Carnivale (HBO, 2003-2005)IMDB LinkI have to be honest. It is not the biggest of surprises that “Carnivale” was cancelled. It is a fantastic show, but REALLY, do we honestly expect the average viewer to watch this every week?
And this is not some stab at the “dumb” viewer, like very fan of a smart show thinks. The show is very challenging and at times, unfairly, so. It not only expects you to remember every single hint, from plot lines, to what the characters said, and include dreams and visions, and what do we get? People confused if they have watched every episode, and really fucking confused, if they missed one.
The fault is with the medium of American television. To revolutionize the American television, we don’t need plot lines or structures like “Carnivale”, but something that challenges the idea of a multi-seasonal show. Imagine if “Carnivale” was a perfectly well-written, well-paced, well-structured one season show, of maybe twenty episodes. Get the contract ready, write the full season, film it, and end it. The groundbreaking act isn’t making a show like “Carnivale”, but making a show that has a story for only one season and ending it as one season.
This is not a problem that other countries have. Most countries have shows that already have a specific end before showing the show, regardless of how popular or unpopular it becomes. It ends, when the story ends. I don’t encourage this for all shows, sitcoms and shows that have a different story every episode, those can go as long as it is popular. But shows like “Twins Peak” and “Carnivale”? They can’t and shouldn’t, and it is never a surprise that they don’t last.
If it was a one-year show, with a lot of the fillers removed, it would have been a perfect show. As it is now, it is an almost perfect one.
4/5
