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Season Three was the final act in one of the remarkable small format series in the history of television. The Canadian series is unlike anything that could ever have been produced in the United States. American TV is focused on long-running series that can be taken into syndication. This doesn't mean that some great television doesn't result, but it does mean that smaller series such as SLINGS AND ARROWS, with its three six-episode seasons, has no place. This is a tragedy on a number of levels, not least because some series are simply better served by shorter formats.
Season Three of the series was far and away the most controversial of the three. Many fans of the first two seasons found the collapse of all the successes of the first two seasons to be off putting. They liked the way that HAMLET in Season One was an unexpected success while the daring MACBETH of Season Two became not only a festival success but made its way to Broadway. The final season was, however, a far more subdued and somber affair. Like the first two seasons, it focused on a central play in the Shakespearean corpus: KING LEAR. And like the first two seasons there is a difficulty with the lead actor. In this case, however, the actor is dying.
I personally think the final season is a tremendous artistic success. And much of the reason for that is the amazing performance by William Hutt as Charles Kingman, the dying Lear. Hutt has, very much like Ellen in the series, spent very little time in television and film. He is in fact one of the most distinguished Shakespearean actors of his day. Some great stage actors' transition to the silver screen as they age, finding the less grueling film schedule's physical demands easier to meet. But Hutt continued onstage well into his eighties. This season of the show would not have worked with a lesser actor. There are moments in the season when Hutt's Kingman is performing LEAR that you simply stop breathing his performance is so extraordinary. You become acutely aware that you are seeing someone do something that the vast majority of actors, even the majority of very good actors, simply cannot do. Though in his mid-eighties one is struck by the sheer power in his voice. Getting Hutt to play this role pretty much guaranteed the success of the season.
Another delight in Season Three was seeing Sarah Polley appear in a production with her father. She plays the play's Cordelia, while her father was in all three seasons as Frank, the hard-of-hearing half of the elderly male couple. I've always respected Polley for her political activism and her rejection of Hollywood stardom (among other moves, she turned down the role in ALMOST FAMOUS that later made a star of Kate Hudson). So it was a rare treat to see her in this.
As mentioned, many fans of the show didn't care for this season. Many wanted in outline a repetition of the first two seasons, where success is snatched out of the jaws of failure. Things this season simply do not go very well. This is not to say that the series ends unhappily, but it does end by rejecting conformity to a formula. I've little patience for television viewers who have no tolerance for risk or change. The best television is never safe television. The best shows I've seen on television, whether THE SOPRANOS or BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER or SIX FEET UNDER or BATTLESTAR GALACTICA or THE WIRE are essentially risk-taking shows. In each of these shows not all the fans were willing to follow where the writers were taking them. These fans wanted the shows to stay safe. But the best shows always a bit of the sense of a tightrope walker working without a net. SLINGS AND ARROWS did precisely this in Season Three. And I just say: good for them!
And what can you say about Paul Gross. Before this series I mainly knew him for his role as a Mountie who had been reassigned to Chicago in the series DUE SOUTH. His Geoffrey Tennant is one of the finest characters I've seen on television in several seasons. Though the series has ended, it is, I believe, technically qualified for Emmy nominations this next round. If there were justice Gross would receive an nomination for Best Actor. He won't. The Emmys ignore shows on all but the Big Four and HBO, which means that shows like this one and BATTLESTAR GALACTICA will be ignored, and inexplicably even the HBO drama THE WIRE. (The three shows I've seen television critics consistently praise more than any others are THE WIRE, BATTLESTAR, and FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, but I don't expect all three--except for the special effects, which BATTLESTAR will sweep--to get any nominations, those the three shows should dominate the Best Drama, acting, and writing categories.) And having only six episodes hurts further. But Gross's Tennant is eccentric, brilliant, human, funny, and magnificently flawed. Yet Gross manages to endow him with greatness as well.
The series ended after only eighteen episodes. Not even quite a full season of a broadcast network series in the United States. But there was no filler, so it felt like it had more content than most regular series. And it ended like any good show is supposed to: it left us wanting more. With eighteen episodes it has no hope for syndication. But as long as the DVDs stay in print I believe that this show will have a continually expanding audience as one person watches it and then tells his friends about it. And it will be a steady rental on Netflix even if Blockbuster fails to stock it on its shelves (yeah, I know Blockbuster has a rental service as well, but after all the gouging they did with all those late fees, why should I ever give Blockbuster another penny?)
This is a truly great series. I am a life long movie buff who firmly believes that in the past decades television has surpassed the movies as the thinking person's visual medium of choice. And this is one of the series that I would point at to prove my point.
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Slings & Arrows - Season 3 (2006)"Pitch-perfect drama and comedy" -- San Francisco Chronicle "Sweet, smart and seriously addictive" -- Philadelphia Inquirer "The most fully satisfying slice of entertainment in ages" -- Newsday As seen on the Sundance Channel In its third season, this universally acclaimed series continues to mine dramatic and comic gold from the trials and tribulations of a dysfunctional Canadian theatre troupe, both on- and offstage. Struggling with the unfamiliar burdens of success, the New Burbage theatre festival mounts two ambitious productions: King Lear, Shakespeare’s epic tragedy, and East Hastings, a debut musical about a heroin-addicted hooker with a heart of gold. Emotionally fragile artistic director Geoffrey Tennant (Paul Gross) coaxes legendary actor Charles Kingman out of semi-retirement to play Lear. But with plenty of personal baggage, Kingman doesn’t so much play the part as live it. Meanwhile, the festival’s resident bean-counter (Mark McKinney) joins forces with the musical’s flamboyant director (Don McKellar) to create the unlikeliest hit in theatre history. Special guest stars include award-winning actor William Hutt of Canada’s Stratford Festival and indie-film sensation Sarah Polley (My Life Without Me, The Sweet Hereafter). DVD SPECIAL FEATURES INCLUDE interviews with Paul Gross and Susan Coyne; extended scenes of King Lear; bloopers; deleted and extra scenes; trailer; production notes; photo gallery, song lyrics, and cast filmographies. Contains strong coarse language
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