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You Gotta Love Those Vikings!
O.K. It’s no secret that the History Channel has struck as much gold as their new Nordic warriors once plundered with their new Vikings series. Numbers vary, but it is certain that at least six million viewers watched and stuck with the show during its premiere. The second week took a dive, but was still the most watched series on cable in the 10pm hour. One reason for the dip may be that many cable systems offer the opportunity to watch the show through their On Demand programming and on mine (so far) I have been been able to watch the first two episodes a week before they actually aired through a sponsored preview.
In these days of constantly being told what we can and cannot do in every aspect of our lives by lawmakers and even what size soft drink we can order, is it any wonder that a show like Vikings is a success? It is nice to watch people who are only limited by their own courage and resources do as they like and get away with it. And if the big cheese in charge gets out of hand, forget about elections. When the Vikings throw the bums out, they are gone for good to Valhalla (or wherever).
As with programs like Banshee and Dexter, it is sometimes hard to tell the good guys from the bad. These were folks who had their own agenda and anyone in their way was just out of luck. Sounds like the President and Congress to me! But all political commentary aside, Vikings is a well written and well made series that should have a long life as long as it does not fall into the Lost mold of endless dialogue and unresolved mysteries that take years to be revealed. Fortunately, I do not see that happening.
The series has a strong cast lead by Gabriel Byrne (Earl Haraldson), Travis Fimmel (Ragnar), Katheryn Winnick (Lagertha) and Clive Standen (Rollo). From what I have seen so far, all the actors involved with the show bring it when it comes to Vikings. Add to that the historically accurate scenes and behavior, and you have a hit with teeth. Especially when compared to some of the new broadcast network shows like Golden Boy. There’s a show with some seriously bad acting and even worse scripts.
As far as North American Viewers go, there are a lot of people out there who can trace their own genealogies back to that group of marauders thanks to their penchant for conquest and plunder. I am one of them and have always been curious about this group of people that may well have visited the North American Continent long before Columbus did. That is at least one reason that I watch the show and that stage may have been set by another fascinating new TV series called American Unearthed (which is also a History Channel series airing on H2 Fridays at 10pm).
America Unearthed premiered weeks before Vikings and follows forensic geologist Scott Wolter who appears to believe and is trying to prove that groups like the Vikings and the Knights Templar visited the shores of North American long before the voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1492. After watching the first episode I was hooked and enjoy watching Wolter visit various little know archaeological and historic sites that, apart from a handful I had heard of or studied about before, never even knew existed. I also like the fact that he takes viewers on an around the world hunt to interview experts and visit other sites that may be related to those found in the USA and Canada.
Series like Vikings are the future of scripted television series and with many so-called reality shows beginning to run out of steam, they may also be the answer to luring at least some people away from their PCs, Macs, tablets, smart phones and games. The formula is simple enough: Entertain us without being too annoying or preachy. Keep it real and do not get caught up in too many long-winded plots or endless unresolved situations that take many seasons to play out, instead of just a few episodes. If Vikings keeps on the way it is going, I will gladly allow those crazy folks to invade my TV each week and plunder what is left of my mind after trying to figure out who killed J.R. on Dallas or how much weight Chumlee will lose on Pawn Stars.
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