WHAT IT'S ABOUT: For her first TV production, renowned presidential historian _ and Rockville Centre-raised _ Doris Kearns Goodwin, who is executive producer on this, has assembled several top historians (Joseph J. Ellis, Annette Gordon-Reed, Jon Meacham, Alan Taylor, to name a few) and political figures (Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Colin Powell) to provide on-screen commentary about George Washington's life and times. This three-night, six-hour production stars Scottish actor Nicholas Rowe ("Young Sherlock Holmes") as Washington.
Sunday covers the formative years, beginning in 1754 when the young officer is sent to battle the French in the Pennsylvania wilderness, ultimately emerging a hero who's poised for superstardom. (This review is based on Sunday's episode.)
MY SAY: Mount Vernon's website has a generous sampling of Washington portraiture through the years, from his swashbuckling youth (Charles Willson Peale) to austere late middle-age (Gilbert Stuart). All these images have endured through time and space, on stamps and coins, and more. We may not know him, but we know what he looked like. The image is unshakable.
