Showtime's 'The Circus' resumes — but has circus left town?

Showtime's periodic political series “The Circus” returns on Sunday into both a familiar and changed political climate

NEW YORK -- What does “The Circus” do when the circus has left town?

That's the pithy question that comes to mind upon learning that the Showtime political series opens its seventh season on Sunday, when consumer interest in political news has dropped sharply with the end of Donald Trump's presidency.

“The thing about the circus — there's comedy, there's drama and there are death-defying acts of physical daring,” said John Heilemann, one of the show's four reporters. “Those things are still in our politics and we think the drama of American politics is ever-present, has not receded in any way and is just as compelling.”

There was no thought given to ending “The Circus” just because one big story had changed, he said.