Blowhard, Patriot, President

“John Adams” begins in 1770 and comes to an end on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and the date of Adams’s death at 90 — the same day that Thomas Jefferson died. So the mini-series does not focus solely on the drama and political brinkmanship in Philadelphia at the moment when the members of the Continental Congress debated whether to break with the British crown and assert independence.

Early on, Adams finds common cause with the aristocratic Jefferson (Stephen Dillane) and wise, crafty Benjamin Franklin. George Washington, stiffly portrayed by David Morse in a fake nose, is not very interesting, but Mr. Dillane is a slyly intelligent, brooding Jefferson and steals every scene he is in, even when he has no dialogue.