John Adams

Synopsis

Adapted from David McCullough's Pulitzer Prize-winning biography, this lavish seven-part miniseries chronicles the life of Founding Father John Adams, starting with the Boston Massacre of 1770 through his years as an ambassador in Europe, then his terms as vice president and president of the United States, up to his death on July 4, 1826.

First Air Date: 2008-03-16

Last Air Date: 2008-04-20

Number of Seasons: 1

Number of Episodes: 7

Created By: Kirk Ellis

Networks: HBO

View Technical Specifications on IMDb

Top Cast

Paul Giamatti as John Adams
Laura Linney as Abigail Adams
Stephen Dillane as Thomas Jefferson
Danny Huston as Samuel Adams
David Morse as George Washington
Sarah Polley as Abigail Adams Smith
Tom Wilkinson as Benjamin Franklin
Steven Hinkle as Young John Quincy Adams
Madeline Taylor as Young Nabby Adams
John Dossett as Benjamin Rush

Seasons

Specials

No overview available for this season.

Episodes:

Ep. 1: Making John Adams

See the technology and artistry behind the making of the epic John Adams miniseries.
Ep. 2: David McCullough: Painting With Words

In this intimate, informal portrait of an artist as a historian, Pulitzer Prize-winning author David McCullough welcomes viewers into his public and private world, exhibiting the infectious curiosity, humor and humanity that have defined his work and life. Director Mark Herzog travels with the celebrated writer as he delivers a speech to rapt legislators; climbs the same Philadelphia church's steeple tower as did John Adams two centuries earlier; returns to the Massachusetts Historical Society to again study an original Adams letter written to his wife Abigail a day before July 4, 1776; visits his old Brooklyn neighborhood and makes his annual trek across the Brooklyn Bridge; sings songs, paints pictures, and reflects on his undiminished enthusiasm for writing while sitting in his tiny "world headquarters" (shed-like though not a shed, he insists) on the grounds of his home. Accompanied in most of these journeys by wife Rosalee (whom he met the summer before college), McCullough provides an insightful, anecdotal look into his life and career, while displaying a refreshing approachability and genuine interest in people he meets along the way.