Dr. Horrible is still awesome

Tonight we went over to some friends' house to watch the Dr. Horrible DVD. It's still a great show, but the consensus seems to be that it's a little short.

That makes sense as it crosses into a new genre. When the content was originally released on the web in 3 approximately 15 minute acts, each one was probably a little too long. And without Joss Whedon's name on the projects, I doubt it would have gotten much attention the video blog format.

Now, though, it makes the transition away from random web video and into the realm of movies with it's DVD release. And in that context, the approximately 45 minute run time actually seems a bit short.

The DVD vs web/iTunes medium makes a big difference in how the same content is perceived.

Whedon also included 10 fan submitted applications for the Evil League of Evil. Sadly, Lord Destructo did not make the cut. And the League will be less evil for it. But the applications that did appear on the DVD were pretty impressive. There are a lot of very creative and taleted peopel out there looking for a a way to express their creativity.

Whedon's call for applications to the league for possible inlcusion on the DVD was not just a request for content, but a call to arms for hundreds of people looking to put this new medium to the test and figure out just what they can do with it.

While Dr. Horrible is brilliant content, it's also much more. It's a new way to do business and to entertain. Whedon's efforts here and Scott Sigler's experiements with book publishing point towards and exciting and utterly confusing time ahead for mass media. And what we've seen today is only a hint of what we'll see in the coming years.