John Adams

Has anyone watched the John Adams HBO mini-series? We are about half-way through it (good entertainment while I've been sick) and I must say, it is amAzing. I love all that historical 'period' stuff, and so do all my guys, but even if you don't I would highly recommend it. I am learning SO much I didn't even know. The acting is incredible and this series won 13 Emmys. My dad is borrowing it from a friend and that's how I got a hold of it. Rent it if you can!

Thanks for the tip, Amy! I love stuff like this. I just added it to my Netflix queue.

Let me know what you think when you get it Rob...it IS time consuming, but well worth it. I find that any project that Tom Hanks touches (he's exec producer) turns to gold.

I've got it taped from TV, but still haven't watched it. Oh well, another thing to add to my list of things to do once the kids move out. LOL!

i've seen all of them except for the last three episodes which i have taped myself..

susansmoose wrote:

i've seen all of them except for the last three episodes which i have taped myself..

Cool...did you like it?

I'm on the last episode but I took a break and watched the special documentary feature on David McCullough, the author of the book John Adams. I just fell in love with the guy...and I think he's like 80 years old! Honestly, he's fantastic...I may have to buy the book now! In the 'making of' feature, David says, "I don't think anyone who sees this film will see the Revolutionary war and the founders in the same way again. It isn't just that they will have a better understanding of it, they will feel it." Very true. Can you tell I'm passionate about this?! :haha:

yes i did...there were a few things that i didn't know about john adams and his family

i love david mccullough...i have his book on the johnstown flood and i would like to get his book 1776...

i love american history and my favorite period is covered from the early 1600's to the civil war...

Susan, have you seen Ken Burns' PBS documentary The Civil War? It's hard to imagine TV getting any better than that.

Amy wrote:

Let me know what you think when you get it Rob...it IS time consuming, but well worth it. I find that any project that Tom Hanks touches (he's exec producer) turns to gold.

I'll do that, Amy. Yeah, Tom does have the Midas touch when it comes to picking projects. These days maybe more so as a producer than an actor.

Paul Giamatti is in the Adams show, right? I've liked him in everything I've seen him in.

i've seen that more than once rob and i own the book...i love ken burns

gettysburg and pickett's charge still fascinate me...

i also loved the theme song

i don't know how to compare the two...paul giamatti was excellent in the role and so was laura linney as his wife...it was a bit different than watching 1776 the musical, which i'm used to...

I agree, Susan, Paul Giamatti & Laura Linney are unbelievable in this, IMO. They certainly both deserved the Emmy's they received. And I can't quite get enough of that theme song!

I have yet to watch "Civil War"...I believe my dad owns that.

Rob wrote:

Susan, have you seen Ken Burns' PBS documentary The Civil War? It's hard to imagine TV getting any better than that.

I have it, and I've also had to watch parts of it for a Civil War course I took in college. Actually, I'm a big Civil War buff. One whole bookshelf is dedicated to books about Lincoln and the Civil War.

susansmoose wrote:

i've seen that more than once rob and i own the book...i love ken burns

Yeah, he's a master documentarian. Besides The Civil War, I've seen his docs about baseball and jazz. I've yet to see the one about WWII, but I'm sure it'll soon make its way to my Netflix list.

i agree....i've seen his baseball one and the one on new york city...both really good...

I am re-watching the John Adams HBO mini-series, and I was doing a little research online about Abigail, and found this! I thought it was rather interesting, considering there are some 1200 letters exchanged between John and Abigail.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/06/15/Unknown-letter-by-Abigail-Adams-surfaces/UPI-95851308159682/

Fascinating! Thanks for posting that, Amy.

Sure thing Rob. I was re-reading the thread and I'm assuming you watched John Adams at some point, since it was on your Netflix queue? What did you think?

I loved it! Because of that, I ended up getting two more multi-disc documentaries about the Revolutionary War.

Thanks again for bringing it to our attention!

I would love to see this. My brother and I both love anything during that time period. I might check with him and see if he has it.....he has a friend that burns all kinds of stuff for him. I've got True Grit waiting on me!

Rob wrote:

I loved it! Because of that, I ended up getting two more multi-disc documentaries about the Revolutionary War.

Thanks again for bringing it to our attention!

Oh, great! And again, you're welcome! I'm surprised I'm as into it my second time around as I am, but it is quite the addicting mini-series.

Gin wrote:

I would love to see this. My brother and I both love anything during that time period. I might check with him and see if he has it.....he has a friend that burns all kinds of stuff for him. I've got True Grit waiting on me!

The set I am borrowing now is from my library---you could see if yours might have it Gin. I'm sure you would love it!

I'm just finishing up my second viewing of the series (good timing!), and I wanted to share something that I think a lot of people do not know. I've told a few people and they were like, "What?? Really???" I guess it's just not common knowledge and I don't think I knew of it before I saw this mini-series.

Did you all know that Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on the same day, within a few hours of each other? And that day was, the 4th of July, 1826. Exactly 50 years to the day of declaring our independence. It is stunning to think about. John Adam's last words were "Thoma Jefferson Survives"...he did not know at that point that his dear friend had passed away just shortly before him.


I just thought I would share this tidbit of historical info, in case some people didn't already know.

Isn't that just the most amazing coincidence? It would've been amazing enough if they'd simply died on the same day, but to have it be July 4th, and the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration...

It really IS amazing, I know!! Just wild! I love the fact that these two men were able to bury the hatchet in their latter years as well. They had political feuding for quite some time, which severed their ties for awhile. After Abigail died, John reached out to Thomas, (because Thomas had suffered his share of heartache, losing a wife and child), and they rekindled their friendship, writing letters to each other constantly from that time on.


Another interesting thing....author David McCullough said that all of John & Abigail's letters are on microfiche (sp?), and if you stretched them out, they would span FIVE miles!!

Wow! I love the correspondence between John and Abigail... how they'd call each other "My Dearest Friend," and the like. Their relationship seemed a bit ahead of its time.

And yes, it's nice that Adams and Jefferson were able to rekindle their friendship. They were two incredible human beings. Our country was so lucky that we just happened to have people like that in the position they were in at that moment in history.