Michael Connelly has a brand-new crime series in development with Paramount, marking his most exciting TV project since Bosch’s ending earlier this year. Though the author is responsible for creating several iconic characters, like The Lincoln Lawyer’s Mickey Haller, Renée Ballard, and Jack McEvoy, Connelly’s most famous character is far and away Hieronymous “Harry” Bosch, who has been portrayed by Titus Welliver in Amazon’s Bosch franchise since 2015.
While Connelly’s characters still have a mainstay on television as Netflix’s The Lincoln Lawyer season 4 approaches and Bosch’s spinoff Ballard awaits a season 2 renewal, his TV landscape now looks different after Bosch: Legacy’s cancellation. Though he still makes cameos in Ballard, for the first time in over a decade, Harry Bosch won’t be leading his own TV series.
As such, there’s an open space for a new version of Harry Bosch in the crime series sector, and who better to bring that replacement than Michael Connelly himself? It was recently confirmed that Connelly is developing a crime drama for Paramount based on his own experiences as a crime reporter, with this Untitled Florida Task Force series potentially yielding a refreshing new era in his crime drama career.
Michael Connelly’s Florida Task Force Show Sounds Very Different From Bosch & The Lincoln Lawyer
Though Connelly’s in-development crime drama series falls in the same genre as Bosch, it doesn’t seem like the story will be another carbon copy of Prime Video’s masterpiece show. Rather, while his new characters and series may end up having similar roles, conflicts, tones, and story beats following Connelly trademarks, the Florida Task Force show sounds like it’ll be a refreshing, new direction in this realm.
Though the show is drawing on Connelly’s experience as a crime beat reporter for various Florida outlets, it’s unclear whether the series will be focused on detectives in a task force or a journalist reporting on them. The former seems more likely, though Connelly does have a thriller book series surrounding an investigative reporter.
|
Michael Connelly Show |
Lead Character |
|---|---|
|
Level 9 |
Roland Travis |
|
Bosch |
Harry Bosch |
|
Bosch: Legacy |
Harry Bosch |
|
The Lincoln Lawyer |
Mickey Haller |
|
Ballard |
Renée Ballard |
|
Untitled Florida Task Force Show |
TBD |
Very little is known about what the Untitled Florida Task Force series’ plot will entail, but the unofficial title suggests a departure from Connelly’s shows like The Lincolon Lawyer, Bosch, and Ballard. Those shows are based around the central eponymous characters, each having teams working alongside them to solve crimes or win cases. However, a task force series sounds like Connelly’s new project will have a much greater ensemble focus.
Plus, the setting change to Florida departs from Michael Connelly’s typical Los Angeles location. The location of a crime series often plays one of the most crucial roles in its story, tone, and themes, so a Florida setting will yield a much different series dynamic from what’s become familiar in Bosch, Ballard, and The Lincoln Lawyer.
Overall, the stark differences between the Untitled Florida Task Force series and Connelly’s previous crime shows mark an exciting shift. Connelly gets to help mold a new crime-fighting world and set of characters for TV without having to sacrifice certain aspects of his books to fit an adaptation. This may yield a completely different side to his creative approach that might not have been able to flourish had Bosch: Legacy season 4 happened.
The Florida Task Force Show Can Give Michael Connelly A Brand-New Harry Bosch Replacement
The main heroes of Connelly’s TV shows have come from his books, but the Untitled Florida Task Force show offers the opportunity to craft a brand-new lead made specifically for TV. Unlike Harry Bosch or Mickey Haller, Connelly’s new lead characters won’t face the scrutiny that comes with adaptations’ expectations and disagreements about book changes.
Plus, most of Connelly’s biggest TV characters were introduced in books back in the 1990s and early 2000s, so adaptations set in the modern day are bound to be substantially different from their initial conception. That wouldn’t be the case for the Bosch author’s new series, which would presumably have characters crafted specifically under a modern lens.
