\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBy Kevin Slane<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDecember 4, 2025 | 12:28 PM\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n 4 minutes to read<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n You\u2019re reading The Queue<\/a>, Boston.com\u2019s guide to streaming. Sign up to get the latest industry news, free streaming movie and TV recommendations, and more in your inbox every week<\/a>.<\/p>\n I wanted to note that The Queue celebrated its one-year anniversary last week! Thank you so much to everyone who has subscribed and\/or recommended this newsletter to a friend over the past 365 days. Writing this newsletter is my favorite part of the work week, and it\u2019s thanks to all of you that I get to keep doing it.<\/p>\n The biggest draw to Ken Burns\u2019 new PBS series on the American Revolution<\/a> is the man whose name is on the six-part documentary. Burns, who rose to prominence with his 1990 docuseries \u201cThe Civil War,\u201d is a guarantor that you\u2019re about to watch an edifying and incredibly thorough examination of a crucial story in American history.<\/p>\n Despite that, Burns\u2019 reputation is such that he is also able to recruit a number of celebrities to participate in his documentaries. I\u2019m not talking about the historians he interviews, though they are rockstars in their own right; I\u2019m talking about the voice actors who portray historical figures like George Washington, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin.<\/p>\n If you\u2019ve found yourself pausing during the 12-hour series (now streaming for free on PBS.org<\/a>) to figure out whose famous voice you\u2019re hearing, here are some of the biggest names in this star-studded voice cast of \u201cThe American Revolution,\u201d from Tom Hanks to Meryl Streep.<\/p>\n Kenneth Branagh:<\/strong> Thomas Gage, Henry Clinton, Joseph Reed, Samuel Graves, Samuel Johnson, Charles Lee, Friedrich Adolf Riedesel and Unidentified<\/p>\n Josh Brolin:<\/strong> George Washington<\/p>\n Josh Charles: <\/strong>John Peters, Joseph Warren and David Ramsay<\/p>\n Peter Coyote: <\/strong>Narrator<\/p>\n Hugh Dancy:<\/strong> John Burgoyne, Hugh Percy, The Gentleman\u2019s Magazine, London Morning Post, Banastre Tarleton, Charles Gravier de Vergennes and Unidentified<\/p>\n Claire Danes:<\/strong> Abigail Adams<\/p>\n Jeff Daniels:<\/strong> Thomas Jefferson<\/p>\n Hope Davis: <\/strong>Elizabeth Drinker<\/p>\n Alden Ehrenreich:<\/strong> Joseph Plumb Martin (and Town Meeting of Lebanon, Connecticut)<\/p>\n Craig Ferguson:<\/strong> Lord North, Lord Dunmore John Paul Jones, Scotus Americanus, John Purrier, Martin Hunter and William Harcourt<\/p>\n Morgan Freeman:<\/strong> James Forten<\/p>\n Paul Giamatti:<\/strong> John Adams<\/p>\n Domhnall Gleeson:<\/strong> Roger Lamb, Loftus Cliffe, John MacPherson, John Bowater and William Barton<\/p>\n Jonathan Groff: <\/strong>Erkuries Beatty<\/p>\n Tom Hanks: <\/strong>Andrew Eliot, Josiah Bartlett, Isaac Bangs, David Griffith, Thomas Jones, Ezra Tilden, Albigence Waldo and Ebenezer Denny<\/p>\n Ethan Hawke:<\/strong> Anthony Wayne and John Andrews<\/p>\n Maya Hawke:<\/strong> Betsy Ambler<\/p>\n Lucas Hedges:<\/strong> Ebenezer Fletcher, John Laurens and Garrett Watts<\/p>\n Josh Hutcherson: <\/strong>James Potter Collins, Thomas Mellen, Jabez Campfield and Unidentified<\/p>\n Samuel L. Jackson:<\/strong> Boston King, Lemuel Haynes, Caesar Sarter and Flag Resolution<\/p>\n Michael Keaton:<\/strong> Benedict Arnold<\/p>\n Joe Keery:<\/strong> John Greenwood<\/p>\n Damian Lewis:<\/strong> King George III, Nicholas Cresswell, John Andr\u00e9, Bartholomew James and Unidentified Voice<\/p>\n Laura Linney:<\/strong> Sarah Fisher, Sarah Mifflin, Ann Hulton, Eliza Wilkinson and Eliza Lucas Pinckney<\/p>\n Tobias Menzies:<\/strong> Lord Cornwallis, Ambrose Serle, William Pitt, Horatio Gates, London Public Advertiser and Unidentified<\/p>\n Edward Norton:<\/strong> Benjamin Rush, Philip Vickers Fithian and Philip Schuyler<\/p>\n David Oyelowo:<\/strong> Olaudah Equiano and Sam (witness in Jamaica)<\/p>\n Mandy Patinkin:<\/strong> Benjamin Franklin<\/p>\n Wendell Pierce:<\/strong> William Read<\/p>\n Matthew Rhys:<\/strong> Thomas Paine (and Edinburgh Amusement)<\/p>\n Liev Schreiber: <\/strong>Nathanael Greene, Samuel Adams and Lewis Beebe<\/p>\n Dan Stevens:<\/strong> William Howe and Rochambeau<\/p>\n Meryl Streep:<\/strong> Mercy Otis Warren<\/p>\n Don\u2019t see who you\u2019re looking for? There\u2019s even more voices listed on IMDb.<\/a><\/p>\n Have a show you can\u2019t stop watching? Email me about it at [email\u00a0protected]<\/span><\/a>, and your recommendation may appear in a future edition of The Queue.<\/p>\n Press play on these movies and shows:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThe American Revolution\u201d (2025):<\/strong> Watching Ken Burns\u2019 newest, you get exactly what you would expect: A thorough, deeply illuminating look at the most important period in American history. At the same time, \u201cThe American Revolution\u201d is something altogether different. Rather than photographs moving into frame set to music (known as the Ken Burns effect<\/a>), the filmmaker taps reenactors to aid his historical retelling. It\u2019s a bold choice that has failed in other docuseries, but like everything Burns touches, it\u2019s handled beautifully. (PBS<\/a>)<\/p>\n \u201cA Man on the Inside\u201d Season 2: <\/strong>Ted Danson is back as retired professor turned private investigator Charles Nieuwendyk, reteaming with \u201cThe Good Place\u201d and \u201cParks and Recreation\u201d creator Mike Schur for another lighthearted mystery. This time Charles is investigating a college president (Max Greenfield) being blackmailed while trying not to get distracted by a free-spirited music teacher (Marty Steenburgen). (Netflix<\/a>)<\/p>\n \u201cTrain Dreams\u201d (2025):<\/strong> Based on Denis Johnson novella of the same name, \u201cTrain Dreams\u201d follows a laborer (Joel Edgerton) in the early 20th century who spends long stretches away from his home in the Pacific Northwest working on a railroad that will connect across America. Set a century before our present day, the story of an American worker grappling with a rapidly changing world trying to make a good life for his wife and daughter is as evergreen as the trees that fill the landscape \u2014 until (slight spoiler alert) they don\u2019t. (Netflix<\/a>)<\/p>\n But go ahead and skip this show:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThe Family Plan 2\u201d (2025): <\/strong>Mark Wahlberg told me he had a lot of fun making this movie. He almost certainly had more fun than I did watching it. It\u2019s not terrible, but it also doesn\u2019t rise above the base-line quality level of 100 other new holiday movies<\/a> debuting over the next couple of months. (Apple TV+<\/a>)<\/p>\n That\u2019s a wrap on this edition of The Queue<\/strong><\/a>. If you\u2019re a fan, please consider recommending this newsletter<\/a> to your friends.<\/p>\n Until next time, good stream hunting, everyone!<\/p>\n \u2014 Kevin<\/p>\n Discover the best movies and TV shows streaming now, with handpicked recommendations from Boston.com.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe Queue\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><\/p>\nBurns’ new PBS docuseries features a star-studded voice cast, including Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep.<\/h2>\n
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\n\tBehind the scenes of The American Revolution by Ken Burns. Mike Doyle\t<\/p>\n
\nAll of the celebrity voices in Ken Burns\u2019 \u2018American Revolution\u2019<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Ken Burns and Sarah Botstein, co-directors and producers of the upcoming miniseries \u201cThe American Revolution.\u201d (Stephanie Berger) \u2013 Stephanie Berger<\/i><\/p>\nPlay or Skip<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Ted Danson as Charles in \u201cA Man on the Inside.\u201d \u2013 Colleen E. Hayes\/Netflix<\/i><\/p>\nEnd Credits<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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