Many times in HBO’s new miniseries “John Adams,” the nation’s second-president-to-be and his wife, Abigail - played by Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney - walk through and around their modest Braintree farmhouse. The site still exists, now enshrined in a national park on Boston’s South Shore.
But the interiors were painstakingly re-created and shot on a soundstage near Richmond, built on the site of an old bowling pin factory. The exteriors, and some of the first-floor rooms, were rebuilt on a Virginia prison farm. And a scene where Adams meets General George Washington in Harvard Yard? Filmed on a hospital grounds in Colonial Williamsburg.
In fact, while Boston and its environs figure heavily in the seven-part saga, debuting tonight, none of the $100 million production was filmed in Boston - a decision owing to money, politics and, ironically, authenticity.
“Even if we’d been in Boston,” said Tom Hooper, the series’ director, “the Boston we’d created doesn’t exist. So we’d have had to build a huge set.”
Such are the challenges of a period piece, especially one produced with the attention to detail that marks HBO’s series, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning biography by David McCullough. Hooper and screenwriter/co-executive producer Kirk Ellis said they took pains to re-create the formal language of the time, the British-tinged accents, even the unkempt wigs - which, as Hooper points out, were worn like hats in their day. (Men shaved their heads, he said, because they didn’t wash their hair.)

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HOORAY, hooray, it is nearly St David’s Day. It may not be public holiday, but at least it is a Saturday and our annual chance to celebrate being Welsh.
Unless you have small children, our national feast day may slip by unnoticed and with no real opportunities to celebrate.
How poor our celebrations are compared to our Irish cousins who seem to get far more enthusiastic about St Patrick’s Day. Let’s follow their lead this year and really make St David’s Day something to celebrate by tucking into the best of Welsh food and drink.
Wales really is becoming recognised for the fabulous quality of its produce.
The Welsh Assembly Government is doing its bit to get Welsh food recognised internationally and is hosting a number of events from Cardiff to California and Brussels to Boston.
Wales Week USA is this week and will feature Welsh food, arts, music, business and academic events in New York, Boston and for the first time, Los Angeles.
In Brussels, First Minister Rhodri Morgan will host the annual St David’s Day reception. The guests – including EU Commissioners, Ambassadors, MEPs and friends of Wales – will enjoy dishes such as crab and sweet corn fritters, rillette of hot smoked salmon and yoghurt with beetroot relish on a wholegrain muffin, fillet of Welsh Black beef with shitake mushrooms and buttered spinach, rack of Welsh lamb with a spiced crust and lime pickle. Dessert canapes include Penderyn whisky truffle lollipops, and fudge and plum jam brulees.
Closer to home, March 1 marks the launch of Cardiff’s second farmers’ market, the Roath Real Food Market. The new market follows on from the Welsh capital’s award-winning Riverside Market, and has been set up in response to demand by Cardiff shoppers. Go to www.walesthetruetaste.com to find out how to find the best tasting Welsh food for St David’s Day in style.
Leigh Roberts is a consultant for food and farming PR specialists Coleman Roberts Communications www.colemanroberts.co.uk

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Sabrina, The Teenage Witch: Season Three (1998-99)
Show & DVD Details
Regular Directors: Gary Halvorson, Linda Day, Kenneth R. Koch, David Trainer
Regular Writers: Carrie Honigblum, Renee Phillips, Dan Berendsen, Charlie Tercek, Sheldon Bull, Nick Bakay, Frank Conniff, Danita Jones / Creator: Nell Scovell
Regular Cast: Melissa Joan Hart (Sabrina Spellman), Caroline Rhea (Hilda Spellman), Beth Broderick (Zelda Spellman), Nate Richert (Harvey Kinkle), Jenna Leigh Green (Libby Chessler), Lindsay Sloane (Valerie Birkhead), Nick Bakay (voice of Salem Saberhagen), Martin Mull (Vice Principal Willard Kraft)
Recurring Characters: Mary Gross (Mrs. Quick), Curtis Andersen (Gordie), Phil Fondacaro (Roland), Henry Gibson (Witch Judge), Corbin Allred (Justin Thumb)
Notable Guest Stars: Carol Ann Susi (Doris), Donald Faison (Dashiell), Dom DeLuise (Mortimer), Gary Owens (Guy Who Thinks He’s Gary Owens), Alan Sues (Bellevuedere), Ruth Buzzi (Delilah), Joanne Worley (Aunt Beulah), David Madden (Dr. Egglehoffer), Tara Charendoff (voice of Molly Dolly), Edward Albert (Diamond Dave), Fred Stoller (C.K., Warning Man), Joel Brooks (Emperor Larry), Suzanne Krull (Olga), Larry Thomas (Zampano), Dick Clark (Himself), Mary Hart (Herself), Sonje Fortag (Cousin Susie), Beth Grant (Mrs. Grant), Jose Eber (Himself), Josh Holland (Harrison), Kay E. Kuter (Father Christmas), Daveigh Chase (Little Girl), Daniel Hagen (Mr. Birkhead), Myra Turley (Mrs. Birkhead), Sheryl Lee Ralph (Zsa Zsa Goowhiggie), Julia Duffy (Lucy), Jerry Springer (Himself), Mary Gillis (Witch Judge), ‘N Sync (Themselves), Mark Blankfield (Blackbeard), Hallie Todd (Marigold), Brian Cousins (Emil), Steve Sax (Baseball Player), Alexandra Hart-Gilliams (Ally), Emily Hart (Amanda), Emile Hirsch (Darryl), Frankie Muniz (Angelo), Mary Ann Mobley (Herself), Glenn Shadix (Caligula), Jim Wise (Brady), David Wells (Mr. Franco), David L. Lander (Postmaster), Michelle Kwan (Student), Lisa Darr (Martha), Rosalynd Ayres (voice of Aunt Dorma), Alex Rocco (Sid Wolff), Steven M. Porter (Bryce), Monty Hall (Himself), Steven Anthony Lawrence (Little Kid)
Running Time: 541 Minutes (25 episodes) / Rating: Not Rated
1.33:1 Fullscreen (Original Broadcast Ratio) / Dolby Surround 2.0 (English)
Season 2 Airdates: September 25, 1998 - May 21, 1999
DVD Release Date: January 15, 2008; Clear Standard-Width Keepcase
Suggested Retail Price: $38.99; Four single-sided, dual-layered discs (DVD-9s)
ABC’s TGIF lineup was unable to reproduce the appeal of “Sabrina, The Teenage Witch”. Two other sitcoms that tried to balance normal teen life with fantasy elements (”You Wish”, “Teen Angel”) were both cancelled before completing a single season. Their inspiration, however, the Archie Comics-spawned “Sabrina”, remained strong in 1998-99, now serving as the 9:00 PM Eastern/Pacific anchor, neighbored by new shows and longtime Friday night staple “Boy Meets World.”
Little changed for “Sabrina” in moving from Season 2 to Season 3, especially compared to the cast and design shake-ups that would later come. As always, the show fixes its attentions on Sabrina Spellman (Melissa Joan Hart),
a half-human, half-witch teenager whose magical powers regularly have an effect on her life in the Mortal Realm. There, in the fictitious Massachussetts suburb of Westbridge, she lives with an odd couple of witch aunts in their mid-600s, the whimsical Hilda (Caroline Rhea) and the more rational Zelda (Beth Broderick).
Sabrina’s boyfriend Harvey (Nate Richert) and friend Valerie (Lindsay Sloane) continue to provide support and obstacles, while never knowing of their pal’s mixed heritage. High school frequently challenges Sabrina in her junior year, though such adventures are almost always carried out with a small speaking cast that includes snobby cheerleader Libby (Jenna Leigh Green) and oft-perturbed Vice Principal Willard Kraft (the reliably wry Martin Mull). Once again leading the tiny pack of recurring characters is the amusingly timid teacher Mrs. Quick (”Saturday Night Live” alum Mary Gross). Joining her this third season is Gordie (Curtis Andersen), a go-to geek and short-lived love interest for Valerie.
Continuing to be more remarkable than the recurring cast pool is “Sabrina”’s vast collection of one-time guest star appearances. Most of these surely meant less to the teens tuning in than their parents. Season 3 skews towards stunt casting, employing the most famous individuals in a limited capacity for the recognition factor. Playing themselves as such are Dick Clark, Mary Hart, and Monty Hall, while Jerry Springer gets to lampoon his edgy daytime talk show in a more extensive and plot-tailored manner. Actors from “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In” are brought out in abundance for the Halloween episode “Good Will Haunting”,
which employs Gary Owens, Ruth Buzzi, Alan Sues, David Morton, and Jo Anne Worley. Another member of that show’s cast, Henry Gibson, shows up in two episodes as an unnamed Witch Council judge.
For young viewers, all these guest spots are trumped by the appearance of late ’90s/early 2000s boy band *NSync. A few other young icons surface briefly in blink-and-miss turns; Olympic figure skater Michelle Kwan plays a Westbridge High student, while Frankie Muniz and Emile Hirsch are siblings in an end credits tag well before “Malcolm in the Middle” and Into the Wild made them celebrities.
Technically, “Sabrina” remains one sound sitcom in its third year on the air. The cast is terrific, the jokes are regularly able to amuse a wide range of audience members, and the characters are still interesting. Perhaps the biggest drawback is that the show seems to be running short on ideas. That’s really to be expected of any formula sitcom that’s crossing the 50-episode mark, and there’s still plenty of fine writing and strong storylines to save face here. They’re packaged, however, in a season-long theme that feels gimmicky and unnecessary.
After Season 2 was devoted to Sabrina’s efforts to get her Witch’s License, Season 3 is all about Sabrina’s efforts to be able to use her Witch’s License. To do this, she has to unravel the big Spellman Family Secret. That probably doesn’t sound like a bad idea, but it’s implemented in a flimsy way, with a handful of episodes giving us a meaningless, tacked-on clue to the mystery. The few episodes that deal with the family secret directly are themselves pretty compelling. But the desire to grant an overriding coherency to these largely standalone stories is never quite satisfactorily realized. The device is even less interesting now than it was first aired, particularly since the running motif is nonsensically resolved. Suffice it to say, it never transcends the feeling of a pointless ploy to delay Sabrina from being a full-fledged witch, something already done the year before.
A cheesy season-long theme is pretty easy to overlook based on how diverting, clever, and gently funny the show is. For instance, storylines involving couples Sabrina and Harvey or Mr. Kraft and Zelda (who begins dating Hilda’s ex, to conflicted feelings) often achieve moderate success. More experimental episodes — whether they assume the form of a silent movie, film noir, or special effects adventure — also delight.
Unfortunately, Paramount’s DVD release of The Third Season, arriving half a year after the previous set, fails fans yet again by changing an overwhelming majority of the pre-recorded song selections featured in the original broadcasts and syndicated reruns. Not only did the sampled music aptly capture mainstream hits of the time, it made for inspired accompaniment to montages that were a fairly consistent staple of episodes.

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