History WebVideo / DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog

* TheLawOfConservationOfDetail: Does it ''ever''. The series is about the length of a standard hour-long TV show, and in that time it manages to fit in every bit of character development, [[DeconstructedTrope deconstruction of various tropes]], {{Foreshadowing}}, [[StealthPun stealth humour]] and all the other minute details which are mentioned on this page. As of 8/17/2012 there are 291 tropes on this page for 42 minutes of musical. Every last second counts.

-->'''Captain Hammer:''' I don't have time for your warnings. You give my regards to Saint Peter...or whoever has his job, but in hell.[[note]]t's [[Literature/TheDivineComedy King Minos]], in case anyone's wondering.[[/note]]

* TheCastShowoff: Obviously.

* EvilMinions: Moist barely qualifies as a henchman, because in his own words, "Even at my most {{Badass}}, I can only make people feel like they want to take a shower." On the other hand, he's got enough evil hours to be in the Henchmen's Union and has some rather vicious ideas.

An aspiring supervillain trying to get into the Evil League [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment of Evil]] finds himself entangled in a LoveTriangle with his [[ArchEnemy arch-nemesis]] and a girl he knows from the laundromat. Presented as a three-part [[TheMusical Musical]] WebOriginal VlogSeries, created by Creator/JossWhedon out of his own pocket as a more-or-less direct result of the [[UsefulNotes/UnionsInHollywood Writer's Guild]] [[TVStrikes strike]] of 2007-2008.

* HeroesWantRedHeads: Ok, so the term "hero" is debatable but both Doctor Horrible and Captain Hammer go for Penny. Even if Hammer does just want to [[KickTheDog screw with Horrible]].

-->'''Captain Hammer:''' I don't have time for your warnings. You give my regards to Saint Peter...or whoever has his job, but in hell.
** BTW, it's [[DivineComedy King Minos]], in case anyone's wondering.

* CreateYourOwnVillain: It is heavily implied (and outright stated in the prequel comics) that Captain Hammer is the reason why Dr. Horrible is a villain - Hammer believed anyone nerdy or intelligent was destined to become a MadScientist, and his preemptive first strikes against the nerdy Billy are what drove him to villainy. The story then cements it by having Hammer's attempt to defeat Horrible once and for all be what drives him over the edge into true evil.

** Dr. Horrible has his own tune
** Bad Horse does as well, right down to it being the ringtone on Horrible's phone for when Bad Horse calls.

* ToTheBatnoun: Parodied. In his prequel comic, after concocting a new way to fight Captain Hammer, Dr. Horrible tells Moist to "Fetch the Horrible Mobile!" ...which is just Moist's perfectly ordinary car. That he he wishes the Doctor wouldn't call that because it's "a very reliable car".

The series won the 2009 People's Choice Award for "Favorite Online Sensation" as well as several 2009 [[http://www.streamys.org Streamy Awards]] for:
* Audience Choice Award for Best Web Series
* Best Editing
* Best Cinematography
* Best Directing for a Comedy Web Series
* Best Male Actor in a Comedy Web Series
* Best Original Music
* Best Writing for a Comedy Web Series

(In addition, the award for Best Female Actor in a Comedy Web Series went to Creator/FeliciaDay, but for her performance in ''WebVideo/TheGuild'', not ''Dr. Horrible'').

It also won the 2009 Emmy for ''"[[OverlyNarrowSuperlative Outstanding Special Class Short-Format Live-Action Entertainment Program]]"'', making it potentially the ''first'' show to have won an Emmy without having ever been aired on television. Possibly a unique honor; definitely exceptional. Neil Patrick Harris, who hosted the Primetime Emmys that year, and Nathan Fillion reprised their roles in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGBOgMXYnGU a brief scene]] during the show in which Dr. Horrible intercepts the ceremony, intending to end television and replace it with the internet, but is interupted by Captain Hammer, who tells about his love of television. It also picked up the 2009 HugoAward in the more conventional "Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form" category. It was also featured in ''Time'''s list of the best inventions of 2008.

'''Captain Hammer:''' "The only signature that he needed was my fist. Holding a pen. That I was signing with."\\

** This isn't the first time ''Creator/NeilPatrickHarris'' has played a {{Do|ogieHowserMD}}ctor.

** Penny sings, "So keep your head up Billy buddy" to Dr. Horrible in Act II. Later, when Dr. Horrible gate-crashes the Captain Hammer statue unveiling at the end of Act III, he pep-talks himself into killing Hammer, singing, "head up Billy buddy," thus cluing in Penny that her friend Billy is the villain.

It received its TV premiere on TheCW network on October 9th 2012. CW Network President Mark Pedowitz also "said he hoped the CW would also have the inside track if Whedon opts at some point to continue the series", according to Reuters.

(In addition, the award for Best Female Actor in a Comedy Web Series went to FeliciaDay, but for her performance in ''TheGuild'', not ''Dr. Horrible'').

** The "do not bounce" warning on the Wonderflonium is ...horribly similar to the warnings that go along with "Happy Fun Ball" from ''SaturdayNightLive''.

* LethallyStupid: Captain Hammer. After destroying the device Dr. Horrible was using to control the Wonderflonium van, he lets it drive out of control so he can seduce a random bystander. Then he tries to use Dr. Horrible's broken DeathRay, causing the explosion that [[NiceJobBreakingItHero killed his girlfriend]], [[CreateYourOwnVillian turned his nemesis into a true villain,]] and [[LaserGuidedKarma made him to feel pain for the first time in his life.]]

* LethallyStupid: Captain Hammer. After destroying the device Dr. Horrible was using to control the Wonderflonium van, he lets it drive out of control so he can seduce a random bystander. Then he tries to use Dr. Horrible's broken DeathRay, causing the explosion that [[KickTheMoralityPet killed his girlfriend]], [[NiceJobBreakingItHero turned his nemesis into a true villain,]] and [[LaserGuidedKarma made him to feel pain for the first time in his life.]]

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Dr. Horrible starts out as a Technical Pacifist: he refuses to fight an enemy in the city park due to the presence of children, he refuses to kill saying it isn't "classy", and he even keeps up this policy against his nemesis Captain Hammer, despite the constant physical abuse he gets from the Captain. This holds up until the end of Act II, when Hammer reveals that he's dating Penny for ''no other reason'' than because Billy is in love with her. This leads into the song, "Brand New Day", where Horrible states that he's finally snapped and found the motivation to kill. [[spoiler: Even then, the good doctor is unable to do him in.]]

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Dr. Horrible starts out as a Technical Pacifist: he refuses to fight an enemy in the city park due to the presence of children, he refuses to kill saying it isn't "classy", and he even keeps up this policy against his nemesis Captain Hammer, despite the constant physical abuse he gets from the Captain. This holds up until the end of Act II, when Hammer reveals that he's dating Penny for ''no other reason'' than because Billy is in love with her. This leads into the song, "Brand New Day", where Horrible states that he's finally snapped and found the motivation to kill.

* [[AppliedPhlebotinum Applied Wonderflonium]]

* [[HeroicBSOD Heroic (Villainous?) BSOD]]:

* [[PartTimeHero Part Time Villain]]: Apparently even villains need to do laundry.

* [[VillainsOutShopping Villain Doing Laundry]]

* ProtagonistJourneyToVillain: Dr. Horrible is the protagonist, and he turns evil over the course of the plot.

* BuffySpeak: A given when you consider [[JossWhedon the writer]].

* DreamTeam: Written, directed, and produced by JossWhedon, with acting by FeliciaDay, NathanFillion, and Creator/NeilPatrickHarris.

* {{Metaphorgotten}}: As a JossWhedon production, this show is frankly swimming in this and BuffySpeak.

* SignatureStyle: It's a JossWhedon story. Honestly, what other ending did you expect?

* SugarBowl: Played straight with the charming "My Freeze Ray" song, and the sweet Penny moments. The sets are also brightly and cheerily lit, and the songs full of delightful, catchy tunes and phrasings. But the SignatureStyle of JossWhedon soon changes that.

* AsideGlance: Captain Hammer pulls one when the {{fan|boy}} [[{{Fangirl}} trio]] says "we do the ''weird'' stuff."

* BlackAndGrayMorality: The [[DesignatedHero "hero"]] is worse than the [[DesignatedVillain "villain"]], and the only unequivocally good character is an InnocentBystander.

* AntiVillain: That trope fits Dr. Horrible like a glove. At least, up until the point where he [[EvilCostumeSwitch changes his gloves and uniform.]]