Nikki (TV series)
Nikki is an American sitcom television series that aired on The WB from October 9, 2000, to January 27, 2002. Nikki was a starring vehicle for Nikki Cox, who had previously starred in another WB sitcom, Unhappily Ever After, which ran for five seasons. Looking to capitalize on Cox's popularity, Bruce Helford created a sitcom that featured her as the title character.[1]
| Nikki | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | Bruce Helford |
| Starring | |
| Composer(s) | Ed Alton |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 41 (6 unaired) (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
|
| Producer(s) |
|
| Cinematography | Wayne Kennan |
| Editor(s) |
|
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 22–24 minutes |
| Production company(s) | |
| Distributor | Warner Bros. Television Distribution |
| Release | |
| Original network | The WB |
| Picture format | 480i (SDTV) |
| Original release | October 9, 2000 – January 27, 2002 |
Synopsis
Cox portrays Nikki White, a Las Vegas showgirl living in Las Vegas with her husband Dwight White (Nick von Esmarch), a professional wrestler. The couple is portrayed as working class, attempting to follow their passions while finding fame and fortune in Las Vegas. Also in the cast are Nikki's best friend and fellow dancer Mary (Susan Egan), and Dwight's boss Jupiter (Toby Huss). Also a recurring character were Dwight's mother Marion (Christine Estabrook), who is angry with Nikki for "luring" her son into a marriage and away from a safe, secure job with a future as a tax attorney; Ken and Alice Gillespie (Todd Robert Anderson and Jacqueline Heinze), Nikki and Dwight's conservative neighbors;
In season one, each episode started with a musical number, where Nikki and her fellow showgirls at "the worst casino in Las Vegas" perform a dance. Their costumes included Godzilla, cockroaches (dancing to "We Are Family"), brides who remove their dresses and veils to reveal red devil costumes and horns, and once she appeared as the severed head of Marie Antoinette. In the second episode of season two, Nikki loses her job when the casino is sold.
Similar to Murphy Brown, all of the episodes in season one, plus some in season two, have a different song be the theme song, while Nikki performed a dance routine. However, in season two, the theme song changed to a standardized intro, to a remixed version of "She's a Lady" by Tom Jones.
Cast
Main
- Nikki Cox as Nikki White
- Nick von Esmarch as Dwight White
- Susan Egan as Mary Campbell
- Toby Huss as Jupiter
Recurring
- Brad William Henke as Thor
- Steve Valentine as Martine
- Christine Estabrook as Marion
- Marina Benedict as Luna
- Todd Robert Anderson as Ken Gillespie
- Jacqueline Heinze as Alice Gillespie
- Arturo Brachetti as Antonio
Notable guest stars
- Ever Carradine as Patti ("Fierce")
- Lisa Marie Varon as Chickasaurus ("Topless")
- Phill LaMarr as Richard ("The Next Step", "Milli Vanikki")
- Arden Myrin as Cheryl ("The Ex Factor")
- Kevin Nash as The Big Easy ("Stealing Nikki", "Gimme Shelter")
- The Fabulous Moolah as herself ("The Jupiter and Mary Chain")
- Kathy Kinney ("Let It Ride")
- Randy Savage as Pretty Boy ("Fallback" 14)
- Joel McKinnon Miller as Mr. Higgins ("Fallback")
- Amanda Bearse as Marcy Rhoades ("Technical Knockup")
- David Garrison as Steve Rhoades ("Technical Knockup")
- Meredith Bishop as Lurleen ("Technical Knockup", "Vaya Con Nikki")
- Drew Carey as Barry Tenzer, a business magnate who buys CWF ("Superhero Blues")
- Sheryl Underwood as Janet ("Working Girl")
- Ian Gomez
- The Blue Meanie
Carrie Ann Inaba, Cris Judd, Lane Napper, and Nancy O'Meara appeared in multiple episodes as dancers and in various minor roles.
Production
In July 1999, The WB placed a straight-to-order series from The Drew Carey Show co-creator Bruce Helford as a vehicle for Unhappily Ever After and Norm co-star Nikki Cox.[2] Nikki was formally ordered to series in May 2000, and was placed on The WB's fall lineup for a Sunday Night comedy block.[3]
On October 31, 2000, The WB ordered a full 22-episode season of Nikki.[4] The network renewed the show for a 22-episode second season at its upfronts in May 2001.[5][6] However, in January 2002, the network pulled the series, and shut down production after only 19 episodes. Six episodes were left unaired in the United States.[7]
Episodes
Series overview
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | ||||
| 1 | 22 | October 9, 2000 | May 20, 2001 | ||
| 2 | 19 | October 14, 2001 | January 27, 2002 | ||
Season 1 (2000–2001)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title [8] | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Fierce" | Gerry Cohen | Bruce Helford | October 8, 2000 | |
| 2 | 2 | "Humiliated" | Gerry Cohen | Scott Buck | October 15, 2000 | |
| 3 | 3 | "Topless" | Gerry Cohen | Laura Perkins Brittain | October 22, 2000 | |
| 4 | 4 | "No Sex, No Mary, No Title" | Gerry Cohen | Jill Soloway | October 29, 2000 | |
| 5 | 5 | "Won't You Beat My Neighbor?" | Shelley Jensen | Bill Diamond | November 5, 2000 | |
| 6 | 6 | "The Next Step" | Steve Zuckerman | Rich Amend & Stephen Marlin | November 12, 2000 | |
| 7 | 7 | "The Ex Factor" | Gerry Cohen | Rich Amend & Stephen Marlin | November 19, 2000 | |
| 8 | 8 | "Stealing Nikki" | Shelley Jensen | Rachel Powell | November 26, 2000 | |
| 9 | 9 | "The Crybaby Who Stole Christmas" | Shelley Jensen | Ben Wexler & Laura Perkins Brittain | December 17, 2000 | |
| 10 | 10 | "Bottoms Up" | Gerry Cohen | Amanda Lester | January 7, 2001 | |
| 11 | 11 | "The Jupiter and Mary Chain" | Steve Zuckerman | Ben Wexler | January 14, 2001 | |
| 12 | 12 | "Let it Ride" | Shelley Jensen | Scott Buck & Jill Soloway | January 21, 2001 | |
| 13 | 13 | "Dream Weaver" | Gerry Cohen | Maria Espada | February 4, 2001 | |
| 14 | 14 | "Fallback" | Shelley Jensen | Ben Wexler | February 11, 2001 | |
| 15 | 15 | "Cheerleader of Doom" | Shelley Jensen | Tom Martin | February 18, 2001 | |
| 16 | 16 | "I'll Kick Your Ass" | Joe Regalbuto | Kirk J. Rudell & Rachel Powell | February 25, 2001 | |
| 17 | 17 | "One Wedding and a Funeral" | Steve Zuckerman | Rich Amend & Stephen Marlin | April 1, 2001 | |
| 18 | 18 | "Dwight and Nikki and Ken and Alice" | Steve Zuckerman | Ben Wexler | April 8, 2001 | |
| 19 | 19 | "Schisler's List" | John Fuller | Kirk J. Rudell | April 29, 2001 | |
| 20 | 20 | "And the Winner Is..." | Shelley Jensen | Rick Nyholm | May 6, 2001 | |
| 21 | 21 | "Love at First Dwight" | Steve Zuckerman | Tom Martin | May 13, 2001 | |
| When one of Nikki's old high school friends visits, Dwight finds out that Nikki did not like him at first, and only saw him as a ticket to Las Vegas. Meanwhile, Jupiter hires Mary to try the wrestlers for the calendar shoot. | ||||||
| 22 | 22 | "Family Lies" | Steve Zuckerman | Kirk J. Rudell | May 20, 2001 | |
Season 2 (2001–2002)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by [9] | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code [9] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 | 1 | "Technical Knockup" | Gerry Cohen | Ben Wexler | October 14, 2001 | 227153 |
| A trip to the doctor leads to Nikki discovering she has a limited time to have a baby. | ||||||
| 24 | 2 | "Vaya Con Nikki" | Shelley Jensen | Kirk J. Rudell | October 21, 2001 | 227156(?) |
| When Nikki is laid off after the casino is sold, she is forced to resort to being a waitress. One of her new friends, Stacy (Danielle Fishel), attempts to create a rift between her and Mary. | ||||||
| 25 | 3 | "A Rock and a Hard Place" | Shelley Jensen | Rick Nyholm | October 28, 2001 | 227152 |
| 26 | 4 | "Superhero Blues" | Shelley Jensen | Alicia Sky Varinaitis | November 4, 2001 | 227157 |
| When a businessman (Drew Carey) buys out the wrestling organization, Dwight finds himself out of a job and tries to get it back. Meanwhile, Nikki and Mary compete to get a role in a music video, but have to find a way to leave their jobs at a comic book convention first. | ||||||
| 27 | 5 | "My Best Friend's Day Care" | Gerry Cohen | Gigi McCreery | November 11, 2001 | 227158 |
| 28 | 6 | "Home Sweet Homeless" | Gerry Cohen | Heather MacGillvray & Linda Mathious | November 18, 2001 | 227159 |
| 29 | 7 | "Take This Job and Love It" | Shelley Jensen | Michael Bornhorst | November 25, 2001 | 227161 |
| 30 | 8 | "Gimme Shelter" | Bob Koherr | Amanda Lasher | December 9, 2001 | 227160 |
| 31 | 9 | "Milli Vanikki" | Gerry Cohen | Scott Buck & Les Firestein | December 16, 2001 | 227154 |
| 32 | 10 | "Through Thick and Thin" | Shelley Jensen | Heather MacGillvray & Linda Mathious | January 6, 2002 | 227162 |
| 33 | 11 | "To Your Grave" | Shelley Jensen | Rick Nyholm | January 13, 2002 | 227163 |
| 34 | 12 | "Nikki Can't Wait for Dwight's Birthday" | Amanda Bearse | Michael Bornhorst | January 20, 2002 | 227164 |
| 35 | 13 | "She Was a Job-Jumper" | Shelley Jensen | Ben Wexler | January 27, 2002 | 227165 |
| 36 | 14 | "Welcome to the Rest of Your Life" | Shelley Jensen | Michael Curtis & Rick Nyholm | Unaired | 227168 |
| 37 | 15 | "Uneasy Rider" | John Fuller | Alicia Sky Varinaitis | Unaired | 227167 |
| 38 | 16 | "My Two Left Feet" "Gotta Dance" | Gerry Cohen | David Grubstick | Unaired | |
| 39 | 17 | "GED Off My Back" | Gerry Cohen | John N. Huss | Unaired | 227169 |
| 40 | 18 | "Working Girl" | Shelley Jensen | Kirk J. Rudell | Unaired | 227151 |
| 41 | 19 | "Portrait of the Wrestler as a Young Man" | Shelley Jensen | Kirk J. Rudell | Unaired | 227166 |
Syndication
The show currently airs in the Netherlands on Comedy Central Family, MTV3 Sarja in Finland, and Kanal 9 in Sweden.
References
- Ramin Zahed (October 6, 2000). "Review: 'Nikki'". Variety. Retrieved 2016-08-11.
- Josef Adalian (July 21, 1999). "Frog web, WBTV synch on synergy". Variety. Retrieved 2016-08-11.
Kellner and WB Entertainment prexy Susanne Daniels backed up the positive words with definitive action, formalizing a 13-episode commitment to a fall 2000 laffer to be created and exec produced by Bruce Helford (“The Drew Carey Show”) with Nikki Cox (“Unhappily Ever After”) as star.
- Michael Schneider; Josef Adalian (May 16, 2000). "'Felicity' survives as WB plays it safe". Variety. Retrieved 2016-08-11.
- Josef Adalian (October 31, 2000). "'Nikki' scores 9 more at WB table". Variety. Retrieved 2016-08-11.
- Brian Lowry (May 14, 2001). "Networks Fine-Tuning Fall Lineups". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2016-08-11.
The WB... Two new sitcoms--"Men, Women and Dogs," with comic Bill Bellamy, and "Off Center," a buddy comedy from the producers of the movie "American Pie"--will join "The Steve Harvey Show" and "Nikki" on Sunday nights.
- John Consoli (May 14, 2001). "The WB Playing For Laughter". Adweek. Retrieved 2016-08-11.
...the returning second-year show Nikki...
- Josef Adalian (January 22, 2002). "WB nixes 'Nikki' in its 2nd season". Variety. Retrieved 2016-08-11.
Nineteen segs will be produced, down from the 22 the Frog had ordered from Warner Bros. Television... A total of 41 episodes will have been produced when the show wraps.
- From the United States Copyright Office catalog: "Public Catalog - Copyright Catalog (1978 to present) - Basic Search [search: "Nikki : episode"]". United States Copyright Office. Retrieved 2016-08-11.
- From the United States Copyright Office catalog: "Public Catalog - Copyright Catalog (1978 to present) - Basic Search [search: "Nikki : no."]". United States Copyright Office. Retrieved 2016-08-11.