Who’s that girl? It’s Jess! For seven seasons, New Girl was one of the most reliable sitcoms on broadcast television, airing on Fox alongside my favorite TV show of all time, Brooklyn Nine-Nine. New Girl’s premise was simple. Quirky teacher Jessica “Jess” Day (Zooey Deschanel) moves in with three guys after responding to a Craiglist ad: the self-described douchebag Schmidt (Max Greenfield), the aimless Nick Miller (Jake Johnson) and personal trainer Coach (Damon Wayans Jr.) After the pilot, Coach left (the actor was on another show, Happy Endings, and his contract got renewed) and was replaced with cat guy and former basketball player Winston Bishope (Lamorne Morris). Along with Jess’ model friend Cece (Hannah Simone), everyone became fast friends, with romantic relationships between Schmidt and Cece and Nick and Jess even forming. New Girl was a lot like Friends, and remains highly bingeable to this day. Nick Miller stills remains one of my favorite TV characters ever. To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the premiere, I have put together a list of ten of my favorite episodes.
- “Parents” – Season 2, Episode 8
Season two of New Girl might just be one of the best seasons in television history as there are just so many iconic moments. In this Thanksgiving episode, Jess’ parents arrive to celebrate–with hilarious results. As Joan and Bob Day, Jamie Lee Curtis and the late, great Rob Reiner make a meal out of their appearances. There are some great scenes, including Nick thinking he’s into Jess’ mom. It’s crazy to think that their Thanksgiving would only become more absurd–in the next season, Nick and Jess fall into a bear trap!
- “Pepperwood” – Season 2, Episode 14
There have been a lot of great alter egos throughout television history–George Costanza had Art Vandalay on Seinfeld, Phoebe Buffay had Regina Phalange on Friends–and Nick Miller’s Julius Pepperwood joined the pantheon in the 21st century as one of the best. Convinced that one of Jess’ students is going to kill her at her adult writing class, Nick goes undercover as his Chicago alter ego (“I’m from Chicago. Thin crust pizza? No thank you. I’m from Chicago”) which ends in near-disaster. Meanwhile, Winston, Schmidt and Cece discuss each other’s worst habits which results in Schmidt shaving off his eyebrows and dancing like a sea snake. Just another day in the loft!
- “Cooler” – Season 2, Episode 15
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There’s really only one thing you need to know about this episode, and that’s NICK AND JESS FINALLY HAVE THEIR FIRST KISS. Also, Trench Coat Nick is definitely one of the best Nicks.
- “Quick Hardening Caulk” – Season 2, Episode 19
The tension between Nick and Jess is heating up. With Nick becoming responsible at work, Jess is falling head over heels, and directly into a plank at Home Depot. While recovering on pain meds, Jess blurts out her feelings to Nick–which ends in an even longer makeout session than “Cooler,” at least until they break a giant aquarium in their loft. What’s the aquarium doing in there, you might ask? Schmidt is trying to get over Cece by catching a fish (it goes as well as you’d expect, which is to say it’s disastrous). Basically, everyone is having a hard time expressing their true feelings to one another.
- “Prince” – Season 3, Episode 14
New Girl had some incredible guest stars–Olivia Rodrigo in season 6, Taylor Swift in season 2–but while they played characters who weren’t themselves, THE legendary musician Prince was such a big fan he requested to guest star as himself in New Girl, and his episode garnered the famous post-Superbowl slot in 2014. The episode featured a big milestone as Jess and Nick finally admitted they loved each other–with the help of Prince, of course!
- “Cruise” – Season 3, Episode 23
I’m with Coach—ships are terrifying!!! You never know when you might run into an iceberg (yes, I am still scarred by a Titanic documentary I watched when I was five). The gang takes a cruise, which sounds like smooth sailing (sorry for the pun), except for the fact that Nick and Jess booked it while they were still dating. On top of that, they all get stuck in their cabin together for 3 days. Quiet, I have the talking soap!
- “Background Check” – Season 4, Episode 6
Fox via YouTube
This episode sees Winston waiting to pass his final test as a cop–which is having someone inspect the loft he lives in. Seems easy, until Jess announces to Nick, Schmidt and Coach that she has a giant bag of drugs in her closet. Queue the guys trying to hide it from Winston, which involves a shirtless Schmidt, a panic-sweat Nick, and Coach trying to find a little boy to come to their house. One of the funniest episodes of the entire series–you’ll never hear Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide” the same.
- “Reagan” – Season 5, Episode 6
When Zooey Deschanel went on maternity leave in season 5, the writers came up with a way to have a “new girl” in the loft–by recruiting Megan Fox as pharmaceutical sales rep Reagan, who strikes up chemistry with Nick. Some of the most funniest physical comedy from New Girl is featured in this episode, including Nick trying to install a rain shower and Schmidt knowing Nick Cannon’s entire solo from Drumline. Also features the funniest description of Sex and the City I’ve heard, which Nick mistakes as Sax in the City– “it’s four ladies in a jazz band.” No Nick, it is not.
- “Road Trip” – Season 5, Episode 17
Fox via YouTube
To celebrate his impending marriage to Cece, Schmidt decides to take everyone on a road trip to Vegas to prove he’s “manly” to his future wife–and this involves getting in a bar fight filmed in slow motion set to “Roar” by Katy Perry. Looking back, it’s actually a very 2010s episode of television–but it’s a perfect time capsule, and also features some very sweet moments between best friends Nick and Schmidt.
- “Five Stars for Beezus” – Season 6, Episode 22
If New Girl had ended here, I would have been completely satisfied–but I understand the cast wanted a shortened seventh season to truly wrap things up. In any case, New Girl was in danger of cancellation in 2018, and the writers decided to pen an episode that could serve as a series finale. Everything here comes to a beautiful close–Schmidt and Cece are going to have a baby! Winston reaches out to his father! And perhaps most importantly, Nick and Jess finally get together for good this time. As they make out in an elevator set to Lorde’s “Greenlight,” everything is perfect. It’s not just five stars for Nick’s Uber driver Beezus–it’s five stars for this show.
Honorable Mentions:
“Pilot” – Season 1, Episode 1
“Virgins” – Season 2, Episode 23
“Thanksgiving III” – Season 3, Episode 10
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