Dr. Horrible Marks First Web Series to Air on Network Television

There's quite a bit of good news for fans of "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog."

Not only is The CW airing the superhero musical starring Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion and Felicia Day on Tues., Oct. 9 at 9 p.m. ET, marking its TV debut, the co-creators of the 2008 Internet smash said the second edition of "Dr. Horrible" will very likely come out next year.

Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen co-created "Dr. Horrible" with "The Avengers"/"Buffy" honcho Joss Whedon -- Jed's brother and Tancharoeon's brother-in-law -- and are working with him on a S.H.I.E.L.D. TV spinoff. And when it comes to "Dr. Horrible" updates, they acknowledged in a recent interview that they're fully aware that fans have heard that particular song and dance before.

Of course, all the people involved in the original "Dr. Horrible" are very busy these days, and "now suddenly we've made ourselves more busy," Tancharoen noted.

Having said that, the indie spirit of the first "Dr. Horrible," which was made during the 2007-2008 writers' strike, was something that both say they were able to carry into other projects, including "Dollhouse," which they worked on as writer/producers.

"When I was a kid, we used to make home movies with Joss. He would direct our eight-year-old selves in these parody movies, and they later turned into original masterpieces with detectives and superheroes," Whedon said. "It was a reminder that all things should sort of be that. Regardless of how seriously other people are taking [things] you should never take yourself too seriously."

So what prompted The CW to air "Dr. Horrible" on its four-and-one-third-years anniversary? On that particular anniversary, does etiquette dictate a gift made of Wonderflonium?

There were obviously many Web series before "Dr. Horrible" premiered; as Whedon pointed out, Felicia Day's ongoing series "The Guild" "was a huge reason Joss came to the idea" for "Dr. Horrible," and Whedon and Tancharoen clearly didn't want to make a lot of special claims for their project's impact on the burgeoning genre. Still, they said they think the tale of the aspiring supervillain and the girl he loved might have inspired some online creators to be a bit bolder with their ideas.

"It was just bigger," Jed said. "Most people were making tiny little three-minute things. That's the one influence I think it did have."

Could there be a life for "Dr. Horrible" and his eeevil machinations beyond the sequel? Given that both Whedon and Tancharoen have many music- and dance-related entries on their resumes, Broadway seems like a natural fit, and both say they'd like to come up with a new theatrical incarnation of the story.

"We'll see what we're left with [after the sequel] and see what we can put on the stage," Whedon said. "We are now among millions of people with dreams of Broadway."

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