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Lillyhammer, now streaming on Netflix.

My name wasn't on the list. When I told her I was with The Paris Review, the woman in charge gave a can't-be-bothered shrug and stuck me on the red carpet between a correspondent from the socialite party blog Guest of a Guest and a reporter from The New York Daily News. The two were in deep discussion about a monthly gathering for gay men over six foot two.

"The Tall Gay Agenda, you've seriously never heard of it?"

"But I would never get in—I'm only 5'9''!

"It's not just for tall gays, it's in celebration of. Admirers are welcome!"

I was eavesdropping hard, announcing my dorky heterosexuality by wearing a backpack, revealing my red-carpet naïveté by not carrying a recording device and mumbling the name of my publication.

"Shouldn't you be, like, hanging out with The Observer or something?"

The occasion was a screening and gala to celebrate Lilyhammer, a quirky new series starring Steven "Little Stevie" Van Zandt (of Sopranos and E Street Band fame). Stevie plays a former New York mobster removed to rural Norway after ratting out his boss and joining the Witness Protection Program. The show, which premiers today through Netflix's Play at Home streaming service, is the company's first foray into original programming.

Prophetic bloggers have buzzed about the inevitability of this move for years: Netflix is coming, and the masters of pay cable are terrified. Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I streamed the whole thing. Read More »