Yes! Smoke on Apple TV+ is inspired by a true story, specifically the one told through truth.media’s acclaimed Firebug podcast, hosted by Oscar and Emmy winner Kary Antholis, who not only served as an executive producer on Black Bird, but is also an EP on Smoke for Crime Story Media, LLC. and credited with writing Episode 4 of the series.

Gudsen is inspired by John Leonard Orr, a serial arsonist who is believed to have set nearly 2,000 fires between 1984 and 1991. Like Egerton’s “Smoke” character, Orr was an arson investigator who would sometimes be part of the crew investigating his own crimes.

Dennis Lehane, whose literary canon includes the novels-turned-movie hits “Gone, Baby, Gone” and “Mystic River,” has turned to fire for his latest project — Apple TV+’s new nine-episode crime drama “Smoke.