet music takes up a good third of the book and if you’re not musically inclined those are 60 pages you’re not likely to look at. “Commentary! The Musical”‘s lyrics are a nice inclusion, though more likely to be used as a point of reference than something you’d sit and read. The full shooting script is also included, and while the dialogue isn’t something you’d necessarily need to sit and read, it’s nice to see the stage directions included and these pages in particular are covered with some of the best photographs.

All in all though, the pictures alone mean the book is a must-have for any fan of the series, definitely a worthy addition to your collection!

Posted in Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog | Also tagged Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, Merchandise
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Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog: The Book

By Rach | Published Sat Mar-19-11 -

This month Titan books are releasing Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog: The Book, an official companion to the award winning web series.

Created for fun and released online for free, Joss Whedon’s musical tragicomedy Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog was an Internet sensation, winning numerous awards, including an Emmy, a Hugo Award and a People’s Choice Award and was named by Time magazine as one of the Top 50 Inventions of the year. Now a hit on DVD, and with whisperings of a sequel in the offing, Joss Whedon has teamed up with Titan Books to create DR HORRIBLE’S SING-ALONG BLOG: THE BOOK!

This complete companion includes sheet music and lyrics, the full shooting script (and a transcript of Commentary! The Musical), and features exclusive new material from Joss Whedon, Nathan Fillion, Neil Patrick Harris, Felicia Day and Simon Helberg. Plus, there’s a roundtable interview with the production team, heaps of previously unseen photos from on and off the set, costume designs and more!

The 45-minute long film tells the story of Billy, aka Dr. Horrible, a budding supervillain who wants to beat superhero Captain Hammer and take over the world… and pluck up the courage to speak to his laundromat crush Penny.

It was an idea that Whedon had been toying with for a while, but work commitments made it difficult to get off the ground; but in late 2007, unrest in Hollywood presented a chance. “The writers all got together and said, we have got to go on strike. And I said, this is my opportunity” recalls Whedon. “The only way to do it was by myself – and by “by myself” I mean with the help of everyone I know.”

Joining forces with brothers Jed and Zack Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen, the whole production was shot in just six days; and by the time it hit the Internet, fan anticipation was so high that initial demand for downloads crashed the server in a matter of minutes.

“I have to say, on reflection, that Dr. Horrible is the single best thing that I’ve ever done.”
– Neil Patrick Harris (from his afterword)

Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog: The Book is available from Amazon from March 29 with an RRP of $19.95 and for those outside the US, it can be purchased from some of the international Amazon stores too.

Posted in Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog | Also tagged Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, Merchandise
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Write Neil Patrick Harris’s Emmy presenter intro!

By Rach | Published Thu Aug-26-10 -

When Neil hosted the Emmy Awards last year, John Hodgman was enlisted to introduce the winners up to the stage, using “less than credible” facts. This year’s gimmick is for host Jimmy Fallon to introduce the presenters for some of the awards using messages sent in on Twitter.

For example, Fallon said, he’ll announce the chosen tweet, user name included: “(At)blahblahblah says Jon Hamm is the hottest guy of all time. Here he is, Jon Hamm,” NBC’s “Late Night” host riffed.

To submit a message, visit nbc.com/emmys/imontheemmys and sign into your Twitter account. Be sure to include the #imontheemmys hashtag for your tweet to be considered for use during Sunday’s show. Other celebs you can help to introduce include Neil’s Dr Horrible co-star Nathan Fillion, Glee’s Matthew Morrison, and Sofia Vergara, who plays Neil’s boss in the upcoming Smurfs movie.

The Huffington Post has pictures of the seating arrangements for Sunday, where we can see that Neil’s seat is front row.

“(At)blahblahblah says Jon Hamm is the hottest guy of all time. Here he is, Jon Hamm,For example, Fallon said, he’ll announce the chosen tweet, user name included: “(At)blahblahblah says Jon Hamm is the hottest guy of all time. Here he is, Jon Hamm,” NBC’s “Late Night” host riffed.

Posted in Events | Also tagged Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, Events: Emmy Awards, Movies: The Smurfs, Presenting, Twitter
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4th Annual PopSugar 100

By Rach | Published Tue Apr-6-10 -

PopSugar have launched this year’s PopSugar 100, and they’re using a tournament style bracket to narrow down the list all the way to #1. Neil’s pitted against Russell Brand in round one. Help to make sure he makes it to round two and possibly even win, by voting for him here!

Voting also gives you the chance to win a Chanel bag, so get voting! Round one is open until April 14th, so you’ve got just under two weeks to do your thing!

On an unrelated note, if you haven’t yet seen the 8-Bit Dr Horrible game spoof, check it out here!

Posted in Awards & Nominations | Also tagged Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, PopSugar, Voting
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Doctor Horrible 2 being written as we speak!

By Rach | Published Sun Apr-4-10 -

Whedonopolis got some exclusive scoop yesterday at Zack Whedon’s Terminator comic signing in Hollywood – Doctor Horrible 2 is currently being “organized and written”, with the script writing starting yesterday afternoon. While there’s still no news on a format, filming date or cast involvement, it’s much more concrete than anything we’ve heard before, so I can only imagine that news will start appearing over the next few weeks and months.

Check out Whedonopolis for the rest of the article!

Posted in Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog | Also tagged Dr Horrible 2, Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, Rumours
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Dr Horrible sequel headed for the big screen?

By Hilary | Published Fri Mar-19-10 -

Neil speaks to MTV about the sequel to the smash-hit web series and whilst he acknowledges that there are no firm plans at present, he believes it is unlikely to debut on the internet and is more likely to be a feature film (Of course it’s possible this may be in the form of Direct to DVD).

“I don’t know what their plans are, but I don’t think it will be on the Internet,” he added. “I think it will probably be a film. Now we have to figure out everyone’s schedules.”

Watch the interview here.

Posted in Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog | Also tagged Dr Horrible 2, Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
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Neil speaks on Dr Horrible 2

By Rach | Published Tue Jan-19-10 -

As part of the Television Critics Association winter press tour, journalists visited the HIMYM set yesterday, sitting in on the table read for episode 16, “Hooked”, as well as a press conference. At the press conference, talk turned to Dr Horrible 2, and SciFiWire reports on what Neil had to say.

“I keep sort of asking him if it’s going to happen, if there’s going to be any kind of Dr. Horrible-ness,” Harris said in a press conference Monday on the set of his CBS comedy How I Met Your Mother in Los Angeles. “They’re anxious to do it, but scheduling becomes the tricky issue.”

Harris’ sitcom leaves him only a few months between seasons to shoot other projects: enough time to shoot a movie or a Web series or even a Web series adapted as a movie, as Whedon has hinted.

But Whedon and company would have to have a script ready pretty quick to secure Harris. “We have from April till August off, which isn’t a huge window,” Harris said. “That’s kind of coming pretty soon, so I wouldn’t expect it to happen this hiatus.” That would mean we’d have to wait until late next year for Horrible 2.

Posted in Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog | Also tagged Dr Horrible 2, Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, Rumours, TV: HIMYM
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Neil Patrick Harris up for Sketchfest challenge

By Rach | Published Tue Jan-12-10 -

A couple of new interviews this morning! Firstly there’s one at the NY Post’s PopWrap, where they spoke to Neil as the culmination of a week of speaking to the HIMYM cast. He talks about HIMYM’s 100th episode and his directing stint, Glee, and when we’re likely to see Doctor Horrible 2, amongst other things!

PW: With tonight’s 100th episode, I have to ask — what’s your favorite?
NPH: It might sound glib, but I think standing on top of a taxi cab in front of 60 people wearing well-tailored suits, spinning around like a rockstar definitely takes the cake. It’s a close race filming on “The Price is Right” soundstage with Bob Barker though. That one made me squeal!

PW: You’re a big “Price is Right” fan from what I’ve read.
NPH: Well, yeah, I mean, everybody thinks they’ll be on “The Price is Right” one day. I was no different than anyone else, but I was an actor on a show, so I did think that precluded me from being chosen by the producers who pick the people to run down the aisle.

Click here to read the rest!

Neil has also been talking to the San Francisco Chronicle about his participation in the upcoming SF Sketchfest.

Q: Last year, you told that tragicomic story about your childhood dog Lester, who died and was bagged and kept in a freezer through winter. How are you possibly going to top that this year?
A: I think I’m simply reading from a book for “Celebrity Autobiography.” So I’m really hoping that Mario Lopez has some good stanzas.

Q: You’ve picked your book?
A: Not really. I’m still deciding. Didn’t Hasselhoff come out with a book this year? That would be good. That would be awesome. (Voice gets sinister) And then there’s always Palin …

Janet had two options for me, both of which I was dying to do. She also wanted me to be a guest on “Match Game” – and I will always be a guest on “Match Game” – but the Golden Globes are that weekend. Neither one required a lot of homework on my part. In fact, with “Celebrity Autobiography” I think the less you try to make it a comedy bit, the funnier it is.

Q: Are you going to hang around for other shows?
A: We’re going to hang out for the second weekend, so I think we’ll get to see some stuff. I’m actually looking at the Web site right now. (Harris scans the schedule.) Guest monologuist Moon Zappa. That will be funny … Edie McClurg? … ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic … Dick Cavett’s doing a Marx Brothers thing. That’s fantastic! I may have to skip out on Moon Zappa for Dick Cavett.