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Season 1 – The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth

Play trailer Poster for Season 1 – The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth Jan 2016 Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
75% Tomatometer 12 Reviews 56% Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
A revealing look at the new era of presidential politics, revealing the intense, inspiring and infuriating stories behind the headlines; key characters and events are presented in real time as they are happening.
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The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth — Season 1

The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth — Season 1

What to Know

Critics Consensus

The Circus reveals a more human side of the candidates and paints a clear picture of how grueling life can be on the campaign trail, yet the show fails to provide the type of candid analysis and discourse it alludes to during this incredibly unique and cantankerous election cycle.

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Critics Reviews

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Inkoo Kang MTV 09/12/2016
Whatever terrible revolution we're watching, it definitely isn't being televised with analysis and curiosity here. Go to Full Review Joshua Alston AV Club 03/08/2016
B+
The Circus is an elegant, intimate, frequently funny look at a process that lives up to the show's title, but like most political coverage these days, leaves a brutal hangover. Go to Full Review James Poniewozik New York Times 03/03/2016
The Circus is a kind of reassuring sanity break for politics nerds. There may be treacherous currents roiling this election, unknowable changes to come. But for one sharp half-hour every week, it's all just a show. Go to Full Review Andy Dehnart Reality Blurred 02/26/2020
That's why we need The Circus: to continue to explore, to show, and to humanize the process. Go to Full Review Melissa Camacho Common Sense Media 05/30/2017
3/5
Solid docu probes 2016 election, tries to be unbiased. Go to Full Review Liz Raftery TV.com 07/11/2016
Unlike coverage on Fox News or MSNBC, The Circus offers truly objective analysis of the campaigns. It also shows a more human side of the candidates, painting a clear picture of how grueling life is on the campaign trail. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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11/05/2021 HORRIBLE one sided bs. See more m g @justm 12/24/2020 A great walk back through how tf did that happen? See more 09/15/2020 There are no longer any unbiased political conversation out there. This is a prime example. See more 10/07/2019 Terrible, ROTTEN tomatoes! and waste of time. I watched because my friend begged me to see it so I was thinking it would be good. Turns out she had the wrong title. I love politics, honest politics but this is anything but skewed and honest. Its junk. Don't bother. See more 02/13/2019 I started to watch this show the first season of the Circus and it started out pretty good. I thought it was going to be good because it seemed to not have a huge bias one way or the other but as the first season goes on it becomes very clear this show and the creators support Hillary Clinton. Specifically John Heilemann who is one of the main anchors shows us in this show just how much he hates Trump and how much he loves Clinton. It is too bad they had to put a liberal twist on this show and couldn't keep it in the middle. See more 05/10/2017 The Circus is easily the most informative and entertaining political show produced. See more Read all reviews
The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth — Season 1

My Rating

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Cast & Crew

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Mark Halperin

Host

John Heilemann

Host

Mark McKinnon

Host

Mark Halperin

Executive Producer

John Heilemann

Executive Producer

Mark McKinnon

Executive Producer

Episodes

Episode 1 Aired Jan 17, 2016 The Outsiders The campaigns of the "outsider" candidates: Ted Cruz, Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump, prepare for the Iowa caucuses. Details Episode 2 Aired Jan 24, 2016 Prisoner's Dilemma Sen. Marco Rubio, Gov. Chris Christie, former Gov. Jeb Bush and Gov. John Kashich prepare for the New Hampshire primary. Details Episode 3 Aired Jan 31, 2016 Tension City Angst and drama leading up to Iowa caucuses; a showdown is brewing between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton; outsider candidates versus the establishment. Details Episode 4 Aired Feb 7, 2016 The Big Mo Inside the Iowa fallout and the momentum leading into New Hampshire's primary; Clinton and Trump campaigns must pick up the pace to beat Sanders and Cruz. Details Episode 5 Aired Feb 14, 2016 The Winnowing Following New Hampshire, candidates prepare for hard truths coming up in South Carolina and Nevada; Trump tastes victory; Kasich picks up momentum; Bush faces an impending do-or-die reality. Details Episode 6 Aired Feb 21, 2016 Fear and Loathing The campaigns head toward the final stretch in Nevada and South Carolina, and anxiety grows about high stakes. Details Episode 7 Aired Feb 28, 2016 Confidence Game Now that the field has been narrowed to the "Big Five," the campaigns focus on playing to their strengths across the country in preparation for Super Tuesday. Details Episode 8 Aired Mar 6, 2016 The Reckoning Following big wins for the front-runners on Super Tuesday, the other candidates come to terms with the results; both Democratic and Republican camps consider how to stop Donald Trump. Details Episode 9 Aired Mar 13, 2016 Dead or Alive Rubio, Kasich and Sanders hope they can find success in Florida and Ohio, and gather enough momentum to force a brokered convention. Details Episode 10 Aired Mar 20, 2016 High Hopes Rubio gets trumped in Florida and high hopes are needed to pull off a win. Details Episode 11 Aired Mar 27, 2016 Home and Abroad Foreign policy becomes a hot topic following the attacks in Brussels; Trump and Clinton prepare to square off, but must still prove their presidential mettle. Details Episode 12 Aired Apr 3, 2016 On Wisconsin Before a showdown in Wisconsin, candidates travel the state to pursue competing agendas; Kasich, Cruz and Sanders seek to secure their positions as spoilers. Details Episode 13 Aired Apr 10, 2016 Circus Recap Mark Halperin, John Heilemann and Mark McKinnon reflect on the first twelve weeks of the 2016 presidential race. Details Episode 14 Aired Jul 10, 2016 Game On While the nation celebrates Independence Day, Trump and Clinton engage in their own fireworks; Clinton's email scandal re-emerges; Trump has another faux-pas. Details Episode 15 Aired Jul 17, 2016 Veepstakes Trump auditions Chris Christie, Mike Pence and Newt Gingrich for vice president; Clinton considers Tim Kaine. Details Episode 16 Aired Jul 24, 2016 Trump Show Donald Trump is declared the Republican presidential nominee; Melania Trump delivers a controversial speech; Tiffany and Donald, Jr., help humanize Trump's image. Details Episode 17 Aired Jul 31, 2016 In the Arena Sanders followers show their displeasure in Philadelphia; the Democrats make Hillary Clinton a historic nominee; Clinton and Kaine have work to do to unite the party. Details Episode 18 Aired Sep 11, 2016 Closing the Gap The Trump campaign is running from behind, and members of the party publicly jump ship; Trump must find a way to close the gap with Clinton. Details Episode 19 Aired Sep 18, 2016 Fit to Serve As Clinton's pneumonia and scrutiny about Trump's medical records comes to the forefront, their fitness to lead is questioned. Details Episode 20 Aired Sep 25, 2016 Battleground As Clinton and Trump prepare for their first debate, their campaigns target the swing states with an eye on Florida. Details Episode 21 Aired Oct 2, 2016 The Newsrooms Preparations for the debate; the candidates cede the spotlight to those who cover the political news. Details Episode 22 Aired Oct 16, 2016 Tale of the Tape The fallout from the second debate and the current scandal surrounding a recently publicized audio tape. Details Episode 23 Aired Oct 23, 2016 From Russia With Love Clinton faces the scandal of her highly sensitive, private emails being made public on WikiLeaks, amid claims of foreign hacking and intervention and international espionage of the 2016 election. Details Episode 24 Aired Oct 30, 2016 His Word as Biden With only two weeks until election day, Clinton bets on the one man who has the potential to swing those states still up for grabs: Joe Biden. Details Episode 25 Aired Nov 6, 2016 Nobody F... Knows Polls predict the differing outcomes; both campaigns make a case in "far-fetched battlegrounds"; to most, the race is either up for grabs or already decided. Details Episode 26 Aired Nov 13, 2016 President Trump Mark Halperin, John Heilemann and Mark McKinnon examine the campaigns leading up to Election Day and the results that followed. Details

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The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth — Season 1

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Season Info

Executive Producer
Mark Halperin, John Heilemann, Mark McKinnon, Banks Tarver, Ken Druckerman
Network
Showtime
Rating
TV-14
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date
Jan 17, 2016