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Nappy - The nickname of Napoleon Solo (Robert Vaughn), a suave, witty
and quite cool secret agent on the spy spoof THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E./NBC/1964-68.
His "Nappy" name appeared in the second-season episode No. 38 "The Deadly Toys
Affair" and the third-season episode No. 60 "The Sort-of-Do-It-Yourself-Dreadful
Affair." Napoleon Solo's character name was conceived by novelist Ian Fleming,
the creator of the James Bond novels.
Nasty Boys - Multi-ethnic team of five undercover policemen working for
the North Las Vegas Narcotics Bureau on the police drama NASTY BOYS/NBC/1990.
The team members included Jeff Kaake as Paul Morrisey; Benjamin Pratt as Officer
Eduardo Cruz; Don Franklin as Officer Alex Wheeler; Craig Hurley as Officer
Danny Larsen; James Pax as Officer Jimmy Kee; and Dennis Franz as the group's
supervisor, Lt. Stan Krieger.
Nature Boy - What Mayor John Peoples (Paul Maxey) called Socrates "Sock"
Miller (Jackie Cooper), councilman in the Fifth District of New City, California
on the sitcom THE PEOPLE'S CHOICE/NBC/1955-58. Sock originally worked as an
ornithologist for the Bureau of Fish and Wildlife who tracked the migratory
habits of birds.
Nature's Revenge on Peeping Toms - Local New Yorker's who frequented
Duffy's Tavern on the sitcom DUFFY'S TAVERN/NBC/1954 called the proprietor's
unmarried (but desperate to be married) daughter Ms. Duffy, (Pattee Chapman) by
the unflattering nickname of "Nature's Revenge on Peeping Toms." The character
was based on the successful radio program of the same name that aired from
1941-51. See also - "The
Peeper"
Negro - The personal nickname of celebrity Oprah Winfrey revealed on a
1997 Valentine's Day segment entitled "Girlfriends" on her syndicated talk show
THE OPRAH WINFREY SHOW/SYN/1986+. It seems that both Oprah Winfrey and her best
friend Gayle King had nicknames for each other. Oprah was called Negro and Gayle
was called Blackie. Both women first met years ago when Gayle stayed overnight
with Oprah during a snow storm. Since then they have become close friends. Oprah
jokingly reported rumors that Gayle was the reason she was avoiding marrying
Steadman (Oprah's beau); and Gayle quipped that Oprah was the reason she got
divorced. Their friendship was earlier featured on an April, 1989 special "Just
Between Friends."
Nibbles - Affectionate nickname of aspiring novelist Jonathan Eliot
(Jonathan Silverman) given to him by his girlfriend on the sitcom THE SINGLE
GUY/NBC/1995-97.
Nice & Easy Girl, The See - "The
Wella Girl"
Nightcrawler - On-air radio persona of an ancient vampire named Lucien
Lacroix (Nigel Bennett) who broadcasted an eerie and often philosophical
midnight radio program (as "The Nightcrawler") on the supernatural police drama
FOREVER KNIGHT/CBS/SYN/1992-96. Lacroix was the mentor of a 800-year-old vampire
Nick "Nicholas" Knight (Geraint Wyn Davies) who renounced his vampirism (stopped
drinking human blood) and began working as night shift police detective for the
Toronto Police Department.
Nighthawk - Nickname of Jack Killian (Gary Cole), a former police
detective turned late night radio talk show host on the drama MIDNIGHT
CALLER/NBC/1988-91. Earlier in his career, Jack accidentally killed his police
partner in a shootout with street thugs. Dismissed from the force he found
employment as a talk show host on San Francisco radio station KCJM (98.3 FM).
His late night persona being the "Nighthawk." His work phone number was
555-TALK.
Night Train - Nickname of black police detective Sergeant Tremaine Lane
(Ernie Hudson) on the comedy THE LAST PRECINCT/NBC/1986. Night Train, who
dressed like a pimp, was only one of many colorful eccentrics and misfits
working the 56th precinct in Los Angeles.
Nip, The - Nickname of Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) heard on the sitcom SEINFELD/NBC/1990-98. For the holiday season, Elaine wanted to send a Christmas card with her photograph and so she got her friend Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards) to take a snapshot. Unfortunately, Elaine (and Kramer) didn’t realize her blouse was not fully buttoned and that her breast nipple was exposed to the camera lens. When Elaine first saw the mistake, she cried, “Oh my God that’s my nipple!” For this little photo faux pas, she was nicknamed “The Nip” by her coworkers at Pendant Publishing.
Not Ready For Prime Time Players, The - The collective nickname for
Laraine Newman, Jane Curtin, Chevy Chase, John Belushi, Garrett Morris, Gilda
Radner and Dan Aykroyd, the members of a comedy troupe which premiered 11:30 PM
(live) on Saturday night October 11, 1975 from Studio 8H at NBC's Headquarters
at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. George Carlin hosted the first show of this satirical
comedy series which was to become the now classic SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE. Telecast
with a 6-second delay though advertised as "Live...from New York...it's Saturday
Night!," the program consisted of off-the-wall humor, parodies of television,
the movies, and current events. The Not Ready for Prime Time Players (a name
chosen to mock the "Prime Time Players" on the variety show SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE
WITH HOWARD COSELL/NBC/1975-76) created a legacy of funny characters including
The Killer Bees (terrorist insects from South America); The Coneheads (a
pointy-headed aliens from the planet Remulak); and the Blues Brother (a cool
jazz duo). Most of the original players went on to successful careers.
- Jane
Curtin costarred on the sitcom KATE & ALLIE/CBS/1984-89
- Dan Aykroyd wrote (and
starred in) the box office hit Ghostbusters (1984) and the sitcom SOUL
MAN/ABC/1997-98.
Later heirs to the "Not Ready For Prime Time Players" roster
included Bill Murray, Don Novello, Joe Piscopo, Eddie Murphy, Jim Belushi,
Martin Short, Billy Crystal, Mike Myers, Dana Carvey and Phil Hartman among many
others.
TRIVIA NOTE: Sadly both John Belushi and Gilda Radner from the original
cast have moved to that Comedy Store in the sky. On March 5, 1982, John Belushi
was found dead in Bungalo No. 3 on the north side of the Chateau Marmont Hotel
located on 8221 Sunset Boulevard. The coroners verdict was death by illegal drug
substances (acute toxicity from cocaine and heroin). He was 33 years old. The
February 19, 1983 episode of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE gave John Belushi a five-minute
tribute called "West Heaven."
Gilda Radner, the comic genius behind such
characters as the hard-of-hearing Emily Litella and the disgusting news
commentator, Roseanne Rosannadana, died on Saturday May 20, 1989 from ovarian
cancer at the age of 42.
On May 2, 1997, the comedian Eddie Murphy was found in
the company of a transsexual prostitute after undercover deputies witnessed
Eddie Murphy picking up Atisone Seiuli in West Hollywood. Murphy said he was
just offering the weary hooker a ride home in his Toyota Land Cruiser, but the
media had field day with the incident. See also -
MUSIC & MUSICIANS: “The
Blues Brothers" and ALIENS:
"The Coneheads"
Number One - The female second-in-command Star Fleet officer on the first
STAR TREK pilot "The Cage" was called "Number One." She was played by actress
Majel Barrett who was later recast in the role of nurse Christine Chapel, who
had a crush on the Vulcan First officer, Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy). Later, on
the sci-fi adventure STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION/SYN/1987-94, Commander
William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) was called "Number One" by starship commander
Jean Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). On the western drama BONANZA/NBC/1959-73, a
Chinese relative of Hop Sing (Victor Sen Yung) called only by the name "Number
One" (presumably because he was his number one cousin) took over the
housekeeping duties at the Ponderosa while Hop Sing visited relatives in Hong
Kong. The espionage comedy THE NEW ADVENTURES OF BEANS BAXTER/FOX/FOX/1987-88
featured a character called Number One (John Vernon) who headed the secret
government organization called the Network. His second-in-command was Number Two
(Jerry Wasserman).
Number Six - When British secret agent (Patrick McGoohan) abruptly
resigned from the service, his superiors thought him a security risk and
consequently gassed and transported his unconscious body to a strange seemingly
inescapable resort called "The Village." Upon awaking, he was given the name
"Number Six". His response to his captivity, "I am Not a Number! I am a Free
Man!" THE PRISONER/CBS/1968-69 series was an inferred continuation of the
espionage series SECRET AGENT/CBS/1965-66. Patrick McGoohan, the series creator,
chose the number "6" because it was one of a few numbers that when turned upside
down, it turned into an other number. In episode No.7 "Many Happy Returns"
Number Six temporarily escaped to London by sea. On arrival he revealed his name
as Peter Smith. In episode No.9 entitled "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling"
Number Six mentioned other code names by which he was known. There were Duvall
in France, Schmidt in Germany, and ZM73, a general code number.
Number Six (2) - The revival sci-fi series BATTLESTAR GALACTICA/SCI/2003+
featured a blonde-haired Cylon woman in her 20s named Number Six (Tricia Helfer).
She was "six" of twelve models of Humano-Cylon clones used to populate the
emerging Cylon society. A version of Number Six called Natasi seduced a
brilliant scientist named Gaius Baltar (James Callis) over a two-year period and
arranged to sabotage the computer networks on the planet Caprica to support the
Cylon invasion force.
Another version of Number Six exists within the mind of Baltar - possibly a
bio-implant that connects his brain and the Cylon empire. The cerebral Number
Six guides Baltar and acts as sort of a secondary conscience as well as a
internal romantic partner who can stimulate him sexually. Although Baltar can
actually see the image of his cerebral Number Six, anyone watching him converse
with her will deduce that Baltar is a talking to thin air.
Other copies of the Number six model included an Over-seer model on the planet
Caprica who tried to prevent the crew members of the Galactica from retrieving
the Arrow of Apollo in the rubble of the Delphi Museum. This Six was impaled on
building debris during a struggle with Starbuck. Another Six model was called
Gina. She was captured onboard the Battlestar Pegasus and tortured and raped by
its crew. She escaped with the help of Baltar, shot her inquisitor Admiral
Helena Cain in the head and fled to safety to become a member of a peace
movement.
And finally, a copy of Six called Shelly Godfrey appeared onboard the Galactica
and accused Baltar of treason. Her ultimate plan was to actually make Baltar
popular with the crew and to place him above reproach or suspicion (when
actually he was being manipulated by the Cylons. While there, Shelly tried to
seduce William Adama, the Commander of the starship Battlestar Galactica.
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