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Bushell On The Box: They don't make gritty police dramas like they used to

Down the mean streets of TV crime drama, a man must go who is not himself mean…

Harry Bosch is that man, untarnished and unafraid.

The hard-boiled Los Angeles homicide detective has seen more corpses than Dignitas since Bosch hit Amazon Prime in 2015.

It’s police procedural delivered with pulp fiction grit.

Harry is something we don’t see often on modern TV – a police hero.

Titus Welliver plays the title character in the series

He’s the sort of cop Gene Hunt would admire – tough, determined, allergic to “the rat squad” (internal affairs) and driven by a burning sense of justice.

Titus Welliver, inset, makes Harry (actual name Hierony-mus) three-dimensional and utterly believable as he hunts down and bangs up serial killers and terrorists, clashing with dirty cops and FBI agents along the way.

He has an unusual past – ex US special forces, the son of a murdered prostitute, a lingering suspicion that he’s a mite too trigger happy. To his rivals and enemies in the LAPD Hollywood Division, Harry is arrogant, an insubordinate know-it-all. A rule-breaker.

Released in the 70s, Kojak was an action crime series starring Telly Savalas
(Image: Getty Images)

“A p***k.” But he’s too good at his job to be brought down by envious no-marks.

In his final series, Harry takes on arsonists while his oppo Jed wrestles a drink problem. An attack on an apartment block led to multiple fatalities. A young girl died because a fire exit was nailed shut.

Meanwhile, a smarmy yuppie awaiting trial claims a “big fish” will get him off…could the stories possibly be related?

Tough-talking, risk-taking ’tecs were once the bedrock of police dramas. Our screens were full of fearsome thief-takers like Burnside, Jack Regan and Theo Kojak.

We don’t make ’em like that now, more’s the pity. God, I miss The Bill.

Other great 21st Century TV cops (from top): Vic Mackey (The Shield); Gene Hunt (Life On Mars); Bunk (The Wire); Lennie Briscoe (Law & Order); Catherine Cawood (Happy Valley).

Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk


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