Some Ideas for Mini-Series

O.K., I finished watching the John Adams miniseries today, and my overall review is perhaps a bit more generous than the one I wrote yesterday. The final episode was excruciating, just watching everybody get old and die and, seeing as this was the early 19th century, some of them didn’t even get old first. But, even the last two or three were a bit grim. I guess it was historically accurate, so that’s a good thing, but he got very bitter in his old age, and jealous that Jefferson, Franklin, and Washington were all more popular and famous than he was, and he felt that his presidency would be regarded by history as insignificant, in which he was not entirely wrong.
Still, he was alive and involved at a key point in history, so it was interesting. Which got me thinking…when are we going to see a miniseries about the life of Millard Fillmore, or Grover Cleveland? They, too, were at the center of things and saw a lot of historical changes, and no doubt had families and relationships and things going on in their lives that movies could be made about.
Of course, most of these biopics try to paint the historical personage in a favorable light, and a lot of presidents and other world leaders have been downright scum, but that can be interesting, too.
I suppose it helps if somebody has written a book about their life to start with, but probably most world leaders have had that and, even if not, there’s probably enough news coverage that the essentials can be pieced together.
I suppose, from a commercial point of view, filmmakers might worry about making films about the lives of less significant, less famous people, and wonder who would watch them. Well, I would, for sure. And who knows – some of them might see a resurgence of interest, even popularity.