Televisualist: Where Vikings are Made Men

By Christopher Bird

Each week, Torontoist examines the upcoming TV listings and makes note of programs that are entertaining, informative, and of quality. Or, alternately, none of those. The result: Televisualist.

A surprising majority of the original BARNEY MILLER cast are, in fact, still alive as of this writing. Isn’t that nice?

Inexplicably returning for a second season: Forged In Fire, the show that is Top Chef but for bladesmiths. Because every even vaguely creative activity now has a Top Chef of its own. (History, 10 p.m.)

Survivor brings back the “brains/brawn/beauty” three-tribe split that made for a successful season a couple of years ago; this season also promises a “super idol,” although who knows how that will work. The initial cast interviews seem promising, but you never really know how good any given season of Survivor is until three or four episodes in when the cast has gotten a chance to really play. (Global, 8 p.m.)

Swamp People returns for a seventh season of… look, it’s people who live and work in a swamp, we don’t know how they keep renewing it. (History, 9 p.m.)

Gigi Does It is an exercise in awfulness: David Krumholtz, in drag and old-person makeup, plays an elderly widow who has become a multimillionaire. There are a lot of crude jokes. Sadly, they are mostly boring and dull. It’s already been cancelled in the USA, but because “cancelled American show” means “cheap content,” Canadian networks are all over this sort of thing. (Comedy Network, 10:30 p.m.)

Vikings is back for a fourth season of what it has become, which is more or less The Sopranos but with Viking warriors instead of Mob guys. Which is kind of great. (History, 10 p.m.)

The 1976 version of King Kong is notable mostly because they made Kong quite a bit larger so that he could climb the World Trade Center towers instead of the Empire State Building. Oh, and because of the World Trade Center thing they barely ever show this any more, but it stars a very young Jeff Bridges and Jessica Lange and it’s honestly not half bad. (AMC, 9 p.m.)

Our quick take on Vinyl after the pilot: it has good characters and good performances and decent dialogue, but none of it makes you care about the plot, so who cares. (HBO Canada, Sunday 9 p.m.)

With the recent passing of Abe Vigoda, it is worth reminding you that the entirety of Barney Miller can be watched online for free; in an era where cop shows—even fun comedies like Brooklyn Nine-Nine—frequently depict police work as exciting, Barney Miller remains steadfast in depicting police work as frequently being humdrum, like every other job around. The writing also largely holds up. (Crackle)