Editors’choice Under the big top: Crimes and clowns exposed in new episodes of ‘The Circus’
American showman P.T. Barnum once said that “clowns are the pegs on which the circus is hung.” While this may be true, one can surmise that perhaps Barnum wasn’t speaking exclusively of the tent-and-pole business to which his name has become most associated. Barnum, who was busy wrangling votes when he wasn’t overseeing lion wrangling on the stage, was also heavily involved in politics during the last quarter of the 19th century. As mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut, Barnum is also cited as having said that “politics and government are certainly among the most important of practical human interests.”
Alas, it seems Showtime shares an interest in not just one, but two of Barnum’s life’s works, as the network pairs whimsical, absurd entertainment with politics in “The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth.” Back Sunday, Oct. 8, with six all-new Season 8 episodes, “The Circus” peeks under the Big Top that is the White House and dives deep into the American political circus of the present day.
“The Circus,” which premiered on Showtime Jan. 17, 2016, amid controversy over Donald Trump’s (soon-to-be-successful) presidential campaign, has proven itself to be a worthy voice during a difficult time in televised media. Always on top of the most current, relevant and often divisive issues in the United States, “The Circus” began its run by covering the 2016 election in Season 1.
By the time the second season aired — 26 episodes later — in late March 2017, the series had adopted the subtitle “Inside the Biggest Story on Earth,” of course referring to Trump’s first 100 days in his then newly secured presidency. This season ran for a meager eight episodes before Season 3 premiered in April 2018 and focused on mid-term elections.
Seasons 3 and 4 shared the moniker “Inside the Wildest Show on Earth” before Season 5 premiered in January 2020 and was soon met with some of the biggest news to hit the world in decades: the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now, four and a bit seasons later, “The Circus” picks up right where it left off in April.
The current season, Season 8, began in February as President Biden flew to Poland and prepared for his trip into war-ravaged Ukraine in the episode “The Year of Living Dangerously.” As the season progressed, the team touched back down stateside and “mark[ed] the unofficial kick-off of the Republican Party’s presidential nominating contest,” “navigate[d] a week dominated by Tucker Carlson’s coverage of January 6th, hearings on the Biden administration, and a fight that threaten[ed] to tip America over a fiscal cliff ” and “examine[d] the $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News” (per Showtime).
Leading up to the mid-season break, “The Circus” doubled down on Trump’s “historic indictment,” sending correspondents Jennifer Palmieri (“The Clinton Affair”), Mark Mckinnon (“The Bush Years: Family, Duty, Power”) and John Heilemann (“2020: The Dumpster Fire,” 2021) on assignments to uncover the truth behind everything from coverups to election interference and the political fallout brought forth by the Trump administration and its critics.
In the six new episodes, the News & Doc Emmy-nominated series continues its probing investigation into Trump, Biden and the line that divides both their presidencies and their supporters. While the precise episode synopses are being kept secret until Episode 7’s release, fans of “The Circus” can expect much of the same style of investigative reporting, sensitive discussion and balanced views for which they have become loved.