Slings & Arrows

2003

Slings & Arrows

8.8 | en | Drama

This darkly comic Canadian series follows the fortunes of a dysfunctional Shakespearean theatre troupe at the fictional New Burbage Festival, exposing the high drama, scorching battles, and artistic miracles that happen behind the scenes.

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Seasons & Episodes

EP6 The Promised End

Aug. 28,2006

Thanks to Charles, Lear gets canceled and Geoffrey's future at the festival is in doubt. Also Ellen finally fires Barbara. The end of the series also ends in typical Shakespearean fashion, with a wedding and a song.

EP5 All Blessed Secrets

Aug. 21,2006

Geoffrey and Anna must join forces in order to convince Charles to play Lear. All the tension that has been rising in the actors eventually leads them into a bar brawl.

EP4 Every Inch a King

Aug. 14,2006

Ellen gets offered a lead role in a new tv series and Geoffrey is now living with Charles. But on opening night for Lear, Charles goes missing. This causes Richard to step in and take drastic measures, which Geoffrey is against.

EP3 That Way Madness Lies

Aug. 07,2006

While Oliver looks on smugly, Andrew forces Geoffrey to confront his feelings about his ghostly nemesis. The bond between Sophie and Paul is weakened by Paul's increasing fascination with Megan and her singing voice.

EP2 Vex Not His Ghost

Jul. 31,2006

Richard discovers a kindred spirit in Nigel, the talented young writer of East Hastings. With Nigel's encouragement, and a few tips from Geoffrey, Richard takes on Darren's musical dictatorship.

EP1 Divided Kingdom

Jul. 24,2006

With last season's Macbeth the toast of Broadway, Geoffrey is under pressure to deliver another hit. The play he has chosen is an even greater challenge, King Lear. Terrified to climb this Everest alone, he seeks out his ghostly mentor, Oliver Wells. But Oliver is nowhere to be seen. As for Ellen, Geoffrey's on again/off again lover, she is too busy taking Geoffrey's panic personally to be of any help. So Geoffrey turns to his boyhood hero Charles Kingman, who he coaxes out of retirement to play King Lear.

8.8 | en | Drama , Comedy | More Info

Released: 2003-11-03 | Released Producted By: Rhombus Media , Country: Canada Budget: 0 Revenue: 0 Official Website:

Synopsis

Stream Online

The tv show is currently not available onine

Cast

Paul Gross , Stephen Ouimette , Martha Burns

Director

Niv Fichman

Producted By

Rhombus Media ,

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Trailers

Cast

Paul Gross

as Geoffrey Tennant

The Middle Man Falling Tales of the City Caught The Parting Glass Alias Grace Hyena Road Pirate's Passage Barney's Version

Stephen Ouimette

as Oliver Welles

Slings & Arrows Maggie and the Ferocious Beast Dog City Beetlejuice Babar

Martha Burns

as Ellen Fanshaw

After All These Years The Samaritan Michael: Tuesdays and Thursdays Love & Savagery The Trojan Horse Silk Siblings The Skulls III Profoundly Normal

Reviews

cbwaldenwood I freely admit I am a drama geek. I love live theatre and backstage tours. My husband religiously go to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. This series captures all those quirks, ups and downs and backstage goofs. A friend recommended the series to us because her actor son recommended it to her. He said it was really true to life. The acting is fabulous. I am not familiar with many of the actors but would like to see more of other things that they are in particularly the main character Geoffrey. The comedy is subtle but laugh out loud funny. There are also so many touching moments. I wish there were more seasons. Anyone know if there is any discussion of returning to it? I agree that to really get the most out of it you do need to know your Shakespeare starting with the title. So watch and enjoy.

bux-2 In looking at the copyright dates on the DVD set for "Slings and Arrows" I noticed that the entire series was produced over several years with only six episodes produced each production year. I'd be curious to know if the producers were taking a leaf from the production schedule of one of the all-time great series, John Cleese's "Fawlty Towers", or if this is common practice in Canadian television. In any event, this kind of schedule allows for excellent writing, re-writing and relatively unhurried production unlike US TV which demands delivering a new episode every week even if it isn't as good as it could be. Can anyone enlighten me? In any event, I will be watching this series over and over as I do "Fawlty Towers". Many thanks for this terrific series.

steven-222 Why is this series so homophobic? Not in a loud, overt way; it doesn't ridicule or preach against gay men, it just erases them. (Spoilers follow.)Season One: Oliver Welles is said to be gay, but who is the only person he sleeps with? The leading lady. Season Two: At last, an openly gay character, young Patrick (David Alpay). But what happens? Playing Romeo induces him to sleep with Juliet. Apparently, the producers of this series have found the "cure" for homosexuality: join a theater troupe! (Is this some sort of Canadian joke?)Yes, there is one gay couple among the cast, the two old queens who sing the opening song, but while we see every other couple in the show having naked sex, we never even see these two at home together...and I'm betting that sooner or later they'll turn straight, too, because that's the only function gay men have on this show.

Gregory Dietrich If you're a theatre junkie or have ever been involved in theatre then this show is for you. It's a blast to watch the "behind the scenes" drama of a theatre troupe and it's extremely well written and well executed. It seems as though the producers were completely unable to come up with anything but amazing cast members and the writers seem incapable of creating anything less than great "dramedy" (not a big fan of the word but it fits). The acting is sublime (really just wanted a chance to use the word sublime...just mean that the character interpretations are fantastic and the commitment of the actors to these neurotic characters makes the whole thing believable...this is awfully long or a parenthetic statement isn't it?) I would highly recommend that anyone check it out if they can because I could be wrong about it appealing mainly to a niche audience. I just found it recently while channel surfing and I can't get enough. I might even buy the DVD's even though they're a little pricey for the number of episodes.