Third Watch (TV series)

     This is 44 min award winning drama created by Edward Allen Bernero and John Wells.The exploits of a group of men and women who serve the City of New York as police officers, firemen, and paramedics in the fictional 55th Precinct.
   Starring Jason Wiles (Officer Maurice Boscorelli), Coby Bell (Officer Tyrone Davis), Anthony Ruivivar (paramedic Carlos Nieto), Skip Sudduth (Officer John Sullivan), Molly Price (Officer Faith Yokas), Michael Beach (paramedic Monte “Doc” Parker), Kim Raver (paramedic Kim Zambrano), Eddie Cibrian (firefighter Jimmy Doherty), Bobby Cannavale (paramedic Bobby Caffey)  as the main cast at the beginning of the series, and joining later on Amy Carlson (firefighter/paramedic Alex Taylor), Nia Long (Off. Sasha Monroe) Tia Texada (Sgt.Cruz).
    Jason Wiles was one of the few cast members to stay on the show for its entire six season run from 1999 to 2005. So far only the DVD’s from the 1st season and 2nd season are available for sale.
About his character’s personality:
  As an officer, officer Maurice  “Bosco” Boscorelli,  tends to behave in the ‘cowboy’ stereotype, what with constantly ignoring "boring" calls in favor of wanting top jobs to play "super cop" on. This at times involves deliberately staking out crime hotspots; for example, he might watch suspects scope out cars, waiting for a theft to occur so he could then charge in and make an arrest. He basically shows a constant disregard for orders, often ignoring the radio or what his best friend and police partner, Faith Yokas, would say, and thus finds trouble and friction quite regularly with colleagues and superiors.
  Warning,  if you have not seen this show this part contains spoilers
   In personal trivia, Bosco isn't too keen on the dark, or for needles. His "team" is the New York Giants, and his favorite TV programmes are sports and nature documentaries. Politically, he supports the Republicans and is an admirer of Rudy Giuliaini. Despite his apparent cockiness, Bosco did not lose his virginity until he was in his twenties, but has since made up for lost time. His past relationships include the captain's daughter (seduced in a squad car), an upper-class woman named Nicole, and police officer Sgt. Maritza Cruz. Ultimately, Bosco wants to find the perfect woman to settle down and have a family; he likes kids, despite not having any of his own. Only his mother and his girlfriends ever call him "Maurice", while his brother calls him "Mo"; otherwise, he is known as "Boz", "Bosco" or "Boscorelli" to everyone else.
   As for notable interactions, Bosco seems to get along reasonably well with fellow police officer Tyrone 'Ty' Davis, Jr. At one point he helped Davis to cure his (Ty's) partner, Officer John 'Sully' Sullivan, of alcoholism. Bosco also had a fairly aggressive rivalry with firefighter Jimmy Doherty for some time, though by the series' end it had seemed to fade. In an incidental twist on that rivalry, Bosco once made out with Jimmy's ex-wife Kim Zambrano, but no further relations occurred.

Background

   Bosco grew up as the eldest of two children to his parents Anthony and (Angela) Rose Boscorelli. His father was an abusive, alcoholic parent who used to beat on him and his brother Michael, as well as his mother. Anthony Boscorelli used to creep back into the house after drinking via Bosco's bedroom window - as a result, to this day Bosco cannot sleep with the bedroom window open. Bosco's parents split up on January 18, 1981, an event which affected the young man deeply.
   Bosco joined the United States Army Rangers and served for a few years before returning to New York, where he joined the Police Academy. Here he met Faith, who would become his partner at the 55th Precinct and his only true trusted friend. The two worked together, although they often disagreed. The relationship was similar to a mother-child one, in that Faith often treated him the way she treated her kids. Bosco was liked by Faith's kids Emily and Charlie (who called him "Uncle Bosco") but not by her husband Fred.
   Bosco's "act now, think later" attitude got him into trouble numerous times, such as going into a burning building to save people only to suffer smoke inhalation, and heading into an abandoned building to get rid of squatters, not realising that a schizophrenic man wanted for shooting paramedic Jerry was hiding in there. Bosco attempted to remove him from the building but was shot in his vest, playing dead before spear-tackling him out the second story window. Bosco only suffered minor injuries. He was also caught on tape having inappropriate relations with the Captains Daughter in Season 1 Episode 3 in the Squad Car
  For the most part, Bosco and Faith were seen as the ‘perfect cop’, as Bosco's aggressive toughness balanced his partner's levelheadedness. But on occasion Bosco found himself as "the adult" when it came to dealing with Faith's problems. Two key examples were when Faith left a gang banger for dead in a rival gang's territory, and then later when she hid her pregnancy and abortion from her husband. The subsequent fact that Faith lied to Bosco about getting an abortion (she had informed him she had a miscarriage due to a blow to the stomach) left him in a moment of strong doubt about their friendship.
    In an attempt to advance his career, Bosco tried heavily to get into the NYPD's Emergency Service Unit, even working for a time with ESU veteran and legendary cop Glen Hobart. However, Hobart was already on a self-destructive path and almost killed Bosco in the process (by holding a gun to his head on the roof of a building and daring ESU snipers to kill him, which they did), thereby leaving Bosco very shaken. That shock progressed further after a seemingly ordinary chase with a bank robber, in which the bag with the cash exploded in Bosco's face and triggered a massive panic attack. Bosco was sent to see a counselor who didn’t do much to help; he eventually turned to Faith, breaking down  and revealing how much the Hobart incident, as well as the pressure of the September 11th attacks, were really troubling him. (On September 11, 2001, Bosco had seen the first plane hit the World Trade Center, and rushed to the scene. But when the towers collapsed, he ran, leading to his vulnerability for panic attacks many months afterwards).
    After his failed attempt to get into ESU, Bosco then tried to get onto the Anti-Crime team. This time he was successful, and worked closely with Maritza Cruz,, someone who he got involved with on a personal level as well. However, this relationship caused a strain on his and Faith’s friendship, with the first major crack appearing when she found out about Bosco's participation in Cruz’s illegal police activities.
   Eventually, the bond between Bosco and Faith bond suffered its biggest blow when he went to Faith for help, due to discovering what trouble Cruz’s do-anything-for-evidence attitude had led to with writer and informant Aaron Noble. Bosco needed Faith to go to Noble's apartment and retrieve a gun used in a murder; the gun was evidence enough to get Noble locked away for good and prove that Cruz was going against the book. Faith grudgingly consented, but at the apartment she was surprised by Cruz. During their standoff, Noble and   Bosco appeared, and then rising tensions triggered a shootout. Bosco's fire killed Noble; Faith was shot and temporarily paralysed while Cruz received a minor bullet wound to the head. Bosco took responsibility for the incident to save Faith, but the damage had already been done, with Faith telling Bosco she never wanted to see him again.
   Bosco was then partnered with Sasha Monroe, and soon faced difficulties involving small time crook Ally Nardo, who continuously involved Bosco’s mother in problems. He eventually took her hostage, drawing Bosco into a furious search. He eventually found her, whereupon Nardo killed himself despite the offer of witness protection.
   When Faith was fully recovered, she requested to be partnered with Bosco again, saying that if she wanted to go back to work it was going to be properly, i.e. going back to '55 David', their patrol number. Bosco was hesitant, and didn’t tell the chief of the request. But eventually they were put back together and were partners again, although they seemed very distant unlike the old days.
   A later development saw Bosco's brother Mikey (who was into drugs) become suspected of drug running by Cruz. It made Bosco later realise she had been using him the entire time. It was later discovered that Mikey was indeed involved with the drugs; in the process he was killed by drug lord Donald Mann, who believed that Bosco, Cruz and Faith were responsible for the death of his son (earlier killed in a car chase with Cruz and Bosco). Wanting the three dead, Mann hired someone to blow up the funeral of Mikey, but instead only crashed a car into the service, injuring Bosco's mom in the process. Later at the hospital, realising that he was unsuccessful in killing the three, Mann sent armed men to the hospital to finish the job, severely injuring Bosco and hospitalizing him for months.
     Bosco would later return to work (with a large scar on his face) and be partnered with Sully. Faith believed he had come back too early, as he was having trouble seeing from his eye, and accused him  of falsifying his shooting score so as to rush himself back onto the force. This angered Bosco greatly, and once again put their relationship under heavy strain. It appeared as though Faith's assumptions were right however, when Bosco accidentally shot Monroe in the stomach in a hostage situation, making Monroe lose her baby as well. Bosco informed the chief that it was an accident, even with Faith knowing otherwise. Later, Bosco would eventually redeem himself somewhat when Faith’s daughter Emily was taken hostage; he shot the hostage taker and saved the day.
   In the series' final episode, Bosco accompanied Cruz as she went to stop a drug lord from killing cops. Cruz kissed Bosco before entering a building, at which point she apparently was killed by an explosion. As the episode ended, Bosco transferred to the "79" Precinct in Bed-Stuy, where he continued doing the "same thing he'd always done, kickin'ass, taking names and being the police", as Sully put it.

Sources: IMDB, Wikipedia

Plot, Episode Guides and Reviews: Epguides.com, TV.com

Links: Wikipedia, Warner Bros. Official Site, ThirdWatch.net,

Related Interviews:

Behind the Scenes:Third Watch

The Joy of Sets: Third Watch, Learn and Listen – DVD News (TV Guide Coby Bell Interview)

Related Interview excerpts:

Jason Wiles Interviews

       When I first started the show, I was known as the ‘cop nerd.’ I was in the 9th Precinct in the East Village every day. I’d be at work wearing a fake bulletproof vest with foam in it, then I’d leave and put on a real one to ride around with these guys (from tv.com)

      Wiles, who previously played Colin Robbins, the East Coast cokehead on 90210, never thought he’d get to play Bosco—who was initially written as six feet four and 250 pounds. “I’m five nine and 160,” he says, “so at my audition I went with the Napoleon syndrome—little guy who’s angry. I just about strangled John Wells, the creator! I was like, he either needs to think I’m going to kiss him or strangle him.” (from NY Magazine)

      Trading blow for bullets, Wiles walked the beat for six seasons on NBC's cop drama Third Watch as the damaged but devoted Officer Maurice "Bosco" Boscorelli. "That was the best job ever," confesses the actor, who spent hours on ride-alongs with real-life NYPD Blue. "I loved it! How many people get to play cops-and-robbers in the streets of New York City?" (from TVGuide )

Coby Bell Interview (on Burn Notice) on working with Jason Wiles on Third Watch (from TV Overmind)

I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask you about Third Watch. How on earth did you handle all that running? I’m surprised you or Jason Wiles didn’t just faint at some point, considering every episode one or both of you was chasing someone.

The first two seasons they really ran me a lot. I was 23 when I got that job, so I guess they figured let the kid do all the running. And I think it was a rookie thing. The rookie just wants to chase after anyone who’s done anything wrong. Jason’s character Bosco never got over that. Jason’s actually really fast. We were doing a scene where we had to chase some guy together, and I was like, “Dude, you need to slow down a little, you’re making me look bad.”

You two seemed to work really well together. What was that like?

Our characters weren’t partners, but we got to do a lot of stuff together. Jason’s a great guy. I haven’t seen him in awhile. I miss him.

First episode opening (2.49 min) “Welcome to Camelot” Season 1 Episode 1":

 

Behind the Scenes Promo:

 

Sherry Stringfield interview on the set of Third Watch talking about the crossover with ER (+scenes from that episode)

Additional images:

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