Little was changed on Ben Hawkins' side except for the addition of the cootch (striptease) Dreifuss family; a Carnivàle consultant had elated the producers by calling attention to his research about families managing cootch shows in the 1930s.[2][22] Cynthia Ettinger (Rita Sue Dreifuss) had lost her role as Martha Kent in the pilot episode of Smallville before the opportunity for Carnivàle came up and had turned to theater jobs; she chose Carnivàle because of the theater-like experience.[79] Amanda Aday (Dora Mae Dreifuss) knew she would join the cast for only a few episodes, but was not told the story reasons at that point.[80] The writers prolonged the character arcs of recurring John Carroll Lynch (Stroud) and K Callan (Eleanor) considerably beyond their original intention.[6] Similarly, Robert Knepper's role as Tommy Dolan was extended from a few episodes to half of both seasons because the writers had liked his performance as an "ambitious man [who uses] Brother Justin to further his career."[7]