Eliza Schuyler (Phillippa Soo) and Alexander Hamilton (Lin-Manuel Miranda) share a quiet moment in Miranda’s musical Hamilton. (Photo courtesy of Joan Marcus)

If you’re reading this review, you:

• A. Saw Hamilton on Broadway and love it unequivocally.
• B. Haven’t seen Hamilton but listened to the cast album and love it unequivocally.
• C. Haven’t seen or listened to Hamilton because you’re waiting for the right time, but know you’d like it if you did.
• D. Have seen or listened to Hamilton and somehow don’t like it, in which case, bye.
• E. Don’t care about Hamilton in the slightest but make a point to read every single DCist article, regardless of subject matter or length.

If your answer was E, that’s quite an honor—thank you for your dedication. If your answer was D, you’re dismissed. And if your answer was A through C, you probably won’t be surprised to find out that there’s plenty to enjoy in Hamilton’s America, a 90-minute documentary airing tonight on PBS that traces the creation of the musical and outlines the accomplishments of the man who inspired it.

Director Alex Horwitz started filming in 2014, when Hamilton was just an amorphous idea floating around in musical mastermind Lin-Manuel Miranda’s mind, and he kept the cameras rolling up through the show’s Broadway run and even this year’s Tonys.

The movie covers a lot of ground in a short time, showcasing clips from some of the musical’s most beloved numbers and incorporating talking-head interviews with the show’s high-profile admirers: The Roots, George W. and Laura Bush, and Senator Elizabeth Warren, among others. Miranda explains how he developed the show from concept to execution, and he also interviews such luminaries as Stephen Sondheim, Nas, and President Obama for additional context.

Perhaps even more than it explores the production process, the movie tells viewers about the story’s real-life inspirations, following Miranda and members of the cast as they tour several key monuments to the founding fathers.

A particularly effective sequence juxtaposes explanations of actual events with relevant snippets from the show, particularly helpful to Hamilton fans who might have missed some obscure historical allusions.

Most of what Hamilton fans (like me) expect of this documentary is on display. Miranda is as witty and thoughtful as his work suggests, and all of his collaborators pull off the same combination. Brief glimpses of never-before-aired Hamilton moments dazzle in ways that listening to the cast album can’t.

Behind-the-scenes footage like Miranda puzzling over what will become “My Shot” while sitting in Aaron Burr’s bedroom provide intriguing snapshots of the creative process. Horwitz, Miranda’s college roommate, pulls off some lovely shots amid this chaotic approach, including a particularly poignant note before cutting to credits, and he captures the stage performance’s intricacies with precision.

The documentary does leave some material unexplored. The showstopping number “Satisfied” is barely mentioned, and the actresses who play the Schuyler sisters don’t get as much screen time overall as the equally deserving Christopher Jackson (George Washington) and Daveed Diggs (the Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson).

I had eagerly anticipated a long look at the casting process, but the narrative skips right from story development to opening night at New York’s Public Theater. There’s also a bit too much aimless rambling from Jimmy Fallon.

But by and large, Hamilton’s America doesn’t throw away its shot. If you’re looking for a masterpiece, you’ll never be satisfied, but if you go in with properly calibrated expectations, it’ll get you helpless.

Miranda and his musical are non-stop, and this documentary does nothing to halt its momentum. How lucky we are to be alive right now.

Great Performances: Hamilton’s America debuts Friday night, October 21, at 9 p.m. on WETA, Channel 26. (This post originally said it debuts Thursday and has been corrected.)