TVSquad

I recognize that the fans of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog have probably already gotten the DVD (available exclusively on Amazon.com), so in effect I'm preaching to the choir. However, if you haven't gotten around to enjoying it by now, what are you waiting for? This is, quite simply, the best thing to come out of the writer's strike.

If anybody thinks Joss Whedon's reputation is overblown, then you only have to listen to the genius that is "Commentary! The Musical" to realize how much of a genius the man is. It's tough to write a musical, but it's even tougher to write a 42-minute piece of musical metafiction that goes generally along with the beats of the original production and involves pretty much every cast member big and small (and some of the extras, as well). Granted, in all cases, he had help from his brothers Zack and Jed and Jed's fiancée Maurissa Tancharoen, so it must run in the family.

In the musical commentary, Joss and company do take a few friendly jabs at the fans. They sing near the end that if someone has listened that far into the commentary track, then they're "a big f**king nerd." The man knows his chief demographic.

In a close second place to "Commentary! The Musical" are the audition pieces by fans to get into the Evil League of Evil. These (mostly) musical shorts by fans are extremely entertaining. My personal favorite is Princess Zombie.

There are a couple of really cool Easter Eggs. One involves the members of the E.L.E. introducing themselves. Others have some outtakes and behind-the-scenes footage.

I would buy this DVD for "Commentary! The Musical" alone. Hopefully, that aspect will be released as its own soundtrack album one of these days (and how meta would that be? A soundtrack to a commentary track). At a price of under $11 (cheaper than a lot of albums nowadays), this DVD is well worth the investment.