"Carnivàle" aired on HBO on a Sunday 9:00 pm timeslot during its two-season run between 2003 and 2005. "Milfay", "Carnivàle" pilot episode, drew 5.3 million viewers for its premiere on September 14, 2003. This marked the best ever debut for an HBO original series at the time, caused in part by the established HBO series "Sex and the City" being "Carnivàle" lead-in. This record was broken on March 21, 2004 by HBO series "Deadwood", which debuted with 5.8 million viewers as the lead-out of "The Sopranos".