Netflix, Hulu air first original scripts

Within just over a week, Netflix and Hulu both debuted their first stabs at original scripted programming.

The shows amount to a milestone in Internet television, an early sign of the leveling between broadcasting and streaming. Programming options between TV and the Web are increasingly separated by little more than the "video source" button on your remote.

But the most salient thing about the new offerings from Netflix and Hulu are just how "TV" they are.

Last week, Netflix released all eight episodes of "Lilyhammer," a fish-out-of-water drama starring Steven Van Zandt ("The Sopranos") as a New York mobster relocated to Norway. Tuesday, Hulu premiered "Battleground," a faux-documentary sitcom about the young operatives of a middling political campaign in Wisconsin.

JUST LIKE BROADCAST TV Each has a broadcast pedigree. "Lilyhammer" was produced for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation and began airing there in January. As a script, "Battleground" was initially purchased by Fox (whose corporate parent, News Corp., is a co-owner of Hulu, along with Walt Disney Co. and NBCUniversal).

That both "Battleground" and "Lilyhammer" look and feel so much like broadcast shows is a signal of their high quality (though "Lilyhammer" is notably better made) and their lack of innovation. These are ultimately just a couple of new shows among hundreds, only ones consumable through a new distribution method.

The 50-minute-long "Lilyhammer," for which Van Zandt is also a producer and writer, is the more intriguing of the two. It often feels almost like a parody of a "Sopranos" spinoff: If we're going to have Silvio in Scandinavia, then how about Paulie Walnuts in Walla Walla? Or Uncle Junior in Jakarta? When "Frankie the Fixer" (Van Zandt) gives up a rival to the FBI, he opts for witness protection in Lillehammer, Norway. Remoteness is part of the attraction, as is its wintry allure.

A POLITICAL 'OFFICE' "Battleground," judging by its first two episodes, is a light, watered-down knockoff of "The Office," moved a little further west and focusing on a slightly younger demographic.

It stars Jay Hayden as Chris "Tak" Davis, campaign manager to Deirdre Samuels (Meighan Gerachis), who's running for a Wisconsin Senate seat. The show, about 22 minutes long, uses the "Office" format of interstitial interviews with the twist that they take place after the election -- and thus carry foreshadowing of trouble to come.

For Hulu and Netflix, the shows don't need to be masterpieces, just conversation starters -- drops of newness to freshen up their extensive libraries and garner media coverage. Neither "Lilyhammer" nor "Battleground" is good enough to send anyone rushing to sign up for a subscription. (Netflix's streaming service is $7.99 a month, as is Hulu Plus.) But in the gathering convergence of TV and Internet viewing, these shows represent an early salvo.