It was a big night for The History Channel last Sunday night with the premiere of "The Bible". The 10-hour, 5 part, live-action mini series produced by "Survivor" and "Celebrity Apprentice" executive producer Mark Burnett along with his wife Roma Downey ("Touched by an Angel") came in with a huge rating of 13.1 with its premiere episode. The History Channel expected big ratings with the 'The Bible' mini series as they scheduled it to be the lead for their original series "Vikings" which premiered the week before.

The plan did not go as well as expected though with 'Vikings' dipping to a 8.2 rating. The 'Vikings' series, created and written by Michael Hirst (Elizabeth, The Tudors) is set in 8th Century Scandinavia. The main character is Ragnar, played by Travis Fimmel, who is a warrior and farmer longing to explore and raid the unknown lands of the west. Ragnar enlists the help of his buddy and boat builder Floki (Gustaf Skarsgard) to construct a ship worthy of rivaling the northern seas. 

The leadership of the community has plans to raid east which is already a growing tension in from the first episode. There is heavy interplay between Ragnar's wife, Lagertha (Katheryn Winnick) and son early which shows a more heart felt side to the series and shows the tender side of the rough and rugged warrior.  

'The Bible' series definitely seems to connect with a broader audience. Biblical films/series always seem to raise interest from people no matter where they stand on Christianity. Many watch the show wanting to see it be great and inspiring, while some watch in hopes it is a poorly acted and poorly directed flop so they can criticize everything about it. Thankfully after the premiere episode, it seems they have a great cast of actors and special effects team to really give us a picture of the stories of the Bible like never before.