# Vikings on History Channel \[OPEN SPOILERS\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 3, 2013, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vikings-on-history-channel-open-spoilers/651921 "2013-03-03T16:04:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cyros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Cyros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyros)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vikings-on-history-channel-open-spoilers/651921/1 "2013-03-03T16:04:41Z")
A new show premiers to night on the History Channel called [Vikings.](http://www.history.com/shows/vikings) I am beginning to doubt that vikings even existed. The commercials look awful but I think I may give it a go anyway. Is anyone else going to subject themselves to this torture? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vikings-on-history-channel-open-spoilers/651921/2 "2013-03-03T17:01:16Z")
I’ll probably skip it. The website: [Watch Vikings Full Episodes, Video & More | HISTORY Channel](http://www.history.com/shows/vikings) The Chicago Daily Herald likes it, FWIW: [http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20130303/entlife/703039975/](http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20130303/entlife/703039975/) ---
**Author:** ![BrassyPhrase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea666f/32.png) [@BrassyPhrase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrassyPhrase)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vikings-on-history-channel-open-spoilers/651921/3 "2013-03-03T18:03:17Z")
Yep! I plan on watching it and I like the commercials! It’s in my DVR recording queue. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vikings-on-history-channel-open-spoilers/651921/4 "2013-03-03T18:35:42Z")
It has to fill the big shoes left by [The Vikings](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052365/). Hard to beat the performances of Vikings played by Bernie Schwartz and Izzie Danielovitch. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vikings-on-history-channel-open-spoilers/651921/5 "2013-03-03T18:59:36Z")
I’m down for it, but then I have the DVD collection of The Barbarians series. Lurves me some actual history about the Dark Ages rather than medieval fantasy shit. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vikings-on-history-channel-open-spoilers/651921/6 "2013-03-04T01:13:38Z")
I’ll DVR it (I DVR anything with commercials, and plenty of stuff without), but I’m not setting up a Series Record until I see the first episode. They better not have an Ancient Aliens in it! ---
**Author:** ![Cyros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Cyros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyros)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vikings-on-history-channel-open-spoilers/651921/7 "2013-03-04T03:10:06Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I’ll DVR it (I DVR anything with commercials, and plenty of stuff without), but I’m not setting up a Series Record until I see the first episode. They better not have an Ancient Aliens in it! I hear there may be some hand fishing in them there fjords! ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vikings-on-history-channel-open-spoilers/651921/8 "2013-03-04T03:34:44Z")
It’s fiction. Sigh. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vikings-on-history-channel-open-spoilers/651921/9 "2013-03-04T04:32:23Z")
Better than I expected, but still not very good. I’ll watch one more episode, but if it doesn’t get much better, I’ll probably drop it. ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vikings-on-history-channel-open-spoilers/651921/10 "2013-03-04T05:43:40Z")
I’m descended from Vikings, so it’s on my radar. And in my DVR right now. I’ll watch this week. ---
**Author:** ![BrassyPhrase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea666f/32.png) [@BrassyPhrase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrassyPhrase)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vikings-on-history-channel-open-spoilers/651921/11 "2013-03-04T17:22:11Z")
Anyone have any comments on the premiere? It wasn’t as good as I wanted it to be, but I’ll watch a few eps. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vikings-on-history-channel-open-spoilers/651921/12 "2013-03-04T17:27:05Z")
I’m unimpressed so far with the story so far. Like all period pieces the people are dressed too well. And Viking Long Boats didn’t go out with a handful of crew and two oars, or depend on sail power. So this will be another soap opera, and it isn’t pulling me in right now. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vikings-on-history-channel-open-spoilers/651921/13 "2013-03-04T17:29:35Z")
An overwhelming amount of brown clothing without colourful dyes, and a lot of leather vests, no hauberks or spectacle helms, and ridiculous amounts of dirt all around - so that’s a total pass on the “real” then! Nice baggy pants on the guy who got the spear in the back, though. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vikings-on-history-channel-open-spoilers/651921/14 "2013-03-04T17:29:43Z")
> [@BrassyPhrase](#): > > Anyone have any comments on the premiere? > > It wasn’t as good as I wanted it to be, but I’ll watch a few eps. I’m the opposite: It wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be. I was expecting those awful re-enactments that you get when watching The Vikings or The Barbarians only strung together to make a coherentish movie. Instead it’s a real movie! I’m wondering exactly how authentic everything is. The you-are-now-a-man ceremony, the trial by tent, the one guy building a ship in half a year. . . > [@](#): > > And Viking Long Boats didn’t go out with a handful of crew and two oars, or depend on sail power. . . That was just a test drive. They haven’t taken the boat out for reals yet. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vikings-on-history-channel-open-spoilers/651921/15 "2013-03-04T17:46:31Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > It’s fiction. Sigh. It’s History Channel (Ancient Aliens, MonsterQuest, UFO Hunters). It was about what I expected. I was hoping that it would be set a little bit later (Erik, Leif, Iceland, Greenland, Vinland, etc.) and based more closely on the sagas. Even Farley Mowat’s (controversial) [Westviking](http://www.amazon.com/Westviking-Mowat-Farley/dp/0771066929) would have been entertaining source material. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vikings-on-history-channel-open-spoilers/651921/16 "2013-03-04T18:05:45Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > I’m wondering exactly how authentic everything is. The you-are-now-a-man ceremony, the trial by tent, the one guy building a ship in half a year. . . > > That was just a test drive. They haven’t taken the boat out for reals yet. There’s just everything wrong with that ship. And it certainly couldn’t have been built by one guy at all. If I hadn’t read up on Viking ship buildng recently it wouldn’t bother me that much, and if the story was compelling, not at all. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vikings-on-history-channel-open-spoilers/651921/17 "2013-03-04T19:25:39Z")
I watched because the reviews were more positive than not, and it was better-than-ok. Not quite “good,” but not bad either. If it stays at about that level, I’ll watch the season. ---
**Author:** ![Cyros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Cyros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyros)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2013, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vikings-on-history-channel-open-spoilers/651921/18 "2013-03-05T01:46:36Z")
Well, it was not as good a as I had hoped but much better than I expected. I think this is something I will keep PVRing for at least the next 3 or 4 episodes. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2013, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vikings-on-history-channel-open-spoilers/651921/19 "2013-03-05T02:24:36Z")
Did anybody watch any of the new Bible series? Even to an infidel like myself, the Bible has some great stories, whether from deeper meaning or just-good-stories depending on what chapter of what book. However, Mark “SURVIVOR” Burnett and History Channel have proven that it is not at all impossible to completely strip them of anything remotely interesting or compelling. So I’m not planning to watch VIKINGS. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2013, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vikings-on-history-channel-open-spoilers/651921/20 "2013-03-05T07:18:14Z")
I liked it well enough and will continue to watch. I think his rogue voyages to the west will take us to some tales about finding those new lands (Greenland, etc.) BTW there’s an excellent book titled Greenland—don’t have it right here but I think it’s written by a woman—that seems historically accurate with a gripping over-all story. Can’t find it on Amazon. Tomorrow I’ll post title and author. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vikings-on-history-channel-open-spoilers/651921.md?page=2)