The Circus Is Election Coverage for People Burnt Out on Election Coverage

Nobody could blame you for wanting to completely check out of election coverage -- after all, this is the most inflammatory election of all time, something something about partisan rhetoric, here are some made-up statistics, don't forget this standard media jargon blah blah blah.

That said, it's possible that feeling exhausted with the whole thing is due to the way it's been talked out: the talking heads babbling endlessly, the inflammatory sound bites before the news cuts to Best Summer Sunglasses under $20. That's why, even for those burnt out, Showtime's The Circus does the neat trick of showing the real complexity of the campaigns.

The Circus is returning this fall to cover everything leading up to the first presidential debate and election. After showing us the behind-the-scenes moments that led to the Democratic and Republican nominations, The Circus will tag alongside Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump to show the moments from debates to election night.

Catch up on all the latest news from TCA

"We're covering this differently than everybody else," said executive producer Mark Halperin. Each 30-minute episode is a deep dive, an attempt to capture the human drama, humor and narratives that we aren't seeing every day. "We don't cover the news, that's not our mission," McKinnon said. Expect a fly-on-the-wall assessment of the strategy meetings, conversations and presumably mundane stuff that shows the candidates and their teams in a much more authentic light than we typically see.

"We wanted people to see these people," said executive producer Mark McKinnon. "They work hard, they suffer, they have to earn it." Despite how unique and unusual this election has been, he said, people tell him they feel better about watching the series. "They get a more contextualized version."

The Circus returns Sunday, Sept. 11 at 8/7c on Showtime.