stevenw84 OP t1_ja5izcl wrote on February 27, 2023 at 12:12 AM

Reply to comment by jblanch3 in Has any other TV show dipped in quality and fandom as much as New York Undercover? by stevenw84

Two non white cops with a female boss. Characters using racial slurs to help drive the point of the episode home (for example white kid accused of bombing black churches). Pretty edgy for the time but it was Fox, after all.

One thing the show portrayed was a strong, black man that was an attentive father. It often bucked stereotypes but sometimes would fall victim to some obvious preaching.

Then maybe halfway into season 3, the show became more generic, and lost some of the "urban" feel. I'm as white as they come, but grew up in an area where I was the minority.

Another thing that stuck with me was the subject matter. Lots of kids being killed on camera, and other brutal crimes relating to children either as victims or perpetrators.

Lastly, it made NYC look just as dirty as it really was at the time.

jblanch3 t1_ja5joke wrote on February 27, 2023 at 12:18 AM

Yes, I believe New York Undercover was part of Fox's Thursday night bloc, which were all shows with a (mostly) minority cast. I believe it was Martin, then Living Single, then New York Undercover (since Fox's prime time slot was just two hours, and still is today).

Your view on what changed about the show sounds about right. I can't point to anything specific (that time/memory thing yet again), but it started feeling "samey". A part of television since its inception has been shows about cops and the law, and so many of them seemed to hit the same exact note. New York Undercover appealed to me because it felt so fresh and raw compared to the other cop shows airing at that time. My theory is that the ratings were flat and the consultants at the network wanted to boost them up, so they "retooled" it and took away what made it fresh and raw and different. Again, something you see to this day.