When guys sway they've never heard of El Rey Network, I often demand that they turn over their Man card right then.

TV Guy: El Rey network still strives for a male audience

What do men want? The El Rey Network launches two new series with that question in mind. Hosted by Danny Trejo, “Man at Arms: Art of War” (8 p.m.) celebrates weaponry real and imagined with an accent on craftsmanship.

In each of eight episodes, Trejo will oversee the creation of iconic weapons that have “starred” in movies, television shows, video games and comics.

Each is appraised for how well it represents its mythical counterpart and judged for real-world functionality.

Australian cameraman and reporter Tim Noonan hosts “Rite of Passage” (9 p.m.), a 12-episode globe-spanning look at cultures from Venezuela to West Africa to Siberia, and the extreme ceremonial rituals in each society that define the transition to manhood.

All of them include pain, endurance and large doses of danger. Many involve dangerous creatures, from bucking broncos to crocodiles and venomous snakes.

Networks have long been in search of male viewers, and you can’t get more masculine than the subject of these two series. Will men watch?

The El Rey Network was launched by director Robert Rodriguez in 2013 as an English-language channel targeting Latino viewers.

Much of its programming has reflected the over-the-top pulp-exploitation flavor of Rodriguez’s films (“From Dusk Till Dawn”).

The network has also announced its mission and market as an audience of “strivers,” men who identify as working and middle class and who value hard work, independence, family and a notion of “living by a code.”

Few networks have so tightly identified themselves and their particular niche. Whether El Rey sticks with its strivers or reaches them should be interesting to see.

Networks are more often defined by hit shows that few could have seen coming. The Spike Network was also aimed at a male audience, but it reaches most viewers with its “Lip Sync Battle,” a reality showcase that’s not exactly dripping with testosterone.

Spike is hardly the only network to stray from its first mission. How did A&E go from Arts and Entertainment to “Duck Dynasty”? Or AMC evolve from old movies to “The Walking Dead”?

It’s not always easy to stick to living by a code.