Whedon, whose three-part webisode, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog premiered Tuesday, July 15 at http://www.drhorrible.com/, said that the venture was an attempt to upset the status quo between television networks and writers. Whedon was a vocal opponent of the networks during the recent writers' strike.

As a result, he's produced one of the first high quality video series made specifically for the internet. He said that the months-long strike was his inspiration for the show.

"Frustrated on the lack of movement on that front, I finally decided to do something very ambitious, very exciting, very mid-life-crisisy.” Whedon wrote on the Dr. Horrible Website. “A supervillain musical, of which, as we all know, there are far too few. “

The series chronicles (in video blog format) the misadventures of Dr. Horrible (played by Neil Patrick Harris), a misfit and frequently frustrated mad scientist who believes that society would run better if only he was in charge. In the meantime, he's working on his evil laugh with a voice coach, building a freeze ray, applying for membership in the Evil League of Evil and mooning over the little red haired girl in the laundromat, Penny (played by Felicia Day) and occasionally breaking into song.

Of course, no supervillian caper would be complete without a super hero. This role is gleefully filled by Firefly's Nathan Fillion. As The Hammer, Fillion strikes dramatic poses while delivering cheesy lines like "It's curtains for you, Dr. Horrible, lacy, gently wafting curtains.”

Episode I opens with Dr. Horrible blogging his latest misadventures in the world of evildom. He's just gotten a consideration letter from the Evil League of Evil (complete with singing cowboys). To rule the world, win the girl and get into the league, he needs only to pull off one great caper.

The one thing standing in his way and very literally adding insult to injury is Dr. Horrible's arch nemisis, The Hammer.

“The idea was to make it on the fly, on the cheap – but to make it. To turn out a really thrilling, professionalish piece of entertainment specifically for the internet,” Whedon wrote. “To show how much could be done with very little. To show the world there is another way.”

Whedon said that the point of the project was to motivate others to do something similar.

“Proving we can turn Dr. Horrible into a viable economic proposition as well as an awesome goof will only inspire more people to lay themselves out in the same way,” Whedon wrote. “It’s time for the dissemination of the artistic process. Create more for less. You are the ones that can make that happen.”

Episode I of Dr. Horrible went live on Tuesday, July 15. Shortly thereafter, the site crashed due to traffic. Episode II premieres on Thursday, July 17. The final episode will launch July 19th. All three acts will stay up at the website until Sunday July 20th. Each episode will be available for download as soon as it is published. Whedon said that the series will eventually also be available on DVD.