One of the occasional compensating pleasures of business travel is getting to see stuff on TV that I couldn't see at home -- since most hotels get, for example, HBO.
Which meant that, tonight, I inadvertently got to watch most of the first two parts of the HBO mini-series, John Adams.
I've been a fan of Adams since I first saw the 1776 musical, but I've also read the David McCullough book (on which the mini-series is based) and other books of the period, and I find him a fascinating character. And this series is, frankly, spectacular. Paul Giamatti is incredible in the title role, as are all the other cast, and the production is drop-dead gorgeous.
Since it's unlikely I'll get to see the succeeding installments, I'll just have to wait until it comes out on DVD. It'll be worth it.
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I've been dying to see this since I saw an interview with McCullough where he said Tom Hanks made sure he (McCullough) was present on the set to make it as faithful to the book and to the time period as possible (not to mention the whole Giamatti fan club thing). We don't get HBO either, though, so it's a DVD release away.
By chance we also ended up watching the first two episodes last night - we have HBO but rarely watch anything on it (it's bundled with other stuff that's needful).
It was really excellent, and I look forward to watching it more or less in real time next week, as we've now got it set up with a TiVo Season Pass. I'm really impressed with the casting and costuming, and the attention to historical detail.
I've seen two productions of "1776" here in the Chicago 'burbs, one a community theater production that was amazing, and another even better professional production at the Marriott Linconshire (where that guy landed his plane last week). And I've got the book upstairs, too. I'll have to drag it out, as David will be asking for it soon.
We may eventually get the DVD set for this, too. It's compelling and inspiring and humbling to watch.
The DVD set is available on Amazon for pre-order.
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