35 hours.

That's right--35 hours.

Should you purchase The Presidents Collection from PBS Home Video, a 15-DVD set packed full of presidential documentaries from the PBS series American Experience, you will be in for 35 hours of viewing.

That's a lotta docs.

They're really great docs--if you love good television, then you've probably watched some Amercian Experience before, and they always do a terrific job of covering their subjects thoroughly and with singular insight. It's like you're getting a new definitive take on a major historical figure or subject every week--well, it's not just LIKE that; it actually IS that.

As its title suggests, this particular DVD set focuses exclusively on episodes of American Experience dealing with American presidents; it starts with Theodore Roosevelt and makes its way forward through the remainder of the 20th century, including docs on Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, the Kennedys (John, Robert, and Edward), Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George H.W. Bush.

That's a true panopoly of American icons, and the scope of the material on offer is breathtaking--when you consider just the period of time covered by the stories of these men, you truly get a unique peephole view into literally 100 years in America.

You also get a terrific examination of the presidency as a force for change and polarizing opinions. So many different men have occupied the office, from the sinewy Richard Nixon to the bulldogged Teddy Roosevelt, and the actions they have taken have unilaterally impacted the face of our country and the landscape of the world itself. From a variety of educated sources, you hear about all sides of the men--their politics, their philosophies, their personalities. My only wish for this massive filmic tome is that they'd chosen to cover some more distant historical figures, such as presidents from early in our nation's history. If that's the worst you can say for a 35-hour set of DVDs, that it's not long ENOUGH, then that's a pretty great 35-hour set of DVDs.