How Many Us Presidents

Paid in Full: The Platinum Edition


Hip-hop has always been a puzzle, and the two-CD "platinum edition" of 1987's classic Paid in Full reestablishes one of the genre's key pieces in proper context by combining the original 10-song tour de force with a companion collection of important remixes. From Eric B.'s Technics terrorism and sampling symphonies to Rakim's soulful, street-smart flow, Paid in Full is landmark science, a Ph.D. effort building on the early theories of New York City legends like the Sugarhill Gang and Grandmaster Flash. By featuring 10 remixes--including Coldcut's "Seven Minutes of Madness" treatment of the title track and the Wild Bunch's "Move the Crowd"--The Platinum Edition also highlights the duo's influence on DJ and club culture beyond the B-boy set. --Mark Woodlief

John Adams


Based on David McCullough's bestselling biography, the HBO miniseries John Adams is the furthest thing from a starry-eyed look at America's founding fathers and the brutal path to independence. Adams (Paul Giamatti), second president of the United States, is portrayed as a skilled orator and principled attorney whose preference for justice over anti-English passions earns enemies. But he also gains the esteem of the first national government of the United States, i.e., the Continental Congress, which seeks non-firebrands capable of making a reasoned if powerful case for America's break from England's monarchy. The first thing one notices about John Adams' dramatizations of congress' proceedings, and the fervent pro-independence violence in the streets of Boston and elsewhere, is that America's roots don't look pretty or idealized here. Some horrendous things happen in the name of protest, driving Adams to push the cause of independence in a legitimate effort to get on with a revolutionary war under the command of George Washington. But the process isn't easy: not every one of the 13 colonies-turned-states is ready to incur the wrath of England, and behind-the-scenes negotiations prove as much a part of 18th century congressional sessions as they do today.

Besides this peek into a less-romanticized version of the past, John Adams is also a story of the man himself. Adams' frustration at being forgotten or overlooked at critical junctures of America's early development--sent abroad for years instead of helping to draft the U.S. constitution--is detailed. So is his dismay that the truth of what actually transpired leading to the signing of the Declaration of Independence has been slowly forgotten and replaced by a rosier myth. But above all, John Adams is the story of two key ties: Adams' 54-year marriage to Abigail Adams (Laura Linney), every bit her husband's intellectual equal and anchor, and his difficult, almost symbiotic relationship with Thomas Jefferson (Stephen Dillane) over decades. Giamatti, of course, has to carry much of the drama, and if he doesn't always seem quite believable in the series' first half, he becomes increasingly excellent at the point where an aging Adams becomes bitter over his place in history. Linney is marvelous, as is Dillane, Sarah Polley as daughter Nabby, Danny Huston as cousin Samuel Adams, and above all Tom Wilkinson as a complex but indispensable Ben Franklin. --Tom Keogh

The West Wing: The Complete First Season


Conventional wisdom prior to season one of The West Wing was that the only successful television shows were half hour sitcoms and hour long police, legal, or medical dramas. Building on surplus ideas from his film The American President and the walk-and-talk style of comedy and drama from his critically acclaimed television show Sports Night, Aaron Sorkin bucked the trend and created his masterpiece, one of the most memorable American political depictions to reach the big or small screen. Season one introduces viewers to a Nobel Prize-winning economist and unabashed intellectual president Jed Bartlet (Martin Sheen) and his key staff members, a newly elected Democratic administration trying to find its footing amidst the corridors of the White House's west wing. To the credit of its cast and their brilliant ensemble acting, The West Wing manages to immediately conjure nearly a dozen distinct and memorable characters. Perhaps the greatest star of all is Sorkin's rapid-fire dialogue, especially as delivered by Press Secretary C.J. Craig (Alison Janney), Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford), Deputy Communications Director Sam Seaborn (Rob Lowe), and Chief of Staff Leo McGarry (John Spencer). They carry on conversations while stalking purposefully and unhaltingly down corridors, around corners, and through doorways, and all of it unfurls with the choreographic precision of a classical ballet and the pace of an Olympic ping-pong rally.

What emerges is more than a collective liberal dream of an impassioned administration battling back ultra-conservative bogeymen ranging from the religious right to bigots to gun-toting militants. Wonderful episodes like "The Pilot" and "In Excelsis Deo" portray a government led by heroic, intelligent, and decent men and women. Whether or not one regards that as a political fantasy, it's a remarkably refreshing and appealing vision of politics and its practitioners, one that the public embraced with consistently strong television ratings. In a country whose citizens are used to viewing their elected leaders with mistrust and cynicism, that might be The West Wing's greatest accomplishment. --Eugene Wei

24: Season Six


Always innovative and utterly addictive, the thrilling sixth season of 24 picks up twenty months after last season's shocking season finale and features even more unthinkable and shocking plotlines that take place in another heart-stopping 24 hour period. Nominated for his sixth consecutive Best Actor-Drama Series EmmyAward, Kiefer Sutherland continues to ignite the screen as the rugged hero Jack Bauer, along with gripping performances from the series returning ensemble cast. The seven-disc 24: Season Six DVD set includes all 24 one-hour episodes plus is packed with hours of special features including an exclusive Season Seven preview, over 25 minutes of deleted scenes, numerous cast/crew episode commentaries, more than 20 behind-the-scenes webcast diaries, "Day Six Debrief" mobisodes, several on-the-set featurettes and more.

Beyond 24: Season 6

The 24 TV Series

24 Community on Amazon

More from Fox TV

Stills from 24: Season 6