Dr. Horrible, The Online Musical

Felicia Day, who co-stars in Joss Whedon's Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, told SCI FI Wire that the Internet musical arrives just as the Web is gaining legitimacy as a launchpad for creative people.

 "I think people are all trying to figure out how to transfer to the Internet, which is smart," Day said in an interview. "For things to be a hit, we're about a year or two off from being more and more prominent in Hollywood. The Internet [represents] a huge shift in how people watch things."

Dr. Horrible comes from Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), who wrote the musical series during last year's writers' strike. Whedon's brothers, Zack and Jed, and Jed's fiancee, Maurissa Tancharoen, co-wrote the Dr. Horrible musical. The second of three parts debuts on the official Web site on July 17.

"It was written by Joss and his family over the strike, because they wanted to do something on the Internet and create something independently," Day said. "For Joss to do something on the Internet is pretty impressive."

 Day is perhaps best known to Buffy fans as Vi from season seven. Dr. Horrible is "an interesting project that covers the gamut of emotions," she said. "It reaches all the emotional heights as far as laughter and sadness. I'm dazzled by how fantastic it is. The effects, the music and the color are just amazing."

 The story of Dr. Horrible centers on a low-rent supervillain (Neil Patrick Harris), the hero who keeps beating him up (Nathan Fillion) and the cute girl from the laundromat he's too shy to talk to (Day).

"I play Penny, and I get to be the love interest," Day said. "It's very exciting to be the love interest, just because in traditional Hollywood, I'm not the traditional love-interest girl. It's a privilege to be the one the guys are swooning over."

Act three of Dr. Horrible goes live on July 19. All three parts will remain on the site until midnight July 20. After that, the series will be made available for paid download in some format and will ultimately end up on DVD, with extras. Whedon promised more information at Comic-Con International in San Diego in July.

Day had nothing but high praise for her co-stars. "Neil is a Broadway guy. He's an unbelievable singer; chills went up and down my spine. Nathan isn't a trained singer but has a great voice and plays a character. He's fantastic."

No stranger to Internet productions herself, Day also stars in, writes and produces The Guild, a serialized Web comedy series about a group of gamers who meet in person for the first time.

-Kurt Anthony Krug