Lilyhammer

While everyone holds their breath (on top of the breath they’ve already been holding for five years now) to see if Netflix actually picks up that recently promised fourth season of Arrested Development, Qwikster’s more ephemeral partner has added another original show to its burgeoning programming lineup with the Norwegian drama Lilyhammer. The forthcoming show—which will join the upcoming David Fincher/Kevin Spacey drama House Of Cards as part of Netflix’s quest to abandon its original business model and just become an online network, basically—stars Steven Van Zandt as a Mafia informant who relocates to Norway as part of the Witness Protection Program. Not surprisingly, it’s basically Silvio Dante’s Sense Of Snow: The trailer is a promising mash-up of Scorsese-indebted Mafia fare (complete with “Gimme Shelter” on the soundtrack) and a fish-out-of-water comedy, with its random acts of violence interspersed with plenty of jokes involving sheep and hideous sweaters. For those who have been missing The Sopranos and don’t mind having their mob dramas cut with a bit of foreign quirk, it could be well worth checking out—especially if, you know, you already have Netflix anyway.