In any event, I do remember seeing this show twice and now I'm viewing it for the third time. Thanks to either old age, Father Time or Shameless Syndrome though, I of course, don't remember anything in the way of story or plot other than I know it has to do with a very Stephen King-like epic battle between the mysterious and often allegorical forces of good and evil centering around the two plot arcs of a 1930s odd traveling carnival and a mystical small town minister, initially thousands of miles apart and apparently unconnected, then slowly converging as the story unfolds to a climax. Again, quite SK-esque in setting and feel.
This show is over two decades old yet holds up pretty damned well if you ask me. Again, I said the same for "Rome" and for the same reason... no cell phones, cars or other early 21st century details that would immediately date something if it were a contemporary setting of the day. Set during the Great Depression/Dust Bowl, it's all very period. I applaud especially its factual representation of historical accuracy, especially in regards to casting, which may not be as well considered in today's Hollywood, just sayin'. Except maybe a dwarf boss. People were kinda cruel back then. As a freakshow attraction, certainly; as "Management's" agent? Maybe not.
The show lasted only two seasons. Cut short from its originally planned six seasons, it suffered, according to articles I've already polished up on, an abrupt end leaving several plot holes and unresolved cliffhangers. I haven't gotten there yet, being only six episodes into the first season right now. Well, I mean, this go 'round. I finished it twice before, but, like I said, I don't remember anything of it, so... it'll be a surprise for me when I get to it and I'm sure I'll be just as frustrated as I most likely was the two previous times.
The theme, setting, and mystical feel of the show reminds me of stories like Bradbury's "Something Wicked This Way Comes" and "The Illustrated Man" as well as one of the most haunting movies I usually rewatch frequently (yet I actually do remember fully) "The Other." Not "The Others" with Nicole Kidman, "The Other," a 1972 movie starring no one you know (except there was a bit role played by a young John Ritter). I wrote about it here. Old carnivals and circuses are fascinating to me, which reminds me too that I have still got to get on over to Sarasota sometime soon to see that Ringling Museum.
Well enough of me clickety-clackety on this mysterious device from the future, I got to get back to my folk... the simple folk choking back the gritty dust of these Great American Plains. Ol' Samson the Midget is barkin' at me 'cause I'm just a washed up absinthe-head fortune tellin' charlatan and I gotta get back to skinin' them rubes for their two bits each. Yep, it's the carney life for me.