I’m pretty excited about Nextflix’s first foray into original programming. Lilyhammer is a huge hit in Norway, racking up a 56 market share in its premiere.
If you haven’t seen it, it’s a classic fish-out-of-water show with a twist: Instead of watching the fish adapt to its new environment, we watch the environment adapt to the fish. What makes this show so much fun for me to watch is its conservative political subtext. Basically, the “fish” is a classic American man of independent thought and action–in the form of a wise guy. The alien environment is politically correct, welfare-nanny-state socialism on ice. Every episode drives the entering wedge of individual freedom a little deeper.
The best moment of the show so far (I’ve seen 5 episodes) is the one in which the wolf is almost literally at the door, and our American cousin is incredulous to learn from the local top cop that it’s illegal to shoot the predator. I don’t think it’s much of a spoiler to say that this epi will delight 2nd-Amendment aficionados.
If this is the future of tv–and I hope it is–things are looking up. It seems to be as big an improvement as I thought it would be to eliminate network executives from the decision-making loop. And thanks to streaming, any time is Lilyhammer time.
Chip's Perspective 