Showtime's 'The Circus' Could Return In A New Way

During this historic election cycle, Showtime's documentary series The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show On Earth gave us a behind the scenes look at the 2016 presidential race. During a time when it was hard to find unbiased media coverage, The Circus provided balanced coverage of both the Clinton and Trump campaigns. Showrunners called upon expert strategists from both sides of the aisle who offered insight into what was happening behind the scenes, and the information was delivered to us with an appropriate dose of humor. (Seriously, we needed a few moments of levity during this painful election.) Now that the 2016 presidential race has concluded, will there be a second season of The Circus?

There is still no official confirmation regarding whether The Circus will return for a second season — but, because the series was so firmly focused on the presidential race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, showrunners would have to majorly shake-up the entire premise of the show. When it's time for midterm elections in two years, they'll certainly have an avenue there — but the unfortunate truth is that Americans aren't nearly as invested in local elections as presidential elections. With this in mind, it's hard to imagine thousands of people eagerly tuning in to follow local elections.

The Circus received favorable reviews from critics, so it's a definite possibility that it will return in 2020 to cover America's next presidential election. And, there has been no official announcement of a cancellation or a release stating that showrunners will return to The Circus in 2020 if their schedules allow. (Although I'll admit that planning something four years in advance is a little excessive.) This gives me hope that perhaps The Circus will not only return, but it will come back to our small screens sometime before 2020.

Although Season 1 solely focused on the campaigns of the Democrat and Republican presidential nominees, the experts on the show have a wide breadth of knowledge when it comes to politics and they're completely qualified to provide their expertise on the aftermath of this election. Now that Trump has been named the president-elect, America is in uncharted territory and we could certainly use the voices and knowledge of political experts (both Democrats and Republicans) to guide us through this new era.

As I watched the election results come in on Nov. 8, the consensus was clear — Americans were shocked by Trump's victory and we were left shaking our heads as we wondered how and why all of the polls and pundits had been so far off in their predictions. Although The Circus' "Election Night Finale" airs on Nov. 13, it's going to take a great deal of time to unpack and analyze all the factors that gave Trump a path to the White House — it will take far more than just one episode to adequately cover this topic. When Trump begins his term as president, I'd love to hear from the show's experts. If The Circus does return within the next year, it will be a very different show than it was during the 2016 election — but there would be great value in helping Americans understand how Trump rose to power and where to go from here.

Image: Showtime