Carnivàle doesn't waste any time making its--wildly ambitious--aims clear. As carnival manager Samson (Michael J. Anderson, Twin Peaks' diminutive backwards-talker) notes in pilot episode "Milfay," directed by Rodrigo García (son of Gabriel García Marquez), "To each generation [is] born a creature of light and a creature of darkness." With that the story begins. The year is 1934, the setting the Oklahoma dustbowl. In short order, Ben Hawkins (In the Bedroom's Nick Stahl) loses his mother and his home. He's poor, he's alone--he needs a job. So he joins Samson's carnival, en route to the West. Hawkins, naturally, is the good guy. Waiting for him in California is the not so good Brother Justin Crowe (Clancy Brown, The Shawshank Redemption), a fire and brimstone preacher with supernatural powers and a fiercely loyal sister (Amy Madigan). Hawkins, as it turns out, has similar powers....

Created by Daniel Knauf (Wolf Lake), Carnivàle feels like David Lynch (weird, slow, occasionally kinky), plays like American Gothic (Shaun Cassidy's cult series about a good kid and an evil sheriff), and looks like John Ford's Grapes of Wrath. It features one of television's most colorful casts of characters. They include Sophie (Clea DuVall), who reads fortunes--with her comatose mother's assistance, the vaguely sinister Lodz (Patrick Bauchau), blind absinthe-drinker and mentalist (he can see both the future and the past), and Ruthie (Adrienne Barbeau), snake charmer, strongman's mother, and all-around maternal figure. By the final episode of the season ("The Day That Was the Day"), also directed by García, one of these characters will be dead. Carnivàle won five richly deserved technical Emmys for its first year, including awards for cinematography and art direction. Like HBO's edgy Deadwood, it's period drama for people who don't normally like period drama. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

1934. The Dustbowl. The last great age of magic. In a time of titanic sandstorms vile plagues drought and pistilence - signs of God's fury and harbingers of the Apocalypse - the final conflict between good and evil is about to begin. The battle will take place in the Heartland of an empire called America. And when it is over man will forever trade away wonder for reason. See the conflict of good vs. evil played out against a pair of vivid and unusual backdrops: a traveling carnival working the American Dustbowl circuit and an evangelical ministry in California.Running Time: 720 min.System Requirements:Running Time 720 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR UPC: 026359885723 Manufacturer No: 98857

the only negative thing i can say is dat hbo must be retarded to cutting dis season short.... the storyline is great and captures u within the first episode just wonderful u wont be disapointed...

I loved each episode of this series. It's not like most shows. It packs in a lot of plot and interesting background, which is probably why they canceled it. This season wraps up most loose ends, but not all. Don't expect to feel satisfied at the end. Another thing to keep in mind is that this show has fair amount of violence. You probably don't want to watch this right before bed time. This is coming from a guy who's seen many horror shows. The characters are all interesting, too. They went to a lot of work to flesh them all out.

I've seen the two seasons and was disappointed there wouldn't be a third. This is such a creative serial, while not for pre-teens, I'm astonished some reviews dare to compare this to porn. Much has already been written of the plot and brilliant production. It is a period piece of the timeless battle of good and evil set in what seem to be the 'dark ages' of Americana. This is one series that will mesmerise and hold you captive until you watch all there is and then wish there were more.

Where the ***** is season 3? This is the best show ever....SEASON 3 PLEASE!

The first thing that drew me into this series was the setting; the 1930's dustbowl in the American Midwest. The second things was the vehicle of a carnival. The third thing was the 'tag' about the time period being the last age of magic. I was not prepared, however, for the mythic scope of the story and the depth of background created by the writers for characters and plot. This series is 'mythic' in the sense that it attempts to tell-again the story of antique, cosmic themes (specifically the struggle of 'light' and 'dark;' 'good' and 'evil'), yet brings them to manifest narrative form on a unique stage; with characters drawn from rural Americana; gritty and full of moral and existential ambiguities.

This is the first of two seasons that were completed before the show was cancelled. Without giving anything away, I can say that the story is intruiguing, well-written, full of salient revelations and considerations, and deeply satisfying. The end of the second season completes one "arc" in the original six-season plot-line the writers had worked out. As such, it doesn't leave you hanging; rather, it leaves you at a fecund juncture in the story, having resolved enough to satisfy, while portending much more to come (which you can imagine for yourself, as the show was cancelled). There is so little good television; this series is one of a handful of really outstanding dramas.