Critically Acclaimed and Canceled: FX’s The Bridge, Channel as Brand, and the Adaptation of Scripted TV Formats

This article uses The Bridge (FX, 2013–2014), an adaptation of the Danish-Swedish series Broen/ Bron (SVT1/DR1, 2011-), to explore the ways in which the brand identities of channels shape the adaptation process for scripted television formats. By situating The Bridge in the broader context of FX’s effort to maintain a coherent brand identity, the author argues that producers were not attempting to repurpose Broen/Bron’s narrative for the American audience. Rather, the network wanted to provide its traditionally young and masculine audience with another ‘muscular’ crime series while appealing to additional demographics in the hopes of expanding the channel’s overall viewership.