C. Sean Currie (hypestyle)
Premiering in the fall of 1994, this was a great urban action/drama series, it could have lasted for longer than it did. There were excellent musical guests every week, lifting from the Soul, R&B & Jazz worlds.. It was consistently in the top 3 of Urban Households (i.e., black/Latino), but struggled to get crossover ratings during its run. Despite the show clearly having a big Urban following, allegedly the network and/or production studio did not have much in the way of promotional merchandise to accompany the program. The show aired for most of its run on Thursdays, 9 p.m. Eastern Time, directly competing with the then-juggernaut of NBC's 1990's Thursday block of "Must See TV" shows like Seinfeld, Friends, E.R., etc. The then-head of urban music label Uptown/MCA records, Andre' Harrell, was part of the initial team who pitched the show, initially called "Uptown Undercover" before it was accepted by FOX. Producer Dick Wolf of the "Law & Order" franchise was intrigued, and helped secure network support.Malik Yoba and Michael DeLorenzo play detectives J.C. Williams and Eddie Torres, two young New York undercover cops stationed at the 4th Precinct in Harlem. Their boss is the tough but fair "Lou", Lieutenant Virginia Cooper (Patti D'arbanville-Quinn). Their adventures usually revolved around solving crimes committed in their Harlem district, which ran the gambit from drugs, sex crimes, murders, kidnappings and more. After the first season, Lauren Velez, as the character of Nina Moreno was added, and had good chemistry with Delorenzo, who would become a romantic interest-- eventually, the characters were married. At one point after the 2nd season, DeLorenzo and Yoba briefly held out from filming in a bid to get more money. Head producer Dick Wolf played hardball and threatened to simply kill them off-screen in the 3rd season debut episode (in a fire) and replace them with two new detectives. Obviously, Yoba and DeLorenzo returned. In the third season, Jonathan LaPaglia was added as Tommy McNamara, a 2nd-generation Irish-American cop transferred from Queens who initially has some friction with the other guys but they eventually come to respect each other. Some of the recurring sub-plots running through different points of the show are Eddie's strained relationship with his father, a talented jazz musician who's also a recovering drug addict. J.C. was a teen father, now sharing custody of son George ('G') with his mother Chantal. Both detectives would juggle romance and work; Eddie had a fateful dalliance with a known mobster's daughter, who was the sister of a neighborhood friend-turned-mob soldier; J.C. found his family targeted by sadistic drug dealer Danny Cort (played by Ice-T). McNamara's policeman dad was apparently dismissed dishonorably, and proving his dad's innocence was a lingering obsession. The precinct was targeted by Internal Affairs at least once, and Cooper was tempted by an extramarital affair with a fellow cop.sadly, the producers and/or the network decided to throw a bomb into the mix-- literally-- and ended the third season by abruptly killing Torres and McNamara at the hands of a sadistic female terrorist-- the 4th season, which started in January the following year, took Morena and Williams, placing them in a midtown Manhattan precinct (they usually met in a seemingly abandoned building), for a unique, cross-precinct undercover squad overseen by the anal hardcase Lt. Malcolm Barker (Tommy Ford from "Martin")..Two new (white) detectives were added, Josh Hopkins/Det. Alec Stone, and Marisa Ryan/Det. Nell Delaney; the idea was to get the detectives to explore more diverse locales and situations in NYC, and to get more mainstream viewers with the new detectives.. It didn't work.. and during the abbreviated 13-episode run of the 4th season, ratings sank even further, effectively killing the show.. Somewhat predictably, Wolf's gamble at a radical re-imagining of the series was NOT accepted by the show's loyal, though "cult" audience. In my opinion, the killing of Torres, and to a lesser extent, McNamara, was too radical a move, and offended loyal viewers. If the show's cast was left intact circa season 3, I think it would have done just fine. The arrogance of Dick Wolf, and the relative indifference of the network is was really made the show go under, not pandering to "liberalism" or whatever nonsense others may dream up (The criminals that J.C., Eddie & company came up against were from all ethnic backgrounds, so the show wasn't some "Black & Latin cop bust bad Whiteys Every Week" cliché').
IrockGswift
At the beginning it was only detectives JC Williams (Malik Yoba) and Eddie Torres (Michael Delorenzo). In that first season it showed the viewers that it was the first black and hispanic cop show on the history of television. Which also gave the viewers, how we see urban crimes today. The first season played all the latest R&B and urban style of music we listened to. The fashions these cops wore the urban community can relate to and the hip language they spoke. JC Williams played by Malik Yoba was a tough New York cop who had no patients for law-breakers. He is also the father of a ten year old son (G),who he has a hard time raising because of the long hours trying to crack down on a case,and his son becoming an adolescenes. It was difficult for JC because he has a finacee he has to spend quality time with,and had to juggle his personal time around his work hours. As for Eddie Torres played by Michael Delorenzo he had issues of his own like someday owning his father's nightclub (Natalie's)and dealing with his father's drug problem. Their work is overseen by the no nonsense Lt.Virginia Cooper. The second season introduce a new member to the detective duo (Nina Moreno) and she was Eddie Torres partnered while JC was recovering from a near fatal incident. The beginning of that season JC became bitter and more aggressive towards criminals,and his partner (Torres) took notice of that and tries to tell him to lightened up some (due to the fatal homicide of his finacee to which JC felt helpless and knowing the killer is still walking the streets). At the end of the "Brotherhood" episode there was a dramatic seen where Torres and JC fight and Torres letting him know that he is still with him,after JC told him he is still mourning the pain of his murdered fiancee. The second season ended with the new detective Nina Moreno (Laura Velez) as Eddie Torres love interest. By the third season the show became more diverse by adding a third cast member name Tommy Mcnamera (Jonathan Lapglia who is Italian). Mcnamera became Nina's partner till she froze up at gunpoint when a criminal who had Mcnamera's life in his hands. Sadly the third season ended with Torres and Mcnamera being killed off by a couple of bank-robbers. There leaving JC and Moreno transferring to a special unit which the show now suitable to a wall street-like audience. At the end it sucked,but in the beginning the show was interesting.
John
By many in the Black community, "New York: Undercover" appeared to be a show representing progress, a breath of fresh air. It was a drama that featured a predominantly minority cast. Black television shows usually are comedies. This is not good in terms of recognizing the Black experience in America. Therefore, the basis is good. However, the show had some problems.* There was an extreme overemphasis on the hip-hop clothing and the music arrangements. At times, I felt as if I was watching a one-hour music video with dramatic snipets. This was particularly true of the first season. The goal of this overemphasis was to appeal to teenagers with short attention spans. The show dealt with important issues such as police brutality and racism. Shows like "NYPD Blue" and "Law and Order" deal with these issues with such intelligence and intensity. These shows also appeal to those with higher levels of intelligence and longer attention spans. Young people were "New York: Undercover"'s target audience. Unfortunately, the average young person in America has a short attention span. Any attempt to expose them to relevant issues with intensity without style would have bored them. Hence, substance had to be sacrificed in exchange for high levels of style.* Malik Yoba developed an ego. He earned an NAACP Image Award for his role on the show. Afterwards, he felt that the show revolved around him and demanded more money. Executive Producer Dick Wolf threatened to replace him (as well as Michael DeLorenzo), and he backed off. This emphasized that this show did not survive on good acting, but on who looks good in a FUBU jacket!* The writers tried to develop soap opera-like storylines that continued over several episodes. On "NYPD Blue", the beginning of each episode starts "Previously, on "NYPD Blue",". Pieces of previous episodes revolving around various storylines were shown, to lead to their continuation in the upcoming episode. "New York: Undercover" tried to imitate that. It just fell flat.* The Fourth Season: This was the season where wholesale changes were made. Michael Delorenzo had been killed off. Tommy Ford was brought in as their new boss. New cops had been brought in. The headquarters was a building that looked abandoned. This new format looked like a middle-aged "21 Jump Street". This new format had some real bright spots. Tommy Ford did some nice acting in his role as Lt. Malcolm Barker. However, the FOX network did not allow this new format a chance to develop. That was too bad.Everyone tried. However, it was going to end eventually. For those who appreciated what the writers, producers, and actors tried to do, the only left is to enjoy the edited syndicated reruns.
