SERIES REPEAT: Friends, Romans, countrypeople, lend me your ears: One of TV’s most hidden gems, and most sparkling, is this Canadian comedy-drama series about a struggling Shakespearean acting troupe. And beginning today, the Acorn TV streaming service is repeating it in its entirety. Season 1, which launched in 2003, is showcased tonight, with the episodes of Season 2 following on November 25, and Season 3 after that in mid-December.
Slings & Arrows stars Paul Gross, star of another unfairly uncelebrated comedy-drama series, CBS’s
Due South, in which he played a Canadian Mountie transplanted to Chicago.
Slings & Arrows co-stars Mark McKinney, and features a few now-familiar guest stars (such as Rachel McAdams and Sarah Polley), but is thoroughly delightful on its own merits – as a kind of Shakespearean
Waiting for Guffman. Yesterday, I highlighted this very welcome return as my top pick on TVWW’s video telegram,
Best TV Tomorrow. And if my obvious enthusiasm isn’t enough, how about this quote from
The Wire creator, David Simon: “
Slings & Arrows… was so clever it left me with pure, distilled writer envy.”
For a full review, see David Hinckley's All Along the Watchtower.