Netflix, which started out as a DVD delivery service and expanded to become the king of digital streaming, has now officially taken the next step and become a player in the original programming arena. The company has just released the trailer for its first original show, Lilyhammer, which follows Frank “The Fixer” Tagliano, a New York mobster, as he tries to make it work in a witness protection program in Norway after ratting out his boss. Obviously, a lot of amusing culture clashing ensues. We’ve known this was coming for a while now — the company has already announced plans for several highly-publicized original programs, including sealing the deal on a new season of Arrested Development and outbidding several other networks for David Fincher/Kevin Spacey project House of Cards , but this will be their first test run, and if it works, we’ll probably be seeing a lot more exclusive content on the site going forward. We’re not sure they’ve quite got it down yet (what’s with all that superhero-movie font against the gritty cinematography?) but we have relatively high hopes for Steven Van Zandt after his performance on The Sopranos, and Netflix designates the show as Dark, Quirky, and Understated, tags we usually go for. All eight episodes of the first season “Lilyhammer” will become available on Netflix on February 6, 2012. Will you be watching? Let us know in the comments!
[via Huffington Post]