John Adams

[Onkel Neal]

The HBO series starts tonight, set your Tivos and DVRs! Tonight, Adams defends the Redcoats in a court of law. Later, the Declaration of Independence.

Eh, if you don't have HBO, a Tivo, DVR, or a TV, no need to post.

[The WosMan]

Sounds interesting but I gave up on HBO after they ruined Deadwood by cancelling it.

[stabiz]

Deadwood was really good.

[Onkel Neal]

Arrgh, first reply, Wos doesn't have HBO. :dead:

John Adams > Deadwood.

Post your own topic :arrgh!:

[August]

I'm currently about 1/3rd the way through the book. John Adams was a great American.

[Onkel Neal]

I'm currently about 1/3rd the way through the book. John Adams was a great American.

He was indeed, great American, great man. That's a really good book, btw.

[August]

I'm currently about 1/3rd the way through the book. John Adams was a great American.
He was indeed, great American, great man. That's a really good book, btw.

That's the second book i've read from David McCullough, the first one being "1776". Both are excellent.

[Torplexed]

I'm been watching it tonight. Paul Giamatti was a good choice for Adams. Must admit I hardly recognized David Morse as Washington. Must be the powdered wig. :ping:

[Camaero]

I just got done watching the series. So far I love it. I guess I didn't really understand the full extent of what John Adams did. :up:

[Frau_Phillips]

I'm a big Laura Linney fan, so I'll be watching.
I'm just bothered by Paul Giamatti playing Adams. I've seen him in many, many films, and he was a fool charcter in all of them. So everytime I see him, I think of that fool type he always seems to play. I couldn't finish Sideways it was so distracting. Maybe this show will change that.

[August]

I'm a big Laura Linney fan, so I'll be watching.
I'm just bothered by Paul Giamatti playing Adams. I've seen him in many, many films, and he was a fool charcter in all of them. So everytime I see him, I think of that fool type he always seems to play. I couldn't finish Sideways it was so distracting. Maybe this show will change that.

He didn't play the fool in Saving Private Ryan. I'm just sayin...

[Frau_Phillips]

I'm a big Laura Linney fan, so I'll be watching.
I'm just bothered by Paul Giamatti playing Adams. I've seen him in many, many films, and he was a fool charcter in all of them. So everytime I see him, I think of that fool type he always seems to play. I couldn't finish Sideways it was so distracting. Maybe this show will change that.

He didn't play the fool in Saving Private Ryan. I'm just sayin...

He's in that?
Never seen it >_>

[August]

I'm a big Laura Linney fan, so I'll be watching.
I'm just bothered by Paul Giamatti playing Adams. I've seen him in many, many films, and he was a fool charcter in all of them. So everytime I see him, I think of that fool type he always seems to play. I couldn't finish Sideways it was so distracting. Maybe this show will change that.
He didn't play the fool in Saving Private Ryan. I'm just sayin...
He's in that?
Never seen it >_>

It wasn't a big part.

But the last Paul Giamatti movie i saw was "Shoot 'em up" which will be a biiiiiiiiiiiig stretch from that character to John Adams. :D

[mrbeast]

I'll have to look out for this. IMO HBO make some of the best American TV shows I've seen.:up:

Its a real shame Deadwood was cancelled. :yep: :damn:

[dean_acheson]

I'm currently about 1/3rd the way through the book. John Adams was a great American.
He was indeed, great American, great man. That's a really good book, btw.

That's the second book i've read from David McCullough, the first one being "1776". Both are excellent.

Well, for God's sake, make the third book Truman then......

[The WosMan]

Arrgh, first reply, Wos doesn't have HBO. :dead:

John Adams > Deadwood.

Post your own topic :arrgh!:

HA, I couldn't help myself. I will have to check this John Adams out. I am still mad about Deadwood though. I need to get my swearing fix (every other word is the F word with that show).

[Stealth Hunter]

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3692333705196414991

:rock: :rotfl: :rock:

[August]

I'm currently about 1/3rd the way through the book. John Adams was a great American.
He was indeed, great American, great man. That's a really good book, btw.
That's the second book i've read from David McCullough, the first one being "1776". Both are excellent.
Well, for God's sake, make the third book Truman then......

I will. As soon as I finish John Adams and the Dan Gallery book i just picked up today.

[Sailor Steve]

RESURRECTED THREAD ALERT!
But it's intentional, and I have a reason, so there!:p

I don't have HBO, so I had to wait three months until I could buy a copy at a reasonable price.

I've only watched the first episode, but so far, barring several annoying minor inaccuracies, I like it! Paul Giomatti is very good. Laura Linney is perfect, loving him, supporting him and mocking him all at the same time and sometimes without saying a word.

The DVD set comes with a function titled from an Adams quote: "Facts Are Stubborn Things." When it's on little factoids appear onscreen throughout the show, telling you things you never knew.

I'm surprised that more of you who saw it when it was on didn't come back and give more detailed opinions as it progressed. I intend to.:sunny:

[mapuc]

Right now I'm googling the internet to find info about this John Adams

Markus

[mapuc]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Adams

Maybe the history channel on my latitude, will show this serie

I hope

Markus

[Sailor Steve]

Finally saw part 2: Independence.

I'm truly amazed at what can be accomplished with the right writers, actors and director. This was a remarkable recreation of the events surrounding the Continental Congress and the Declaration of Independence.

Things I didn't like: well, the factoids I praised before are still great, except for the part where they tell Washington's height - 6'4". Every history I've ever read said 6'2", except for the biography by Willard Stern Randall, and several more qualified historians have suggested that book might be a little misleading. Washington's height is really not important, except for the part where they don't mention Jefferson's height - 6'2-1/2", and the guy playing Jefferson about the same height as everybody else. Trivialities, I know, but I'm a trivial kind of guy, and that bugs me.

Things I liked: well, just about everything. The acting was perfect, the arguments in Congress were well depicted, once again Laura Linney pretty much ruled the show; which made her portrayal of Abigail spot on. They even mentioned that the actual vote for Independence came on July 2, though they left out the part where Adams wrote his wife that the Second would be celebrated throughout history with "cannons and parades". They showed Adams giving his famous three reasons why he felt Jefferson should write the Declaration instead of himself, but treated it as history, when the only actual record is Adams' recollection as an old man, which Jefferson then claimed didn't happen that way. Also they did depict the meeting in which Franklin and Adams critiqued Jefferson's work, and credited Franklin with changing "Sacred and undeniable" to "Self-evident", which is likely true but not known for sure. What they didn't show was the events of July 3, when Congress as a whole revised the document again, and Franklin telling Jefferson the "Hatter" story in an attempt to console him. But then the series isn't titled "Jefferson", so I can't complain too much.

David Morse as Washington is amazing: austere and reserved, as Washington was said to be. I've always loved the George Washington miniseries with Barry Bostwick and Patty Duke, but this is something else. Also great is Stephen Dillane as Thomas Jefferson. They have him mention Jefferson's fear of public speaking, considering himself to be a bad orator. Dillane's Jefferson is quiet and reserved, constantly waiting for others to speak first before replying in one or two words. One complaint though: why do they never give these guys Virginia accents?

On the whole I'm loving it. I can't wait until they get to the part about Franklin and Adams negotiating the peace in 1783. Truly great show.

[Platapus]

I'm currently about 1/3rd the way through the book. John Adams was a great American.
He was indeed, great American, great man. That's a really good book, btw.

That's the second book i've read from David McCullough, the first one being "1776". Both are excellent.

Well, for God's sake, make the third book Truman then......

Ahem!

"The Path between the Seas" is an outstanding book

[August]

I have just finished watching the DVD series and all i have to say is the book was good but this is one of the few times the movie actually lives up to it.

[Sailor Steve]

I mentioned in the 'What Are You Reading' thread that I was mildly disappointed in the book, and wasn't sure whether it was McCullough's writing style or Adams' personality. Walter Isaacson's book on Franklin made Adams look like a pompous oaf, and McCullough's treated Jefferson in a similar fashion.

Back to the show.

Episode 3: Don't Tread On Me. Covers the rest of the Revolution, including Adams' appointment as Franklin's assistant in France. It nicely covers Franklin's coddling of the French, and Adams irritating all and sundry by trying to cut directly to the chase. It also goes into his six-year separation from his family, and the frustrations involved in being apart for that long from someone you love as deeply as they did each other. In the book McCullough mentions that John and Abigail Adams wrote more than five thousand letters to each other during their lives. They weren't the only ones, but we'll never know how many Thomas and Martha Jefferson wrote - when she died young, in a fit of grief and rage he burned every single one.

The chapter ends with Adams being pretty much laughed out of Paris, and going to Amsterdam to try to secure a load from the Dutch banking merchants; and finally a devastating illness.

I liked this episode the least so far, but that's not bad; if I was rating them so far I'd give episode 2 a 10, but 1 would be 9.8 and this one would still be at least 9.5.

Episode 4: Reunion. Picks up where the last one left off. The war ends with Cornwallis's surrender to Washington, and Adams goes back to Paris to be part of the peace negotiations. It then jumps to Abigail's arrival in Paris to join her husband, which was a big disappointment to me. Not the Abigail part; but they have Adams say that he will insist on a British guarantee of Independence being part of the treaty, and then skip the whole treaty itself. I wanted to see the look on his face when, after swearing that he'll force Franklin to his way of thinking, had his thunder stolen when Franklin takes his team aside (John Jay was there also) and told them "We won't even talk to them unless Independence is mentioned up front!" And then everyone was shocked when the British negotiator showed up, and right there in his charter it said he was "authorized to treat with the representatives of The United States Of America."

But still, the reunion was a wonderful scene, and the discussions between both of them and Jefferson are priceless. It gets even better with their return home, the beginning of the degeneration of their son Charles into alcoholism, and the beginning of the romance between their daughter Nabby (Abigail) with Adams' secretary, William Smith. That funny side-note is one I never noticed until watching the show: Abigails senior's maiden name was Smith, making her Abigail Smith Adams, and Nabby married William Smith, making her Abigail Adams Smith.

The episode ends with the Election of 1788 and George Washington becoming the first president. John Adams knew he would almost certainly be vice-president, and he knew that the electors would make sure he got less votes than Washington, so there was no question or argument; but the electors wanted to be absolutely certain, so Adams got less than half the votes the general did. He was so disappointed that he wanted to refuse the position, but his wife kindly pointed out that he had still recieved more votes than all the other candidates combined. This is history, and it is portrayed very well here. We're back to a 9.8 for this one.

One thing that has been bothering me is their habit of placing famous historical statements in a false context. They had Benjamin Franklin make his famous "hang together" speech during the debates on the Declaration, when in fact he is said to have made it right after he signed his name to the document. Again, when the French Foreign Minister met Thomas Jefferson he said "So you are the man who is to replace the great Franklin." Jefferson famously replied "Sir, no one can replace Doctor Franklin. I only succeed him." They have him say this to Adams during a quiet outdoor discussion.

A very small complaint, but it still bugs me.

[Sailor Steve]

Episode 5: Unite or Die. Got a huge belly laugh out of me right from the start. I had to pause it to wipe the tears from my eyes. I knew that Adams got the senate angry at him, since his job was to referee debates and cast tiebreaking votes, and he insisted on taking part in the debates himself. I knew that he wanted to revere George Washington by giving the title "His Highness, the President of the United States and Protector of their Liberties", and the senate voted it down almost unanimously, prefering the far-more-republican "Mister President". I also knew that because of this people started calling Adams "His Rotundity, the Duke of Braintree" (Adams' ancestral home, until the name was changed to Quincy). What I didn't expect to see was all of this played out before the opening credits!

Overall, this episode is one of the best, adequately illustrating Adams' frustration at being excluded from Washington's cabinet meetings, being mostly disliked by those around him and pretty much having nothing to do in his job. Again they have him say things to his wife that we only know about it because he wrote it to her in letters. But that's okay, because showing them reading letters from each other would be boring, and this show is anything but that.

Once again Paul Giamatti makes us believe he is John Adams; once again David Morse is captivating as George Washington; once again Stephen Dillane gives us a Jefferson like no other; and once again Laura Linney steals...no, rules the show with her depiction of Abigail, propping her husband up and calmly explaining to him why his opponents are right, at least where his character is concerned.

I place this one right up there with part 2, and rate it 9.9.