OSLO — “Skam,” a racy, emotionally intense, true-to-life Norwegian web and television series, follows a group of Oslo teenagers as they navigate sex, school, drinking, depression, rape, religion, coming out and the pains of status anxiety, in real life and online.

The show is bound for the United States and Canada, courtesy of Simon Fuller, the English entertainment entrepreneur who concocted “American Idol” (and its British predecessor, “Pop Idol”) and managed the Spice Girls. On Friday, Mr. Fuller’s company, XIX Entertainment, announced a deal with the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) to produce an English-language version called “Shame.”

Created by NRK and aimed at teenage girls, “Skam” has become a sensation across Scandinavia with viewers of many ages, thanks to a clever multi-platform format and social media strategy. Each week, four to six short scenes are posted on the broadcaster’s website, without warning, at the same time the scenes are set — a Saturday night party, a Tuesday morning class — and then bundled into a full episode each Friday.

That approach — intimate portrayals, letting the digital releases drive the linear TV version, giving each fictional character an Instagram account — caught the attention of Mr. Fuller.