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.