Whedonesque : Comments on 18595 : Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog wins People's Choice Award!

This is great, and would be better if this award, and the other web video award, was announced on the air. Seeing Joss Whedon or Nathan Fillion accept it would have been cool. Still, let's hope it's the first of many awards.

impalergeneral | January 08, 05:06 CET

As near as I could tell from watching the online feed of the control room, this award was never even mentioned, let alone awarded, during the telecast.

So, it was much like the Emmy vote featuring Buffy, where an awards organization enticed online audiences to watch their awards show under the false pretense that the award would actually be included.

You'd think, at this point, we could get these people in trouble for deceptive advertising.

The One True b!X | January 08, 05:08 CET

Thanks for adding that, impalergeneral. I'm on the west coast and was going to watch the awards in hopes of seeing the doctor's people accepting the award. Now I can listen to Commentary! again instead of tuning in.

jill | January 08, 05:11 CET

Awesome news!

[ edited by SilkSpectre on 2009-01-08 05:12 ]

SilkSpectre | January 08, 05:12 CET

It's unclear to me whether or not it at least got mentioned during the closing, because (1) the online feed's audio kept being crap and (2) you couldn't see the actual televised image.

So is the east coast confirming it was never mentioned? The website wasn't even updated with the award until the show was over.

The One True b!X | January 08, 05:12 CET

East Coaster here...I neither heard nor saw any mention of the category or winner.

Haikes | January 08, 05:15 CET

Congrats to J, J, M & Z!

zillah | January 08, 05:16 CET

I just watched this piece of fluff for two hours AND tivo'd it for the express pleasure of seeing Joss and/or Nathan, NPH or Felicia up there reaping their rewards. I thought I missed it and was ready to delve into a tivo replay to spot where I missed it. Thanks for the heads up! Knew I could count on this site to let us know the scoop!

Congrats, by the way, you ALL deserve every bit of recognition!

merrie | January 08, 05:16 CET

Congrats! Dr. H is the only winner I like out of all those categories. Seriously, Kid Rock beat Coldplay? Eww...

Riker | January 08, 05:18 CET

More accolades - More, I say!

buffywrestling | January 08, 05:24 CET

Hey, does this mean Joss will get something sent to him that looks like a figureskating trophy for his mantle?

buffywrestling | January 08, 05:25 CET

Whoo-hoo!

And then they don't announce it on-air. Grrr! Arrgh!

[ edited by Anonymous1 on 2009-01-08 05:32 ]

Anonymous1 | January 08, 05:30 CET

Wasn't exactly much competition though, was it? I don't even know what half those other choices were. Not that I'm complaining, mind. I just think something like, oh, say *the Guild* should have been up there too, you know?

anythingbutxuffy | January 08, 05:42 CET

The Guild wasn't much of an "online sensation" as they mean it, which is to say not something that had some sort of mainstreamish audience. Like it or not, those other picks had mainstreamish viral appeal.

The One True b!X | January 08, 05:44 CET

You can email pca and ask them why they didn't include that category in the on air show, here. Or perhaps suggest next time include a web only presentation of the web category's.

[ edited by RavenU on 2009-01-08 05:48 ]

RavenU | January 08, 05:47 CET

More accolades - More, I say!

I too will not be satisfied until the list of awards is longer than the script itself. And until somebody gets an awkwardly shaped statue-thing to take home.

Sunfire | January 08, 05:48 CET

I'm very happy it won though I agree it should be recognized publicly.

This makes up for Supernatural losing to Heroes.

CrystalSC | January 08, 05:51 CET

I voted hard for this so I'm disappointed I just watched the pca for no reason whatsoever. I have way better things to do than watch the pca. Like not watch it.

NuVanessa | January 08, 05:55 CET

Although it wasn't the worst awards show ever I still feel like the time I spent watching was wasted. It should have at least been mentioned along with the other categories they didn't present live. Still it's an awesome win. Congrats to all the horribly deserving folks involved and, yes, here's to many more future accolades.

geekiskhan | January 08, 06:17 CET

I think the People's Choice Awards just made their own application to the ELE by saying Dr. Horrible won online thus making all Whedon fans sit through their telecast and never giving out the award. They're so evil, they made you watch their awards show. *shivers*

What's more, the deadline (that we know of) is long past. They just did this for the hell of it. Evil just for evil's sake.

Emmie | January 08, 06:27 CET

Congratulations to our Horrible cast and crew! :) That was a well-deserved and presumably hard-fought victory, since I was sure the Paris Hilton vid (which was a GREAT topical video and extremely well publicized) would snatch it away from us. If you haven't seen it, I recommend watching the PH video and then watching the vid from her first visit on The Late Late Show this past fall: she really impressed me despite my not wanting to be impressed. And flabbergasted Craig.

In most other categories, of course, the PCAs displayed their usual lowest-common-denominator taste.

cabri | January 08, 06:31 CET

Yeah, this is the last time I vote for anything like this online. I should have learned my lesson with the Emmy's debacle. Talk about angry making.

Tonya J | January 08, 06:42 CET

Now watch: They'll throw some brief mention of it into the west coast feed and we'll all miss it.

The One True b!X | January 08, 06:43 CET

I'm not sorry I voted, but dang am I glad I didn't realize the PCA was on. No deep disappointment here.

Emmie | January 08, 07:06 CET

Dr. Horrible twittered that they were thrilled about winning... at least they twittered that they thanked us. So I guess it was worth voting.

embers | January 08, 07:32 CET

Congrats for the win to all those amazing people that brought us this amazing Horribleness!

Mirage | January 08, 10:35 CET

Let's hope the Sequel (And there will be a sequel, right?) wins also,
and goes up against slightly more creative competition...

Dance Battle 2
Kobe Bryan Attempts Massive Stunt
Paris Hilton Responds to McCain Ad
Pork and Beans

-Pork and Beans?!
"Dr Horrible defeats Pork and Beans"...
sounds like a good Sequel title! :)

TDBrown | January 08, 11:12 CET

Maybe someone could just photoshop most of the crew accepting an award onto the people's choice set, and we can post it into all our blogs.

In one years time, no one will even remember that it wasn't aired!

[ edited by efehan on 2009-01-08 11:28 ]

ef | January 08, 11:28 CET

They should call this the "People's Choice out of who we can get to go to this thing" awards.

The reason Kid Rock won is because he showed and the other two didn't.

As for favorite comedy, "27 Dresses"? Really?

The Hey | January 08, 12:57 CET

I think they inform the major winners beforehand, like the MTV awards, if I'm not mistaken.

buffywrestling | January 08, 15:01 CET

That is seriousfully awesome, although I would have been happier if they'd mentioned it on TV.

[ edited by Ameer on 2009-01-08 15:13 ]

Ameer | January 08, 15:12 CET

Congrats to the Dr Horrible team.

I too sat through two hours of that just to see Dr Horrible mentioned on major network TV and am damn annoyed that it's category didn't even get mentioned! Once, just once, Queen Latifa said that there were 4 categories still open for voting but only showcased two of those categories, leaving out both of the online only voting. I figured that since the People's Choice awards are more casual than the Emmy's they wouldn't pull the same stunt. What was I thinking?

NYPinTA | January 08, 15:50 CET

Perhaps they didn't show Dr. Horrible winning because nobody would show up to accept the award. But then if they stuck my well made musical in with that other crap, I am not sure I would show up to accept the award either.

I wouldn't have even minded if Paris Hilton, who was in the audience, had accepted the award on behalf of Dr. Horrible.

Jayne's Hat | January 08, 16:09 CET

Its great that Dr. Horrible won. Considering the competition, it better have won! It seems Joss and company are always getting the short end of the stick in terms of recognition. He/they win an online poll or award and the award show doesn't air or mention the award. This just might be the fate of creative types like Joss who live outside the norm.

But think what it would be like if Joss hit a homerun and Dollhouse becomes #1 in all demographics. What then? Would our fandom become “watered down?” Would we lose that spark? Lose that special underdog quality? Would there still have been a Mutant Enemy Day at the writers strike? Would The Big Damn Heroes still have shown up to save the day (literally!) at the Back-Up Bash? Would the fandom tables be turned and now we’re looked at as The Alliance rather than Browncoats? (For example, Harry Potter fandom vs. Veronica Mars fandom)

And it’s not like I want to be able to say, “we were here first” or “we knew about it long before the newbies.” It's nothing like that. I like to think of our fandom as cozy. So there lies the paradox, I guess I want the general public to acknowledge the genius of Joss but just not too much.

alexreager | January 08, 17:29 CET

But what other competition could Dr. Horrible have had? I mean, didn't Joss & Co. break the mold with Dr. Horrible?
That's what the big phenomenon was - that there hadn't been a free short film online before. Previously, all online sensations were crazy antics videos and such.

I'm not defending PCA but I don't think there was a lot they could put into the competitors slots.

And I could've sworn I saw a statement on the PCA website that mentioned something about non-show awards. I remember reading something like "The voting is over but we still have a few special categories for our website you can vote in!". So I'm not 100% sure they were trying to mislead anyone.

CrystalSC | January 08, 17:40 CET

But what other competition could Dr. Horrible have had?

Well it is a motion picture. So Best Movie?

Simon | January 08, 17:53 CET

I searched Google news for D Horrible and only found 5 or 6 mentions of it winning which was a bit disappointing. I guess if they don't present the award on TV it doesn't exist to most papers.

Derf | January 08, 18:00 CET

It is a film in 3 pieces, but it keeps getting described as tv for the internet. I don't think anyone setting up these award lists knows how to deal with content released outside of tv broadcasting yet. Why is Where The Hell Is Matt in the "user-generated video" category? That category seems meaningless given what is in it.

Sunfire | January 08, 18:06 CET

I'm glad I voted, although it is pathetic that they didn't air Dr. Horrible winning. That's okay. We know. We'll spread the word. Congratulations, Joss, cast, crew, et cetera!

Carmencita | January 08, 18:06 CET

Hmmmm. I'm pleased it won, but I can't get too worked up about it not getting a mention on air. I mean, the category was essentially a throwaway--it as designed to honor the best of a bunch of viral videos; purely by chance someone created a work of art that happened to sorta-kinda fit into that category. If Dr Horrible hadn't won the category it would have been an embarrassment to the awards (if you can embarrass the PCA). But that also means it's kinda meaningless--comparing apples to golden oranges encrusted with diamonds from an alternate universe. You might just as well have had a "Shows like Dr Horrible" category (which, given Joss's history in award shows, he'd probably have lost).

snot monster from outer space | January 08, 18:21 CET

If it was such a throw away category, then they shouldn't have had it at all. Because they did a lot of people who otherwise might not have watched, did watch. And now they feel they wasted their time. No part of that is cool.

NYPinTA | January 08, 19:01 CET

a lot of people who otherwise might not have watched, did watch. And now they feel they wasted their time.

That's show business. In a nutshell.

AlanD | January 08, 19:22 CET

Not completely. I mean, if there was a movie trailer out and I see certain actors that I like in it, I might be curious enough to see the movie. Whether I like it or not isn't something I'll know until I see it and everyone pretty much accepts that. But if I see a trailer for a movie and they say a certain actor I like is in it and I go see it and he or she isn't there at all? Well, that's false advertising to get me to see a movie I otherwise wouldn't. I don't think show business does that very often.

[ edited by NYPinTA on 2009-01-08 19:37 ]

NYPinTA | January 08, 19:36 CET

I am very happy that Dr. Horrible won, and ticked off (though not surprised) they didn't show it. I think Joss deserves a special DGA award for creating the wonderful, hilarious, site-crashing awesomeness that is Dr. Horrible.

[ edited by Giles'chainsawchick on 2009-01-08 20:43 ]

Giles'chainsawchick | January 08, 20:42 CET

I'm very excited that they won and got some recognition for it, but also disappointed that they didn't air it. Why even have the catagory if it's not worthy of being part of the program?

mouse | January 08, 20:59 CET

To answer Mouse's question, I said in My Blogger space that the People's Choice's Awards wanted to look "cutting-edge" by adding a couple of web content categories. It's something the Emmys are still struggling with. So, don't be surprised if the Emmys can't find a category for our DH, but insist that they should. Hopefully, awards shows will get it right next year.

impalergeneral | January 08, 21:15 CET

I was watching BBC Canada News and they had a rolling text on the screen about the win - at least that is a bit of TV coverage.
And, why do I watch BBC Canada News - because they seem to give a more balanced view than found on American or Canadian TV.

Back to Dr. Horrible's win - Yippee. At least there will be a statue on the mantle. It would be nice to see a picture of Joss's trophies. I believe he has won the Spacey award(s) from Canada's SPACE channel (similar to the SCI-FI channel in the US)in the past.

[ edited by sagewoman on 2009-01-08 21:25 ]

sagewoman | January 08, 21:23 CET

Isn't there a shot of Joss' awards on The Write Environment DVD? Maybe it's just a single award. There's something.

The One True b!X | January 08, 21:42 CET

The people will be heard!

Totally bitchin'!

madmolly | January 08, 21:56 CET

Hooray!
I'm so glad Dr.Horrible got at least a little bit of the recognition it deserves :)

Astonishing_Chaos | January 08, 21:58 CET

Hey B!x--One would also have to count his prestigious Eisner award.

(And let's not forget he also won our hearts and minds! Which I am assuming is the least prestigious, from an industry standpoint...)
(Edited for grammar)

[ edited by alexreager on 2009-01-08 22:10 ]

alexreager | January 08, 22:09 CET

And let's not forget he also won our hearts and minds!

Fortunately, he hasn't attempted to put those on his mantel.

jcs | January 08, 22:16 CET

Are you sure? Because I lost my mind a long time ago. Never occured to me to look on his mantel... but it all makes sense now.

NYPinTA | January 08, 22:54 CET

Yay, mushortio makers!

I'm not really surprised they didn't air it, lots of award shows have awards they don't air, not at all unprecedented. (Is it only wrong when it's one that Joss wins?) The Emmy thing (though not an award) was egregious, because they said to tune in for it, then made no mention of it.

As to the point of an unaired award, I think a lot of unaired award winners would rather have that than no award. Again, congrats to j,j,m,z et al.

jam2 | January 09, 00:02 CET

The movie Serenity was awarded a Hugo in 2006, so Joss might have that award on his mantle. I believe Joss won a Nebula award for the Serenity script in 2006, as well. :)
Congrats to Joss and everyone in and working on Dr. Horrible.
It was a much deserved win!

FollowMal | January 09, 01:46 CET

FollowMal beat me to it. Yeah, he's got at least one Saturn and a Hugo, which I saw him graciously accept. Those are real awards. Pfft People's Choice junk. What people?

dreamlogic | January 09, 02:53 CET

In this case, us people. Not that it's wrong if you think we don't count.

The One True b!X | January 09, 03:04 CET

Also, while the Emmy vote was more explicit in stating it was supposed to be part of the program, the PCA vote did say this:

While voting has closed for most of our categories, we're leaving two open until show night -- and adding two more. Vote for your favorites, then tune in to see the winners.

So they very much did lead voters to believe they were voting for categories which would in some fashion be announced during the telecast.

[ edited by The One True b!X on 2009-01-09 03:09 ]

The One True b!X | January 09, 03:09 CET

Oh... Not cool.

jam2 | January 09, 04:00 CET

I would even have been okay if they had just put it in a crawl like they do for the mini-Oscars but NoooooooOOOOOOoooooooo. >:(

cabri | January 09, 04:05 CET

In this case, us people.

OK, that's fair. I shouldn't have been so dismissive. I looked around, but couldn't find a video of Joss's acceptance speech for the Hugo. Can you take my word that it was clearly heartfelt, and that that specific award seemed to mean a lot to him?

People who are good at finding videos, find that one! You'll see what I mean.

dreamlogic | January 09, 04:14 CET

The People's Choice Awards and their award-winning red-headed stepchild

Fixed, thanks.

[ edited by C. A. Bridges on 2009-01-09 05:00 ]

C. A. Bridges | January 09, 04:34 CET

Missing the dot after the www.

The One True b!X | January 09, 04:40 CET

Here's Morena accepting the Hugo for Joss in 2006 for Serenity with Joss' speech "Dear Hugo-ers."

QuoterGal | January 09, 05:28 CET

Thank you, QuoterGal. That was a nice moment to re-visit. :)

FollowMal | January 09, 05:32 CET

Yeah I had forgotten all about that. Who knew that Morena was such a good ventriloquist that she could appear to keep talking while walking away from the podium and off the stage?

The One True b!X | January 09, 05:35 CET

Maybe I'm watching stupidly, but I'm still not seeing Joss's acceptance speech. Maybe you all suck as much as I do!

dreamlogic | January 09, 05:51 CET

Well, you know, he wasn't actually there. He made one of those ugly divas read it out loud.

cabri | January 09, 06:01 CET

He was there. He gave a speech with a funny joke about the Hugos, which I would re-tell if I could tell jokes well at all, but I can't without terrible awkwardness.

dreamlogic | January 09, 06:19 CET

Thank you QuoterGal, I never saw that (I had read something about it, I remembered the 'free girl' line). And even though the People's Choice award wasn't given on the air, it is still a pretty thing (I imagine) to decorate Joss' office.

embers | January 09, 06:30 CET

That's... odd. Why would Joss have sent Morena an email for her to read as his acceptance speech if he was there?

The One True b!X | January 09, 06:33 CET

What part of "I was there" did you not get, b!x? I'll never apologize to you again for my own rudeness, 'cause you've got the whole claim. Enjoy.

dreamlogic | January 09, 06:43 CET

A genuine question is not rudeness. This entire thread just watched Morena give Joss' acceptance speech, and so I'm fairly certain everyone is confused as to how Joss could have also given his acceptance speech.

The One True b!X | January 09, 06:52 CET

Joss wasn't there at WorldCon in 2006, dreamlogic - at least, not that I saw, not on that 4th day nor that evening when they presented the Hugos, and you and I were pretty much there together the whole time. We saw Jane and Tim and Loni, but no Joss.

Honestly, as I recall, that's exactly why Morena was there - in the event of Joss winning, because he wasn't attending.

QuoterGal | January 09, 07:05 CET

What part of "I was there" did you not get, b!x? I'll never apologize to you again for my own rudeness, 'cause you've got the whole claim. Enjoy.

Ahem.

Morena accepted for Joss, reading a speech he emailed her. It was very funny (of course) and her reading of it was great. I hope it ends up on YouTube or the like.

dreamlogic | August 27, 11:35 CET

Just sayin'.

[ edited by The One True b!X on 2009-01-09 07:08 ]

The One True b!X | January 09, 07:07 CET

I'm sure you just mixed up which award, dreamlogic. Perhaps it was the Saturn for Buffy or one of Joss's other awards.

cabri | January 09, 07:16 CET

OK, I'm insane and nobody should ever listen to me about anything, ever again. Why can I still see him there, telling that joke? Because I'm psychotic. Please ignore me at all points in the future.

dreamlogic | January 09, 07:51 CET

I think it might be if this thread was left alone for a while till things cooled down.

Simon | January 09, 08:23 CET

I think Joss' letter was so Jossian, and Morena delivered it beautifully, and we wanted so much for Joss to be there, that you just wrote that part in lo! these many months later. It says something about how memory works...

I do that all the time in different ways - imagine that I've actually had conversations that I've in fact read in novels, or I could swear that something was in the movie version when it was only in the book. (The former can be more problematic in RL than the latter.) It's easy enough to do if you have a vivid imagination...

ETA: Sorry, Simon - I posted before I saw your post. But I don't think my post will have exacerbated anything. Erase it if you feel differently, though, obviously.

[ edited by QuoterGal on 2009-01-09 08:32 ]

QuoterGal | January 09, 08:30 CET

Or not as the case maybe.

ETA: Quotergal - Don't worry about it.

[ edited by Simon on 2009-01-09 09:01 ]

Simon | January 09, 08:32 CET

Well Yay Joss and Co., even though I sat through the entire exercise in boredom for nothing. Well, not completely nothing, these shows always have entertaining parts, although they aren't always intentional. :)

Shey | January 09, 11:09 CET

... imagine that I've actually had conversations that I've in fact read in novels, or I could swear that something was in the movie version when it was only in the book.

I've never imagined anyone into a "scene" except myself but that i've done a few times (i.e. remembered being somewhere when in fact I wasn't there, I was just told about it afterwards). And once, everyone else in the group I was with imagined me into a "scene" when I wasn't there - that, frankly, was fucking terrifying, for a few moments I actually started to wonder if i'd had some sort of fugue or something (Alzheimer's runs in my family so it's something i'm kind of ... aware of). All the rest of it though, I think most people have that sometimes (remembering conversations you read etc.).

Yeah, memory's a funny thing - it basically determines who you are and yet, from one moment to the next, you can never totally rely on it (jeez, never mind Buffy, all roads are starting to lead to 'Dollhouse' ;).

Saje | January 09, 11:32 CET

January 08 2009