Anyone watching? It's a 7 part miniseries. Hated history as a kid but now am enjoying it so much! Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney play John and Abigail Adams.
So far it's great!

I'd love to be watching it with you chatty, people have been telling me how good it is but I don't have HBO anymore . I'll just have to wait until it comes out on DVD or read the book for now :think:

I've been watching it chatty and it is excellent. Paul Giamatti is such a good actor, he had me convinced that he (John Adams) died at the end of the last episode. I know Adams survived his sickness in Holland, of course, because he later became our second President, but his acting was just that fantastic.

One scene I can't get out of my mind from the first episode. Growing up I had heard of the expression, "being tarred and feathered and run out of town on a rail" especially when talking about history in school. To see that played out on television was very disturbing. I never thought about the fact that the tar was scorching hot as it was dumped on the naked body. Also, that guy was literally put on a rail and run out of town.

Laura Linney was heartbreaking to watch last night as she talked to her daughter about feeling that she had lost the love of her husband. I was nearly in tears watching that.

I'm sure like other HBO series, it will be available on DVD at some point. I expect that it will sell well, especially after the great reviews it is getting.

I agree. That scene was really disturbing. I also was amazed by Linney's acting as well. I know that John and Abigail had such a love affair and had such a tremendous correspondence. What I didn't know was that she had to endure such long durations away from her husband raising those children on her own. The decisions she had to make, like whether or not to inoculate against smallpox must have been agonizing. Also that she was such a huge patriot surprised me. And as a mother I can't wait to see her reaction when John comes home and tells her that John Quincy is in Russia. That poor kid- he didn't want to go.
As a kid I hated history b/c of the way it was taught. We had to memorize all the dates and places of all the battles, as well as the General's names and such. Boring!
But to see our history coming to life like this is terribly exciting, especially with the caliber of acting involved.

I sadly don't have HBO, but I really want to see this.

My friend is currently reading the book that this is based on, and she says it's fantastic. Did you know that there are over 1,000 letters between John and Abigail still in existence? Apparently they are very romantic and loving--they quote poets and authors to describe their love for each other.

Wow, I knew they were both avid letter-writers but didn't know there were that many.
The acting is so good on this miniseries they just draw you into their love for one another. Abigail is such a hoot, too. I love the way she keeps John in line. Odd for that time, I think, but so, so interesting.