The essential plot is as old as the hills: Director wants to create art but in order to do so he must triumph over the crass money people. So there's really nothing new here. The lead actors give uneven performances and often descend into posturing and pathos, but the folks who play the backbone of the theater: Assistants, the dressers, the security guard, the bit actors, the stagehands, are all given opportunities to shine in small, but authentic roles. In fact, the supporting performances make this series. There are some witty lines, but the show veers strangely from drama to slapstick and back again. Several unpleasantly graphic sex scenes that are downright ugly seem patched into the show for the shock value. Overall, I would say that the series is okay, but not great. I fast-forwarded through a certain amount of it in order to get past the scenery-chewing.

I believe the highest praise that one can give to a work of imagination (book, movie, series, painting, etc.) is that "it rearranges your mental furniture." That is, you view things differently after experiencing the work.And -- as a downwardly mobile lower highbrow from the upper middle class -- I find that this happens, for me, with roughly approximate frequency between cannonical works (classic novels, great symphonies, etc.) and pieces from popular culture (good movies, fun series, the occasional computer game or web site).Slings & Arrows is definitely in this class. It is a best-of-breed collection of work. The writing, the acting, the production... All are essentially faultless. (I don't find the castng faultless.. I have some quibbles there.) Some works rearrange on's mental furniture by subversion, by making you rethink things (like, David Lynch movies would be a good example). Slings and Arrows isn't like that... there's nothing subversive about it. Instead, it rearranges by enlarging... I gives an enlarged sense of the actor's craft, of the enduring value of Shakespeare, and ways people can be people.It's not epic, it's not mind-blowing, it's just really really good. Really.Annn-nnnd... Why Paul Gross is not an A-list, top-billing, Oscar-winning actor.... I dunno. Some smart scriptwriter really should write a movie that features him and Tom Hanks as brothers in a complex relationship.

When it comes to hearts on the sleeve, Canadians rule. I have yet to see a Canadian production that panders to its audience, and this one is no exception. Everything rings true, from lofty intellectual pretense down to pie-in-the-face farce.The first season was tighter in its plot than the next, and some of the characters are a bit too zany at times, but ideas like a play behind a play within a play keep this viewer entertained as few other television productions have ever done.If anything, there are moments that soar. The many possible sides of stage interpretation for King Lear, for example, are conveyed almost on the level of a lecture series, whilst the politics of raising money from mindless self-serving bureaucrats comes across as rich satire.I am still a little put off at this mid-point in the series when it comes to understanding exactly what Geoffrey's central complaint is. I hope it becomes clearer as things develop. Until then, I will not read any of the other viewer comments as I want to keep the thought open.Can't wait.

I've seen the whole first season and just watched the 1st episode of the 2nd. It's a shame Rachel McAdams won't be in the rest of this season (I don't think) but it was very good of her to come back and finish off her character arc even though her career has been blossoming so much. It's on par with any of the best HBO shows (and Showtime, now that they've hit their stride with the excellent shows "Weeds" and "Sleeper Cell"). As someone who's worked in film and who has been around a lot of actors, it really hits that world just right. I watched the 1st season a second time through with a friend who spent years in theater and he loved it at least as much as I did. But I don't think you have to have been in that world to appreciate it. For those who aren't in theater or film I think it's a good window into certain truths about the madness of that world. It's also just plain very funny and very, very well made.