The story
After testifying against the boss who ordered a hit on him, New York mobster Frank Tagliano enters witness protection and asks to be relocated to Lillehammer, reasoning that nobody will think to look for him in a small Norwegian town. Reinvented as Johnny Henriksen, he finds snowbound local life full of red tape, rivals and favours waiting to be traded – and discovers that a fixer's instincts are hard to switch off.
Why it matters
Billed as "the first time Netflix offered exclusive content", Lilyhammer is a key early chapter in the streamer's move into original programming. Its route to the screen – commissioned by Norway's public broadcaster in association with Netflix, and shown on NRK1 first – shows how blurred the line between broadcast and streaming originals was at the start.
Born online
Commissioned by Norway's NRK1 from Rubicon TV in association with Netflix, it premiered on NRK1 on 25 January 2012 and began streaming on Netflix in the US and Canada on 6 February 2012, with all eight first-season episodes available at once. Netflix promoted it as "the first time Netflix offered exclusive content".
Notable facts
- The first season's NRK1 premiere drew a record audience of 998,000 viewers, about a fifth of Norway's population. (source)
- Steven Van Zandt was executive producer, writer, star and composer, and made his directing debut with the season three finale. (source)
- The third season premiered on NRK1 and Netflix on the same day, 21 November 2014. (source)
- Netflix later extended its streaming arrangement for the series through November 2029. (source)