Lilyhammer

Having served as consigliere to both Tony Soprano and Bruce Springsteen, Steve Van Zandt has earned a stupendous amount of street cred, and that's without including his tireless efforts to promote garage rock through “Little Steven's Underground Garage” as heard on SiriusXM Satellite Radio. With the end of The Sopranos, he's devoted his spare time between Springsteen tours to “Lillyhammer”. The show was originally broadcast on Norwegian television but it has been optioned by Netflix as its debut for original streaming programming.

“Lilyhammer” is about Frank Tagliano, a New York gangster who goes into the Federal Witness Protection Program. Instead of picking somewhere predictable like Arizona or somewhere exotic like The Bahamas, Tagliano decides to go to.....Norway. As he explains to the dumbfounded FBI agents in charge of his case, he became fascinated with Lillehammer, Norway after seeing it on TV during the 1994 Winter Olympics.  Also, he figures that no one is going to find him there. As with his portrayal of Silvio Dante, Van Zandt's Nixonian droopy jowls do a lot of the heavy lifting acting-wise. He has one of those great character actor faces that beg to be cast in a mob drama. Unlike Silvio, Frank Tagliano has a little bit of tender charm under his dour exterior and shows a lot more compassion. Frank can develop a crush on an innocent Norwegian teacher in a way that Silvio would never dare demonstrate. He's also a little bit more selfless. It's fun to watch as Frank tries to navigate his way through a foreign setting with his old ways, teaching his new associates some different ways of conducting business. Sopranos fans need not worry- Frank can bring the heavy stuff too, including a particularly funny Olympic-themed torture incident.

Van Zandt is able to bring just enough nuance to his portrayal of Frank Tagliano to steer “Lilyhammer” away from being a by-the-numbers Sopranos spoof. I've only seen the first two episodes and am eager to race through the rest of the series. There are plans for a second season but production will have to wait for Van Zandt's other job, the upcoming Springsteen tour, to wind down. If history serves as an example, we may have to hold out for a few more years.