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This calculatedly bizarre 12-episode cable drama series incorporated elements from -Something Wicked This Way Comes, the Tod Browning film Freaks, and the entire David Lynch oeuvre. Set in America's Dust Bowl in 1934, the series chronicled the fortunes of a seedy carnival/burlesque troupe as it moved from one flyspeck town to another. Unfolding in a slow, deliberate and deceptively casual manner, the basic plot line boiled down to an allegorical battle between "a creature of light and a creature of darkness." The former "creature" was Ben Hawkins (Nick Stahl), a chain-gang escapee with a mysterious past and an even more mysterious gift for healing, who had latched on to the carnival almost by accident; the latter was sinister evangelist Brother Justin (Clancy Brown), who held the town of Mintern, CA, in thrall with a combination of charisma and mind control. Other characters included Samson (played by Twin Peaks alumnus Michael J. Anderson), the all-wise dwarf who narrated the series and who ran the carnival on behalf of the seldom-seen Management; Samson's right-hand man, Jonesy (Tim DeKay); sexy snake charmer Ruthie (Adrienne Barbeau); surprisingly prescient mentalist Lodz (Patrick Bauchau); tarot card reader Sofie (Clea DuVall) and her comatose mother Apollonia (Diane Salinger); "lizard man" Gecko (John Fleck); strong man Gabriel (Brian Turk); bearded lady Lila (Debra Christofferson); singing Siamese twins Alexandra and Caledonia (Karyne Steben, Sarah Steben); and Brother Justin's slightly unhinged sister, Iris (Amy Madigan). Created by Daniel Knauf, Carnivàle premiered September 14, 2003, on HBO. Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide




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