Deadline is reporting that ABC’s contemporary New York Undercover reboot pilot has added five series regulars. MC Lyte (Queen of the South) is set as hard-driving Lt. April Freeman, who has a genius-level IQ; Otmara Marrero (StartUp) will play fiery young detective Melissa Ortiz; Toby Sandeman (She’s Gotta Have It) portrays charismatic, short-tempered Nat Gilmore; Anna Enger (Chicago Med) will be seen as ambitious Lisa Kim; and Octavio Pizano (If Loving You is Wrong) is set as Moses Hernandez, an eager beaver with a hero complex.
From Ben Watkins (Hand of God) and executive produced by Dick Wolf (FBI), the new New York Undercover follows detectives Nat Gilmore and Melissa Ortiz as they investigate the city’s most dangerous criminals from Harlem to Battery Park. In addition to this latest group of series regulars, the series will see Luna Lauren Velez (Dexter) and Malik Yoba (Alphas) reprise their original series roles as J.C. Williams and Nina Moreno, respectively.
Running from 1994 – 1999 on FOX, the original New York Undercover followed then-Detective J.C. Williams (Yoba) and Detective Eddie Torres (Michael DeLorenzo) as they worked undercover in New York City’s Fourth Precinct. The series, which co-starred the likes of Patti D’Arbanville-Quinn (Third Watch) and Josh Hopkins (Cougar Town), was the first police drama on American television to feature two people of color in starring roles.
New York Undercover is one of two New York-based ’90s cop drama reboots in the making for ABC, joining NYPD Blue. The network has a drama pilot slate that also includes romance The Baker and the Beauty; family drama Heart of Life; stalker thriller The Hypnotist’s Love Story; P.I. drama Stumptown; an untitled legal drama produced by 50 Cent; Bermuda Triangle-set Triangle; and relationship drama Until the Wedding.