Carnivale

Posted 08-18-2009 at 10:38 PM by MoodsR4Cattle

A friend stopped by with a few items he thought we might be interested in. A Genesis box set (mildly interesting, not a big fan of the Phil Collins years), an inspirational book (he's very religious and takes every chance to convert), and a two season DVD box set of an HBO series called, "Carnivale". He made it a point to warn us that it has a lot of gratuitous sex scenes. Gratuitous Sex! Now we're talkin'! We had to see what our righteous friend was so determined to warn us about, so that night we watched the first episode.
I was hooked in the first scene. So David Lynch-ish! So dark! So well done! Well thought out characters, scenes and plot. We liked it so much that we watched two episodes each night (three on the weekends, 24 total episodes).
It's set in the dust bowl of the 1930's centering on the plight of a rundown traveling carnivale and a small town preacher's ascent to evangelist with a flock of 17,000.
Good vs. Evil, with a twist.
The story isn't just handed to you on a silver platter. You see bits and pieces that might not fit the puzzle for several episodes. You have to think while you're watching - which is probably why it was cancelled after two seasons.
The series was written to span 6 seasons. Each episode cost 4 million and the first year went well, however, the second year's viewers slacked off and unless they could do each episode for 2 million they were going to have to cancel it. Thus, the last two episodes are a quick wrap-up and although they were well done, they couldn't answer everything.
I'd still recommend watching "Carnival" if you get the chance.

http://www.hbo.com/carnivale/

Ps: I can see now why our friend gave the Carnival box set away.

Oh, and the "gratuitous sex" was very tastefully done.

Posted in Just the Everyday

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	Carnivale is excellent! I've had both seasons in my DVD collection for some time. Another example of the superiority of US drama serials. It's a shame they didn't manage to finish the story, though.
	Posted 08-19-2009 at 10:50 PM by Tamlin

	I don't know about US superiority, the BBC Sherlock Holmes series with Jeremy Brett was superb. I never knew the Carnivale series even existed until our friend introduced it to us. makes me wonder what else I've missed.
	Posted 08-20-2009 at 12:02 AM by MoodsR4Cattle

I seem to think Carnivale was once shown on cable TV in the UK - I vaguely remember seeing a trailer for it which caught my attention but I never managed to see any of the actual episodes, so when I found it on DVD I snapped it up.

I agree that there have been some good UK-produced dramas, but the US seems to produce more.

Are you familiar with American Gothic? That was another excellent cult show - now also available on DVD.

American Gothic (1995)

American Gothic DVD – American Gothic – American Gothic tv show

Posted 08-20-2009 at 04:01 PM by Tamlin Tamlin is offline

Updated 08-20-2009 at 04:08 PM by Tamlin

	I did watch some episodes of American Gothic (it wasn't on HBO like Carnivale) and I did like it too. Another one cut short. Why is it that the good shows get canceled and the crappiest ones seem to go on forever?
	Posted 08-20-2009 at 09:21 PM by MoodsR4Cattle

It seems that TV companies are consistently underestimating the intelligence and attention-span of their audiences. They seem to think that if a series requires any sort of mental effort on the part of the viewer to follow and understand the story it is automatically a ratings-loser and is likely to get cancelled. This seems to be a symptom of the universal "dumbing-down" of the medium. It's highly unlikely that some of the great cult shows of yesteryear like The Prisoner or Twin Peaks would even get made today, let alone make it to the end of their run.

Posted 08-21-2009 at 06:15 AM by Tamlin Tamlin is offline

	Don't get me started on Twin Peaks. Have that DVD set as well. Loved the show but corporate politics forced Lynch out of the picture and ......... nope, not going to get started.
	Posted 08-21-2009 at 02:28 PM by MoodsR4Cattle

	Quote: Originally Posted by MoodsR4Cattle Loved the show but corporate politics forced Lynch out of the picture Ah - interesting. I didn't know that. I remember thinking at the time that Twin Peaks got too self-indulgent and kind of lost its way towards the end - maybe that was why. I thought the movie Fire Walk With Me was actually a lot better than the TV series.
	Posted 08-21-2009 at 10:40 PM by Tamlin

	Aw geez .... you're gonna get me started! Lynch never planned to reveal Laura's killer, it was the all-knowing ABC suits that insisted on that. That's when the ratings really took the plunge. After that he was out of the picture - until the last couple episodes. Ok ... gonna stop there.
	Posted 08-22-2009 at 03:21 AM by MoodsR4Cattle