Update: Looks like it's back up, but the clip isn't embeddable, so head on over to the official site to enjoy! 

After long last, the first chapter of Joss Whedon's webseries Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, starring Neil Patrick Harris at the titular meanie, was released today.

And guess what?

It's awesome.

No surprise, the site crashed around 10AM Eastern and has been pretty much down since. Such is the combined draw of Hollywood's favorite gay singing television doctor and the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer! But we're obsessively refreshing and will embed the clip for your enjoyment let you know when it's back up. Check back every five minutes, k?

CITY OF FILMMAKERS:
I don’t know about you, but there are times when I can get sucked into the various video streaming sites looking at machinima films – movies made using the animations available in games like The Sims, World of Warcraft, The Movies and City of Heroes. If you’re someone who makes machinima, you might want to consider putting together an entry for the current City of Heroes/City of Villains “Get in Touch with Your Dark Side” machinima contest:

"No matter if you’re a daring do-gooder or a dastardly deceiver - everyone has a dark side, skeletons in the closet, secret fans of the N-gage ... whatever. We’re asking you to manifest some mischief in a Machinima piece, where games and movies come together, and win some great prizes while you’re at it. So when it comes to trick or treating, lay hard on the tricks, which shouldn’t be a problem with super powers."

The difference between creating machinima in a MMO like City of Heroes and a game like The Sims, is that you’ll need some actors to help you out … which makes it helpful that the Q Pride Prom is happening this weekend. If you’re thinking of making a fabulous gay-themed movie, that would be a great chance to meet up with some potential cast members. Just come up with something more entertaining than the “inspirational video” offered by the contest:

Sheesh, is it really necessary to make use of a yellowface accent when playing the Tsoo?

HAVE YOU MET CAPTAIN HAMMER?:
Can’t wait to see the team-up of Neil Patrick Harris, Joss Whedon and Nathan Fillion when Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog debuts next week? It turns out that Dark Horse Comics has revived their anthology series Dark Horse Presents on their MySpace page and one of the current stories takes a look at Captain Hammer, the nemesis of Dr. Horrible.

It’s only a small taste, so far, but as it’s less than a week before Dr. Horrible makes its debut, it should hold me. I hope.

Lots more Geek after the jump!

I really don't have much to say other than that Neil Patrick Harris, Joss Whedon, Nathan Fillion and company certainly made the most of their time during the writers' strike.

This. Looks. Awesome.

Teaser from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog on Vimeo.

For updates, be sure to check the official site. (Big ups to Ben for the tip!)

In a continued effort to bring you all that is important in the world of gay entertainment and ensure that you are being spoon-fed images of gorgeous, commoditized manflesh, we present the newly-minted AfterElton Briefs. Following the usual assortment of carefully-selected news items, interested readers can find a refreshing pic of a hot man in underwear after the jump. Yes, we're serious.

• In case you were wondering, Neil Patrick Harris is, on a scale of "awesome to awesome" ... "awesometeen". And great news: Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is in the can!

• The Sunday Times film section bemoans the death of masculinity in American films, citing the Judd Apatow Schlub Factory as responsible for burying the macho idols of the past. Uh, sorry ... Katherine Hepburn could have taken Cary Grant in a fistfight any day of the week.

• If you'd like to help counteract the AFA's campaign against Luke and Noah, it's best to send emails and letters directly to Procter & Gamble, and not using the AFA's comment generator, as the recipients may not have the bandwidth to read the actual emails and may simply record the AFA-generated emails as a strike against our fellas.

• Happy birthday to short-lived Project Runway designer turned dashing television corpse ... Jack Mackenroth!

• Looks like Rodrigo Santoro's role in the upcoming Jim Carrey gay prison romance comedy I Love You Phillip Morris is just about as flamboyant as his role in 300.

And today's Briefs are brought to you by...

What, no unicorn? Neil Patrick Harris (we think?) in the first Dr. Horrible teaser

In a continued effort to bring you all that is important in the world of gay entertainment and ensure that you are being spoon-fed images of gorgeous, commoditized manflesh, we present the newly-minted AfterElton Briefs. Following the usual assortment of carefully-selected news items, interested readers can find a refreshing pic of a hot man in underwear after the jump. Yes, we're serious.

• Responding to Kevin Spacey's disparaging comments about the new reality show that looks to cast an upcoming UK production of Oliver!, judge John Barrowman says, "You know what, shut up!" Thank you, John. We've been wanting to say the same thing to him for years!

• This week's How I Met Your Mother made a cute reference to star Neil Patrick Harris's career-launching role in Doogie Howser ... including that damned blue screen!

• The gay-and-galpal novel Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List is being developed as a vehicle for Heroes' Hayden Panettiere. Let's just hope Ely fares better than her last gay BFF!

• Look! Our American Gladiators aren't the only ones with "gay porn pasts" (or as I prefer, "gay-adjacent porn pasts"): A recently-ousted Australian Gladiator has been uncovered as having posed for a gay website. Guess who's shocked? Nobody.

• Michael Ausiello has some scoop on a gay kiss coming up in an upcoming Grey's Anatomy episode that deals with two gay soldiers: He notes, "Interested thesps must be Caucasian, hot and be comfortable sharing a 'very romantic kiss' with another dude."

And today's Briefs are brought to you by...