The Booths - Civil War drama in development at Showtime

[Temis the Vorta]

Cool idea for a series.

The Booths focuses on Confederate Booth and his brothers, Edwin and Junius Brutus Jr., and chronicles their years leading up to the April 14, 1865 assassination of Lincoln at Ford's Theatre. The brothers, sons of British Shakespearean actor Junius Brutus Booth and Mary Ann Holmes, were all stage performers.

They've got both the war and the theater as topics to draw on - just go back and forth between the two - don't see how this could lose.

 

[Maab of the Ten Tribes]

I could dig this. I am fascinated with the Lincoln assassination plot so I would definitely check this out.

 

[Harvey]

Sounds like an interesting miniseries. I'm not sure how it would go as a weekly series, though, especially with Showtime's habit of keeping around shows that do well for as long as possible.

 

[The Green Mushroom]

Sounds like an interesting miniseries. I'm not sure how it would go as a weekly series, though, especially with Showtime's habit of keeping around shows that do well for as long as possible.

Agreed. My first thought was that it might be a good movie, but how are they going to stretch it out for several years. I look forward to the riveting episode where John Wilkes Booth ponders his life's journey while his broken leg is set.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

They'll probably start at the beginning of the war, or even earlier. John Wilkes Booth was a Confederate sympathizer (and spy?) before the assassination - I don't know much about the story but I'd rather not look too much of it up, since that would be a spoiler.

 

[Beagleman]

I love that there are quite a lot of period dramas in production. Networks seem to take more risks at the moment (I mean, it's not another cop or lawyer show, yay!).

 

[IndyJones]

Here are my two favorite bit of Booth trivia:

1. Virginia commemorates the location where John Wilkes Booth was captured with a bench. It's a bench that proclaims the Virginia state motto "Sic Semper Tyrannis" or "Thus Always to Tyrants." Worth mentioning because that also happens to be what Booth shouted just after shooting Lincoln.

2. Edwin Booth, John's brother, was considered one of the best American actors in generations, and was well-known by many. He was in Jersey City near the end of the war, and saved a man from being runover by a train. The man he saved, and Booth did not know who he was, happened to be Robert Todd Lincoln, the son of the President his brother would soon kill.

Fascinating family, and I hope the show is well-planned in advance to avoid the problems that successful Showtime shows are currently experiencing (as Harvey mentioned).

 

[Yevetha]

Who is the guy who worked on this and worked on Lost too?

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I love that there are quite a lot of period dramas in production. Networks seem to take more risks at the moment (I mean, it's not another cop or lawyer show, yay!).

Yep, I cheer every new historical, sci fi, fantasy or horror show I hear about - even the ones that don't interest me. Things are getting weighted a bit heavily on supernatural/fairy tale stuff and way too light on space opera, that's my only complaint.