![]() In addition to serving as a safe haven during the show’s first three seasons, it was the place where hip-hop and R&B stars new and old would perform classics. Natalie’s was as important a character to New York Undercover as the city itself. Which brings us to the show's defining characteristic: its music. What's more, legendary singer Gladys Knight played Natalie, who owned Natalie’s, the after-hours spot where nearly every episode during the show’s first three seasons concluded. Tyra Banks played one of G’s teachers and another love interest of J.C. NBA Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing popped up, as did his bruising former New York Knicks teammate Anthony Mason, who appeared in the same episode as then-rising NBA star Chris Webber. Naomi Campbell had an extended role as a woman Cort employed to get close to J.C. In a stark deviation from his New Jack City role, Ice-T, with his flowing mane and signature black shades, played drug dealer Danny Cort, J.C.’s biggest foe during the show’s first two seasons. But the show did more than merely cast reputable actors and artists, it placed them in major roles and effective cameos. The advent of the Internet has eliminated the element of surprise these days, but not knowing about special guests or cameos more than a week in advance added to the anticipation of watching a show each week during the ‘90s. Wolf's time on Miami Vice’s set familiarized him with the concept of the "cool" cop show, and part of what made New York Undercover attractive was its guest stars. What truly set the series apart from others in the same vein was its appeal. But heart and character strength aside, the show excelled by keeping its finger on the pulse of popular culture. The relationships that the primary characters had with each other drove the show, as it went beyond simply clearing cases within an hour each week. The entire unit’s response to the crime was key to her daughter's safe return. Virginia Cooper ( Patti D’Arbanville Quinn), during the show’s second season when her daughter was abducted by a pedophile she met via dial-up era Internet. Nina Moreno ( Lauren Velez), Eddie’s eventual wife. Some of that stress was alleviated during the second season through the addition of Det. Eddie dealt with his own family struggles, including his mother’s illness during the show’s opening season and his father’s struggle with drugs. was raising his son, "G" ( George Gore lll), as a single father in conjunction with ex-girlfriend, Chantel ( Fatima Fayole). and Eddie’s lives off the job were just as compelling as the danger they faced in the line of duty while working for the city's Fourth Precinct. Unlike Law & Order, New York Undercover went beyond the process, and did so with more personality than any other cop show of that period. ![]() Viewers felt like legal experts because they watched the system work in accelerated fashion on a weekly (and daily, once the show became syndicated) basis. Despite the original Law & Order’s near-record breaking longevity, it followed a formulaic path to solving crime. ![]() Wolf, who cut his teeth on Miami Vice, is the mind behind NBC’s Law & Order and its many spin-offs. New York Undercover became that show-one which differed greatly from more well-known projects that Wolf was involved in. "We felt there was a huge minority audience out there that did not have a show to identify with," he told the New York Times in 1996. Dick Wolf, the show’s co-executive producer, knew exactly what he was doing. An entire demographic which had been largely ignored at the time was given a cop show with characters who looked like them in the two lead roles. Eddie Torres ( Michael DeLorenzo) was Puerto Rican. Williams ( Malik Yoba) was black, while Det. The final piece of that puzzle, Undercover offered its audience a program about law enforcement where both leads were played by minorities: Det. When New York Undercover premiered on Fox in the fall of 1994, it joined Martin and Living Single, completing the network’s Thursday night triumvirate of excellence for minority viewers. ![]()
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