Blair Underwood is photographed after taking part in a 'Q & A' session to promote the television series "Ironside" as Shaw Media announce their fall programming at a press conference in Toronto on June 5, 2013. Blair Underwood had a couple of consultants, including his mother, to help him understand the physical and emotional aspects of being in a wheelchair for his new "Ironside" series reboot. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

TORONTO - Blair Underwood had a couple of consultants, including his mother, to help him understand the physical and emotional aspects of being in a wheelchair for his new "Ironside" series reboot.

The one-hour drama finds Underwood as intrepid NYPD Det. Robert Ironside, who is in a wheelchair after his spine was shattered by a bullet on the job two years ago.

Underwood says he worked closely with engineer and athlete David Bryant, who is a paraplegic, to nail the physicality of the role. Bryant doesn't have handles on the back of his wheelchair because he doesn't want anyone to help him, and that outlook inspired the toughness Underwood needed to play Ironside.

To tap into the emotional component, Underwood looked to his mother, who has multiple sclerosis.

"My mother happens to be in a wheelchair, so I've spent a lot of time with her talking about her experiences," the two-time Golden Globe nominee said during a recent stop in Toronto.

The emotional element was the most difficult to deal with, he noted.

"I have to tell you, it was more of an adjustment mentally, psychologically for the character but also for the actor portraying this disabled man."

Debuting Wednesday on Global and NBC, "Ironside" stems from the 1960s/'70s show starring late Canadian actor Raymond Burr as the eponymous San Francisco chief of detectives, who was also a paraplegic.

Underwood, who is a producer on the reboot, said they wanted to respect the original series, which has some fervent fans.

"It's amazing when you mention 'Ironside,' people who are 45-plus who remember it, I often hear: 'Oh, I loved "Ironside"!' Not just 'I remember it,' but 'I loved "Ironside."'

But the creators also wanted to present something new for a contemporary audience.

"For our 'Ironside,' truly the only thing you'll see that is similar to the past version is the character's name, Robert Ironside, he's a detective and he's in a wheelchair," said Underwood, 49, who played a lawyer on the legal drama "L.A. Law" for seven years and was a love interest to Cynthia Nixon's character on "Sex and the City."

"Other than that, it's all new characters, it's a new time, it's a new city. I'm obviously a different type of actor than Raymond Burr was in the 1960s, so it's a different vibe."

Underwood noted the original "Ironside" represented "a different time in America, a different time in television, a different style, different everything."

However, he does think it was socially progressive for its time.

"There was an African American character at the time who was a guy who came from the streets and then 'Ironside' brought him in and over seven years he became an integral part of the group," said Underwood, referring to the late Don Mitchell's role.

"And that was very progressive. You're talking about the 1960s, you know."

In the new reboot, Ironside is fearless and doesn't let his lower-body paralysis stop him from pursuing some of the city's biggest cases with a dogged determination.

Through flashbacks, viewers come to learn he was injured on a case that he was tracking and remains unresolved — and he's still fixated on it.

Co-stars include Kenneth Choi as the police captain and Pablo Schreiber, Spencer Grammer, Neal Bledsoe and Brent Sexton as detectives.

"He's a maverick," said Underwood of Ironside. "He plays by his own rules and he does what he wants, and in this case he's hand-picked these three people that work on his team and he's definitely giving them carte blanche to do what they need to do, to basically do the right thing.

"He's not necessarily going to break the laws, but he may bend the rules a little bit to err on the side of what's right, what's best."

News from © The Canadian Press, 2013