Harry Bosch is returning to TV as MGM+ Studios has announced that Cameron Monaghan (Shameless) will lead Bosch: Start of Watch, a prequel series exploring Bosch’s rookie days with Omari Hardwick (Power) as his mentor.
Bosch was adapted from the series of mystery novels by Michael Connelly with Titus Welliver starring as LAPD detective Harry Bosch as he worked various cases and dealt with ongoing crises in his personal life. The series ran for seven seasons with a continuation titled Bosch: Legacy ending earlier this year after three seasons. Both the original series and Legacy remained very popular throughout their runs with particular praise aimed at Welliver and his fellow cast.
Bosch: Start of Watch will begin in Los Angeles, 1991, following “26-year-old Harry Bosch during his earliest days as a rookie cop. The series will explore a city on the edge, teeming with racial tension, gang violence, and a fractured LAPD. Amid routine calls and growing unrest, Bosch finds himself drawn into a high-profile heist and a web of criminal corruption that will test his loyalty to the badge and shape his future as the detective who lives by the code, ‘Everybody counts or nobody counts.'”
Monaghan’s younger Bosch is described as an “intensely observant, stoic and unyielding young man, is a probationary patrol officer with the LAPD. He possesses all the qualities that will come to mark his legendary career: he’s smart, relentless, determined, fiercely protective of the victims of crime.”
Hardwick will play Bridges, Bosch’s Training Officer who is “a Vietnam vet, a seasoned, salty, rough-around-the-edges kind of cop who mentors Harry through the mean streets of Los Angeles and the complicated world of the LAPD. Bridges is fighting a war on the streets and looking for soldiers, and they don’t come any brighter than Hieronymus Bosch.”
Bosch: Start of Watch is created by Legacy‘s Tom Bernardo and Brian Anthony with Bernardo serving as its showrunner. Executive producing will be Connelly, Henrik Bastin, Jamie Boscardin Martin and Jasmine Russ.
“I’m deeply grateful to Michael Wright and the team at MGM+ for championing this next chapter in Bosch’s journey with such remarkable care and integrity,” Connelly said. “Being able to see how Harry Bosch became the man we have loved for 10 seasons is a gift to me and his many fans. I can’t wait to dig in with Cameron and the writers to explore this uncharted character territory.”
“It’s a terrific privilege to be able to explore both the origins of this iconic character and the Los Angeles that formed him in the early 1990s,” said Bernardo. “In telling the story of a young Harry Bosch, we want to honor the faith of Michael Connelly’s legion of readers and the amazing audience that tuned into Bosch and Bosch: Legacy over the years. We’re excited to embark on this journey.”
“We are thrilled to expand the Bosch universe with this compelling origin story that showcases how one of television’s most beloved detectives became the man we know today,” said MGM+ head Michael Wright. “With Cameron Monaghan and Omari Hardwick bringing these complex characters to life, and the creative vision of Michael Connelly and our talented executive producers, Bosch: Start of Watch promises to deliver the gritty, authentic storytelling that honors the franchise’s legacy while opening an exciting new chapter.”
In addition to Bosch: Start of Watch, the franchise premiered the spin-off Ballard this summer which starred Maggie Q as Renée Ballard, a detective for the LAPD leading a new unit devoted to solving cold homicide cases. Q first played the role in the final season of Bosch: Legacy and will be seen again in the series’ upcoming second season.
What do you think of a Bosch prequel? Are there any specific elements you’d like to see for Bosch’s origin? Let us know on our social channels at @FlickeringMyth…
Ricky Church – Follow me on Bluesky for more movie news and nerd talk.
