Titus Welliver stars in a seven-season crime thriller series that’s such a fan and critic darling, it’s spawned three spinoffs. For years, Welliver was the kind of actor you saw pop up in everything, usually stealing whatever scene he appeared in, but whose name was difficult to call to mind.
Parts in Sons of Anarchy, Deadwood, and The Town were the signs that the actor was capable of more, and when he finally got his chance to star in a streaming TV series, he delivered. The Prime Video series Bosch premiered in 2014 and ran for seven seasons before coming to a close in 2021.
Welliver stars as the titular Harry Bosch, an LAPD Detective and the star of the book series from author Michael Connelly, from which the show is adapted. Bosch deals with the litany of crimes that come his way, all while trying to settle the complications of his personal life, which tend to involve his daughter, Maddie (Madison Lintz).
Though the series wrapped in 2021, that didn’t mean the Bosch universe came to a halt. Bosch: Legacy, a direct sequel, came out in 2022 and ran for three seasons. Ballard, another spinoff, this one starring Maggie Q as Detective Renée Ballard, a character from Bosch: Legacy, premiered in 2025, and season 2 is on the way.
Now, there’s a third series coming, Bosch: Start of Watch, which will be a prequel show featuring a young Harry Bosch, now played by Cameron Monaghan. The release date is still unknown. The Bosch franchise keeps expanding, and it’s slowly becoming one of our longest-lived crime franchises.
Why Bosch Has Lasted Longer Than Other Crime Thrillers
The Bosch franchise seems to have better legs than a lot of other crime franchises. Not only did it last an impressive seven seasons, ending on its own terms, but the series also managed to spin-off two excellent shows that don’t feel like cash grabs. This is a franchise that is now over a decade old and still feels fresh.
Bosch is a classic crime show in the best sense. There isn’t anything particularly novel to its story, there’s no unique conceit to get behind, there are no shocking surprises. Bosch‘s strength is its consistency. It does all the little things right that a show needs to do to be competent and compelling.
It does it over and over again, season in and season out. Bosch always gives you what you’re looking for when you tune in. Rarely does an episode disappoint. The large ensemble is strong and understands the type of show they’re making, and this all combines for a well-oiled, tightly written machine of a franchise.
Bosch Is Still The Best Show In The Franchise
Though there have been several successful spinoffs in the Bosch franchise, the original series is still the best of all of them. Bosch: Legacy is basically seasons 8, 9, and 10, and Ballard is still too early in its life cycle to judge it fairly. Bosch has everything fans of crime thrillers need.
|
Bosch Franchise |
|
|---|---|
|
Years |
Show |
|
2014-2021 |
Bosch |
|
2022-2025 |
Bosch: Legacy |
|
2025-Present |
Ballard |
|
TBA |
Bosch: Start of Watch |
Between the upcoming prequel series and Ballard, Ballard probably has the highest ceiling of the two, as Bosch: Start of Watch will likely always be overshadowed by its sequel. These four shows work so well together, and though Bosch might be the best of them, they can be taken as a whole to make something greater than the sum of their parts.
- Release Date
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2015 – 2021-00-00
- Network
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Prime Video
- Showrunner
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Eric Ellis Overmyer
- Directors
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Alex Zakrzewski, Ernest R. Dickerson, Patrick Cady, Aaron Lipstadt, Adam Davidson, Daisy von Scherler Mayer, Kevin Dowling, Neema Barnette, Tim Hunter, Zetna Fuentes, Christine Moore, Jim McKay, Laura Belsey, Matt Earl Beesley, Phil Abraham, Roxann Dawson, Sarah Pia Anderson, Stephen Gyllenhaal, Tara Nicole Weyr, Thomas Carter, Hagar Ben-Asher
- Writers
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Jeffrey Alan Fiskin, Tom Bernardo, Elle Johnson, John Mankiewicz, Shaz Bennett, Alex Meenehan, Katie Pyne, Osokwe Vasquez, Lolis Eric Elie, Jessica Kivnik, Mitzi Roberts