It is not often that we get to talk about an HBO classic, but we stumbled across this news about an oldie but goodie and could not let it pass. Do you remember Daniel Knauf’s CARNIVALE from 2003-2005? It was a dark fantasy drama that centered on the interesting characters in a Depression-era traveling carnival that was heavy on its sideshow freaks.
But ultimately, it was to be a showdown between Good and Evil. Ben Hawkins is a lad with visions & powers not yet fully realized but taken in at the carnival. Elsewhere is a righteous pastor, Brother Justin Crowe with the same powers. The two sense each other but both think the other is of evil intent. One has taken the powers for Good; the either believes that he has taken them for Good as well, as he can’t see the Evil he has truly wrought. As the carnival continues its circuit the two get closer to meeting. What righteous battle ensues? Find out for yourself, all 24 episodes of CARNIVALE are parked on the HBO Hub on Max.
The show was just two seasons long and possibly dropped from HBO because it was so odd for viewers. But apparently, showrunner Knauf had a plan for six seasons, one which would have taken the show through World War II and the U.S. nuclear bomb tests in the desert at Los Alamos. Primetimer recently learned from Knauf that –
the original plan for the end of the show was for Ben to not merely fail to prevent the Los Alamos nuclear test but to realize that he must ensure it happens. By the end of the series, Ben and Sophie would have produced a child, and that child would have been the key to setting off the bomb. “His real goal is to make sure the bomb does go off,” Knauf says, “because that’s mankind’s destiny. That’s where mankind stops being a child.”
“I’d love to finish the story and I have every intention of finishing the story. I’ve seen the entire series, and I think it’s kind of great. I enjoyed it. But I’m the only person. I’m an audience of one. I got together with Scott Winant, who was one of the producers, and we went into HBO to pitch, not a reboot but a pickup. And I was advocating for a reboot. I said, ‘Look, it’s been too many years. It’s 20 years. We gotta recast, we gotta start from the beginning. We gotta reshoot the first season with the new cast and just continue on. And the only way I’m gonna do this is if they commit to six seasons, ’cause I’m not gonna go through this again.'”
He even goes on to say that he will write it as a whole series of novels to pitch to HBO. Now, there is a lot to unpack there but for me, I’m just hanging on to the wish that CARNIVALE could come to the screen again. It was so unique that it should come back again. But sadly, I don’t think it is likely. But it was great to look back fondly on the series as I wrote this. I think I just add the show back to My List and watch it again sometime soon.
