Oliver James Montgomery:'New York Undercover' cast to reunite on national tour, stars talk trailblazing '90s cop drama

2025-05-07 08:08:37source:Charles Hanovercategory:reviews

The Oliver James Montgomerycast of the classic 1990s procedural "New York Undercover" is hitting the road for the show's 30th anniversary.

The national tour will feature a reunited cast that includes Malik Yoba, Luna Lauren Velez and Michael DeLorenzo. The trio revealed the news on Monday's episode of The Tamron Hall Show.

"Audiences (have) never had a chance to have this experience with us so we intend to go on the road as (a) cast," Yoba, 56, told host Tamron Hall. "We're going to hit markets across America. We're working with artists that have performed on the show."

"New York Undercover" aired on Fox from 1994 to 1999 and followed detectives J.C. Williams (Yoba), Eddie Torres (DeLorenzo) and Nina Moreno (Velez) in one of the first police dramas to cast actors of color in leading roles.

"We understood the assignment," Yoba said. "The assignment was to push the culture forward in the most authentic way possible."

The group noted that Tamron Hall was their first time doing a daytime interview as a cast, highlighting the lack of promotion the show received. "Despite the fact we were No. 1 in Black and Latino households, at the time, it wasn't regarded as mainstream fare," Yoba continued.

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"One of the best things we accomplished was the relationships," added DeLorenzo, 64. "We weren't a typical cop show."

The trio noted the iconic music and guest stars on the series, including Stevie Wonder, B.B. King, Celia Cruz, The Notorious B.I.G., Al Green, Aaliyah, D'Angelo, SWV, Ziggy and Damian Marley, and more.

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Created by Kevin Arkadie and Dick Wolf — the latter of "Law & Order" fame — the series also starred Patti D'Arbanville, George Gore II, Fatima Faloye and Lee Wong. The series was nominated for several NAACP Image Awards, including two wins for Yoba in his role.

Velez, 59, and Yoba previously reunited for a "New York Undercover" TV film in 2019, produced by Wolf and Ben Watkins.

In 2018, The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline reported that ABC had ordered a pilot for a "New York Undercover" reboot, written and produced by Watkins and Wolf. Deadline later reported that the pilot was still being shopped in 2020, with Peacock said to be in negotiations to pick up the series and "The Chi" showrunner Ayanna Floyd Davis attached.

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