After solely relying on the business model of shipping physical DVDs out to customers for over ten years, Netflix decided to step into a more digital way of doing things in January 2007 by offering to stream much of its content to customers. This option was so largely well received by subscribers of the platform that in just two years, the total number of Netflix streams overtook DVD shipments. By November 2010, the company definitively separated the physical DVD rentals and streaming-only portions of its business into two separate entities.

With that business move traversing them right onto the fast track to success and propelling them into contracts with various major film and television companies, it was only a matter of time before Netflix mustered up enough financial resources to birth its own original content. That day came on February 6th, 2012, with the arrival of the comedy-drama crime show, Lilyhammer.

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The Legend of Lilyhammer

     Netflix

After deciding to testify against the supposed new head of the casa nostra in court, Sopranos alumni Steven Van Zandt plays a mafia underling named Frank Tagliano, who is promptly placed in the Witness Protection program. Frank decides that the ideal location to start a new life is in Lillehammer, a municipality in the faraway country of Norway. Romantically connecting with a woman by the name of Sigrid Haugli as well as becoming friends with a social worker while on the train journey there, Frank seems to be already fitting into the small and private ski resort town quite nicely.

It isn’t long, though, until he needs to resort to his gangster-like ways to protect his new home and the people around him, especially when his old friends back in New York City decide to pay him a visit.

When the Norwegian-based crime show first premiered on NRK1 in 2012 about the mafia man who travels abroad (the main station in that country), just shy of one million people tuned in to watch, which was about twenty percent of Norway’s entire population. That was a huge accolade for Anne Bjornstad and Eilif Skodvin, who were the creators of the show, and Steven Van Zandt, who composed the entire musical soundtrack for the show himself. Being a part of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, Zandt’s musical expertise comes as no surprise.

Among other accolades, Lilyhammer proved that a single production could cater to multiple demographics as both prominent International and American actors were spotlighted. Among the names featured was the late Jay Benedict, who starred in 2015’s I.T played agent Becker. Rhys Coiro, who starred in 2022’s Agent Game, starred as Tommy Magnano, a Norway-bound hitman. And we had Tony Sirico, another Sopranos alumni who played Frank’s brother.

Amidst those representing other countries in Lilyhammer is British actor Paul Kaye, who will be portraying Sir John Henry Murgaw VIII in the upcoming Prime Video release called Catherine Called Birdy, Norwegian actor Fridtjov Saheim who plays Sindre in Netflix’s Ragnarok, and British actress Amy Beth Hayes who plays Lady Trowbridge in Bridgerton. This cast is full of names who made a legacy for themselves.

Lilyhammer Will be Sleeping With the Fishes

They say all good things must end, and Lilyhammer doesn’t seem to be an exception to that rule. The first warning came three years after the show had premiered. On July 22nd, 2015, Mr. Zandt released a statement on his Twitter saying that after three seasons and twenty-four episodes, Lilyhammer had been canceled. As sad as that may be for fans of the show, the gangster’s new life would stay alive on Netflix for seven more years.

Ultimately, the streaming giant decided soon after to let its license expire with Frank Tagliano. Beginning on November 21st, 2022, and after being available on the platform for ten years, Netflix will drop Lilyhammer from its massive digital library. As it turns out, even though the Steven Van Zandt-led international crime show began each episode with the tagline “A Netflix Original Series,” original does not mean everlasting, but instead a proverbial long-term lease.

Interestingly enough, it looks like the colossal subscription-based streaming service feels quite guilty about the separation. Even though it has been confirmed by Indiewire that the series is indeed being unfavorably dropped, the show is suspiciously missing from Netflix’s official list of removals for the month of November. Even though other Netflix originals have been on this list before, like the 2013’s cult classic series Hemlock Grove and most recently, The Judgment, which is on this month’s tally, Lilyhammer must still hold some nostalgic memories for some executives over at the entertainment company.

Nevertheless, the mob comedy will always be remembered for single-handedly paving the way not only for Netflix to host other originals like House of Cards and Orange is the New Black but for opening the door so other streaming services could be given the opportunity to produce and showcase their own content to the world.