Travers is absolutely correct! JOHN ADAMS is a pure joy to watch. Unlike most period films of recent, it does not give us lush costumes with bland performance and synth soundtracks (ahem*marieantionettte*cough*) We get to see American history as it was, without the romance. The hot stinky room while tired old men wrote our great foundations. Or the heartbreak John Adams held back as he sent his eldest son, John Quincy, off to Russia to serve as interpreter for another. Adams knew that his son had an excellent opportunity to become noble and great (which he became) and Adams had to stop being the loving father and become the approving teacher, aware of the time to let the pupil go.
I could talk pages about JOHN ADAMS. My friends and I discuss it for a couple of hours after each episode. Something that happens with HBO's best material, like THE WIRE, BAND OF BROTHERS and FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON.