If you have been paying attention to HBO's schedule over the past seven weeks or so, you will no doubt have run across listings for the truly memorable seven-part miniseries which has just recently concluded its run - "John Adams", a nearly nine-hour adaptation of historian David McCullough's biography of our second U.S. President, covering his life and incredibly enlightened relationship with wife Abigail Adams between the years 1770 and 1826. It should not be confused with "John and Abigail Adams" the "American Experience" documentary of a few years back.

If this were simply an unusually interesting dramatization, it would be pariseworthy in itself, but it is also a richly detailed and apparently overwhelmingly accurate picture of life in the eighteenth century. Nothing apparently has been overlooked, from the details in the set design and costumes, to the formality that was customary even in everyday conversations (no out-of-place, modern slang here), to the authentic accents used by the cast in speaking the dialogue. There are some minor details which have been changed for the sake of telescoping the events or adding dramatic impact, but only a nit-picker interested in focusing on unimportant details would mind.

Readers will ask if this is a boring production, and I can assure them that it is not. It does gloss over some details which I would assume would have been brought out; the death of Benjamin Franklin (Tom Wilkinson) in 1790, for instance, is barely mentioned. But what is there is so well done that it makes most previous dramatizations of the lives of our Founding Fathers ("George Washington" with Barry Bostwick comes to mind) appear truly pathetic in comparison, a rare exception being A&E's excellent 2000 telemovie "The Crossing", the story of George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River.

The entire cast gives performances that are virtually certain to receive Emmy nominations, unless the committee still holds itself to the same low standards it demonstrated last year. Paul Giamatti, whose portrayal has been unfairly criticized by those who were eager to see only an idealized portrayal of a handsome John Adams along the lines of the musical "1776", gives perhaps the performance of his career in the title role, demonstrating that he is much more than an actor who can portray a lovable loser such as the one he played in the film "Sideways". Laura Linney not only matches him as Abigail Adams, but possibly surpasses him, and if she does not receive an award for her portrayal, the entire entertainment community - actors, directors, writers, producers, perhaps even critics, should mutiny. Viewers are unlikely to see a finer portrayal from an actress this year. Other memorable performances are contributed by Stephen Dillane as Thomas Jefferson, David Morse as George Washington (authentic right down to the false teeth which annoy him), Rufus Sewell as Alexander Hamilton, the previously mentioned Tom Wilkinson as Ben Franklin, and, in a poignant portrayal which never topples over into sentimentality, Sarah Polley as Adams's ill-fated daughter Nabby, who must endure breast cancer surgery without anesthesia.

The script, mostly by Kirk Ellis, not only covers notable historical events, such as the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence and the joyously received Presidential inauguration of George Washington, but also gives an insightful look into John and Abigail's marriage, a marriage of equals in a time when women were hardly considered equal. Abigail Adams was clearly not a woman to be trifled with, yet she and her husband shared what must have been one of the deepest bonds between a couple that has ever been recorded (their letters all survive).

One historical inaccuracy I must nitpick about myself, however, is the alteration of the most famous sentence in the Declaration of Independence. Why on earth was "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" changed to the ungrammatical and rather nonsensical "We hold these truths to be self evident, and that all men are created equal, and that they are endowed..." etc.? This is an unnecessary alteration of perhaps the single most famous phrase in American history! Thankfully, other inaccuracies are much less significant, and less noticeable to someone who is not a hardcore history buff. None of this, however, detracts from the overall excellence of the miniseries.

"John Adams" is not for the squeamish either - primitive medical procedures are shown - some in graphic detail, such as eighteenth-century smallpox inoculation, some, thankfully, less graphic (the breast cancer surgery).

If the idea of a seven-hour-plus miniseries on a historical figure scares viewers off, they need not worry. It will be available on DVD in June in a three DVD set, and each 65-minute episode can be watched individually if one chooses.

There is no doubt that HBO has done it again, putting the regular commercial networks to shame, and choosing actors not for their ratings appeal but for their acting ability. Director Tom Hooper, who gave us the Emmy-winning "Elizabeth I", has this time chosen to go the whole distance in delivering an account of an immensely interesting life, and he has done so magnificently.