Carnivale to return for season 2..... (1 Viewer)

[todd s]

This was posted at www.thefutoncritic.com

Friday, December 12, 2003 - 8:08 AM
HBO Keeps 'Carnivale' Open for Second Season
By Brian Ford Sullivan


CHICAGO (thefutoncritic.com) -- HBO is keeping its circus tent open as the pay channel has renewed its freshman drama "Carnivale" for a second season of 13 episodes. Production is slated to begin in the spring for a late 2004 premiere date.

"Carnivale" opened to 5.3 million viewers in September but tumbled to 3.5 million viewers for its finale last month. HBO however has a history of sticking by some of its lower-rated series including "The Wire" and "Oz" in recent years.

Executive producers Daniel Knauf and Howard Klein will remain with the show for its second go around however Ronald D. Moore is not expected to return. The network also kept mum about which cast members will return for the new season as its recent finale left the fate of several characters up in the air.

 

[Shawn C]

Outstanding! I hope they don't 'tweak' it too much to help with the ratings.

 

[Rob Gardiner]

Any chance of a DVD release of Season 1? I'm very curious about this show but have yet to see it. Maybe when SOPRANOS starts up again, I'll get HBO and have a chance to watch Carnivale as well.

I've heard it described as "Twin Peaks but with substance". Is that accurate in your opinions?

 

[Romier S]

Fantastic news!

 

[Rob Speicher]

A bit off topic but I can't believe The Wire is low rated.

Good news for Carnivale, though.

 

[Chris]

Great news!

 

[Michael Reuben]

I've heard it described as "Twin Peaks but with substance". Is that accurate in your opinions?

This will probably be the minority view in this thread, but since you asked: I'd describe it as Twin Peaks with less substance and much greater pretension. I stuck it out for the entire first season, and I won't be watching the second.

(And for the record, I'm a huge fan of The Wire.)

M.

 

[PhilipG]

Terrific news!

 

[Dwight Amato]

This will probably be the minority view in this thread, but since you asked: I'd describe it as Twin Peaks with less substance and much greater pretension. I stuck it out for the entire first season, and I won't be watching the second.

I agree with you. I spent a lot of time, and wanted to like this show, but there was no payoff. I won't make the mistake twice.

 

[PhilipG]

but there was no payoff.

Did you miss the last few episodes???

 

[Matt Stone]

Great news!

 

[Dwight Amato]

Did you miss the last few episodes???

Yes, did you?

IMO, the slight payoff was hardly worth the 13 hours it took to get there.

 

[BrianShort]

I think this is fantastic news. Although season one definitely took it's sweet time getting places, and not enough happened in some episodes, I think the mood and the characters more than made up for that, and I can't wait to see where this goes next year.

I did fill out that online survey HBO ran about this show, and one of the downsides I listed was that a lot of the episodes were too slow and they needed more plot development in each one.

Brian

 

[PhilipG]

IMO, the slight payoff was hardly worth the 13 hours it took to get there.

Interesting you should stick around in a thread about season 2 then. I disagree that there was only a "slight" payoff. Maybe you were expecting some sort of Hollywood special effects battle between Ben and Brother Justin? If not, what? What would have qualified as a decent payoff for you?

Minor episode spoilers follow...
Episodes 1-5 were setup, and slow setup at that. Ep 6 was the very good "Pick a Number" episode, with that terrific creepy ending. Ep 7 was the Brother Justin backstory episode, the ending of which surprised a lot of members here. Ep 8 was fantastic (Justin in mental hospital, first "appearance" of Management, the revelation about Ben's past, + the Rita Sue subplot with Jonesy and Stumpy). That was the first big "payoff" episode. Ep 9 wasn't as good, but had great moments (Samson getting revenge on Lodz, revelation about Sophie's possible father). Similarly ep 10, which had a decent ending (the blood baptism, Lodz tricking Ruthie to get to Ben - and Scudder). Ep 11 had that brilliant opening scene with Brother Justing handing out razor blades as the "Body of Christ". And then that ending, with Ruthie getting bitten thanks to Lodz. Ep 12 was the best of the bunch. Ben meets Management. Management plays Lodz. Ben's attempted suicide and meeting Scudder. Justin expanding his influence. The cliffhanger involving the fates of four major characters.

There was a heck of a lot going on. A lot of filler too, granted, but I suspect that much of that filler won't seem like filler retrospectively, when I rewatch the series on DVD. Carnivale is unusual for most TV in that it makes you think, and doesn't spoon-feed you explanations. I can't wait for season 2.

 

[BrianB]

There was a heck of a lot going on.

Indeed. And a lot of what was going on was setting up the back story rather than pushing the action with the current characters, if that makes sense. Not a lot of shows get to spend most of their first season setting up why their characters are doing what they're doing, rather than just going ahead & doing "stuff".

I loved it. Can't wait for the DVDs.

 

[Olle]

PhilipG: I liked Carnivale for its atmosphere and the original setting, but still that isnt enough for a show, You could probably see episode 1 and episode 13 and you´d understand it as well as someone that saw all episodes.

For example, the guy that played Ben had the same weird- question-mark-face-expression all the time and he seemed ok with that. I was just waiting for him to scream: "what the fuck is going on here!" but he seemed content with walking around like a zombie, even though ppl dropped hints all over the place withouth him following up those leads.

For a first season these things are normal though, ecpecially heavy arc stories like this, not that many around
like babylon5-big-novel stories. these things tend to get better in their 2 or 3rd seasons. So maybe i should wait for the next season. plus i should mention i saw all 13 eps in three days.

 

[PhilipG]

plus i should mention i saw all 13 eps in three days.

Don't you mean 12? I know 13 is more usual for US TV - maybe they're superstitious...

 

[Todd Terwilliger]

Good news! I liked both The Wire and Carnivale. For me, the payoff was good enough since I enjoyed the journey it took.

 

[Lloyd White]

Yeah, the Wire 4.5 million viewers is only low rated compared to Sopranos so I'd discount that notion. Besides I have seen many Hiphop videos featuring the Wire's cast and/or themes of the show. The show is high quality and generates a lot of buzz (including keeping the reputation of HBO as high as it is).

The same for Carnivale, even though I don't watch it because it was so slow and I did not see any characters that I found interesting. I do appreciate the setting up and building of characters, but sometimes, a lot of character can be seen when they are in action. Anyways, the show looks great in High definition.

 

[ScottH]

This will probably be the minority view in this thread, but since you asked: I'd describe it as Twin Peaks with less substance and much greater pretension. I stuck it out for the entire first season, and I won't be watching the second.

I completely agree...although I may give season 2 an episode or two.