THE FINAL FIVE CANDIDATES HAVE "HIGH HOPES" ON THE CIRCUS SUNDAY MARCH 20 ON SHOWTIME(R)

Two Additional Episodes Added to Capture Primary Turmoil

New Episodes Coming Back in July To Coincide With The Conventions

NEW YORK - March 18, 2016 - While Marco Rubio's hopes were dashed after a campaign-ending loss in his home state of Florida, five presidential hopefuls are left in the turbulent 2016 race to the White House, on THE CIRCUS: INSIDE THE GREATEST POLITICAL SHOW ON EARTH, airing Sunday, March 20 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME. Donald Trump, storming ahead with a daunting delegate count, is continuing to play by his own rules and needle the Republican establishment. John Kasich, having secured a crucial victory in Ohio, is ambling on toward the convention with typical quirky optimism, while Ted Cruz is claiming the role as the only viable Trump alternative. After a sweep of important victories for Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders is still dreaming about pulling off a Democratic upset, but comparisons to Clinton's protracted - and failed - run in the 2008 Democratic nomination fight abound. On "High Hopes," the tenth episode.

In order to capture the continued political battles, the network extended the original run of THE CIRCUS by adding two additional episodes. In addition to the March 20th episode on SHOWTIME, THE CIRCUS will feature two more shows of primary season coverage before taking a break. The series will return in July with new episodes for the Democratic and Republican conventions, then go on another hiatus before returning in the fall for weekly coverage to coincide with the general election campaign.

THE CIRCUS is produced in cooperation with Bloomberg Politics and features managing editors Mark Halperin and John Heilemann (co-authors of the New York Times best-sellers Game Change and Double Down, and co-hosts of the nightly political show "With All Due Respect" on Bloomberg Television) and noted campaign strategist Mark McKinnon. THE CIRCUS is produced by Left/Right, a part of Red Arrow Entertainment Group, for SHOWTIME. Mark Halperin, John Heilemann, Mark McKinnon, Banks Tarver and Ken Druckerman serve as executive producers.

Viewers can catch up on THE CIRCUS on SHOWTIME, SHOWTIME ON DEMAND(R), SHOWTIME ANYTIME(R) and the SHOWTIME streaming service. For more information on THE CIRCUS, go to: http://s.sho.com/1REcPNv and follow @SHO_TheCircus on Twitter.