486 replies to this topic

[ElymianDucat]

It says something about the state of the History Channel that I was so surprised when I found out that their first first scripted show is actually going to be about history. 

New York, June 28, 2012 – HISTORY announced today additional casting for its new scripted series, VIKINGS, including Travis Fimmel (The Beast, Baytown Outlaws) as Ragnar, the first great Viking leader, a man of both history and myth; Jessalyn Gilsig (Glee, Heroes, CSI: NY, Nip/Tuck, Friday Night Lights,Somewhere Slow) as Siggy, Earl Haraldson’s beautiful wife; Gustaf Skarsgard (The Way Back) as Floki, a close friend of Ragnar’s who is an eccentric jokester yet an inventive, creative boat-builder; Clive Standen (Camelot, Robin Hood) as Rollo, Ragnar’s excessive, cruel cousin; and Katheryn Winnick (Stand Up Guys, A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III, Bones,Love and Other Drugs) as Lagertha, Ragnar’s first wife and famous shield maiden who often fights alongside him.

Johan Renck (Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead) and Ken Girotti (Rescue Me, Law & Order: Criminal Intent) are set to direct multiple episodes of the series. The announcement was made by Nancy Dubuc, President and General Manager, HISTORY and Lifetime Networks.

They join previously announced Golden Globe® Award winner and Emmy® Award nominated actor Gabriel Byrne (In Treatment, Usual Suspects, Millers Crossing) who will star as Earl Haraldson, the most important local ruler in Ragnar’s district, and George Blagden (Les Miserables, Wrath of the Titans) who will play Athelstan, an Anglo-Saxon monk captured by Ragnar on his first raid on England.

VIKINGS will be a series high on adventure, exploration, conflict, warfare and bloodshed – for these were extreme times – but, at its heart, it will also be a family saga. It follows the adventures of Ragnar Lothbrok, a historical figure, and the greatest hero of his age – and the gripping sagas of Ragnar’s band of Viking brothers and his family – as he rises to become King of the Viking tribes.

... snip. The rest of the press release can be read here.

I'm very curious about how they're going to keep the main character sympathetic when their great adventures involve pillaging, raping and slaving. 

In any case, I have a soft spot a kilometer wide for Katheryn Winnick, specially when she's beating people up. So I'll stick with the show at least for as long as she's in it (the fact that they keep referring to her character as the protagonist's first wife doesn't bode well for her chances of making it to the 1st season finale). Let's see if they manage to hook me in before then.   

Edited by ElymianDucat, Jul 2, 2012 @ 11:38 AM.

[bulldawgtownie]

Just because it's set in the past and is based on a historical figure doesn't mean the show will be actually historical. I'm sure the series will take its fair share of liberties for the sake of artistic/creative direction much as The Borgais has or The Hatfields and McCoys or really most other historical fictions that have aired on tv. That said, I'll be watching.

Edited by bulldawgtownie, Jul 2, 2012 @ 2:12 PM.

[ElymianDucat]

Of course, but the same can be said of just about any piece of historical fiction, be it literary, TV or cinema. The time period they've chosen probably gives them even more leeway to deviate from history, since it is a time period most people are not familiar with are for which there are not all that many solid historical sources.

As long as they keep it internaly consistent and don't bring in any supernatural elements, I'll be OK with it.

[blackwing]

When is this show supposed to air? It didn't say in the press release. Is it this fall, or later?

[bulldawgtownie]

The only scheduling information I could find online is that it's scheduled to air sometime in 2013.

[ElymianDucat]

Here we have the first trailer.

According to this it will premier on March 3rd at 10pm.

Edited by ElymianDucat, Dec 19, 2012 @ 3:49 PM.

[bulldawgtownie]

Ah, thanks for that info. I'm looking forward to watching this. I think it has the potential to be a poor man's Game of Thrones, which would make it a pretty good show. I'm not sure about the rest of the cast but Gabriel Byrne hasn't let me down(at least not when he sticks to drama).

[Featherhat]

The opening theme has been released on youtube. It's a different vibe than I was expecting but I think it looks cool.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1Cg_5UVL3fs

Ah, thanks for that info. I'm looking forward to watching this. I think it has the potential to be a poor man's Game of Thrones, which would make it a pretty good show. I'm not sure about the rest of the cast but Gabriel Byrne hasn't let me down(at least not when he sticks to drama).

I like most of the cast and I'm looking forward to this. I think they probably are going for a Game of Thrones/Spartacus etc mash up. Lots of violence and raping and pillaging hasn't stopped those shows from being hits, quite the opposite. History seems to be on a roll with scripted programming at the moment but I hope they put on some "facts behind the show" documentaries on as well.

[zombygirl]

Ok, the preview made me thing more of Game of Thrones than anything else. the opening too, a little, but I ame deeply interested in this.

[cyberducks]

The opening sequence and trailers make this look promising - classier than I thought.

I hope they avoid the usual Viking stereotypes.

[Jeebus Cripes]

My ladyboner is rather large each time I see a promo.

[Lathund]

The Skarsgård family sure like their vikings. Alexander is a viking on True Blood, Gustaf playing a viking here and then there's Stellan as Hrothgar in Beowulf & Grendel.

Or perhaps it's due to the lack of other Swedish stereotypes to cast Swedish actors as?

[cyberducks]

I found this First Look trailer.

One thing I found interesting to learn about the Vikings that Viking women seem to have been treated a lot more like equals to Viking men than was the norm in the "civilized" places the Vikings raided. Though I am assuming that equality and power did not extend to the foreign women they encountered on their raids.

New York Times review

n any case, I have a soft spot a kilometer wide for Katheryn Winnick, specially when she's beating people up. So I'll stick with the show at least for as long as she's in it (the fact that they keep referring to her character as the protagonist's first wife doesn't bode well for her chances of making it to the 1st season finale). Let's see if they manage to hook me in before then.

I wouldn't worry too much about the longevity of the actress and her character on the show, at least I didn't once I read this article:


Quite a woman

Edited by cyberducks, Feb 28, 2013 @ 5:23 PM.

[cyberducks]

I am bumping this thread because this show starts soon - on Sunday. Sepinwall likes the show.

The reviews I have read have been for the most part pretty decent and I am looking forward to watching.

[greyhorse]

This show finally starts tomorrow night. Anybody else incredibly annoyed that it runs from 7:00 pm to 8:01 pm? Why? Is that minute really all that important? Or does the network purposefully do it to mess up my DVR and make me choose what to record since I have other shows starting at 8 pm? I realize I could go to the menu and set the 8 pm shows to start 1 minute later, but it's just too much of a pain. I'll wait until it shows again at 11 pm and record it then.

Seems like the History channel is really pushing this one hard. The same episode is basically playing every single night this coming week.

[bulldawgtownie]

Anybody else incredibly annoyed that it runs from 7:00 pm to 8:01 pm? Why? Is that minute really all that important? Or does the network purposefully do it to mess up my DVR and make me choose what to record since I have other shows starting at 8 pm?

A number of cable shows have "episodes" that end at odd times. From my experience you can ignore the final few minutes or so they say an episode will finish because the episode itself will end before then, the rest of the time is just filled with commercials and previews of next week's episode or, in the case of a season opener, previews of what will happen the upcoming season.

[redshirtx]

After watching the first episode I'm at least willing to give it another couple for Gabriel Byrne and the possibility of Kathryn Winnick kicking more ass, but Travis Fimmel...this wall of smug he seems to generate is turning me off here the same way he did on The Beast (no idea if it's a conscious acting choice, but it just irritates me like crazy).

[DashDixon]

TRAVIS! I've missed him, I even enjoyed him as Tarzan. It did take me a bit to recognize him and Byrne. Not bad, not riveting, but not bad. This and The Bible? What is up at The History Channel, I thought they showed reality shows.

[benteen]

Gabriel Bryne...that's who that was. Still playing the old history roles like in Excalibur. Cool.

The show wasn't bad. I'll keep watching. I liked the Floki character. That kid Bjorn is annoying as hell. Just do what you're told and shut up.

Edited by benteen, Mar 5, 2013 @ 11:25 PM.

[corvus13]

Bjorn was Ragnar's son and his biggest nemesis. Ragnar never trusted the kid and actually put governors to rule Sweden while he was gone raiding to make sure that Bjorn never took power. The kid isn't going to do what he's told and shut up. :)

Edited by corvus13, Mar 4, 2013 @ 2:07 AM.

[thuganomics85]

I thought it was a decent start. Not perfect, but it went by pretty fast. I totally remember the lead from that horribly bad Tarzan show years ago, so it took me a while to warm up to him, but he was alright. Not famailar with the female lead, but it looks like she'll be kicking ass in future episodes, so I'm looking forward to that. Gabriel Byrne was easily the stand-out, and it was cool seeing Jessalyn Gilsig (who I remember from guest roles on Friday Night Lights and Heroes) as his wife.

The scenery was gorgeous. Can't go wrong with Ireland.

Opening credits was interesting. The song was Fever Ray's "If I Had A Heart", which I remember from this awesome scene from Breaking Bad.

[benteen]

Bjorn was Ragnar's son and his biggest nemesis. Ragnar never trusted the kid and actually put governors to rule Sweden while he was gone raiding to make sure that Bjorn never took power. The kid isn't going to do what he's told and shut up. :)

Ah, just started to learn the history behind it. Kid's still annoying though. ;)

[ElymianDucat]

I like the show, although I hope they will use Lagertha more in future episodes. And that they don't devote too much time to her brother in law trying to get into her pants.

but Travis Fimmel...this wall of smug he seems to generate is turning me off here the same way he did on The Beast (no idea if it's a conscious acting choice, but it just irritates me like crazy).

I never saw The Beast so I don't know if the smugness is intentional or not, but I do think that it works great for this show.

In a way it makes the characters less black and white. Yes, the Earl is a dick, but you can understand perfectly his dislike for Ragnar. Any lord would be tempted to try and wipe that smug grin off Ragnar's face.

By the way, I have a question for those of you familiar with Viking culture. Is there any significance to the fact that the seer Ragnar and his son went to consult was a man? That surprised me because I've become used to that type of character always being an old crone in fiction. When Ragnar said they were going to talk to the gods I fully expected it to be a woman inside the tent.

And speaking of gods, I appreciate the fact that they're leaving the signs Ragnar is seeing vague enough that they could be real or just hallucinations. I wonder if the Saxon monk from the promo is going to have similar visions.

Edited by ElymianDucat, Mar 4, 2013 @ 9:37 AM.

[cyberducks]

I thought it was a decent start. I wasn't wowed exactly but the title credits are great and I really like Ragnar's Wife and the previews look very intriguing.

Ragnar himself is not that likeable, is he? A bit of an arrogant prick, you totally believe that he is ambitious enough to go get whatever he wants. And the actor has a fantastic crazy thousand yard stare that works well for this role.

The scenery is gorgeous.

[MarenAte]

Watched last night. Gabriel Byrne was amazing as always.

The guy playing Ragnar seems okay. The character is supposed to be brash and have a lot of swagger. That really worked for me.

Lagertha seems pretty interesting so far, but I would have liked to see back when he woo-ed her and then won her hand after killing a bear and a dog she had set upon him. Maybe we can get a flashback. I hope they don't rewrite history there.

The Bjorn kid, wasn't he was Lagertha's before she married Ragnor? I got that impression and my brief recall of the Ragnall/Ragnar story was that he was always going for more because he thought her two sons, Bjorn and Ivar (?), would challenge him for power.

[OakGoblinfly]

This show finally starts tomorrow night. Anybody else incredibly annoyed that it runs from 7:00 pm to 8:01 pm? Why? Is that minute really all that important? Or does the network purposefully do it to mess up my DVR and make me choose what to record since I have other shows starting at 8 pm? I realize I could go to the menu and set the 8 pm shows to start 1 minute later, but it's just too much of a pain. I'll wait until it shows again at 11 pm and record it then.

Must be a local cable thing because in the Metro-DC (Comcast Digital) area Vikings airs at 10:00PM on H2 (History2) not the History Channel (prime) as it seems to be in other locations.

The odd start and end times don't bother me much as it seems every network likes to end/start shows at slightly different times. If the DVR doesn't catch it, or if there is a conflict, I can adjust the start/end time manually. When there's a conflict, I usually will delay the start of the show and extended the time to ensure I have captured the ending.

This looks interesting; I am hearing mixed reviews.

[bulldawgtownie]

To be honest I was a bit underwhelmed but then again I did have high expectations. Probably too high for a pilot. Overall I thought it was okay although there were a couple of cliche's I'd wish they would have avoided. And I'm looking forward to the inevitable scene of Ragnor's wife fighting alongside him in battle.

[ElymianDucat]

As if the show needed any more comparisons to Game of Thrones, Larry Williams has reviewed the pilot.

Edited by ElymianDucat, Mar 4, 2013 @ 3:37 PM.

[Phane00]

At first, I had thought that it might be a retelling of some viking tale, much like what they did with Hatfields and McCoys last year.
Nope, this fictional action series joins the ranks of Spartacus, Deadwood, and Rome, although it plays more like Deadwood without the great acting or Swedgin.

The lead, Travis Fimmel, looks so much like Andy Whitfield it's scary. Gabriel Byrne is here to play the Viking version of Swedgin. He's not having fun yet, but the previews hint that he will later. Not much from the other characters yet, though Floki is interesting.

A bit dry on the pilot, but Sparty started off in a similar fashion before it found its groove.

[bulldawgtownie]

Obviously everyone's mileage varies but I, personally prefer a fictional tale. It give TPTB more leeway from an artistic standpoint and I don't have to worry about being spoiled by posters.

Edited by bulldawgtownie, Mar 4, 2013 @ 4:24 PM.