11. The Bridge (FX, July 10th)
I love a good noir. You can't flick a cigarette butt through the dim light cast from the cracked window of a dilapidated building in this damnable city without hitting a fan of classics like The Third Man, neo-staples such as Taxi Driver, or contemporary stand-outs like Brick, Drive, Fargo, or Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (just to name a few random titles which are in no way meant to represent the vast span of the genre). Just as noir is an integral strand in the DNA of film from around the world, the police procedural is as much a part of TV as Miranda rights are a part of a solid arrest. Growing up on the original Law & Order gave me an appreciation for straight, no nonsense procedurals and naturally a pretentious disgust for the show's many spin-offs and copiers (and their many spin-offs). That being said, FX's new series The Bridge, a remake of a Scandinavian crime drama which premiered in September of 2011,
looks like the best of both worlds in these stylish and haunting teasers. The series follows a joint investigation by American and Mexican authorities (led by Inglorious Basterds' Diane Kruger and Academy Award winner Demian Bichir, respectively) into a series of murders along the Mexico-Texas border. The original Dane-Swedish series is so well-received that not only is FX remaking the show in America, but a Franco-British co-production has been announced as The Tunnel to be broadcast on Sky Atlantic in the UK and Canal+ in France.