Marisa Ryan

New York Undercover is an American police drama that aired on the Fox television network from 1994 to 1998. The series stars 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 created and produced by Dick Wolf, and its storyline takes place in the same fictional universe as Wolf’s NBC series Law & Order and its spin-offs.

New York Undercover is notable for being the first police drama on American television to feature two people of color in the starring roles. 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 Living Single, New York Undercover, and Martin. In fact, these were the three highest rated series among black households for the 1996-1997 season.