It takes thirteen hours for the saga of the Adams family to unfold, and with two presidents and various statements, there's a lot of story to cover. The PBS miniseries on their saga is 13 individual episodes, an hour each, and while episodic and sometimes stagnant, the personalities have to be interesting to be interesting enough to follow. The early years of future second president (and first vice) John Adams brought up memories for me of the movie version of the Broadway musical "1776" and a recent revivals where the lyrics describing him as obnoxious and disliked resonated through my head. Indeed, stage actor George Grizzard as the young attorney is perfect for the role, perhaps not obnoxious but definitely a young man who wasn't very good at hiding his awkwardness and frustrations no matter how hard he tries. His romance with Abigail Smith (Kathryn Walker) reveals that they are nearly alike in every way with her bluntness leading to an amusing scene where he explains to her her shortcomings.
The saga also focuses on the rise of George III (John Tilinger) to the throne, a man who obviously never should have been made king, and the frustrations of the colonies under his role. Oscar winner John Houseman is very funny as a pompous attorney who reveals hypocrisy in his manner as he explains what an American attorney should be. Addison Powell and Nancy Marchand are great as Abigail's parents, and with their gravely voices quite similar, Walker and Marchand seem like they really could be mother and daughter. The wheel starts to turn with the road to independence being built, although it will take nearly two decades before that occurs. This is not an action packed drama, so it might be difficult to get into for some, but every saga needs a good buildup, and this has it. Interesting to note that James Noble ("Benson") who plays a rival of Adams in court, was also in "1776".
The saga also focuses on the rise of George III (John Tilinger) to the throne, a man who obviously never should have been made king, and the frustrations of the colonies under his role. Oscar winner John Houseman is very funny as a pompous attorney who reveals hypocrisy in his manner as he explains what an American attorney should be. Addison Powell and Nancy Marchand are great as Abigail's parents, and with their gravely voices quite similar, Walker and Marchand seem like they really could be mother and daughter. The wheel starts to turn with the road to independence being built, although it will take nearly two decades before that occurs. This is not an action packed drama, so it might be difficult to get into for some, but every saga needs a good buildup, and this has it. Interesting to note that James Noble ("Benson") who plays a rival of Adams in court, was also in "1776".