‘Plot Against America’ brings anti-Semitic what-if to TV

HBO releases first trailer from television adaptation of Philip Roth novel about election of aviator-turned-fascist Charles Lindbergh

The first trailer for HBO’s adaptation of the Philip Roth novel “The Plot Against America,” depicting a fascist US president, was released on Thursday.

The series, co-created by David Simon and based on Roth’s 2004 novel of the same name, premiers on March 16.

Fans of the Roth novel should be excited, as the trailer shows that the miniseries is faithful to the book’s plot. In the novel’s alternate history, Charles Lindbergh, the aviator-turned-anti-Semitic-populist, becomes president and stokes anti-Jewish fear throughout the US.

The news show stars John Turturro (as a rabbi), Winona Ryder, Zoe Kazan and Morgan Spector (best known for his role on “Homeland,” the American adaptation of the Israeli series “Hatufim”).

“There’s a lot of hate out there, and he knows how to tap into it,” Spector’s character Herman says of Lindbergh in the trailer.