New York Undercover is an American police drama that aired on the Fox television network from September 8, 1994, to February 11, 1999. The series starred Malik Yoba as Detective J.C. Williams and Michael DeLorenzo as Detective Eddie Torres, two undercover detectives in New York City's Fourth Precinct who were assigned to investigate various crimes and gang-related cases. The cast also included Patti D'Arbanville-Quinn as their superior, Lt. Virginia Cooper, and Lauren Vélez, who joined the cast in the second season as Nina Moreno, fellow detective and love interest to Torres. New York Undercover was co-created and produced by Dick Wolf, and its storyline takes place in the same fictional universe[broken anchor] as Wolf's NBC series Law & Order, its spin-offs, the Chicago and FBI series, and Homicide: Life on the Street.
New York Undercover (whose working title during development was Uptown Undercover, named after the record label, Uptown Records, whose founder and CEO, Andre Harrell, was also the executive producer of the series)[1] is notable for being the first police drama on American television to feature two people of color in the starring roles.[2] In contrast to the popularity of NBC's "Must See TV" on Thursday nights in the 1990s, many African-American viewers flocked to Fox's Thursday-night line-up of Martin, Living Single, and New York Undercover.
Synopsis
In addition to the main storylines in each episode, subplots explored the private lives of the show's characters. For example, Det. Williams struggled to raise his young son, Gregory (George O. Gore II), while Torres was shown to be fighting family and other related problems, including having to cope with his father (Mike Torres, played by Jose Perez), whose drug addiction and HIV-positive status causes recurring issues, and a childhood-friend turned organized-crime boss.
At the beginning of the third season, a new detective, Tommy McNamara (Jonathan LaPaglia), was introduced as a principal character. In the third-season finale in May 1997, Torres and Moreno are married. However, in that same episode, Torres and McNamara are both killed by a gang of bank robbers.
The series returned with a new cast for its fourth and final season in January 1998. Williams and Moreno were assigned to a new unit, resulting in Cooper being dropped from the cast. Joining the detectives were Lt. Malcolm Barker (played by Tommy Ford), Det. Nell Delaney (Marisa Ryan), and Det. Alec Stone (Josh Hopkins). The new unit eventually captured the last bank robber responsible for the deaths of Torres and McNamara.
Controversies
On July 23, 1996, the day shooting was supposed to begin on the third season, lead actors Malik Yoba and Michael DeLorenzo didn't show up, having joined together and presenting a list of demands to creator/producer Dick Wolf. Both actors wanted their pay increased, DeLorenzo stated that the duo were making $40,000 each per episode and they wanted $100,000 each per episode. They also wanted more creative input with DeLorenzo in particular wanting to direct a few episodes. They wanted a gym, trailers for the stars and better food to be provided on set.
After receiving their demands, Dick Wolf declined, and said that New York Undercover was not Friends (during this time the stars of Friends wanted their salary to be increased to $1 million per episode and had presented a united front to get their demands). Wolf was irate, calling the demands of actors joining together to hold a show in limbo "a virus" to the entertainment industry and he threatened to write both Yoba and DeLorenzo out of the show altogether.
A day after the holdout, Universal Television, which was the production company of the show, filed a $1.2 million lawsuit against DeLorenzo and Yoba, claiming that the two had breached their contract and claimed that they were costing the show $60,000 each day they didn't show up to work.[3]
After three days, the holdout ended and the two actors returned back to set, with their demands unmet, and continued under the terms of their original contract. However, tensions lingered between DeLorenzo and executive producer Wolf, and towards the end of season three, DeLorenzo's character, Detective Eddie Torres, was killed in a car explosion. Yoba was retained on the show for its fourth and final season.
The principal cast members from season 2 of New York Undercover (clockwise, from top left): Patti D'Arbanville-Quinn as Virginia Cooper, Lauren Vélez as Nina Moreno, Michael DeLorenzo as Eddie Torres, and Malik Yoba as J.C. Williams.
Malik Yoba as Det. Julius Clarence "J.C." Williams: J.C. is an African-American detective at the Fourth Precinct. He is a salty but dedicated, street-smart detective whose optimism toward his job wanes over time. He has a son, Gregory, whom he fathered as a teenager with then-girlfriend Chantal Tierney. His partner Eddie Torres is his closest friend. J.C. is the only character to appear in all 89 episodes.
Michael DeLorenzo as Det. Eduardo "Eddie" Torres (seasons 1–3): Born in the Bronx, Eddie is a Puerto Rican–American detective. He is the more hot-headed of the pair, with partner J.C. being the more level-headed one. Torres is a smart, talented undercover officer. After years of estrangement from much of his immediate family, he formed close relationships with his brother Jimmy, a priest; his sister Carmen, a journalist; and his father Mike, a musician and recovering heroin addict. His partner J.C. Williams is his closest friend. At the end of the third season, Eddie is killed in the line of duty after his car is bombed in a revenge attack by bank robber Nadine Jordan.
Patti D'Arbanville-Quinn as Lt. Virginia Cooper (seasons 1–3): Virginia is the show's "tough but fair" commanding officer during the first three seasons. She is married and has four children, one of whom died at the age of eight. She is the commanding officer of the detective squad at the NYPD's Fourth Precinct. She frequently tells the detectives to solve their cases and do it by the book. After the third season, she's never seen or heard from again as a result of her being dropped from the cast.
Lauren Vélez as Det. Nina Moreno-Torres (seasons 2–4): Nina is a NY Puerto Rican. At the age of 16, she married her boyfriend Luis and gave birth to a daughter, Melissa. She places the girl for adoption after Luis abandoned her. She later dated and married Eddie Torres, but was widowed soon after following his murder. Her mother is a sergeant with the NYPD.
Jonathan LaPaglia as Det. Tommy McNamara (season 3): Tommy is an Irish-Italian American detective. His father was a police officer who was killed in the line of duty, with many suspecting that he was corrupt. Prior to his transfer to the Fourth Precinct, he had very little interaction with New York's African-American and Latino neighborhoods or police officers. At the end of the third season, Tommy is killed after being shot to death by Nadine Jordan, whose gang he'd infiltrated while undercover.
Marisa Ryan as Det. Nell Delaney (season 4): Nell is a young officer introduced in the fourth season. She lied about her age upon entering the police academy, but the NYPD chose to overlook this when she was exposed years later. She is a close friend of fellow detective Alec Stone.
Josh Hopkins as Det. Alec Stone (season 4): The S.I.D squads tech expert. Born Alec D'Amico, he is the son of the head of a Brooklyn-based organized crime family. Alec's decision to pursue a career in law enforcement has estranged him from most of his relatives. It was mentioned once in the series that Stone served six years as a Navy SEAL prior to joining NYPD. He is a close friend of fellow detective Nell Delaney.
Tommy Ford as Lt. Malcolm Barker (season 4): Malcolm is the commanding officer of the NYPD's Special Investigations Division. Barker is a tough, demanding, and unconventional team leader. Most of the S.I.D.'s operations are covert and the detectives names and records are wiped from the database system when they go under. When they first arrive to his division, J.C. & Nina bump heads with him a lot due to his style of command as they are used to Lt. Cooper's "by the book" approach as he has a different mentality, frequently instructing his detectives to "lie, cheat, [and do] whatever it takes" to close a case. Unlike Cooper who only did an undercover assignment if necessary, Barker would go undercover with his subordinates more frequently.
Recurring
Family
George Gore II as Gregory "G" Williams: Gregory is the son of J.C. Williams and Chantel Tierney. In the pilot episode, he is described as a nine-year-old. For most of Season 1, his given age is 10. By the beginning of Season 3, his given age is 13 and by season 4, his given age is 14. He is the only recurring character to appear in all four seasons.
Michael Michele as Sandra Gill (season 1): Sandy is an attorney in her late twenties. Throughout Season 1, she was involved with J.C. Williams. She became pregnant with J.C.'s baby and agreed to marry him, but was murdered on the eve of their wedding by Danny Cort, a criminal with a vendetta against J.C.
Fatima Faloye as Chantel Tierney (seasons 1–3): Chantel is a registered nurse in her late twenties. She has a son, Gregory, to whom she gave birth as a teenager with then-boyfriend J.C. Williams.
Kamar de los Reyes as Luis (season 2): Luis was the teenage boyfriend of Nina Moreno, whom he married after she became pregnant. The child, a girl, was placed for adoption and given the name Melissa Lewis. Luis soon abandoned Nina. While she moved on with her life, Nina never divorced Luis. Years later, after he and Nina finally agreed to begin divorce proceedings, Luis was killed during a mugging.
Roger Robinson as Major Harold Williams (season 3): An officer with the United States Army Special Forces, he is the father of J.C. Williams. He abandoned his wife and son, and did not contact J.C. again for 17 years.
José Perez as Mike Torres (seasons 1–3): Mike is a jazz and salsa musician, and a recovering heroin addict. Having alienated much of his family over the years, he is closest to his son Eddie.
José Zúñiga as Father Jimmy Torres (seasons 1–2): Jimmy is a Catholic priest, and the older brother of Eddie Torres.
Lisa Vidal as Carmen Torres (seasons 1–2): Carmen is a newspaper reporter, and the sister of Eddie Torres.
Nancy Ticotin as Teresa Torres Rivera (seasons 1 and 3): Teresa is the well-to-do sister of Eddie Torres.
Steve Ryan as Dave Cooper (seasons 2–3): Dave is the husband of Virginia Cooper.
Eden Riegel as Megan Cooper (seasons 2–3): Megan is the daughter of Virginia Cooper. As a preteen, Megan befriends a man in an online chat room. When she meets him in person, he kidnaps and rapes her. During his subsequent attempt to avoid arrest, the man is shot and killed by Virginia.
Marina Durell as Sgt. Sonia Moreno (seasons 2–3): A sergeant with the NYPD, she is the mother of Nina Moreno.
Zoe Dora Lukov as Melissa Lewis (season 3): Melissa is the biological daughter of Nina Moreno and her first husband Luis. Because her parents were still teenagers when she was born, she was placed for adoption.
Dean Winters as Paul Delany (season 4): A firefighter with the FDNY, he is the brother of Nell Delany.
Jennifer Esposito as Gina D'Amico (season 4): The former lover of Alec Stone, she is now married to his brother Frankie D'Amico.
Justin Theroux as Frankie D'Amico (season 4): An organized crime boss with the Brooklyn-based D'Amico Family, he is the brother of Alec Stone.
Sean Squire as Roger (season 4): Roger is the maternal half-brother of Malcolm Barker. He and Malcolm are estranged.
John Costelloe as John Santucci (seasons 1–3): Santucci is an organized crime boss connected to the Gambino Family. He was a childhood acquaintance of Eddie Torres, and there is personal animus between the two.
Ice-T as Danny "Danny-Up" Cort (seasons 1–2): A chemistry wiz, Cort was a rising drug kingpin until being apprehended by detectives from the Fourth Precinct. After J.C. Williams killed his brother in a police shootout, Cort retaliated by murdering J.C.'s pregnant fiancée Sandy Gill, igniting a bitter feud between the two men which only ended when J.C. killed him in self defense.
Giancarlo Esposito as Adolfo Guzman (season 2): Guzman was a childhood rival of Eddie Torres, and as an adult became a criminal associate of John Santucci. The animus between Eddie and Guzman grew when Guzman attempted to take over Mike Torres' nightclub.
Naomi Campbell as Simone Jeffers (season 2): Sometime after Sandy Gill's death, Jeffers seduced J.C. Williams as part of a revenge plot instigated by Danny Cort.
Ernest Abuba as Sonny Fung (season 3): Fung was an organized crime lord in the Chinatown section in Manhattan. He ordered the death of Tommy McNamara's father, a corrupt police officer secretly working with Fung. Years later, Fung is killed in a shootout by another corrupt police officer, Harry Bennett (the elder McNamara's former partner).
Dana Eskelson as Nadine Jordan (seasons 3–4): Jordan was part of a highly skilled bank robbery team, and was responsible for the murder of Detective Tommy McNamara after discovering he was a cop that had infiltrated her gang. Eventually, every member of her crew was captured or killed by the police, but she escaped. In retaliation, she killed Eddie Torres, becoming the primary enemy of J.C. Williams (Eddie's best friend) and Nina Moreno (Eddie's bride) during the fourth and final season. Nadine is eventually captured and convicted of her numerous crimes (including Eddie and Tommy's murders), but is spared the death penalty and given life without parole, much to J.C. and Nina's dismay. Nina eventually kills her in self-defense during an undercover operation in a prison.
Others
Victor Colicchio as "Slick Rick" (season 1): One of Eddie Torres' confidential informants.
Elizabeth Rodriguez as Gina (season 1): Eddie Torres' off-and-on girlfriend during Season 1.
Gladys Knight as Natalie (season 1): The original owner of Natalie's, the nightclub which appears in virtually every episode of the series' first three seasons.
Rosanna Scotto as Herself (seasons 1–3): She is a television reporter for WNYW, the Fox station in New York.
Isaiah Washington as Andre Morgan (season 2): An ex-convict released on parole, Andre is a single father whose son is a friend and hockey teammate of J.C. Williams' son Gregory.
N'Bushe Wright as Carol (season 2): Carol is Andre Morgan's parole officer. She dates J.C. Williams briefly.
Tyra Banks as Natasha Claybourne (season 3): Natasha is Gregory Williams' French teacher. She briefly dates J.C.
Multiple-role players
Numerous actors made appearances in two or more episodes portraying different characters. Before joining the cast in Season 2 as Nina Moreno, Lauren Vélez appeared in the first-season episode "Olde Tyme Religion" as a believer in Santería. Additionally, J.K. Simmons guest starred as Sgt. Treadway in the Season 2 episode "Unis," returning in Season 4's "Mob Street" as Law & Order police psychiatrist Emil Skoda. Michelle Hurd played a recurring role in Seasons 1 and 2 as A.D.A. Reynolds, but returned as a criminal in Season 3's "No Place Like Hell". Joe Lisi appeared in the second-season episode "Bad Blood" before assuming a recurring role as the Chief of Detectives in Season 4. Both Jesse L. Martin and Ice-T portrayed criminals on this series before ultimately landing their iconic roles as detectives on Law & Order and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, respectively.
The following actors also appeared in multiple roles:
A second soundtrack album for the series containing contemporary R&B music, New York Undercover: A Night At Natalie's, was released on January 13, 1998 by MCA Records. The album features R&B songs performed by some of the various musical acts at Natalie's, the nightclub which appears in virtually every episode of the series' first three seasons, such as 112, Mary J. Blige, Xscape, Chaka Khan, Teena Marie, K-Ci & JoJo, Brownstone, Gerald Levert, B.B. King, Tito Nieves, and The Barrio Boyzz. The album also contains a song performed by Michael DeLorenzo, who plays Detective Eddie Torres, titled "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight".
Potential reboot/revival
On December 5, 2018, Deadline reported that series creator Dick Wolf and ABC were in talks to reboot the series.[4] Six days later, ABC officially committed the reboot to a pilot.[5]
On January 31, 2019, ABC officially ordered the reboot to pilot, also revealing that it would officially be a revival of the original series, featuring both old characters and a new cast.[6] In February 2019, both Malik Yoba and Lauren Veléz were confirmed to reprise their respective roles as J.C. Williams and Nina Moreno, with Williams now being the overseeing officer of the new young detectives, and Moreno being retired, but retaining ties to her old unit. On March 12, 2019, ABC cast Toby Sandeman and Otmara Marrero as the revival's two lead detectives Nat Gilmore and Melissa Ortiz, as well as Anna Enger and Octavio Pisano as supporting detectives Lisa Kim and Moses Hernandez, and MC Lyte as Lieutenant April Freeman, the unit's new boss.[7]
On May 10, 2019, it was announced that the revival would not move forward on ABC, but would be shopped to other networks and streaming services.[8] As of January 2020, it is still being shopped around. In July 2020, Deadline reported that the revival might come to fruition on NBCUniversal's new streaming service, Peacock.[9]
Rerun
The show and all the seasons are currently available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video and Peacock.[when?] The show re-aired on VH1 and BET.[when?]
Related Research Articles
NYPD Blue is an American police procedural television series set in New York City, exploring the struggles of the fictional 15th Precinct detective squad in Manhattan. Each episode typically intertwines several plots involving an ensemble cast. The show was created by Steven Bochco and David Milch, and was inspired by Milch's relationship with Bill Clark, a former member of the New York City Police Department who eventually became one of the show's producers. The series was originally broadcast by ABC from September 21, 1993‚ to March 1, 2005. It was ABC's longest-running primetime one-hour drama series until Grey's Anatomy surpassed it in 2016.
Robert "Bobby" Goren is a fictional character featured in the NBC-USA Network police procedural and legal drama television series Law & Order: Criminal Intent, portrayed by Vincent D'Onofrio.
Abdul-Malik Kashie Yoba is an American actor. He is known for his starring role as NYPD Detective J. C. Williams on the Fox police drama New York Undercover and as Yul Brenner in the film Cool Runnings. He appeared as former FBI agent Bill Harken on the Syfy drama series Alphas, as Jim Hudson in Revolution, and as Vernon Turner in Empire. He also starred in the role of FBI Deputy Director Jason Atwood in the ABC political drama Designated Survivor. In 2018, he joined the Netflix drama Seven Seconds as a member of a support group for parents who had lost their children. He also appeared in Jordan Peele’s TBS comedy The Last OG with Tracy Morgan.
Leonard W. Briscoe is a fictional character on NBC's long-running police procedural and legal drama television series Law & Order. He was created by Walon Green and René Balcer and portrayed by Jerry Orbach. He was featured on the show for 12 seasons, from 1992 to 2004, making him one of the longest-serving main characters in the series' history, as well as the longest-serving police detective on the show. He also appeared in three Law & Order spin-offs and was part of the original cast of Law & Order: Trial by Jury, appearing in the first two episodes prior to his death. He appears in 282 episodes, the TV movie Exiled and the Law & Order video games Law & Order: Dead on the Money, Law & Order: Double or Nothing, Law & Order: Justice Is Served and Law & Order: Legacies.
Michael Logan is a fictional character in the police procedural and legal drama television series Law & Order franchise, played by Chris Noth. He appears in 148 episodes of the franchise as well as in one episode of Homicide: Life on the Street. He also appeared in Exiled: A Law & Order Movie.
Elliot Stabler Sr. is a fictional character, played by Christopher Meloni and one of the lead characters on the NBC police procedural series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order: Organized Crime.
Olivia ¨Liv¨ Margaret Benson is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the NBC police procedural drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, portrayed by Mariska Hargitay. Benson holds the rank and pay-grade of Captain and is the Commanding Officer of the Manhattan Special Victims Unit of the New York City Police Department, which operates out of the 16th Precinct. She investigates sexual offenses such as rape and child sexual abuse.
Michael DeLorenzo is an American actor, director, writer, producer, dancer, and musician. He is known for his work in television and film.
Scott Cohen is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of Wolf in the 2000 NBC miniseries The 10th Kingdom, his performance as detective Steve Thomas in Perfect Murder, Perfect Town, his recurring role as Lorelai Gilmore's love interest Max Medina on the WB series Gilmore Girls, and his role as Josh in the indie romantic flick Kissing Jessica Stein.
Dr. Elizabeth Olivet is a fictional character on Law & Order, the TV crime drama. Carolyn McCormick portrayed her from 1991 to 1997 and in 1999. The character was revived in 2002, although her appearances were infrequent and her last was in 2009. Since Law & Order’s cancellation, the Dr. Olivet character has occasionally been on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, most recently in 2018.
Detective Brian Cassidy is a fictional character played by Dean Winters in the American crime drama television series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit on NBC. A recurring cast member during the first season, Cassidy is a young and inexperienced detective with the New York Police Department's Special Victims Unit, and the original partner of John Munch.
Scott William Winters is an American actor.
F/X: The Series is a television series based on the film F/X, starring Cameron Daddo, Christina Cox, Kevin Dobson, Jacqueline Torres, Carrie-Anne Moss and Jason Blicker. It ran for 40 episodes from 1996 through 1998.
Chicago P.D. is an American police procedural action drama television series created by Dick Wolf and Matt Olmstead and is the second installment of Wolf's Wolf Entertainment's Chicago franchise. The series premiered on NBC as a mid-season replacement on January 8, 2014. The show follows the uniformed patrol officers and the Intelligence Unit of the 21st District of the Chicago Police Department as they pursue the perpetrators of the city's major street offenses.
"The Promised Land" is an episode from the police drama television series New York Undercover, and was first broadcast on February 20, 1997 on Fox. Written by Reggie Rock Bythewood and directed by Don Kurt, it is the 17th episode of the third season, and the 69th episode of the series.
Law & Order: Organized Crime is an American crime drama television series that premiered on April 1, 2021, on NBC. The seventh series in the Law & Order franchise and a spin-off of Law & Order and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, the series stars Christopher Meloni as Elliot Stabler, reprising his role from SVU. The show features a "single-arc" storyline that takes multiple episodes to resolve.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
