In this American sitcom, an ageing actor who long ago enjoyed a brush with fame makes his living as an acting coach.
That gives you the basic picture but the reason this is one of the best sitcoms of recent times lies not in the premise or in the plot but rather in the verbal interactions between Sandy Kominsky (Michael Douglas) and his friend/agent Norman Newlander (Alan Arkin). It's the sort of wonderfully funny and apparently entirely natural dialogue that only American writers (usually New Yorkers) appear able to write - and it's absolutely sublime.
When you consider that MD is 74 and AA is almost 85, their performances are even more to be admired because these two guys are very clearly as mentally sharp as they ever were.
As I write these words, I've just read that MD has won a Golden Globe for his performance in the show.
Episode One is, to my mind, not representative of the series as a whole. Subsequent episodes are the ones to treasure.
