Prime Video’s 7-Part Detective Series Is So Good, You Can Rewatch It Multiple Times

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Lance Reddick at a podium with microphones in Bosch.

Published May 21, 2026, 7:46 AM EDT

Collier Jennings is an entertainment journalist with a substantial amount of experience under his belt. Collier, or "CJ" to his friends and family, is a dedicated fan of genre films - particularly science fiction, fantasy and comic book adaptations, not to mention all forms of animation animation. This stems from a close bond with his father, who introduced him to these genres via copies of X-Men comics and reruns of the original Ultraman series. Using his near-encyclopedic knowledge and bottomless love of genre, he's been able to tackle a wide variety of articles.

Prime Video's programming has delved into different genres over the years, whether it's science fiction spectacles like Fallout or massive fantasy epics like The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Yet its biggest draw is military and procedural thrillers, which have earned the informal nickname "Dad TV" because it's the kind of television someone's father would usually put on. Nowadays, Prime Video's "Dad TV" shows feature fare like Reacher and The Terminal List, but the streamer started delving into this type of programming when Bosch premiered in 2014.

Bosch takes its name and inspiration from Michael Connelly's novels and follows LAPD homicide detective Harry Bosch (Titus Welliver) as he investigates a series of murders. Unlike most of the procedurals airing at the time, Bosch shook up its formula with cases that often spanned an entire season and a protagonist who dabbled in shades of grey. The end result gave Prime Video one of its most successful shows, not to mention one of its most successful television franchises. In a way, Bosch also laid the groundwork for shows like Reacher to succeed.

'Bosch' Thrived Thanks To Rich Characterization & Storytelling

In most procedurals, there's a clear-cut structure: the dogged detective often pursues a case, solving it within an hour thanks to their investigative skills. Bosch subverts this by showcasing the lengths that its protagonist will go to get justice for the innocent. Bosch is driven by his belief that everyone deserves justice, and is sometimes willing to go outside the law to get it. A great example of this comes in Season 1, where Bosch is caught in a lawsuit concerning someone he shot in self-defense. It was rare for a procedural to tackle these kinds of issues, yet Bosch didn't shy away from the complex web that is law enforcement.

Bosch was also populated by a rich cast of characters, who bounced off of Bosch in different ways. Chief among them was his daughter, Maddie (Madison Lintz). While Maddie originally started out as a regular teenager, she eventually followed her father into law enforcement in the spinoff series Bosch: Legacy. Legacy also features Bosch operating as a private investigator, showing that while he might be retired from police work, he's still dedicated to pursuing justice. Titus Welliver even discussed in an interview that Bosch: Legacy was less a spinoff and morea continuation, especially when it came to exploring Bosch as a character.

"The beautiful consistency of this character is that he's the same guy that I jumped into now looking at almost a decade ago. I mean, he evolves over those seasons, but he always has a great moral compass. It's very, very easy to continue playing a character that has that."

Crate and Barrel standing next to Bosch in the Bosch TV series.

While Titus Welliver's future as Bosch is up in the air, his next role is both similar to and wildly different from the dogged detective. Welliver will play a key role in The Westies, a new drama premiering on MGM+ this July; he portrays Glenn Keenan, a corrupt police officer who finds himself at odds with his childhood friend Eamon Sweeney (J.K. Simmons), who leads the titular gang. When discussing The Westies, Welliver was quick to point out that Keenan was a different animal from Bosch, saying that he had a "compromised moral compass."

Fans shouldn't totally write Bosch off, though, as Prime Video is launching yet another spinoff that features Cameron Monaghan as a younger version of the iconic detective. Welliver even reprises his signature role on another Bosch spinoff, Ballard, with its debut season featuring protagonist Renee Ballard (Maggie Q) turning to Bosch for help on a case. Over a decade might have passed since it first premiered, but Bosch remains a standout series in Prime Video's catalog and a key example of how police procedurals don't have to follow a set formula.

Release Date 2015 - 2021-00-00

Network Prime Video

Showrunner Eric Ellis Overmyer

Directors 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 Jeffrey Alan Fiskin, Tom Bernardo, Elle Johnson, John Mankiewicz, Shaz Bennett, Alex Meenehan, Katie Pyne, Osokwe Vasquez, Lolis Eric Elie, Jessica Kivnik, Mitzi Roberts

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