Parents' Guide to Franklin

Based on the book A Great Improvisation by Stacy Schiff, FRANKLIN is an eight-part miniseries that tells the story of how Benjamin Franklin managed to secure the Franco-American alliance of 1778. In 1776, at the age of 70, Franklin (played by Michael Douglas) traveled to France with his grandson Temple (Noah Jupe) in an effort to secure the French government's support for the American Revolution. Residing in Passy just outside of Paris, he worked with his host, wealthy businessman and American sympathizer Jacques Donatien Le Ray de Chaumont (Olivier Claverie), friend and doctor Edward Bancroft (Daniel Mays), and other rich and politically connected people to secure funds and supplies for America's cause. Locally known as the man who "discovered electricity," he's welcomed into French society. But securing favor with King Louis XVI and convincing him to help bankroll America's war against England proves to be much more difficult, especially when he's surrounded by French informants who report on his (sometimes elicit) dealings to the government. He also knows that British spies, eager to stop his efforts, follow him wherever he goes. It's a dangerous mission, but the senior Franklin still manages to stay charming and makes some good friends, including Madame Anne-Louise Brillon (Ludivine Sagnier), while Temple, who's serving as grandfather's secretary, learns more about the ways of the French, and makes some friends of his own, including a young Marquis de Lafayette (Théodore Pellerin).