The run of Black actors portraying former television stars continue with news that the update of Ironside has been picked up by NBC for their fall schedule starring Blair Underwood.
Underwood, who last starred in the NBC series, The Event, will take over the role from six-time Emmy Award winner Raymond Burr as Robert T. Ironside. In the update, Underwood will star as sexy and acerbic police detective who is relegated to a wheelchair after a shooting in this remake of the ‘60s series, which will find his character pushing and prodding his hand-picked team to solve the city’s most difficult cases. Greek’s Spencer Grammer, The Killing’s Brent Sexton also star.
The original show, which ran from 1967 to 1975, revolved around former San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) Chief of Detectives Robert T. Ironside (Raymond Burr), a veteran of more than twenty years of police service who was forced to retire from the department after a sniper’s bullet paralyzed him from the waist down, confining him to a wheelchair. The show earned Burr six Emmy and two Golden Globe nominations.
Check out the intro from the original show below: