A crime series spanning from the 1950s to the 1980s is being adapted from Apple TV's Harlem trilogy

Colson Whitehead's Harlem trilogy, completed last month, is making its way to television. Apple TV has begun developing the series, starting with Harlem Shuffle and concluding with Crook Manifesto and Cool Machine, which was released on July 21.

At the helm of the project are Graham Yost, the creator of Apple’s Silo series, and Aric Avelino. Moonlight director Barry Jenkins has joined the team as an executive producer. The series is still in the early development stages; the cast and production schedule have not yet been announced.

A different life behind the furniture store

The trilogy centers around Ray Carney, who runs a furniture store in Harlem. Carney is a respected tradesman and family man for his customers, but his past reaches into the neighborhood's criminal underworld.

Harlem Shuffle captures Carney's character in 1959. His cousin Freddie's involvement in the Hotel Theresa robbery pulls him back into the underground world he tries to avoid.

This structure does not remain unchanged throughout the trilogy. As Carney ages, the scale of his actions and Harlem and New York itself undergo transformations. The core material of the series is not just a series of interconnected crime stories; it is also a changing city seen through the eyes of the same characters.

Each book opens a different era of New York

Crook Manifesto shifts the story to the 1970s. Amid economic crisis, police corruption, and rising violence in the city, Carney reconnects with criminal circles.

Cool Machine transitions to the Reagan era. The final book, spanning from 1981 to 1986, sets the backdrop of New York against the real estate boom, the rise of Wall Street, hip-hop, graffiti culture, and deepening income inequality.

In this way, Whitehead uses crime genre conventions while documenting the transformation of the city across four different decades. Crime is the engine of the story in the trilogy; however, class, race, money, and urbanization are just as defining as the robberies.

The creator of Silo leads the adaptation

Graham Yost and Aric Avelino will adapt the three books for television. Yost's involvement with the project is not new. In a profile published in June by the New Yorker, it was revealed that he was working on the Harlem Shuffle adaptation for Apple TV, with the pilot episode focusing on the Hotel Theresa robbery.

The recent agreement clarified that the scope is not limited to just the first novel; the entire trilogy has become part of the same series project.

Alongside Barry Jenkins, the executive producing team includes Adele Romanski, Mark Ceryak, Melissa Bernstein, and Colson Whitehead.

Whitehead and Jenkins reunite

Barry Jenkins' involvement in the project signifies a return to the world of Whitehead. Jenkins previously adapted the author's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Underground Railroad into a mini-series for Prime Video in 2021.

Whitehead's other Pulitzer-winning book, The Nickel Boys, was also adapted for film under the direction of RaMell Ross, earning Oscar nominations including Best Picture.

However, the Harlem trilogy progresses in a different lane from these two works. Instead of placing historical trauma at the forefront, it blends the entertainment of crime fiction, neighborhood history, and critiques of American capitalism into one narrative.

Apple TV's approach, encompassing all three books, also allows for a broader scope than a conventional novel adaptation. As Ray Carney's story is brought to the screen, the transformation of Harlem from the late 1950s to the mid-1980s could also become the second main character of the series.

Since the project is in early development, the number of episodes, cast, filming dates, and release schedule are still not determined.