While Prime Video’s Bosch franchise might be one of the biggest and most influential detective dramas of the last 15 years, TNT’s underrated LA cop show always deserved to stand side by side the Michael Connelly adaptation. When Prime Video began to adapt The Lincoln Lawyer author Michael Connelly’s Bosch books as a streaming series in early 2014, it is unlikely that the franchise’s creators could have known just how huge the show would become in the years that followed.
Based on Connelly’s bestselling novel series of the same name, Bosch followed Titus Welliver’s eponymous LAPD homicide detective as he investigated murders in the Hollywood Hills. Like Netflix’s underrated alternative The Killing, Bosch’s R-rated, dark character study was one of a wave of post-The Wire, post-The Shield cop shows that dispensed with the usual black and white morality of traditional network procedural shows. The gritty, intense series was a major departure from the sillier, soapier storylines of CSI, NCIS, and Law & Order.
While 2014’s True Detective season 1 is often credited with shaping the slew of starry, dark detective dramas that followed throughout the rest of the 2010s and into the 2020s, the success of the Bosch franchise was just as instrumental in this genre-wide shift. Bosch ended after seven seasons and 68 episodes, but the show was so successful that it soon spawned the three-season sequel Bosch: Legacy, the two-season spinoff Ballard, and the upcoming prequel Bosch: Start of Watch. Sadly, TNT’s underrated LA cop show Southland didn’t enjoy the same mainstream acclaim.
TNT’s Southland Is A Hidden Gem Among 21st-Century Cop Shows
Created by Ray Donovan creator Ann Biderman, also known for penning the screenplays for Primal Fear and Copycat, Southland’s first season debuted on NBC in 2009 before the show moved to TNT for its second to fifth outings. Ending after five seasons in 2013, Southland wrapped up before Bosch even began, but the two shows offered similarly gritty insights into the LAPD while deconstructing the usual approach of conventional police procedurals.
In 2026, when network shows like CBS’s Yellowstone spinoff Marshals and the upcoming Line of Fire are mixing steaming-style storytelling with procedural traditions, the thought of a cop show that is more of a detective character study than a standard police procedural doesn’t seem all that innovative. However, in 2009, this was a daring move that saw the show earn comparisons to The Wire, The Shield, and NBC’s groundbreaking ‘90s classic Homicide: Life on the Street.
With an astounding, massive cast that changed throughout the show’s five seasons, Southland’s ensemble approach meant the show felt more varied and less predictable than Bosch’s more straightforward character study. Where Bosch never veered too far from Welliver’s antihero and his friends and family, Southland focused on Regina King’s Lydia Adams, Ben McKenzie’s Ben Sherman, Shawn Hatosy’s Sammy Bryant, and recurring stars like Amaury Nolasco’s Rene Cordero, Lucy Liu’s Jessica Tang, and Bokeem Woodbine’s Officer Jones.
Southland Is Even Better Than Bosch As An LA-Based Police Procedural
Across its five outings, the show found room for stars like Chad Michael Murray, Lou Diamond Philips, and C. Thomas Howell, as well as providing breakout roles for actors like Michael Cudlitz, Arija Bareikis, and Jamie McShane. While the show’s sprawling storytelling style influenced later hits like the acclaimed medical drama The Pitt, Southland’s ambition wasn’t rewarded with a long run. The series lasted a respectable 43 episodes, but never spawned any sequels, reboots, or spinoffs to date.
This is somewhat surprising upon a rewatch, since it is clear in 2026 that this influential show was arguably the best LA-based detective drama yet. While Bosch is a superb character study, the Prime Video series lacks the scope and ambition of the more immersive Southland. One of the last traditional network price procedurals to sincerely attempt an evocative, Dickensian portrait of city life on both sides of the law, Bosch’s predecessor Southland deserves commendation for its daring work.
- Release Date
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2009 – 2013-00-00
- Directors
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Christopher Chulack, Nelson McCormick, Félix Enríquez Alcalá, Allison Anders
- Writers
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Ann Biderman, Dee Johnson, Mitchell Burgess, Robin Green, Diana Son, Angela Amato Velez
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Michael Cudlitz
Officer John Cooper