Most of us know Netflix as just a streaming platform or technical subscriber-based platform that provides a wide range of shows to its subscribers, but Netflix is not only that, Netflix has got its own originals, which means the shows which are only available on the Netflix platform. Netflix started its services back in 18997 and since then the vision was to create an entertainment-based company which provides various kinds of shows to its subscriber and has got contracts with many of the production houses, to which it paid heft sums of money for the legal rights of streaming the show, and with the fast-moving pace of time thing has changed and to meet the other competitions available in the market, it had to start with its own originals which were only available on the Netflix platform and gained a huge number of customers. Today Netflix is the second d biggest entertainment streaming company and we know that you all here know about the first show which was produced on the Netflix platform by its own production but for that, we will need to know a bit about the history of the platform.
If you are not interested in knowing the history of the platform, you can scroll down a bit and you will find all that you need to know about the first original show on Netflix
Netflix History
For all those people who used to think that Netflix has been a streaming-based platform from the first, it wasn’t, it was actually a company that was meant for DVD rental services for its customers, a person may order a DVD, for which he paid some amount of money and he was also sent a prepaid envelope along with it in which he had to send back the DVD within a given period of time. However, as this was going very well technology advancements took place and there was a lot of competition in the market along with that Netflix also saw that the hefty sum of money it was paying the production houses just to provide the DVD services didn’t meet the charges just by the subscription money they received from renting, thus soon in 2007, we see that the company comes up with a streaming platform which we are using nowadays and that is where the entire vision of the company changed, it ended up in the creation of a platform which provided a wide range of movies and tv shows which were provided 0online for online streaming only to those customers who were subscribers to the company and this lead to a huge gain in the profits of the company and many of the movies and tv shows, to increase their fanbase wanted there to show to be available on Netflix.
However, things changed a bit in the later years, when Netflix realized that it will be able to gain more customers when they will start producing their own shows that will be exclusively available on the Netflix platform, or they may also end up buying the rights to the later season of many successful shows and in that way, the entire fanbase of the existing successful show, will have to be customers of the platform to enjoy the latter seasons and that was the starting of the Netflix originals journey which has been giving some of the best shows all over the world for the last few years. A great idea ended up changing the entire vision of the company and Netflix is now not just a streaming platform-based company but has also got its own production services available.
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What Is The First Netflix Original Show?
Now there has been a misconception for many people out there who assume that the house of cards is the first Netflix original, but it isn’t the house of cards is the show using which the Netflix originals gained much of their prominence but the first original show for the streaming platform is Lily hammer and the exclusive third season of the show came out in the year 2014. Now there has been a lot of chaos regarding this show and that is very possible some consider it as a tv show whereas some consider it as a web series, this is because this Norwegian American drama series belongs to the comedy and drama genre and is highly rated which is a massive 7.9 IMDb rating based on the timeline it is from is amazing. This show first started its making in 2011 and came up the first season of the show with some of the best artists of the era, one the being steven van Zandt has the rights of the show with NRK1, and the show was broadcasted on television with a total of 8 episodes all over Norway, however, the streaming rights to this show in the US was with Netflix and with great success, the show moved on towards the second season of the show.
But there came all the chaos, when the makers were having some problems with NRK1, however as the show was already delayed due to the busy time schedule of van Zandt who is the protagonist of the show, the show was at last broadcasted within the deadline and the second season of the show also turned out to be very successful. However, things completely took a turn for NRK1 with the third season, as, within all the chaos, Netflix decided to take the production into their hands, and the rights of streaming the show were only available on the Netflix, and the third season was only available to the Netflix users. Although the season wasn’t a great success it wasn’t a disappointment either and that marks the release of Netflix’s first original show.
Lilyhammer is a Norwegian American comedy and drama-based series which has got a total of three seasons and also got a huge fanbase all over the world, this show depicts the life of a gangster who used to live in New York but due to some reasons he had to run away from his old life and start his new life as a common citizen in the small town of Lillehammer in Norway. However, though he has changed his identity and everything the gangster in him isn’t yet dead, and he goes on leading a life of chaos and fun. Overall, the reviews of this show have been great and have also been praised by many critics. though there has been a lot of chaos to the streaming rights of this, due to which we never received a fourth season, this show can be considered watch worthy. Currently, all three seasons of the show are available for streaming on the Netflix platform. The makers of the show are Anne Bjornstad, steve van Zandt himself along with eilif skodvin.
Lilyhammer Release Date
The Lilyhammer is a show that dates back to 2012 when the first season of the show came out on the 25th of January and continued till the 8th of march of the same year. The second season of the show which also made it the televisions under the NRK1 made its release on the 23rd of October and continued till the 11th of December 2013 with a total of 8 episodes. now as we see there is a delayed gap between the first and the second season and this is because van Zandt and on the Australian tour, was replaced by the guitarist tom morello, to go on with the production. However, the show was complete and the streaming was completed somehow before the deadline dates of December 2013. Now when we come to the third season of the show, this is where the main chaos started between NRK1 and the makers of the show, and Netflix took it upon themselves and acted as the solo US broadcaster and brought out the series on their streaming platform on the 29th of October and it finished streaming with a total of 8 episodes by the mid of December 2014.
After that, there was great anticipation among many fans regarding the series, but due to the ongoing chaos, it was announced by Zandt on Twitter in July of 2015 that the show has been cancelled for the fourth season and soon Netflix pulled out as the makers of the show, however, NRK1 wanted the show to be taken over by any other big company for the fourth season, they weren’t able to have a contract and that marks the end of the first Netflix original series Lilyhammer. Each season of the show had 8 episodes only and each episode had an approximate runtime of 45 minutes. The quality of the show which is available currently on Netflix is quite good and the making of the show started back in 2011 for the first season.
Lilyhammer Story
With a total of 3 seasons, and a lot of chaos, the storyline of the show is actually quite great, and it is made as a Norwegian American comedy-drama show, has got the setting of both Norway and New York City, which makes it quite amusing to watch. The show follows the life of a gangster who used to live in New York, and after certain events and he gave information about his associates to the NYC police department, he had to make his way out of the city and then he chose the town of Lillehammer in Norway to be the place where he settles for the rest of his life. However, things don’t change much in Lillehammer for him, the old gangster remains in him and he goes on a rampage in the town, though not as a gangster but as a civilian who loves to have some fun, first he impresses the local single mother and his son and has some relationship with her, however, that ends him up going on a hunting adventure with some of his friends, where hunting is illegal just to solve the problem of a wolf which was not taken care of by the local authorities, now after those, some of the people grew a bit suspicious of him and they try looking into the past, but he smoothly handles the things by saying he is a CIA agent and is hiding from gangsters.
Now in the second season, we see johnny has got his own nightclub named the flamingo and also has got a small gang of bike riders, under him who basically give him the environment of his old gangster days, there is a lot of chaos in the second season, along with the formation of the real crew of flamingo which although being just a nightclub, have got many other things on their hand, we also see the files related to Johnny’s relocation being stolen by a group of gangster and johnny going on an adventure with his team to regain those files and ensure his safety just because he doesn’t want to go back to the life he once left and is having a fun time here in Lillehammer. He also won the citizen away by the end of the second season and the show goes on with those humorous and adventurous arcs.
The third season is the one on which we are supposed to keep a bit of an eye as this season hasn’t been up to the mark as the first two seasons and this is also the last season of the show, this season follows johnny’s life, where we see him hallucinating that he is being chased by a tiger and being admitted in a hospital in the first few episodes, we also see a drug case happening among Johnny’s friends and johnny soon getting involved to take care of it. overall, this season is quite moderate and if you have watched the last two seasons, you should go for it also.
Lilyhammer Cast
The show Lilyhammer has got a very amazing set of casts which starts with steven van Zandt who plays the main character of Jonny in the show and around whom all the gangster chaos is going on, we also see trond fausa aurvag as one of the main characters and having some great scenes in season 2 and season 3, we find other great artists such as Steiner Sagen, Marian sastad Ottesen and there are many other actors who we see on recurring and main roles, throughout the three seasons of the show, these actors where one of the main reason, that this show gained such prominence and huge fanbase, however during the second season, the entire production activities were delayed and we receive the show a bit late because of the van Zandt’s schedule with other directors.
Lillyhammer Trailer
The trailer for the first season and the second season of the show only are currently available on the YouTube platform and can be checked out by the readers out there to know more about the series, the trailer for the third season of the show is available on the Netflix platform. The first trailer of the show came out on YouTube in the December months of 2011.
Where To Watch The Show Lilyhammer?
As we know there has been a lot of chaos regarding the streaming and the broadcasting rights of the show, the show’s first two seasons were broadcasted on television via the NRK1 Channel however at the same time the streaming rights to the shows are available to Netflix for us streaming, and with the third season, the rights to the show were only available to the Netflix platform. Till the rights of the show are available with the Netflix platform and all the three-season can be streamed on Netflix however only for those customers, who have got paid subscriptions.
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