The Circus - Season 1

First aired: 1/17/2016 26 episodes

Season one pulls back the curtain on the 2016 presidential race, revealing the stories behind the headlines.

Episodes

1. The Outsiders

Aired: 1/17/2016

The campaigns of three "outsiders" - Ted Cruz, Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump - are given behind-the-scenes attention on the road to the Iowa caucus. Series premiere.

2. Prisoner's Dilemma

Aired: 1/24/2016

The second episode follows Sen. Marco Rubio, Gov. Chris Christie, former Gov. Jeb Bush and Gov. John Kasich as they prepare for the all-important, first-in-the-nation primary in New Hampshire.

3. Tension City

Aired: 1/31/2016

This episode follows the angst and drama leading up to the Iowa caucuses, with a showdown brewing between Democrats Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton and the GOP's first real test of outsider candidates versus the establishment.

4. The Big Mo

Aired: 2/7/2016

The fourth episode goes inside the Iowa fallout and the momentum leading into New Hampshire's primary. Who¿s got it? Who doesn't? And how can the Clinton and Trump campaigns pick up the pace to beat back the surge of Sanders and Cruz?

5. The Winnowing

Aired: 2/14/2016

From the electric jolt of New Hampshire to the hard truths coming up in South Carolina and Nevada. Trump tastes victory, Kasich picks up momentum - and Bush faces the prospect of an impending do-or-die reality.

6. Fear and Loathing

Aired: 2/21/2016

As the campaigns head towards the final stretch leading to Nevada and South Carolina, there's growing anxiety among both frontrunners and stragglers about just how high the stakes are - and the significance of falling behind.

7. Confidence Game

Aired: 2/28/2016

With the field narrowed down to The Big Five, the campaigns spread their game across the country and play to their strengths - with eyes squarely focused on the all-important upcoming prize: Super Tuesday.

8. The Reckoning

Aired: 3/6/2016

With big wins for the frontrunners on Super Tuesday the rest of candidates are reckoning with the results. But the biggest story of all might be one both Democratic and Republican establishments can agree on: how do they stop Trump?

9. Dead or Alive

Aired: 3/13/2016

It's make or break time for Rubio, Kasich and Sanders. As the candidates pin their hopes on Florida and Ohio, can they gather enough momentum to force a brokered convention - or will their campaigns finally run out of steam?

10. High Hopes

Aired: 3/20/2016

While Rubio gets trumped in Florida, the rest of the candidates remain cautiously optimistic. But are high hopes what they need to pull off a win and secure the nomination - or are they just delusional?

11. Home And Abroad

Aired: 3/27/2016

Foreign policy comes to the fore as the political climate grows fiery in the wake of the attacks in Brussels. As Trump and Clinton prepare to square off, can either of them prove their presidential mettle in handling the heat?

12. On Wisconsin

Aired: 4/3/2016

Ahead of a Wisconsin showdown the candidates crisscross the state in pursuit of competing agendas. Can Kasich, Cruz or Sanders secure their position as spoilers - or will Clinton and Trump finally be crowned their party's Big Cheese?

13. Circus Recap

Aired: 4/10/2016

From the early primary battles to the Super Tuesday showdown and beyond, pull back the curtain on the 2016 presidential race with Mark Halperin, John Heilemann and Mark McKinnon - and catch up on the electrifying first twelve weeks.

14. Game On

Aired: 7/10/2016

While the nation celebrates July 4th, Trump and Clinton engage in their own fireworks. With the reemergence of Clinton's email scandal and Trump's latest faux pas, the titans go on the attack to take each other down.

15. Veepstakes

Aired: 7/17/2016

No president is complete without a veep. As Trump auditions Chris Christie, Mike Pence and Newt Gingrich and Clinton considers Tim Kaine, can the candidates find the right-hand man for the job who will make, not break, their campaign?

16. The Trump Show

Aired: 7/24/2016

The political circus goes into overdrive as Trump is crowned the Republican nominee - and Melania, controversially, speaks! Capitalizing on his children to help humanize his image, can Trump plus Pence finally rally a unified party?

17. In the Arena

Aired: 7/31/2016

The jeers and boos of Sanders diehards ring out in Philadelphia, before the Democrats at last make Hillary a historic nominee. But is shattering a glass ceiling enough for Clinton and Kaine to unite the party into a winning coalition?

18. Closing the Gap

Aired: 9/11/2016

With ten weeks to go until the election the Trump campaign finds itself running from behind. As members of his party start to publicly jump ship, can Trump find a way to close the gap with Clinton or will he just fall further behind?

19. Fit to Serve

Aired: 9/18/2016

As Clinton's pneumonia and scrutiny about Trump's medical records comes to the forefront, their fitness to lead is questioned.

20. Battleground

Aired: 9/25/2016

As Clinton and Trump prepare for their first debate, their campaigns target the swing states with an eye on Florida.

21. The Newsrooms

Aired: 10/2/2016

Preparations for the debate; the candidates cede the spotlight to those who cover the political news.

22. Tale of the Tape

Aired: 10/16/2016

The fallout from the second debate and the current scandal surrounding a recently publicized audio tape.

23. From Russia With Love

Aired: 10/23/2016

Clinton faces the scandal of her highly sensitive, private emails being made public on WikiLeaks, amid claims of foreign hacking and intervention and international espionage of the 2016 election.

24. His Word as Biden

Aired: 10/30/2016

With only two weeks until election day, Clinton bets on the one man who has the potential to swing those states still up for grabs: Joe Biden.

25. Nobody F... Knows

Aired: 11/6/2016

Polls predict the differing outcomes; both campaigns make a case in "far-fetched battlegrounds"; to most, the race is either up for grabs or already decided.

26. President Trump

Aired: 11/13/2016

In a special hour-long episode of the real-time documentary series, Mark Halperin, John Heilemann and Mark McKinnon go behind the scenes of both campaigns in the lead up to Election Day - and the fallout that followed.