I don’t know how many of our readers watch the History Channel’s Vikings, an historical drama about… well, about Vikings. Viking political intrigue. Viking raids. A Viking shieldmaiden who’s better than everyone else (not that I’m biased). It’s now five episodes into its first season, and there’s still plenty of time for newbies to catch up before its just-announced second season (Kermit flail!) starts. If anyone has any “But why doesn’t the History Channel doesn’t do any history shows anymore?!?!?!” comments to make, please get them out of your system now. Said the History Channel’s Dirk Hoogstra following the show’s renewal: “Vikings is a win win for us. As our first scripted series, Vikings has paid off in a big way with critical acclaim, strong ratings and a passionate, loyal fan base.” I count myself among that loyal fanbase, and I couldn’t be more pleased that my favorite Sunday night … [Read more...] about The History Channel’s Vikings Is Getting a Second Season. If You’re Not Watching, Here’s Why You Should Start.

Yes, I had the opportunity to speak to the cast and creator of History’s Vikings at San Diego Comic-Con, and the first question I asked Travis Fimmel (aka Ragnar Lothbrok) was about baby goats. I DO WHAT I WANT! It all started in Season 2. Our eagle-eyed Vikings recapper Rebecca Pahle started noticing a theme. Ragnar found a way to cuddle an adorable baby goat in more than one scene. Adorable GIFs were had and the official Viking’s twitter account even got in on the fun! The #BabyGoat will be making an appearance tonight, and he’s planning to steal even more hearts. Keep a watchful eye, warriors. #Vikings — Vikings on HISTORY (@HistoryVikings) March 21, 2014 It was a whole thing. Or at least, that’s what we thought when we asked Fimmel about the sensation when we met him. The Mary Sue: Can we talk baby goats and how that completely blew up? How everyone loves that you are holding baby goats in the show? Travis Fimmel (TF): Oh, did they? TMS: Yeah. TF: … [Read more...] about Comic-Con Interviews: We Asked Vikings’ Travis Fimmel About The Baby Goat

As we continue to roll out our San Diego Comic-Con coverage, we finally come to one of my favorites. Speaking with the cast of History Channel’s Vikings already provided us with some amusing dialogue on baby goats, but we also got around to speaking about more serious issues, like women’s representation on television. Spoiler: We might have had little hearts in our eyes for part (or all) of this interview. To be fair, we knew if we asked Katheryn Winnick (Lagertha) about Vikings’ female characters, we’d get some great quotes, but creator Michael Hirst and actor Clive Standen (Rollo) happily surprised us. We asked Hirst if he had a specific approach toward his female characters and how they interact with each other, as they are quite different from others we normally see on television. “Yeah, I’m enormously proud of that! I did my PhD at Oxford in the short stories of Henry James, and Henry James enjoyed writing about female characters more than male … [Read more...] about Comic-Con Interviews: The Cast & Creator of History’s Vikings Discuss Their Strong Female Characters

When audiences last left Ragnar Lothbrok (Travis Fimmel) and his son Bjorn (Alexander Ludwig), the new king was staring out into the open waters, not quite content with his newly acquired land and position of power, nor his latest, deformed, child with second wife Aslaug (Alyssa Sutherland). During the third season of History's Vikings, it's only a matter of time before the Norseman and his followers set sail toward Wessex and the fertile lands that King Ecbert (Linus Roache) promised in exchange for their manpower, and questions of loyalty once again arise. The Hollywood Reporter sat down with creator Michael Hirst to discuss season three prophecies, incoming guest star Kevin Durand, crafting epic battle scenes and re-creating history. Read more 'Vikings' Costume Designer Dispels Norse MythsHow big of a role do the Seer and his prophecies play in season three? Prophecies and the Seer are an important part of Viking culture, and are mentioned in the sagas; Odin found out about the … [Read more...] about ‘Vikings’ Season 3 Spoilers Michael Hirst

[Warning: This story contains spoilers from Thursday's "Scarred" episode of History's Vikings.] History's Vikings said goodbye to one of its original cast members during Thursday's shocking episode. Jessalyn Gilsig has played Vikings' Siggy, a character who has morphed again and again over the course of its three-season run. Siggy has gone from being the wife of an earl to a servant; from grieving mother to seductive lover and political shaker; and from an ambitious social climber to the lone voice of reason in Kattegat with the warriors away. But her endless reinvention came to an end Thursday when Aslaug (Alyssa Sutherland) left her children behind to further explore the mysterious ways of The Wanderer (Kevin Durand). When Aslaug and Ragnar's (Travis Fimmel) children ran away and slipped through the cracking ice, Siggy dove in after them and lost her own life. After saving the boys, in a heartbreaking twist, Siggy saw her own deceased daughter and decided to give in to death's grip, … [Read more...] about ‘Vikings’: Siggy Dies Jessalyn Gilsig Exit Interview

Empty Phil Rosenthal spent the past decade mining his family life for material on "Everybody Loves Raymond" for the sake of his art and for the betterment of his bank account.Most of Rosenthal's personal foibles, quirks, biases and idiosyncrasies (and that of his writing staff) were laid bare in 200-odd episodes of his 1996-2005 CBS sitcom. He shared the too-weird-to-be-made-up Fruit of the Month Club story in the pilot, the yarn about the personalized gift toaster that got away (Season 3's "The Toaster"), his mother's Freudian eye for sculpture (Season 6's "Marie's Sculpture"), the trouble with tuna fish and a new can opener (Season 4's "The Can Opener"), the dark cloud that settles on a marriage at that time of the month (Season 4's "Bad Moon Rising") and on and on. But even though there wasn't much that Rosenthal and his tight-knit writing staff held back during "Raymond's" nine-season run, he still had a bit of wrestling match with himself when he sat down to write his memoir, … [Read more...] about Who’s laughing now? ‘Lucky’ Rosenthal kid

"I've found that using historical material is liberating because I always think to myself, 'Well, this actually happened, and this is fantastic,'" says the creator of History's hit drama. Michael Hirst has had a special interest in the history and culture of the Vikings since he was a young boy and his father brought him a small figurine of a Viking. But it's taken him decades to bring the story of the Norse people to television -- and for an American audience to be ready to watch it. The English screenwriter, who wrote Showtime's The Tudors along with films Elizabeth (1998) and Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007), finally got his wish when History picked up his show about Viking hero Ragnar Lothbrok (played by Travis Fimmel), a young warrior and farmer who rose to become the leader of his people. STORY: 'Vikings' Cast, Creator Reflect on Successful First Season The show was History’s first serialized drama, and the risk paid off for the cable network in a big way. It premiered in … [Read more...] about Emmys: ‘Vikings’ Michael Hirst Interview

As "Vikings" plunders Thursdays, the channel's executive vp and general manager reveals a plan to lure younger viewers and thrive in a "super-saturated" reality market: "It's never been more challenging to launch an unscripted hit." A version of this story first appeared in the May 9 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Dirk Hoogstra was among the architects of History's launch into scripted programming with the 2012 miniseries Hatfields & McCoys. Now the exec, who last June was promoted to the top job running the A+E-owned network and overseeing its 84 employees, is charging full bore into the genre. Oscar winner Adrien Brody headlines Houdini, set to bow this fall, and there are multiple projects in the pipeline, including the eight-hour Revolutionary War miniseries Sons of Liberty; the World War II limited series The Liberator; and Texas Rising, about the rise of the Texas Rangers lawmen. The latter, a co-production of A+E Studios and ITV and executive produced by … [Read more...] about History’s Dirk Hoogstra on the Network’s Scripted Push, Jay Leno and the Lack of Creativity in Unscripted

A study from Irdeto found that episodes of the HBO drama were downloaded more than 7 million times during a three-month period this year. Game of Thrones piracy has spiked ahead of the HBO drama's April 12 fifth-season premiere. During a three-month period this year, episodes of Game of Thrones were illegally downloaded more than 7 million times, according to rights management and piracy protection firm Irdeto. That's a 45 percent jump from the 4.9 million illegal downloads that Irdeto reported for the same period in 2014. Those numbers make Game of Thrones the most pirated show from Feb. 5 to April 6 this year, ahead of The Walking Dead (5.7 million downloads), Breaking Bad (3.8 million), Vikings (3.4 million) and House of Cards (2.7 million), according to Irdeto's research. The drama series, adapted from George R.R. Martin's popular series of novels, has worn the piracy crown for the last few years. It was the show with the most illegal downloads for its third consecutive year in … [Read more...] about ‘Game of Thrones’ Piracy Soars Ahead of Season 5 Premiere

THR was on the scene to chat with stars Adrian Grenier, Kevin Connolly, Kevin Dillon and Jerry Ferrara about reuniting for the film. Sitting in the driveway of an oceanfront home in Palos Verdes is a Cadillac Ciel convertible, its shiny black exterior glittering in the sun and smoke slowly rising out of its two rear exhaust pipes. The concept car is truly one of a kind, an idea of Cadillac's launched in 2011, but scrapped after its glitzy debut. So perhaps it's the perfect car for the men of Entourage, who also thought their journey had ended in 2011 when the popular HBO show wrapped. It's a warm, sunny day in March 2014, and the stars of Entourage — Adrian Grenier, Kevin Connolly, Kevin Dillon and Jerry Ferrara — are shooting a scene at a breathtaking cliff-side mansion for the new feature film that will revisit their characters' glamorous Hollywood lives. The Hollywood Reporter was on set to watch as the actors — and writer-director Doug Ellin — dove back into … [Read more...] about ‘Entourage’ Movie Set Visit: ‘Viking Quest,’ Piers Morgan and 8 Other Revelations

"More is not better. Only better is better," says HBO's Richard Plepler as he joins Netflix's Ted Sarandos, A+E's Nancy Dubuc, AMC's Josh Sapan and NBCUniversal's Bonnie Hammer for a discussion to debate the industry's 'Game of Thrones'-style fight for viewers, dwindling ratings, monetization, innovation — and the bragging rights of being the first to figure it all out. When Netflix's chief content officer Ted Sarandos and HBO CEO Richard Plepler jovially greeted each other at Highline Stages in New York's Meatpacking District in late July, gone was the tinge of animosity that once crept into the rivalry between their two companies. After all, "Peak TV," as the current boom of 400-plus scripted series has come to be called, has been a boon to both. Netflix brought HBO's model of a premium content outlet (and dozens of Emmy nominations each year) to the web, and HBO promptly mimicked Netflix by launching its own digital streaming service, HBO Now. In fact, Sarandos, 52, rejects … [Read more...] about TV Titans Roundtable: 5 Chiefs Spar Over the Future (and Netflix’s Role as Arch-Frenemy)

NBC will win the Sunday night ratings race with the blowout Chicago Bears 39-10 victory over the Minnesota Vikings (which averaged an 11.2 household rating in time-zone adjusted metered market ratings). PHOTOS: Hollywood's Biggest Fantasy Football Fans But Fox averaged a 4.4 rating in the 18-49 demographic from 7-10 p.m. with NFL post game The OT (6.7 rating, 17.5 million viewers) and a last-minute make-up installment of The X Factor, which was pre-empted last week because of the MLB playoffs. X Factor averaged a 3.3 rating with 8.6 million viewers. PHOTOS: 10 Broadcast and Cable TV Show Most Watched By Men CBS slid into third for the night averaging a 2.2 demo rating with 10.2 million viewers with its regular Sunday lineup not impacted by its afternoon football game. 60 Minutes (1.9, 11 million) scored its season low. The Amazing Race (2.5, 9.3 million) was down 11 percent. The Good Wife was flat with a 2.1 rating (10 million), and CSI Miami rated 2.6 (10.5 million) and was up 9 … [Read more...] about TV Ratings: NBC Wins Sunday With Bears-Vikings Game

RANK SHOW PREVIOUS TREND COMMENT 1 Orphan Black NA ↔ What the what? Yep, this is what happens when you judge from week to week, as I said in the fine print above. Here's a show that had a mesmerizing pilot with lots of twists and intrigue, fine acting and writing all around. Although it jumps into some fierce competition, the timing was actually very fortuitous since last week's No. 1 had an off week and the Odds-on Favorite spent a lot of time setting things up. Sometimes it pays to be nimble. Get this BBC America series on your DVR immediately. All hail the shocking new No. 1! Maybe she can clone herself next week for another win! 2 Game of Thrones NA ↔ Let's make something very, very clear: This show is brilliant. It's a personal favorite. I've seen the first four episodes and reviewed it very positively. But there's no getting around the fact that as we enter Season 3, we've got quite the bulky story on our hands, and it takes some effort … [Read more...] about Tim Goodman’s Power Rankings Massacre

RANK SHOW PREVIOUS TREND COMMENT 1 Southland 7 ↑ Well there's a hell of a jump, yes? And that's because not only was that one hell of an episode (and followed, arguably, a previous episode that should have been ranked higher) from The Last Great Cop Show. I swear, if this things goes off the air, Shawn Ryan better do some kind of Shield spin-off and quick. Who else out there is ready to launch a first class cop show? People, we need fewer detectives and more uniforms. We need boots on the ground. Stories from tough cities. In Southland, we got procedural mistakes made in the defense of an unlikable partner, bad decisions made from another partner that went sideways, and enough intrigue, tension and craziness to fill two hours at least. Standout performances all around. One of the best hours of TV all season. 2 Game of Thrones 2 ↔ You've got to hand it to this show (OK, you saw that coming like a neon truck down a freeway at 2 a.m.), it just … [Read more...] about ‘Southland’ Tops the Power Rankings

RANK SHOW PREVIOUS TREND COMMENT 1 Game of Thrones 1 ↔ Game of Thrones is on the throne and doesn't look at all willing to relinquish it. After carrying all of that massive story in the first two or so episodes, this is now a runaway train of great story lines. Apparently the god of light works in intriguing ways. We have all kinds of Lannister issues to work through and the scene of Jamie telling the real and full story of the Kingslayer was a fantastic performance and a riveting scene. If you're going to challenge this show, you'll have to catch it on a week where it slips. Because if the episodes play like this, Game of Thrones is not moving down anytime soon. 2 Rectify N/A ↔ What an intense and moving and wonderfully languid series. Ray McKinnon has created a show about a man coming off Death Row after 19 years and his re-entry into small town society is like emerging into a strange dream world. Aden Young and Abigail Spencer are excellent … [Read more...] about ‘Game of Thrones,’ ‘Rectify’ Top Power Rankings

[Warning: This story contains spoilers from The Originals' season three premiere.] The Originals' Lucien (Andrew Lees) just came to town but is already causing trouble. During Thursday's season three premiere, mutilated bodies were found in New Orleans, leading Detective Will Kinney (Jason Dohring) to start an investigation. But by the end of the hour, viewers watched Lucien mutilate himself in a similar way. While Will doesn't know what's going on, "Lucien is an interesting character," Dohring tells The Hollywood Reporter. "And when you play against a character like that, you don't know what you're getting, too, because he could be setting you up. You're investigating this and he's putting you over here [on an entirely different track]. And then you go over here, and it's not what you thought. So there's an interesting [game they're playing]." But Lucien's games weren't the only thing that went down in the hour. Here, The Originals creator Julie Plec talks with THR about some of the … [Read more...] about ‘Originals’ season 3 spoilers Julie Plec Jason Dohring