What's Worth Watching: Sons of Liberty Takes on the Original Tea Partiers

Sons of Liberty (Sunday, Jan. 25-Tuesday, Jan. 27, 9/8c, History)

There's anarchy in the streets of 18^th-century Boston, a time when Sam Adams was a bar owner, not a favored brew. As played by Ben Barnes, Adams is a raffish rascal who's in trouble for being a tax collector who refuses to collect taxes. He's also a leading figure of defiance, inspiring revolutionary fervor against the oppressive Redcoats in this robustly old-fashioned six-hour historical miniseries.

Adams is the central player in the opening chapter, part of a young band of brothers that includes Paul Revere (Michael Raymond-James), John Hancock (Rafe Spall), Dr. Samuel Warren (The Blacklist's Ryan Eggold) and Sam's second cousin/future president John Adams (Henry Thomas). As these sons of liberty scheme to smuggle goods under the noses of the tax-mad British and otherwise incite rebellion, you may wonder: Where's Ben Franklin (Breaking Bad's Dean Norris) in all of this? Answer: In London, lolling naked and lecherous in a tub. Hardly a rose-colored view of history, Sons of Liberty will have you rooting for the home team.