So when it premiered several weeks ago, I could be found doing other things to fill the 9pm Sunday time slot. Shame on me.

    I caught an episode recently, and now I’m hooked. Not only is the story incredibly well told, (again, most of that is because of McCullough) but the job HBO has done in recreating the 1700′s is phenomenal. The sets alone will surely warrant an Emmy nod next awards season, but it is the costume department that inspires the most awe and amazement. Paul Giamatti’s portrayal of Adams is spot on, as is Laura Linney’s Abigail. But the one character that still has me floored is David Morse’s George Washington. I cannot think of a more perfect role for Morse after seeing him done up and in a bone-white wig. 

    The plot revolves around John Adams’ involvement in the early creation of the United States. He and his band of history textbook celebrities (Ben Franklin, George Washington, John Hancock, Thomas Jefferson) write the Constitution, sign the Declaration, and otherwise collaborate to create a more perfect union after the Revolutionary War. 

    Ten or fifteen years from now, the series may prove to be one of the greatest and most accurate looks into the early history of this country: surely it will find its place in the libraries and curriculums of thousands of middle schools and high schools across the country.

    This show is not to be missed. It may not follow the usual formula for hit television, but it certainly strikes all the right notes. 

    Part Five of the series premieres tonight on HBO at 9pm. An encore immediately follows that at 10pm on HBO 2, and then rebroadcasts begin Monday morning at 10am. For a preview of this episode, check out the video bar on the left.

 In case you have forgotten how season 3 ended, the 40k+ humans faced destruction (again) as Lee Adama made a startling discovery…namely Starbuck, who appeared to have died in a fiery crash. She tells him that she’s been to Earth, and she promises to take him there. Its a hard scene to forget, since it was shot and scored perfectly.   

If you are a newbie to BSG, check out the video bar on the left for an 8 minute recap of the first three seasons. Even if you’ve been a diehard fan you may want to check it out because its actually really funny. Whodathunk.  

SciFi has FINALLY begun posting past episodes of their shows, so you can see the last few episodes in their entirety at SciFi.com  

This marks the start of the great return to the scripted shows. Next week will surely rank in awesomeness somewhere in between Christmas and Halloween as the NBC comedies (The Office, Scrubs, 30 Rock) return. MUCH more on those shows, and others, later.

And what a night to reemerge from the exaflood. Tonight in Washington D.C marks the unofficial start of BASEBALL season! Sure the Red Sox and Athletics technically played the first two games of the season a few days ago, but that was in Japan at 6am EST. Hardly a way to kick off America’s pastime.    

The Nationals are opening their brand new stadium with the help of the heavily favored Atlanta Braves. You’d think that the Nationals’ front office would want an easier team to perhaps get the stadium off on the right foot, but the truth of the matter is, they could have bussed in a local high school team and it still would have been a toss up. Sorry D.C, but the playoffs are not in your future.   

But what I’m really looking forward to is the ceremonial first pitch, to be thrown out by…our president George W. Bush. Ever wonder why he has made so few public appearances on national T.V? Perhaps is 30% approval ratings, and the boos that accompany it, have something to do with it. I’m excited to see what the crowd’s reaction to his first pitch will be.    

UPDATE! Well, the boos outnumbered the cheers. I was actually a little shocked by just how vocal those boos were. Not that they weren’t deserved.

Three weeks ago, Amy Poehler portrayed Clinton on a skit on SNL that made fun of the mainstream media’s largely generous coverage of Barack Obama.

The skit came days after a CNN debate between the two Democratic candidates, and the fake anchors on SNL swooned over Fred Armisen’s spot-on Obama impression, offering extra pillows and sucking up to the candidate in every way imaginable.

The skit became an instant hit, with news shows and newspapers running analyzes on the skit and then self-examining their coverage of Obama; the skit wouldn’t have been funny unless it contained an air of truth.

Clinton clearly caught wind of the piece, as evidenced by her referral to the skit during the next debate, which was broadcast later that week on MSNBC. It was there that the fun began.

The following Saturday, Clinton made a cameo appearance on Saturday Night Live and did the traditional “Live from New York, its Saturday Night!” opening. This too sent the media into a dither, airing snippets of the performance over and over again. And then on Monday March 3, Clinton held an interview via satellite on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

These appearances, on largely youth-oriented programs, may have been the difference maker in Texas. Obama is considered by most to be the candidate who appeals most heavily to the younger voters, but Clinton took a step in the right direction in claiming some younger voters of her own and defrosting her sometimes icy persona by laughing at herself.

Hillary’s cozying-up to Lorne Michael’s SNL was short lived, though. This past Saturday, the writers went back on the attack, poking fun at the Clinton 3am phone call ad (still in the video bar on the left if you’ve missed it).

And while Clinton may have been the most recent beneficiary of late night comedy, she certainly isn’t the only one.

Just ask Mike Huckabee. Remember when his campaign appeared out of nowhere last summer? Remember what he had done just weeks earlier? He benefited greatly from the Colbert bump, that boost in numbers that an appearance on The Colbert Report tends to inspire. Oh yeah folks, its real.

More importantly, to this blog at least, is the fact that television, pure entertainment-minded television made a difference in something as important as a presidential election. Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert constantly claim that they have no desire to affect the public discourse, but whether or not they want to, they clearly do.

We still have a long way to go until we have a Democratic candidate, even longer until the general election. But if these contests are any indication, there is at least one clear winner: shows like The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, and Saturday Night Live.

“Tucker,” the daily talk show hosted by Carlson that failed to bring in viewers, was pulled by the cable news network in favor of a presidential election talk show to be hosted by NBC News’ Chief White House correspondent David Gregory.

“Tucker” first aired in 2005 after his previous gig as co-host of CNN’s Crossfire fell by the wayside shortly after a scathing appearance by Jon Stewart, who skewerd Carlson and the format of the show as being too partisan. For the entire segment, check out the video bar on the left. Trust me, it’s a doozy.

Carlson will remain with MSNBC, appearing as an analyst on other shows.

In addition to Gregory’s new show, Andrea Mitchell, the political correspondent who has been traveling with the Clinton campaign for NBC during this election cycle, will get her own election-centric show as well, to air weekdays at 1pm.

In the end, this is both a good and a bad move for MSNBC. Carlson was a conservative voice on a network that has been targeted by rivals as being too liberal. His partial removal may renew calls of liberal bias, as personalities like Keith Olbermann continue to grow in popularity.

But on the other hand, Gregory is an up-and-coming newscaster who has proven to be a popular voice in news. Appearances on the Colbert Report and a substitute for Matt Lauer on the Today Show have cemented Gregory’s status as a youth-friendly face in a traditionally older market.

Plus, this story gives us an excuse to pull out the footage of Stewart vs. Carlson from 2004. I can’t stress the awesomeness of this video enough. Don’t forget, its on the left.

It all came to a head last night, and like Alessandra Stanley from the NY Times correctly noted, Baltimore was left in much the same way it was found. The last montage, which was very VERY well done, swept through the city streets and showed the viewer just how little has changed, just how little all these seasons of do-good police work and investigative journalism actually achieved. 

Again, if you missed the episode it will re-air tonight at 10:00p on HBO2 (1:00a for West Coasters)  and then again tomorrow at 11:35p on HBO.

If you missed the episode, its going to air again (and again and again) on HBO and HBO 2. The next chance to catch it is later tonight, at 11:05p on HBO, and then tomorrow at 10p on HBO 2. Catch it if you haven’t already.

CNN also had a stellar February, taking the top spot amongst viewers aged 25 to 54, the most valued demographic for advertisers. It was the first time since 2001 that CNN was able to dethrone Fox News’ long reign over that audience. 

MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann reported that Hillary would be making appearances on six Wednesday morning talk shows, from The Today Show to Morning Joe. This after other recent–and successsful–appearances on Saturday Night Live and The Daily Show.

It may be interesting to see how she spins Tuesday’s results: a popular vote victory and delegate vote tie, or worse.