What’s A Carnivale Without A Fat Lady?

HBO's evocative carnie fantasy, Carnivale, started its second season this week, and, while I'm a fan of the show, which has an enjoyable Twin Peaks-indebted creepiness to it (Lynch actor Michael J. Anderson helps in this department, in addition to being one of the most entertaining speakers of carnie talk on the show), I still can't help asking whenever they actually open the flaps of the tent to show the titular carnival's ten-in-one show, "Hey, where's the fat lady?" A good Depression Era carnival definitely needed a good-sized fat lady as a part of the attraction: in an era of wanting, the super-sized performer would've been even more magical to the rubes. Yet while a few of the female performers that we've seen in the series lady Lily, zaftig cootch dancer Dora Mae) are thankfully fuller sized than your average teevee show actress, none of 'em approach the grandeur of a genuwine sideshow fat lady.

I've heard via the grapevine that the show has been casting for a fat lady this season – perhaps to replace the performers lost in a season one finale fire? – but the season's first episode, at least, gives no hint whether this rumor is true or not. It'd be great if it was: though most of the show's "freak" performers only receive limited air time in comparison to the rest of the cast, they're almost always in the background at least. And you know there are plenty of attractive super-sized actresses out there who'd look wonderful in the role. . .