tightspotkilo

...that of not just the adventures of a dying man with only a year or two to live, but also make him rich and playboy handsome, and even though he's doomed by illness, bless him with otherwise relative good health so as to be symptom-free until the very end, and with that, set him free upon the world to basically go wherever he wants and do there whatever he wants. Okay. I'll bite.

I watched this show without fail during its first season, each and every episode-- 30 in all. It had everything a teenage boy of that era might like, hot women, hot cars and exotic places; every week the dying hero falls in love with a beautiful babe, while living life to the fullest possible extent. That it's all being enjoyed by a dying man, Paul, played by Ben Gazzara, at first only subtly and slightly puts a damper on all the fun. Hey, there's a lot to experience! But, to me, eventually, i.e., by the second season, the maudlin aspect of it all began to seriously undermine the enjoyability of the show. Who wants to be constantly reminded of the unrelenting imminence of death? By season 2 something had changed, maybe it was me, but for some reason I no longer liked the show.

Thinking back on it, in a way, the show is a lot like another 60s show, Route 66. If you take out the Corvette and the buddy, and inject the dying man conceit.

8 Stars for the inspired idea and for the 60s nostalgia

Avoid, unless you like cheesy sitcoms complete with laugh tracks on your premium channel.

I've been reading the books for years, patiently waiting for the next one to be written and published. The writer, Michael Connelly, has been hands-on in adapting his books to the screen, and he and whomever else was involved knocked it out of the park. Titus Welliver captures the character unbelievably well.

At some points the story line on the show deviates from the books, but these deviations were done by Connelly himself, and the funny thing is, I agree that the deviations make for a better television series. The books span from 1992 to the present day, and ongoing, and occur in that time frame. Where in the books we read about Bosch aging, and follow his career arc over 25 years, this can't be depicted on TV.

To anyone unfamiliar with Bosch, I urge you to read the books, preferably in order. And watch the show. Connelly has masterfully created a great character, in both the books and on TV. I am only sad because I've read all the books and I've watched all the shows. Now I have to wait for the next release of both.