MGM+ has greenlighted a series that will serve as a prequel to Bosch, the popular Prime Video series based on Michael Connelly’s crime novels.
Connelly introduced the character Harry Bosch, a Los Angeles police homicide detective, in The Black Echo, published by Little, Brown in 1992. He would go on to appear in 24 more novels, most recently The Waiting, published last year.
Bosch, which starred Titus Welliver as the titular detective, premiered in 2014, and ran for seven seasons. Welliver returned as the detective in a spinoff series, Bosch: Legacy, which aired for three seasons.
The new series, Bosch: Start of Watch, will be the origin story of the detective, following him as a rookie police officer in 1991 Los Angeles. Cameron Monaghan, known for his roles in the series Shameless and Gotham, will play Bosch, with Omari Hardwick (Power, Pieces of Her) will play Eli Bridges, Bosch’s training officer. Connelly will serve as an executive producer of the series.
Connelly told Kirkus, “This is going to be exciting and challenging. It’s all new character territory because it’s not based on any book. The time period, as well, is a challenge. When you look back across L.A.’s history, 1992 will always be seen as a year of injustice and rebellion, while the good that some people did has been lost to time. Putting young Harry Bosch smack dab in the middle of that is going to stir up emotions and memories. I was a reporter in this town then and feel Harry will be seeing what I was seeing. That is pretty thrilling from a storyteller’s point of view.”
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
