In fact, the two actors tell Entertainment Weekly, that even when NBC passed on their action series, they refused to give up hope.

“We knew it was a winner,” Union says. “And the beautiful thing is that it doesn’t take everybody, it takes one. Some networks are actually super excited about two strong female leads of color partnering to kick ass and make us laugh.”

The show, which is the first official series from Charter’s Spectrum cable service, follows Union as she reprises her Bad Boys 2 character, Syd Burnett, a new LAPD detective. Alba serves as Burnett’s partner Nancy McKenna– and together the two of them take on on L.A.’s most dangerous criminals.

Union continues, “Some people thought it was a great business model, and we were lucky to find people who got the show, got us, got where we were trying to go, understood the international play involved. And [on Spectrum] we didn’t have to make as many compromises as we would have for network TV.”

Alba agrees and adds that upcoming series,is one fans won’t want to miss.

“We always thought this had the potential to be so much more than what those boundaries allow,” she says. There’s a pretty dramatic difference from the pilot to the subsequent episodes. It has more edge, it has more grit, and it’s more character-driven.”

L.A.’s Finest, also starring Ernie Hudson, Zack Gilford, Duane Martin, Ben Baines and Ryan McPartlin, premieres on Spectrum May 13.