In advance of the return of its political docuseries, The Circus: Inside the Craziest Political Campaign on Earth, Showtime placed two billboards featuring Abraham Lincoln with his head in his hand and wearing a face mask at key locations in Los Angeles.

One of the billboards, on which the mask and Lincoln’s left arm are 3D features, is at La Brea and Santa Monica Blvd., and the other is at La Cienega and Sunset.

Season five of The Circus returned to Showtime on Sunday, August 16 at 8 p.m., just in time to cover the Democratic National Convention and prep for the Republican National Convention the following week. In the first episode, hosts John Heilemann, Alex Wagner and Mark McKinnon, along with guest contributor Jennifer Palmieri, go behind the scenes of the planning, speechwriting, and media coverage of an unprecedented convention, culminating with the Democratic Party’s historic nominations of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

The episode also includes interviews with:

—Valerie Biden Owens, Joe Biden’s sister and longtime adviser, who previews her brother’s convention speech and reflects on his long personal and political journey to this moment.

—Stephanie Cutter and Addisu Demissie, the Democratic strategists who planned a first-of-its-kind virtual convention in the midst of the pandemic.

—Cody Keenan, Barack Obama’s speechwriter, who talks about the strategy behind the former president’s convention address.

—Susan Zirinsky, the president of CBS News, who compares this year’s convention coverage plans to her experience covering previous political conventions.

—Hogan Gidley, national press secretary of Donald Trump’s re-election campaign, who reacts to the Democrats’ messaging as the President holds counter-programing events in key states around the country.

The series is produced by Left/Right for Showtime. Heilemann, McKinnon, Wagner, Banks Tarver, Ken Druckerman, Ted Bourne, Tom Johnson and Siobhan Walshe serve as executive producers.

A trailer for season five of the show is below:

​[Images courtesy of Showtime/Frank Micelotta]

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