# PBS-the Count of Monte Cristo **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [March 9, 2026, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pbs-the-count-of-monte-cristo/1028320 "2026-03-09T15:04:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2026, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pbs-the-count-of-monte-cristo/1028320/1 "2026-03-09T15:04:31Z")
I knew the vague plot of the book (never read it), but the series still pulled me in quickly. Apparently some characters have been snipped out, but all in all I found it engaging and fun. Jeremy Irons had a surprisingly small part. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2026, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pbs-the-count-of-monte-cristo/1028320/2 "2026-03-09T15:20:22Z")
I need to reread the book: it’s a freaking brick, but it’s the best adventure story I’ve ever read. As a filmed series, it would take many, many seasons to do justice. Eight episodes seems far too little to contain the complexity of the book. How much does the series delve into the philosophical ramifications of vengeance? ---
**Author:** ![De\_La\_Rue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@De\_La\_Rue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/De_La_Rue)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2026, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pbs-the-count-of-monte-cristo/1028320/3 "2026-03-09T15:44:55Z")
I saw the title and had to mention it’s not the first time [PBS has adapted _The Count of Monte Cristo_](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1210016/). ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2026, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pbs-the-count-of-monte-cristo/1028320/4 "2026-03-09T16:02:13Z")
It was not easy for me to figure out what version of _The Count of Monte Cristo_ you’re talking about. This version was shot in 2023 in Italy, France, and Malta. The British actor Sam Claflin plays [Edmond Dantès](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmond_Dant%C3%A8s "Edmond Dantès"). The movie is in English. It’s a miniseries. The first episode will be shown om PBS on March 22nd. It’s already been shown on television in Switzerland, Sweden, Italy, France, Spain, and the U.K. Jeremy Irons is listed 20th among the actors in it ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2026, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pbs-the-count-of-monte-cristo/1028320/5 "2026-03-09T16:18:49Z")
If you donate to your local PBS station and have Passport, you can binge-stream all eight episodes immediately. Which I did last week. > **[The Count of Monte Cristo](https://www.pbs.org/show/the-count-of-monte-cristo/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23578620848&gclid=Cj0KCQjw37nNBhDkARIsAEBGI8NGmjk4VrLSj-TnxlfmGR3UKKcvCVONd-b4kR-9H5k7c_ikDhNQsw8aAtBiEALw_wcB)** > > Sam Claflin and Jeremy Irons star in this new TV adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ iconic novel. I haven’t read the book and have only seen the 1975 Richard Chamberlain version. I loved this new one. I had a bit of a hard time keeping the young lovers from the various families straight. Even Edmond’s two principal enemies/objects of revenge kind of resembled each other. But the scenes near the end where he delivered his exquisitely plotted revenge were quite satisfying, until… well, until the satisfaction turned to horror. Well worth watching. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2026, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pbs-the-count-of-monte-cristo/1028320/6 "2026-03-10T09:10:46Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I had a bit of a hard time keeping the young lovers from the various families straight. Yes, I had that issue as well and only gradually figured it out. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2026, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pbs-the-count-of-monte-cristo/1028320/7 "2026-03-10T12:41:00Z")
Did they have the bit with the financial scam involving the optical telegraph? ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2026, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pbs-the-count-of-monte-cristo/1028320/8 "2026-03-10T15:52:37Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > > > I had a bit of a hard time keeping the young lovers from the various families straight. > > Yes, I had that issue as well and only gradually figured it out. The Overly Sarcastic Productions channel on YouTube finally did this book last October and Red (who stated she had battled it for years) created a whole color-coded connections board graphic for that part, because yes, a bit of a mess M. Dumas laid down. (And that at least one of the young generation was not “kept straight” 😜 was a delighful detail to find upon finally reading the full megillah all those years back. Way to go for 1846.) ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2026, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pbs-the-count-of-monte-cristo/1028320/9 "2026-03-10T16:42:32Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > Did they have the bit with the financial scam involving the optical telegraph? Yes. You mean the windmill-esque tower thingie? That was in there. Very satisfying! I might have to watch the whole series all over again. BTW, suggest everyone do it with the closed-captioning on. 👍🏽