Carnivàle: HBO's Weirdest Show

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This video contains footage from Carnivàle. All the videos, songs, images, and graphics used in the video belong to their respective owners and I or this channel does not claim any right over them.
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#purekino #carnivale #retrospective

[@eeenweeen]

I thought always thought the title of the show was pronounced "car-nih-val" like the Brazilian parade

[@DeanOliver1964]

It is.

[@nrman66]

It is, the guy making videos on it doesn’t even know how to pronounce the name💀

[@darj617]

I always hear Creed from the Office and his pronunciation when that word comes up.

[@codywearsoxnot]

It is. This guy is an idiot.

[@opaljk4835]

Well, I guess cause there’s a carnival in it he just assumed that. But he’s always done a pretty good job at summarizing this stuff, despite not saying the name of the show correctly.

[@craig5561]

Carnivale went so hard. HBO f'd up

[@nihilismistheonlyway4680]

One of my favorite shows with a cliffhanger that never got resolved ! Still bothers me to this day!😭

[@Mad-Duk_Machine_Werkes]

Clancy Brown is BEST known for playing The Kurgan, in The Highlander, and second best known for Mr. Krabs on Spongebob, and 3rd best known as the evil Head Guard on Shawshank

[@quesoblanco444]

Nah, Clancy Brown is best known as the "The enemy can not push a button... if you disable his hand." guy from Starship Troopers. 2nd best is Rawhide from Buckaroo Banzai.

[@MattPurvis-gt3ww]

You're both wrong - he's definitely most famous for playing sheriff Gus Gilbert in Pet Semetary 2.

[@abledemo1]

I was literally heartbroken when they canceled it.

[@noneed4me2n7]

Another one I wish never went away. It had such a grabbing premise and characters. Oh and it had “The Kurgan”.

[@nickytommymancinelli8066]

I wasn’t heartbroken, but I did like it

[@SMUTTY01]

Still upset this was cancelled

[@williamjackson6705]

So with you on that. It was an awesome series.

[@stephennootens916]

I remember loving this show the mix of fantasy and the almost apocalyptic Dust Bowl setting just was so brilliant. I am surprised someone hasn't uses that period of American history in fantasy or horror before.

[@jaxsonsynott5717]

this show really did a good job showing different forms of evil. the whole setting of the show just puts you in another vibe.

[@lunacascade1125]

Carnivale was my first intro to HBO original programming. I loved it. Carnivale was so different and intriguing. Thanks for covering it. Perfect for spooking seeing viewing. I'm going to re-watch it. Thx!

[@Madkid73]

Clancy Brown will always be the Kurgan

[@ramcharger154]

This guy probably hasn't gotten around to " he who burns out rather than fade away blblblblblbl😝😝😝😝😝😝

[@tallyholightguy5353]

Darkest supernatural show with intense drama…also Clancy Brown deserves more recognition for this

[@NefariousKoel]

Yeah, Clancy Brown is amazing and his role in Carnivale is probably his best performance.

[@muhammadshehryar3344]

this is actually an amazing show, I was baffled that it was cancelled so soon

[@AnonymousAnonposter]

For me, this HBO period was summed up in Roma and Carnivale. They were the only shows of theirs that I was really interested in to the point where I would stay home to watch every episode.

[@Luciana_McC_99]

Sadly I wasn't born until 99 so I didn't watch these shows when they came out. But I watched everything on HBO max and this and Rome were absolutely my favorite.

[@NefariousKoel]

Carnivale was great. I watched it as they were released, back in the day, but hardly heard anyone talk about it at the time. There was practically no promotion for it and that didn't help at all. The info out there wasn't very descriptive anyway, AFAIR. Was very sad to see it get axed so soon. Love me some weird supernatural creepiness and mystery.

[@MabDarogan2]

He's mostly known as the evil guard in Shawshank Redemption, not Lex Luthor

[@TheJohhnyE]

Or the bad guy in Highlander or the step dad is pet sematary 2 or even his much more popular voice over work as Mr Crabs in sponge bob.

[@MabDarogan2]

@@TheJohhnyE mostly known as. Shawshank is frequently in Top 10 film lists, where he's one of the most memorable characters. I would argue that nobody remembers Highlander and nobody looks at cartoon credits.

[@bigal8752]

He's drill instructor Zim who caught the brain bug in starship troopers

[@joshuagraham2768]

This was one of the finest television shows of all time. It was a crime it wasn't continued for the full six seasons. Acting, directing, storyline, pacing, production value and cinematography were all spot on. I still go back and rewatch it every couple of years.

[@olivergould5428]

John from Cincinnati is also very weird (and also wonderful) it was made by the creater of Deadwood.

[@claytonberg721]

John from Cincinnati was for people who though Carnivale was too accessible.

[@nynu8597]

Fun Fact. John Knauf, Daniel's son is on a podcast called Hate Watch on KZbin. The show is extremely funny and we get to peer into John's life as an overweight, gay alcoholic.

[@sdad6378]

The Kurgan vs. John Connor.

[@tapset]

The shitty John connor

[@alanpennie8013]

In the early episodes Justin was a sympathetic character. His heart seemed to be in the right place even if his methods were questionable.

[@amandaredd3057]

This was such a fascinating show. You don't even need to fully understand it and honestly that's part of it's appeal. Then they cut it just like they do everything good on tv

[@crashline]

I loved this show. I was so disappointed when it ended.

[@kaiwancallender2761]

The show carnival was so good. There was a slight campaign online to make sure I get a third season but it never really got off the ground. I used to watch these two seasons over and over and over again it’s gonna be I love that.😢😅 there’s a really black no TV shows

[@ScarFeiss]

This was era of hbo I remember as a kid that couldn’t watch hbo lol. Sopranos, Carnivalé, Oz, Wire

[@ninskdesign]

Carnivàle is in my top 10, not because of what it was, but because of what it had the potential to become. Watching it now may seem “meh”, I admit, but if you were watching it when it came out- before GoT, Lost, etc… it was spectacular! The themes, the world building and set design, the complexity of the characters as what you were set up to believe was “bad” is good, and the “good” is evil- I was SOOOO excited for the second season and felt incredibly confused by the whiplash of the last few episodes. A/V club had an article about it, years after the fact, and the creators had the promise of 5 seasons (possibly 6) when it went into development. They didn’t find out until halfway through shooting season 2 that not only was the season going to be cut short, but it was going to be their last. Completely understand, and agree, with the criticisms about the pacing and story development but I put the fault on HBO for giving up on it too soon. At the time, I think it was the most expensive series ever filmed, so while I understand HBO’s nervousness about the investment given the ratings- it would’ve paid off if they had had a little more faith in it. It was the beginning of On-Demand and DVR so they couldn’t predict that the show would start to gain traction after they already decided to axe it. The Wire didn’t perform great in the ratings, and if it had gotten the same treatment it wouldn’t be considered one of the greatest series to air, but the budget was a lot easier to justify than a depression-era period piece. Hard to appreciate how groundbreaking it was through a modern lens but I do think it changed television and I mourn what could’ve been…

[@Luciana_McC_99]

I didn't watch it when it came out i wasnt born until 99 but i watched everything on hbo max and it was definitely my favorite with rome . I seem to like everything no one else did i loved the second season of true detective its still my favorite season and one of my all time favorites. But this show and rome were definitely my favorite on HBO. But id say better call Saul, Netflix's Dark and true detective season 2 are my top 3 favorite shows of all time.

[@AlBundy319]

No doubt that Carnivàle has it's flaws, although the uniqueness, weirdness and mystique makes it unforgettable for me. Didn't know it was planned for 6 seasons, and the plot sounds very interesting too! Too bad it did not happened. Probably being cancelled gave the show more mystics as now the storyline of the fight between good and evil is unfinished, lead to people to contemplate what could have happened, and helped gained a small but strong cult following, myself included. Thanks for featuring my comment among others Kino! 🙂

[@clnblk7773]

"Most known for voicing Lex Luthor in a bunch of cartoons" - uh... what?

[@Jayremote]

Loved this show and really wished a reboot or spin-off was done.

[@aprilmae274]

This was my favorite show...started it all. I still think about this show a lot. The opening credits were beautiful...all of it was.

[@vibrantdye]

I still own both seasons on DVD. Was my third favorite hbo show.

[@Ice_man2000]

First show I ever remember "binge watching" back in the day when I was given the two seasons to watch on DVD

[@tommyboyindy1157]

Loved this show. Hated that they just cancelled it with everything up in the air.

[@TheJulior1983]

This deserves a reboot. It was amazing a little to early for its time

[@EndOfSmallSanctuary97]

This sounds really interesting and unique. I'd never heard of it before but now I want to watch it.

[@kermitwilson]

This show was amazing! And a lot of characters were easily based on historical figures, of you go back and look at the 1920s Dust Bowl era, there were radio evangelists and traveling tent preachers with followers in the millions. They had enormous political power, and scared the hell out of a lot of politicians. They could have gone to some very interesting places as a struggle for domination of the soul of a nation by a very anti-christ like figure in Clancy Brown. Anyone that believes Carnivale was less accessible than Twin Peaks either hasn’t watched Twin Peaks since it was aired the first time and only remembers the big beats, or watched the cliff notes and pretends they saw every episode. Because Twin Peaks didn’t make any sense internally with individual episodes or as an overall arc. It wasn’t just deliberately obtuse, Lynch had less of a plan for the arc of that show than Lost. Being obscure, random, weird, mysterious, characters and plot lines that never went anywhere was exactly what Twins Peaks was about. “Who Killed Laura Palmer” was the entire plot, after that it was “lets get weird and examine weird people behaving weirdly”.

[@HappyHighwayman]

Amazing show

[@greggoat6570]

It breaks my heart this show got cancelled prematurely

[@zarathustrazknob3972]

Criminally underappreciated show!

[@James-ll3jb]

"And so it was. Until the day a false Sun exploded over Trinity. And man forever traded away Wonder...for Reason." Yes.

[@jamespilcher4069]

It's car-nih-val

[@lamarhenderson8058]

"Best known for voicing Lex Luthor in a bunch of cartoons." That's a joke, right?

[@Shaktar]

One of my all time favourite shows

[@1987Liono]

Season 2 answered a lot of questions in the show and made it brilliant. Also it provided a great moment for Jonesy.

[@kaytrout3836]

I still go rewatch every couple years. I wish they made a graphic novel or something to finish this story

[@MattPurvis-gt3ww]

Actually, I think Clancy Brown is best known for playing the Kurgan in the movie Highlander.

[@DeanOliver1964]

I loved Carnivale and was so sad that they didn't get their third season.

[@smgillen]

Carnivàle was a great show that needed two or three more seasons.

[@samantaluna3870]

That show was so good and like with Deadwood, it is not too late for HBO to give us a movie to complete the show. Come on HBO, you can even set it 20 years later, in the 50's, with new avatars.

[@maxx1mus1041]

Carnavale was a heck of a show ended to soon

[@sur.7865]

It was a good show! Its a shame it was cancelled!

[@chazarcola7639]

Before Daniel Knauf's CARNIVALE on HBO, there was Shaun Cassidy's AMERICAN GOTHIC. The avatars did not die. The key word is TRINITY.

[@yesway980]

Clancy Brown is known for a lot more than just 'cartoon voices'. Do some research.

[@TheMacballard]

Brother Justin definitely struggles with his dark nature.

[@UgoStrange]

This show was amazing!

[@PaNNgz]

Catching the pilot on accident, I watched every episode. I was crushed when they axed it. The characters, stories, props and settings were fantastic. 2:59 Clancy Brown is best known for The Kurgan!

[@CountryBwoy]

4:48 I, mean, it was only one season. If it was supposed to cover 6 seasons then maybe some of those stories would have come along. Alas, we'll never know

[@Replicaate]

My old boss recommended me this series, and I'm afraid to watch it cos I know it ends on a cliffhanger and I'm worried I'll get unreasonably angry about it.

[@K37-h1z]

I forgot this show existed

[@RH1812]

Another show that wasn’t able to end itself properly

[@lindseystein9676]

I think there were too many good shows on HBO and showtime at that time, otherwise it Carnivale would have been more popular

[@609riv]

When talking about Clancy Brown how could you say “and a bunch of cartoons” without saying Mr Krabs 😂

[@caballero_del_arboles]

I liked the storyline about the carnival folks much more than I liked the whole avatar of dark and light stuff.

[@sadclown444]

Reminds me of the old black and white Swedish film, The Seventh Seal

[@aaronbecker5617]

I really enjoyed that show

[@DerryMaine86]

I would say Clancy Brown is most known for Mr. Krabs 🦀

[@609riv]

Mom wake up kino posted

[@kaiwancallender2761]

I think they were going to connect angels and wizards together for the third season. That’s what I was thinking.😢😊 See you later.

[@Nosliw837]

There is no war at The Carnivale.

[@World0fWowcraft]

I think this show came too early at the time. It also should have developed more with the Avatar stlyle magic system

[@TS-qr3rk]

Do Deadwood, that show is amazing.

[@PureKino]

I did, the video is on my channel!

[@roguebritgravy1]

#...And his name was Carnivalll#

[@alanpennie8013]

Actually it was Ben, but I take your point. I don't think I'd even heard of Jackson C. Frank when I encountered this show. If they used his songs it would have been cool.

[@SamP-by7iv]

It definitely felt super rushed by the end. Wish this show had had more room to grow.

[@AlbertoFolres]

One of my first HBO introduction ls 👌

[@eddymonies8302]

Dude this was one of the first shows I started watching weekly in my life because it was so weird I was invested when I was a kid. Feel like it was always a little underrated and a bit ahead of its time but maybe a little slow paced too. The way it ended always felt abrupt like it was definitely canceled and had a lot more to tell, I think about it often and wish I had all the pieces of how the rest of the show would’ve played out….

[@johnnimbus8761]

Yes. It was a show that I loved and was frustrated by.

[@judeconnor-macintyre9874]

Could you do a video about HBO's John From Cincinnati?

[@EricDaMAJ]

_Carnivale_ was a weird show. But it was a slow burn that was apparently going places. But it was too expensive compared to _The Sopranos_ so they canned it. From this I learned never to invest myself in a series until it came to a satisfying natural end. A lesson that saved me a lot of vexation. The biggest payoff for that was never getting disappointed by _The Game of Thrones._

[@nickytommymancinelli8066]

It was cancelled to promote flight of the conchords and looking

[@CorbCorbin]

This show has a great vibe, but it frustrated me, over and over, with too many things, that had nothing to do with what happened during the series.

[@jsembler1]

I loved the first season. The second season made me so uncomfortable, I had to stop watching after the first couple of episodes.

[@burhanbudak6041]

Its weird and unique, but HBO worst show is the Idol. Everything post ATT isnt classic HBO.

[@CarlieGuss]

This series and Raised By Wolves were canceled too early.

[@aaronk534]

My favorite hbo show and I missed the last 2 episodes, then found out it was canceled. Ive never seen the last 2. I was crushed when I heard. So I gave up

[@TheJohhnyE]

It's funny how the more popular hbo shows get false praise for doing things "first." Even cast members of The Sopranos falsely claim that the show was hbo's first dramatic series, despite Oz being out a season and a half before The Sopranos. Even some of the cast that was in Oz and also in The Sopranos have made that false claim. 😂

[@fifedogg511]

Oz was such a great show

[@nickytommymancinelli8066]

I thoroughly enjoyed it

[@ald.3387]

If you want to be a good critic, analyze just what was given to you. Speculation and desired outcome are moot.

[@EarJuice]

I never really understood season 2. It just seemed like a repeat of season 1. Otherwise it's quite a good show. Just a shame it's unfinished. I think it needed other evil underlings or something to battle each episode/season.

[@scottymacdewder5229]

The wife just watched the ep "babylon" on her first watch thru literally yesterday

[@latviandragon2718]

show with clacy brown and t3 john conner, am intrested

[@sjchandler8141]

I'm sure it's been said but if ben was a scumbag carnival guy using his power of good for selfish / shallow motives and justin was a good person trying to use power of evil to do good it would have been a better story with perhaps more to say. imo

[@Papillon234]

Can you review The Leftovers? Everyone seemed to love it but I hated it and it was also very esoteric.

[@stevencoffin328]

Can you do a video on The Corner aka the proto version of The Wire?

[@PureKino]

@@stevencoffin328 I did, it's in my Wire retrospective on my channel called "All The Pieces". It's in the David Simon section

[@chukysleez]

Its got the guy who shot brandon lee. And meatloafs daughter gets nekid

[@roguebritgravy1]

I'm missing the point of this video, my highlight was: Kino knows Avatar: The Last Airbender, the animated series. In all seriousness, sounds like a good show. From your description it sounds good.

[@NefariousKoel]

The comparisons to Avatar is.. very strange. There were many myths and stories about opposing saviors, demi-gods, etc in a contest for the world, humanity, or whatever else was at stake before Avatar was created. Far from a unique trope.

[@erikwilliams8692]

Never heard of this one

[@Mynamesbong]

Watch high plains drifter

[@antoniomoore2520]

It was interesting

[@richardgriffiths0908]

I loved this show.

[@robsop9512]

not sure the writers had any sense of where the master narrative was going. i think it suffered from Lost Syndrome, in that the show was pretty good at introducing compelling plot/character elements - but hardly ay of them ever went anywhere or got so abstract as to achieve the same end. had promise, but the execution was not there IMO.

[@nathanswetye210]

I disagree. There was definitely a vision by its creator. But it gives very little to the viewer in terms of explaining the mythology. You were left speculating between episodes what was going on, and that was its charm for many (including myself). American audiences expect exposition to spoon-feed them what's going on, and this show didn't go that route. You had to seek it and wonder if you were getting it right before it was eventually unveiled. I loved that fact. I hate to say it, but it was too cerebral for most people, and that assuredly limited the mass-appeal and therefore the ratings. I wouldn't have had it any other way, and just wish HBO would have had the vision to let it play out.

[@lebronfan7]

grrr.. more sopranos videos