Dr. Horrible (Whedon)

[Qrazy]

It gets taken down tomorrow people so watch it while it's free.

http://www.drhorrible.com/

It's nothing spectacular but it's quite funny in parts.

[Teh Sausage]

Yeah...amusing but nothing amazing. I prefer his Buffy musical. Can't wait for Dollhouse.

[Sven]

I'm always astonished anew when gazing upon a work by Joss Whedon--he always manages somehow to obliterate my expectations and find completely new ways of sucking. I didn't even watch all of this. I couldn't. Saw some beginning, saw some ending, what I saw was flat and embarrassing. I wish I could like at least some of his work, but being as consistently awful as his work is, I am left no choice but to express my disdain and continue worrying about the next time I see something of his.

[Boner M]

I'm always astonished anew when gazing upon a work by Joss Whedon--he always manages somehow to obliterate my expectations and find completely new ways of sucking. I didn't even watch all of this. I couldn't. Saw some beginning, saw some ending, what I saw was flat and embarrassing. I wish I could like at least some of his work, but being as consistently awful as his work is, I am left no choice but to express my disdain and continue worrying about the next time I see something of his.
Indeed. I think the only thing that holds me back from detesting him is that he's so far off my wavelength of what I find enjoyable or clever, that I never feel active dislike toward his work, but instead merely a vague sense of confusion. Just move along, I say.

[Sven]

Indeed. I think the only thing that holds me back from detesting him is that he's so far off my wavelength of what I find enjoyable or clever, that I never feel active dislike toward his work, but instead merely a vague sense of confusion. Just move along, I say.

Yeah, your response is probably closer to mine. I didn't mean for my post to come off so strong, really. It's the combination of attempting to make sense of his popularity and my inability to do so that makes me sound so zealous in my disdain.

[Ivan Drago]

Why is it getting taken down?

[Teh Sausage]

Mm, he is quite an acquired taste, that Whedon. I love his dialogue, which I find to be as distinctive as Tarantino's, but people can dislike it for the same reasons why others love it. You can't really explain why something is funny. It's funny because it is.

[Qrazy]

Why is it getting taken down?

To sell it, read the article at the bottom of the main page if you want more info.

[Teh Sausage]

Yeah...amusing but nothing amazing. I prefer his Buffy musical. Can't wait for Dollhouse.

Scratch that - I hadn't watched Part III at the time, but now that I have, I decided that I really love it (though it's admittedly a bit inconsistent). Despite it being typical Joss, I did not see an ending like that coming at all. Once again, the man has blown me away and has given me much to ponder.:)

[number8]

I thought it was cute.

[number8]

As for Whedon, I'm kinda ambivalent. I think Firefly was an amazing show, but I'm going to attribute most of it to Tim Minear, judging by the fact that he wrote the best episodes of the series ("Out of Gas", "The Message") and the fact that the Whedon written/directed Serenity movie was balls. I also attribute the awesomeness of Alien Resurrection to Jeunet, not Whedon. Likewise, I'm not even going to acknowledge his part in Toy Story.

I haven't liked any Buffy or Angel episodes that I've seen, and I'm not that impressed with Whedon's comics either. I think it's safe to say that without Firefly I'd be one of those "Fuck Joss Whedon!" people.

[Qrazy]

As for Whedon, I'm kinda ambivalent. I think Firefly was an amazing show, but I'm going to attribute most of it to Tim Minear, judging by the fact that he wrote the best episodes of the series ("Out of Gas", "The Message") and the fact that the Whedon written/directed Serenity movie was balls. I also attribute the awesomeness of Alien Resurrection to Jeunet, not Whedon. Likewise, I'm not even going to acknowledge his part in Toy Story.

I haven't liked any Buffy or Angel episodes that I've seen, and I'm not that impressed with Whedon's comics either. I think it's safe to say that without Firefly I'd be one of those "Fuck Joss Whedon!" people.

Yeah I pretty much agree with this perspective. I found Firefly to be significantly better than Serenity. I've only seen a handful of Angel/Buffy episodes but what I saw looked terrible.

[Teh Sausage]

I also attribute the awesomeness of Alien Resurrection to Jeunet, not Whedon.

Agreed, except I'd replace 'awesomeness' with 'lameness'...it's unfortunate that they left his name in the credits when he was only a script doctor, and very little of what he wrote was in the final product.

I still consider his Buffy TV show his masterpiece, though I know how "flippant teens with their own specialm '-isms'" humour could annoy some people.

[Watashi]

Serenity > Out of Gas

[number8]

Serenity > Out of Gas

Die.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Eh, this was fun. Nothing more. And I'm ambivalent with Whedon for now. I've never seen Buffy, so it's hard for me to judge, but Firefly was fantastic. Better than Serenity. Alien Resurrection was awful.

[Fezzik]

Serenity > Out of Gas


I adore Serenity, but this is so far from true, it hurts. Out of Gas is one of the best hours of sci-fi television ever concocted.

[Grouchy]

the awesomeness of Alien Resurrection
Oxymoron at its most fucked up.

[number8]

You know that phenomena when people hate something you like so much, you grow to love it even more with passing time? And vice versa with people loving something you thought wasn't very good?

That's how I am with Alien Resurrection and Serenity. I thought Serenity was just mediocre and lame at first, certainly one of the weakest if it was a Firefly episode... but the fact that people keep asking me to agree that it's awesome whenever they learn of my love for Firefly, I hate that movie a little bit more. Now, 3 years later, I flat out refuse to admit that it even existed.

[Wryan]

Friends showed me this over the weekend. The leads were great and the songs are kinda catchy. I laughed a few times. I don't like most of the Whedon I've seen.

[Biff Justice]

I'm a gigantic Buffy fan (you really have to watch it from beginning to end, in my opinion - I was ambivalent myself until I took the time to do this) and also love Firefly/Serenity, but this left me fairly cold.

It had some charming touches, particularly in the second act, but overall far, far from the best Whedon. I'd put it slightly below most Angel episodes, and I don't like Angel that much.

That being said, you can still see it for free on Hulu if you are at all interested.

[Amnesiac]

I haven't seen this much Whedon hate, or ambivalence, focused into one area in a long time.

He is an acquired taste. The first season of Buffy is terribly uneven. But, if you get to the season finale, and witness a certain conversation between Anthony Stewart Head's Giles and Sarah Michelle Gellar's Buffy, I think you'll understand the interest and quality that this show can muster up. There is some serious talent on the show. The way that it is written, the camp and irony that it sometimes frolics in, a lesser cast would totally annihiliate the show into kitschy garbage. For example, Ryan Reynolds was apparently being considered for the role of Xander - yeah, probably would have been a serious misstep.

Anyways. You can't really judge the show until you get to the end of Season 2, and what is one of the best season finales of any show I've seen. Then, continue onward to Season 3 and be prepared for more greatness. This really isn't a show that you can just casually tune into, perhaps falling upon on of it's more frivolous filler episodes (Buffy, like Lost, is prone to dip into a few "Hurley's Van" escapades in-between its more brilliant offerings), and then make a sound judgment. But, I think that's what a lot of people are sometimes prone to do.

However, his dialogue is divisive. This you can gather even from simply watching a random episode, stand-alone or not. It's not realistic. It's bound to not sit well with those who found Juno's dialogue so abhorrent (although, in my opinion, it has a certain infectious charisma that outshines the hip-speak of Cody's script).

But, acquiring a taste for the slightly eccentric and peppy 'Buffy-speak' allows you to be privy to some of its great, great moments. It's a hurdle worth overcoming. This show channels some commendable gravitas - and not just in a 'once-in-a-blue-moon' type of way. Each season strikes a great balance between its unique sense of humor and compelling histrionics, engaging drama, and well-developed story-arcs ...the continuity in the show is exemplary...the actors give nuanced performances that ground their characters with pathos-infused deportments and charisma (like I said earlier, this is the type of show where lesser actors could easily muck up these characters - you need to be able to walk that fine line between flippant humor and deadly serious emotion).

But, alas, sometimes people won't find much amusement in Buffy's irony. Or it's metaphors for many of life's hurdles (which, I might add, are sometimes adorned with slightly campy horror trappings). Or Whedon's wit. But there's real gold to be found throughout the entire series, if you're willing to commit to it.

[Raiders]

For example, Ryan Reynolds was apparently being considered for the role of Xander - yeah, probably would have been a serious misstep.

Indeed. Reynolds is way too good of an actor to be stuck with that part.

[Amnesiac]

Indeed. Reynolds is way too good of an actor to be stuck with that part.

Nicholas Brendon's prospects may be horribly narrow now that Buffy is long finished, yes. But I'm pretty certain that Reynolds wouldn't have portrayed Xander as well he did. Not by a long-shot. Unfortunately, and obviously, I don't have Reynolds' audition tapes to validate my hypothetical claims. Nor do I have the ability to observe an alternate reality where he did get the role ... but still, I stand by my claim. The cast are ridiculously well-suited for their parts, and Brendon's performance as Xander is no exception.

[Thirdmango]

I thought Serenity was just mediocre and lame at first, certainly one of the weakest if it was a Firefly episode... but the fact that people keep asking me to agree that it's awesome whenever they learn of my love for Firefly, I hate that movie a little bit more. Now, 3 years later, I flat out refuse to admit that it even existed.

This is how I am with all of Firefly. I do like it, and I loved it at one point but due to the over insanity of the fans of it, have steadily grown to dislike it more and more.

[number8]

This is how I am with all of Firefly. I do like it, and I loved it at one point but due to the over insanity of the fans of it, have steadily grown to dislike it more and more.

That's not the same thing, though. That's a complete turnaround, and I don't think I would do that. If something is so beloved that everyone goes crazy for it, I'd get swept up in it too. I know how insane Browncoats are, and that actually makes me like Firefly even more, that it has this rabid fanbase behind it.

It's when I never liked it in the first place (Serenity, Buffy) that the fanbase start to annoy me.