Will

Just watched the first episode last night. Aside from the garish colors and the punk overtones, I was enthralled. Like Shakespeare's stage directions, the bio for historical Will is sparse leaving ample room for dramatic embellishment. I thought it was clever the way the writers wove ideas and fragments of speeches from the plays throughout the first episode. Especially enjoyed the "duel" of words between Robert Greene and Will in iambic pentameter. If the rest of the episodes prove as entertaining and engrossing as the first, this series will be a treat! Oh, and after about the first 10 min I was over the garish colors and punk overtones.

As you might have guessed by now, Will makes practically no attempt to be historically accurate.

Critics everywhere have cried out in collective grief. But who cares? Da Vinci's Demons had very little to do with the real-life Leonardo -- that didn't stop it from running for three seasons!

Like Demons, Will is "historical fiction". Not a biography; not a serious reconstruction of the life of The Bard. It's a drama loosely based on characters loosely based on vague descriptions of people who lived at some point.

It's entertainment. And in that, it does a pretty good job. There's your usual cable TV "must-haves": violence, sex, backstabbing -- general depravity. Everyone's a little greasy, one way or the other. There are crazy sub-plots. If they hadn't called the main character Shakespeare, the critics would have been much happier with it.

But, alas, Shakespeare appears to be sacred. And maybe, that's the cow Will is trying to slaughter. Set the table, we're having steak.

The story line of Kit Marlowe interested me most. His search for meaning and willingness to try anything just to feel was captivating. His delve into religious and supernatural means to seek it was compelling. Bower was completely seductive. I would like to pluck all of his story and make it into one movie. I don't know if I would have stuck with it if there wasn't that juxtaposition of Will with his faith and Kit with his search for it. Nonetheless, I began to care about all the characters in this bizarre show and I looked forward to seeing it every week. Who would have thunk it? And as a writer, the last line wrung true especially as it was delivered by Marlowe.

Who cares if historically accurate, it is a good story line and 100 percent worth watching. Mixes modern and old together and I love it. The story is set in 1589 in London, with the Protestant church rallying against the Catholics. You have your good guy, who makes mistakes, the girl or love interest, the villain and all the rest. It's just entertainment, don't take it as fact.

it is strange to hope more. because the fragments of biography, the opportunity to use imagination to complete it, the Elisabethan London and the theater of this period are great temptations for a series who could be cool and small door for teenager to the work of the most important playwright of entire history. so, it is, in same measure, provocative , subjective and decent. the good point is Laurie Davidson who gives a Shakespeare full of noble intentions, sparkles, vulnerability and in permanent grow up in the atmosphere of the city. and the script is the recipes who contains all the ingredients and the way to be more than a tasteful dish but an impressive one.