New York Undercover

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.

This was one of those unique shows that should have acquired more praise. While white-dominated cop shows seem to be the norm, this show broke new ground with a diverse cast and minority related issues. Sadly, the whiteness of Hollywood was far too much to overcome in regards to the shelf life of this show. Malik Yoba and Michael DeLorenzo were especially excellent in this series, demonstrating their talent as they were constantly torn between race, culture and the police force. I especially felt the opening montages to the show provided quite a trademark within the series, using no words and only the pulsating beats of contemporary hip-hop and R&B artists to tell the story in a neo-silent film fashion. Whenever I can catch this show at 1 a.m. (and this is only on the weekends), I am rarely disappointed.

My show is gone to re-runs to never be returned. This was the excitement of television on Thursday nights along with the shows that came on before it. The story lines were believable, the cast really bonded, and the music (the bomb) set the mood. Natalies' became a forefront for artists of all genre to show their stuff. The clothes were hip, the acting was excellent (until season 4, that is) and the blend made you come back for more. USA is threading the re-runs to pieces by chopping off scenes to make the hour. Cheap shots to Femme thing and their so called movies make/made watching the re-runs unbearable. I miss those days when 'Lou' was hollering at anybody who moved, Michael was confused per usual with the girls and Malik and Chantel or Sandy was going head to head about something. Adding Lauren to the cast was sketchy at first and then she worked in very well. As for Lapaglia, well, leave it alone. He tried, he had a job for a minute. The ever increasingly new faces (some came back as other characters) was well played in to work right along the toe-to-toe cast of old. Boy do I miss this show. Boy do I wish I had taped them, I would have something to treasure. Dick Wolf you truly messed up a good thing just for ratings and little black boxes sakes.

I thought this show was very good. When I saw the first season, I was somewhat iffy about where it was going. The next season they added the beautiful Lauren Velez, and I think it was then that the show took off. I became a New York Undercover addict! I even enjoyed the episodes in which they brought in Detective Macnamara, played by Jonathan LaPaglia. The next thing I know, New York Undercover just went down hill due to the killing off of the characters Torres and Macnamara. I thought for sure that the season after Macnamara was introduced, that it would get better just as the show always seemed to do at the start of every new season. Well, Mr. Wolf handed fans a HUGE disappointment. I agree with the person who stated that this show could have survived at least two or three more seasons had they kept the Eddie Torres character. Dick Wolf should have seen disaster on the rise. Viewers were used to seeing Torres and Williams. You can't kill off one of the lead characters and expect to have a chance at good ratings. Not only did they kill off Torres and Macnamara, but they killed the spirit of the show. Tommy Ford as Lt. Barker looked more like a pimp than a cop. And who were these other rejects? Even Lt. Cooper left the show. I think fans only watched the very FIRST episode of the last season because they wanted to know if in fact Torres' character was really dead. Once they found out, that was it. Dick Wolf has learned his lesson I'm sure. When you've got a good thing, keep it the way it is. Nobody likes drastic changes to something that they're used to. He's learning that with Law & Order.

Show ruined in 4th season. Recently watched on Prime and the shows vibe drastically changed direction in the 4th season. I believe this was why in was canceled. Despite the last episode of season 3 being awesome and the first episode of season 4 action packed it lost it's appeal. It was if someone wanted it to be less ethnic and more main stream suburbia. The shows core was rooted in urban music, social economic hurdles, cultural differences, and complex dynamics of relationships encompassing the aforementioned. There are uncomfortable subjects and points of view in the series, but nothing outside the realm of reality. There were plenty of cop shows during that time depicting other ethnic and none ethnic groups. Why mess up a good thing....but the network did and the show never recovered. The show during it's time was a great starting point for exposing up and coming talent to a larger audience. So many actors and actresses show up in the episodes which makes it fun and interesting to watch. In the end, I'd still watch NYU knowing what I know. Kind of like life; you know you're going to get old if you life long enough and you know it'll suck, but you enjoy it as long as you can anyway.