It's not hard to see why the History Channel declined to airThe Kennedysafter members of America's "royal family" objected to the series' more salacious aspects. To be sure, there are plenty of them: drug habits, mobsters, election fixing, enough philandering to shame Tiger Woods, bad behavior ranging from cynical manipulation to outright cruelty… and Marilyn Monroe. But it's not as if these things haven't been covered at length elsewhere. And in any case, this is hardly a documentary; the eight-part miniseries, which spans the years from just before World War II to 1968, has been variously described, including by the filmmakers themselves, as "history through personality" and "a Greek tragedy," with a dose of hagiography added for good measure. The emphasis on the personal approach (commingled with major political events like the Bay of Pigs debacle, the Cuban missile crisis, and the forced integration of the University of Mississippi) is something of a mixed blessing. On the one hand, there's something appealingly juicy about being privy to the private conversations of this very public family; but at the same time, the dialogue created for such scenes is often on the nose ("Men can't say no to me," Monroe says as she tries to seduce Robert Kennedy), melodramatic, and risibly portentous ("I've never been so happy in my life," says Jackie Kennedy to her husband… as Air Force One lands in Dallas on November 22, 1963).The complete absence of Edward Kennedy--who is never mentioned, let alone seen--is peculiar; sisters Kathleen, Eunice, and Jean are also nowhere to be found. That leaves the primary focus on paterfamilias Joseph Kennedy Sr., wife Rose, sons Jack and Bobby, and Jackie, and the portrayals of these near-mythic characters are among the best ever filmed. Tom Wilkinson plays Joe as a thoroughly ruthless, imperious kingmaker who, after his own and eldest son Joe Jr.'s presidential ambitions are ended (Sr. was fired from his post as British ambassador after disagreeing with President Franklin D. Roosevelt's war policies, while Jr. died in combat), forces the reluctant JFK to enter politics. As Jack, Greg Kinnear beautifully conveys the late president's humor, charisma, and compassion, while Barry Pepper is a revelation as the rebellious but strait-laced and dutiful Bobby, whose principal responsibility seems to be cleaning up after his older brother's many sexual indiscretions (Katie Holmes's long-suffering Jackie is a bit of a cipher, as was the first lady in real life). That these and other performances, including Diana Hardcastle's Rose and Don Allison's Lyndon Johnson, are in the service of material better suited to a soap opera than a serious drama hardly matters; any way you look at it,The Kennedysis compulsively watchable and never less than entertaining.--Sam Graham