I’d really like to see what Carnivàle is all about, because it looks like the kind of thing I’d be into, but with no HBO either our house of that of … anyone we know, apparently … it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.

1934. The Dust Bowl. The last great age of magic. In a time of titanic sandstorms, drought and pestilence - all signs of God’s fury and harbingers of the Apocalypse - the final conflict between good and evil is about to begin. The battle will take place in the Heartland of an empire called America. And when it is over, man will forever trade away wonder for reason.
CARNIVÀLE follows a traveling carnival as it wends its way across the Dust Bowl, focusing on a mysterious young fugitive with hidden talents who is taken in by the carnival, and on the charismatic, shadowy evangelist who will ultimately cross his path. A time of worldwide unrest, with evil on the rise around the globe and the Great Depression wreaking economic and social havoc here at home.
As they become aware of their abilities, Ben and Brother Justin find themselves wrenched from their lives to realize that the world they thought the knew — this tenuous, prosaic reality shared by humankind — is actually a chessboard upon which is played the ancient conflict between Light and Darkness, and they are key players in the battle.

Sounds like a campaign setup for Nobilis.

Y'know... I was wondering why you'd be thinking about going to Brazil for Mardi Gras, but I probably have the spelling of their festival wrong.

It does indeed sound good.

Okay, so all the reviews I've read of this -- including the ones that start out with "I hate this sort of spooky-mystic-pretentious crap" -- are all positive about it.

Hmmm. Cheaper to wait for the DVD than to get HBO.

Yeah, but that's one of those things: what if it doesn't come out on DVD? That's why I still tape Alias, even though I know that the seasons will be coming out on DVD, because... what if?