Is anyone else on PC watching John Adams, the HBO miniseries? It has been absolutely fantastic. Just wondering if anyone else has been watching and what you all have thought.
I've heard good things about it elsewhere...but haven't watched it. Maybe I better start recording it....
I counldn't believe he signed those papers! I should check wikipedia before each episode. But wiki did say that the papers had an expiration date except for one that is still here today that allows the president to arrest citizens of nations we are at war with.
I don't have HBO or I would be all over that! I would just love to see it. As soon as they release it, I will get it on DVD. So many people have told me it is superb...
I have enjoyed it particularly because I read the biography (can remember author, it was published about 5 years ago) a couple years back, so I had some notion about his place in history. The series does not exaggerate the depth of love between him and Abigail. and their prolific letter writing left a record for history.
If the book that the series is based on is accurate, John Adams didn't have much fun in his life, although he did have a great woman and kids who loved him. Rather a dreary kind of guy. Not a politician by any stretch; never bowed to political crosswinds. Honest and principled man; always a straight shooter. I have Comcast and prefer to watch the series On Demand whenever I want, instead of having to schedule an entire evening around the initial showing. The guy who plays Ben Franklin sure brought that guy to life, a really interesting character who was a master politician, although he was smart enough not to want to be president. The thing that I don't really like about the series is that it skips over the really big events for the most part since it's all about Adams who was in Europe during a lot of the Revolution and the subsequent aftermath.
I've seen most of the episodes and it does give a lot more depth to the man other than just being the successor to G. Washington. There's no question that Washington was the logical first President but the series also shows why John Adams was almost every bit as important as Washington in getting this country off the ground. But the presentation of Adams is real in that he's not diefied like Washington. Adams boring, cranky, egotistical and he makes mistakes. Hello he's human. What a unbelievably fortuitous grouping of men arrived at the same time in our History. Franklin, Adams, Jefferson and Washington. Franklin IMO may have been the first among equals though.
