A seven-part miniseries about John Adams based on the best-selling Pulitzer Prize winning book by historian David McCullough seems like something you used to find on PBS done in cooperation with the BBC, but you’ll find it on HBO, with parts 1 & 2 airing Sunday at 8:00 p.m.
The miniseries tells the story of the first vice-president and later the second president of the United States. The big bankroll of HBO means this production has some people you may have heard of both in front of the camera with Paul Giamatti as Adams, Laura Linney as his wife Abigail, David Morse as George Washington and Sarah Polley as daughter Nabby - as well as behind (Tom Hanks is an executive producer).
The series begins with Adams's days as a revolutionary in Massachusetts and continues with his role in the early development of the United States. If you don't remember your U.S. history, Adams was one of the founding fathers, the negotiator of the peace treaty with Brittan, and a political rival of Thomas Jefferson.
And don’t worry about it being one of those Hollywood projects that the original author of the book disowns because they distorted it. David McCullough actually approves of it, despite there being some concessions to time, medium, and drama. And Hanks has a pretty good record when it comes to historical miniseries with, “From the Earth to the Moon” and “Band of Brothers” under his belt. So this may not suck.
