Let’s play.

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It won’t strain your brain, I promise.

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While I’m not a huge tv watcher, I do like a variety of series HBO has developed over the years. Every once in a while I can even get my husband interested… which is what happened with Carnivale.

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It was a dark and wonderfully bizarre show that immediately garnered a rabid fan base.

It’s the mid-1930s, and we’re in the middle of the Dust Bowl, a time when sandstorms and disease were running rampant across the Great Plains. After his mother’s death, teenage fugitive Ben Hawkins is picked up by a mysterious traveling carnival run by an unseen force known only as “Management.” Surrounded by magic, Ben reconnects with his long-dormant supernatural powers. Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away, an evangelical preacher is plagued with apocalyptic visions. What the two of them don’t know is that they’re set to become players in the great (and heretofore hidden) battle between Darkness and Light.

We loved it and though it was immensely popular with its followers and slated for six seasons, it was cancelled after just two leaving viewers with an awful cliffhanger and no resolution. When asked, HBO said the reason was falling ratings but I read the religious right took an instant dislike to it and pushed for it’s removal. Funny when you think about all the other shows that are filled with blood, gore and rampant sex.

That’s my pick.

What show do you want to see return?

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45 thoughts on “Let’s play.”

  1. Well more recently I think the updated black version of the Wonder Years should’ve had a longer life. I feel that show was unfairly cancelled because of former Exec Prod Fred Savage controversies. Otherwise I wish the Waltons wasn’t cancelled before season 9 ended in ’81. I think that show should’ve at the very least seen the youngest sibling graduate High School.

    Liked by 2 people

      1. Netflix 2015. Group of non-binary peeps with “powers” against bad guys. Most of the actors were well known in various countries – it was acted well. It had a passionate following, was cancelled abruptly, and never resolved the storyline.

        I know there are others I liked/miss more but my mind blanked.

        Liked by 1 person

  2. Oh I remember Carnivale – we liked it a lot too! I really can’t think of any tv shows that were cancelled before their time that I would bring back – some streaming shows I can tho. I really liked ‘The OA”. My most favorite tv show which was on for 4 seasons – “Saving Grace” – had an appropriate ending, not a happy one, and there is no way to bring it back. I’ve watched the entire 4 seasons 3 times and I’m ready to watch it again – Holly Hunter is a much under-appreciated actor. I will watch her in anything!

    Liked by 1 person

  3. I’d bring back several, including YOUR SHOW OF SHOWS (Syd Caesar), AMOS & ANDY (‘culturally incorrect” but hilarious), and GET SMART (a “dumb” spy spoof which nonetheless made me laugh):

    Liked by 2 people

  4. Do you remember back when things were rotten? Not just food and things but kings were rotten!
    Hope you didn’t blink. If you did, you can catch all the episodes on YouTube, the whole half a season. Don’t eat soup while you are watching.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. I love you, Ally!!!! Northern Exposure is my number one all time favorite show and I always think I’m the only person on Earth who feels that way. Do you agree that it would need to come back with Joel Fleischman, though, and not those horrible Capras? Your response will determine the future of our relationship. 😉
      P.S. If NX were to bring back the show with the Capras, I’d have to choose Seinfeld as my pick.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Exactly. It’s not that they themselves were bad, but rather that they couldn’t live up to Joel. The husband thinks it was lazy writing since they were basically a “couple” version of Fleischman. Basically, a fish out of water. He would have preferred it if the writers had gone in the totally opposite direction and brought in a new doctor who was from such a remote place that he found Sicely modern and awe-inspiring.

        Liked by 1 person

  5. I’d have to say, WKRP in Cincinnati! I love that show, and its was humor beyond it’s time. The Turkey Drop episode was hilarious! Three’s Company as well, I think the raunchiness’ of that show might offend the delicate sensibilities of the political stage right now, lol.

    Liked by 1 person

  6. Never heard of that show but if the religious right wanted it cancelled, it should definitely be brought back. I saw bring back the Andy Griffith Show just because it would be so interesting to see Sheriff Taylor dealing with the MAGATS.

    Liked by 1 person

  7. Ya know…it woulda been great if Freaks & Geeks woulda lasted longer than almost one season in 1999, Granted a lot Seth Rogen& James Franko (Movies)/Busy Phillips(Cougar Town)/Jason Siegel(How I met your mother)/John Frances Daly(Bones)/Linda Cardelini (ER) stuff might not have happened but ya know, still coulda been cool if it had berb given a chance

    Liked by 4 people

  8. When I was a boy, we had a show called The Kids From 47a – not a great show but my, how I loved Jess. Sadly, she was 8 years older than me – I just looked it up – and such things cannot happen… 😜

    Liked by 1 person

  9. My second choice (I can have two, right?) is Journeyman. It was like a grittier version of Quantum Leap, with a time-hopping news reporter tasked with changing a different person’s life each week. It only lasted 13 episodes in 2007, but I loved it (and judging by the IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes grades, I’m not alone).

    Liked by 2 people

  10. Carnivale was bizarre and I really liked it. That being said, I could not watch it late at night while home alone! It scared the beejeesus out of me at times.

    I miss Friends!! I think it ran its course, but I enjoyed the light humor so much.

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