# HBO cancels Carnivale **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 11, 2005, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hbo-cancels-carnivale/303391 "2005-05-11T14:54:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hbo-cancels-carnivale/303391/21 "2005-05-11T17:56:06Z")
> [@Si Amigo](#): > > This sucks even worst than the “dialog” in Deadwood! :wally > > At least Carnivale was interesting and different from anything else on TV. I can understand that people with short attention spans didn’t “get” the show but what about the rest of us! :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: I guess all 7 of you can go back to watching David Lynch and Wim Wenders movies. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hbo-cancels-carnivale/303391/22 "2005-05-11T18:09:21Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > I guess all 7 of you can go back to watching David Lynch and Wim Wenders movies. For some reason that really cracked me up. I expect HBO will continue to show interesting programs. I’m looking forward to their Roman era series coming up in a while. I wonder how many networks would have given shows like Deadwood, Sopranos, Sex in the City, or Carnivale a shot let alone one or two full seasons? I honestly don’t understand why people are upset at HBO. Marc ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hbo-cancels-carnivale/303391/23 "2005-05-11T18:38:30Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > I guess all 7 of you can go back to watching David Lynch and Wim Wenders movies. People who extol the virtues of _Entourage_ really oughtn’t throw stones. And when exactly did “popular” suddenly start equaling “quality”? > [@MGibson](#): > > I honestly don’t understand why people are upset at HBO. I’m annoyed at them because they said repeatedly that they were committed to the show’s full five-year arc. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hbo-cancels-carnivale/303391/24 "2005-05-11T19:33:56Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > I’m annoyed at them because they said repeatedly that they were committed to the show’s full five-year arc. Who’s to say they weren’t? Yes, I know that ultimately they didn’t go five years but that isn’t to say they didn’t want to. I imagine the show cost a decent amount of money to produce and if there’s not enough people watching then it doesn’t become worthwhile. Would you say that the show was given a fair chance to succeed? Marc ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hbo-cancels-carnivale/303391/25 "2005-05-11T19:51:06Z")
I enjoyed **Carnivàle** , but I am not going to grieve over its loss. They did bring it to a conclusion of sorts and didn’t just leave everything dangling. I’m certainly not pissed off at HBO. They gave the show a fighting chance, and it never found a big audience. That’s not HBO’s fault. ---
**Author:** ![TheBoneyKingofNowhere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@TheBoneyKingofNowhere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheBoneyKingofNowhere)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hbo-cancels-carnivale/303391/26 "2005-05-11T20:10:40Z")
Carnivale was one of the most enjoyable shows I’ve ever watched. I’m not sure if its cancellation is a good or bad thing, however. I’ll definitely miss it. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hbo-cancels-carnivale/303391/27 "2005-05-11T21:26:36Z")
I’ve only seen the series on DVD (season 1), but I loved it and even considered getting HBO for it (except HBO here requires digital and is imho unnecessarily expensive). I intend to get the second season as soon as it comes out. Question: did the Second Season explain the “flashbacks” to the Knights Templar? (I agree with the poster above who stated that they owe a wrap-up movie or mini-miniseries.) ---
**Author:** ![Qwertyasdfg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ecc23a/32.png) [@Qwertyasdfg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwertyasdfg)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hbo-cancels-carnivale/303391/28 "2005-05-11T21:31:36Z")
HBO came within a hair’s width of cancelling The Wire recently, but eventually picked it up for a 4th season. I wonder if they saw low ratings for both The Wire and Carnivale, and decided at least one had to go, or if it was an independent decision. Being as how The Wire is probably my favorite show on TV, then if cancelling Carnivale made it easier for them to keep the wire, then that’s fine by me. ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2005, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hbo-cancels-carnivale/303391/29 "2005-05-11T23:31:04Z")
Yes, they did–the Templars had a copy of the heretical Gospel of Matthias, which explained a lot of the Creature of Light/Dark/Omega thing. Scudder became a member and eventually stole the book, and cast a spell to try and remove his powers as the CoL, which he didn’t want. All he ended up doing was driving his friend Fr. Kerrigan insane and Talbot-Smith around the bend; the latter ended up seeking the Usher, Justin, and assisting him until Scudder killed him while escaping. I will miss it–the acting and scenery especially, plus I do wonder what’s going to happen to Iris in particular–but towards the end, esp. with the Omega and her negation of the whole last battle, I felt as jerked around as I had towards the end of BUFFY. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hbo-cancels-carnivale/303391/30 "2005-05-13T02:56:24Z")
> [@Qwertyasdfg](#): > > if cancelling Carnivale made it easier for them to keep the wire, then that’s fine by me. Amen to that. When I heard _The Wire_ might be canceled, I e-mailed HBO to praise the show and say it was one of the reasons I subscribed in the first place. I was so happy to see it renewed. No way I would have bothered to do that for _Carnivale_, even though I enjoyed it. It lacked the pull of many of the other HBO shows for me. Just a matter of taste I guess. Reminded me of _The X-Files_ in the sense that this big mystery alluded to a deep backstory that I had a feeling would ultimately be inconsistent and not hold together. Guess we’ll never know now. Oh yeah, and _Entourage_? Bleh. _Deadwood_, otoh, just keeps getting better. PAB ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hbo-cancels-carnivale/303391/31 "2005-05-13T03:51:04Z")
I came to say that I’d be happy to sacrifice _Carnivale_ as long as they bring back my favorite show, _The Wire_. Thanks **Qwertyasdfg** for the news that it is coming back. Have you heard when the next series starts shooting or airing? BTW, there’s a book about _The Wire_. Very interesting read. I recommend it for _Wire_heads. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hbo-cancels-carnivale/303391/32 "2005-05-13T05:12:28Z")
I liked it but once the entire mythology was revealed, the last couple of episodes were kind of boring. A third season would have been interesting if they had set it during the youth of Scudder and Management, maybe but I thought it was all played out. Haj ---
**Author:** ![Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoundrel_Swanswater)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hbo-cancels-carnivale/303391/33 "2005-05-13T14:48:14Z")
We can’t get HBO down here, so the Wire and Deadwood don’t mean anything to me. I have to buy the DVD’s or download the series. I can understand that they didn’t have enough viewers because the first season was just unbearably slow. The second season was however much, much better. And no, the stories aren’t resolved. At all. What does the nuclear testing at Trinity have to do with anything? What is the Omega? Why would she bring Brother Justin back? I hope they will release a book or something to wrap up these storylines, but I am also thinking that maybe the creators bit off more than they could chew, and they aren’t able to bring closure to all things. That would also be a good reason to cancel the show. The end result is however the same : there is nothing of any quality on TV anymore. Desperate Housewives??? Yuk!!! ---
**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hbo-cancels-carnivale/303391/34 "2005-05-13T23:08:41Z")
Loved Carnivale but didn’t like season II as much as the first. Too many broad storyline gaps, felt too rushed, too many dangling questions along the way. I think HBO had a hand in how rushed season II was. IMHO they tried to accelerate the story in order to attrack more _Entourage_ type viewers and failed miserably. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hbo-cancels-carnivale/303391.md?page=1)