It looks like Amazon and Netflix will be going head-to-head with original series, with the former getting ready to launch Bosch, a drama series based on the best-selling book series Harry Bosch by Michael Connelly. The premiere date on Amazon Prime Instant Video is set for February 13, according to Deadline.
Just as Netflix has garnered acclaim and awards for its original series, like House of Cards, Derek, and Orange is the New Black, Amazon has been in the spotlight of late with its original comedy series Transparent, which just won a pair of Golden Globe awards for Best TV Series, Musical, or Comedy, and Best Actor for Jeffrey Tambor.
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Bosch, however, will mark a more dramatic turn for Amazon, with 10 episodes that follow the LAPD homicide detective Harry Bosch, played by Titus Welliver, who you may recognize from popular shows like LOST, Touch, and Sons of Anarchy, among others in his extensive (and rather impressive) resume. Bosch finds himself in the midst of disaster when a man who confesses to killing a boy escapes and continues killing across the city.
The trailer screams standard cop drama – a cat and mouse chase, innuendo among coworkers, and a lead cop with a troubled past. The most exciting part of the trailer, in our opinion, was spotting actor Scott Wilson – Hershel’s back! (The Walking Dead fans get it.)
But at first look, Bosch seems to be lacking something that all other successful streaming video service original series have, and that’s originality. There’s nothing like House of Cards or Orange is the New Black or Transparent on regular TV. Cop dramas are a dime a dozen on regular cable TV. And Amazon might just be flicking in its own 10-cent piece with this one.
That said, the writing of Michael Connelly, and the always stellar acting of Welliver, may help give this series the boost it needs to rise above a sea of cop dramas.