‘Vikings’ season 4 official; History officially renews drama

We cannot exact say that we’re stunned to report here that “Vikings” will be coming back for another season. This was History’s first major foray into series television, and it has since that time established a pretty loyal audience, while also giving you one of the most realistic accounts of viking culture that most Americans have seen. Despite being a part of the world for centuries, there really have not been that many English-language presentations of them on television, at least in comparison to some other cultures.

History made the announcement today in a press release (via SpoilerTV), with Roma Khanna, President, Television Group and Digital at MGM saying the following:

“VIKINGS is a tremendous success worldwide thanks to the visionary talents of Michael Hirst, the entire creative team and our partners at HISTORY … We look forward to entertaining audiences worldwide with the next epic season.”

How long can a series like this last? This is a discussion that we just had with the news that “Downton Abbey” is ending next season, mostly since the longer this sort of series goes, the harder and harder it is to make the stakes consistently authentic. Luckily, “Vikings” is still reasonably early in its run, and so long as Hirst and the cast and crew want to keep making these, there is no reason to think we would not have another two or three seasons in the end. Five or six seems to be the sweet spot for this sort of cable drama.

So long as this show manages to produce the sort of shocker that we saw a few weeks ago (you know what we’re talking about if you are a consistent viewer), we will be satisfied.

What’s your reaction to the renewal news? Share right now with a comment, and head over here to get some other TV updates on everything we cover via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: History.)