[intro music]
Prepare yourself for facts so surprising
you may just find yourself panic-moonwalking away from your computer.
Just kidding! They're mostly adorkable.
[strange noises]
Welcome to Ms Mojo. And today we're counting down
the top 5 surprising facts about New Girl that you probably don't know.
Schmidt: Please, I know the best plumbers in the business. Settle down.
Winston: White guys knows a plumber.
Jess: Sorry. Plumbing's like a really sensitive topic around here.
Russell: I didn't know.
Jess: I mean, who would?
Number 5: Zooey Deschanel and Damon Wayans, Jr. went to high school together.
Coach: Stop it. Stop!
[Jess cries]
Coach: Schmidt!
Damon Wayans Jr. and his role on New Girl - it's an on-again off-again relationship.
Arguably more inconsistent than any of the romances
taking place on the show.
Nick: I love you!
Jess: Well I love you too.
Nick: More than I've ever loved anybody.
Jess: But what if that's the only thing we have in common?
Wayans, who plays Coach, one of the original loft roommates in the pilot,
was always intended to be a core cast member.
But the renewal of his series, Happy Endings,
took him away from the project.
Paul: Williams? Is that you?
Brad: Paul, hey.
Damn! What happened? You got fired like a month ago
and already you're homeless?
He later reappeared sporadically in Season 3,
as a main cast member in Season 4,
and then sporadically again in Season 5.
Coach: Winston!
Winston [Latino accent]: No hay Weenstons. It's ocupados.
Coach: Winston, I know you're in there because
I'm looking at a picture of your butt-cheeks right now.
While he may be one of her less present friends in the show,
Wayans and the real-life new girl, Zooey Deschanel,
go further back than any of their on-screen roommates.
Having gone to high school together in Santa Monica.
Jess: The other day I bought a pair of jeggings.
They look like jeans, but they're really leggings.
Coach: Uhh...you...I...
WHO CARES?!
Sorry.
Number 4: They intentionally never explain the rules to "True American".
Jess: We're all adults. What's the harm?
We can do this with dignity, self-restraint, and dare I say, honor.
Winston: The game is "True American".
Nick: One, two, three, four! JFK!
All: FDR!
Do you consider yourself to be a serious New Girl fan?
And yet, for the life of you, still cannot figure out
the exact rules to True American?
Have you tried anyways?
Only to get way too drunk way too fast?
And from your new defeated perspective, lying in a drunken stupor on the lava floor,
finally realized "Holy Schmidt, it doesn't make sense!"
[chanting]
The creators and actors have made it perfectly clear:
True American is a fictional game too ridiculous
and dangerous for real life.
Jess: The game is True American, but with a sexy new twist.
The idea actually came from one of the writers
who played a similar drinking game in college
but couldn't recall any of the rules for it.
But the honest truth is, any game that looks this insane
and fun, is gonna get recreated.
Jess: Hey, who wants to play True American?
Schmidt: I'm in. That sounds like a great idea.
So for functional rules, check out TrueAmericanRules.com
and then please play and drink responsibly.
Nick: All trash belongs! / All: In the junkyard!
Number 3: The creator had never worked on a TV show before.
Liz Meriwether: People at Fox you know, saw me, I was 29
and they were like, "You can't run a show by yourself".
Larry King: So they liked the concept, but they said "get somebody else to help"? / Meriwether: Yeah.
Getting a show green-lit is tough. But turning one into a hit series is another story.
Just ask Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer
or Amy Sherman-Palladino, creator of Gilmore Girls
who have both seen their most recent TV shows,
Firefly and Bunheads, get canceled in the first season.
And yet, Liz Merriweather not only gave FOX
one of its most renowned series in recent years,
but has done so without any real experience in television.
Brett Baer: Well she sent us a little email about a month before we got involved with it
that just said...it had the script attached. It said, "do you like my poop sh*t?"
And we read it. And we liked her poop sh*t so.
Meriwether: Did I say that? [Laughing] / Baer: Yes you did.
Although a critically acclaimed playwright,
the closest Meriwether had come to television
was a successful film script: the comedy No Strings Attached.
Adam: I'd like to start calling you "honey", "babe".
Emma: I don't know about "babe".
Adam: No?
Adam: Snuggling?
Emma: Oh yeah. I'm gonna hold your hand.
Adam: Wow, this is all moving so fast.
The long-form serialized comedy of New Girl, however,
was totally new territory for the young, and clearly talented, American writer.
Cece: Wanna get married?
Schmidt: I don't think that I can wait another second.
Number 2: Amanda Bynes was considered for the role of Jess.
Well, it helps that you're gorgeous.
[Jess laughs]
[weird noises]
Jess: No, that's crazy! That ain't real!
That's dumb. That's straight dumb.
You're dumb. [Laughs]
You're nice.
Talk about "what if" scenarios.
Daphne: That's not my kind of thing, but I'll think about it.
Considering the fact that Amanda Bynes
went on to suffer a public meltdown,
and retire from acting,
everyone involved in New Girl must be thanking
their lucky stars while kissing their Critic's Choice Awards
that the role went to Zooey Deschanel.
Jess [singing]: Who's that girl? WHO'S THAAT GIIIIRL?
It's Jess!
Thankfully, recent Tweets seem to reveal
that Amanda Bynes' life is getting back on track.
While Zooey Deschanel charms the pants off of millions
of viewers weekly with a little help from her lovable oddball roommates.
All [singing]: I'VE HAD THE TIME OF MY LIIIIFE!
As Season 5 proved with it's Megan Fox admittedly pretty solid cameo and character arc,
there is simply no new girl that can replace Zooey Deschanel.
No matter how much another actress may bring it.
[music and cheering]
Prince: Hi. I'm Prince.
Number 1: Prince was a fan and requested to be on the show.
Jess: And guess who her boss is?!
Cece and Jess: IT'S PRINCE! It's Prince! It's Prince!
Schmidt: Prince?!
New Girl is a bit of a divisive show,
earning legions of fans and critics alike.
But for every bad word said about the series,
there's been someone only too happy to be involved.
Like Taylor Swift.
Elaine: Will you take me away from this madness?
And you are not too short for me. I don't care what your mother says!
Shivrang: Oh, Elaine! Come!
Elaine: Let's go to Vegas and elope!
But the most surprising fan of the series
was definitely the late great Prince
who guest starred in a special 2014 episode
that premiered after the Super Bowl.
Prince: How rude of me. I haven't given you enough time to freak out yet.
You may do so now.
Jess: Oh my God!
Oh my god! [Nick screeches]
According to various reports, he was actually the one to reach out to the producers
as well as Zooey Deschanel and Hannah Simone directly to ask to be on the show.
Jess: I really care for him. And I'm just worried
I'm going to lose him.
Prince: That's stupid / Jess: You're stupid.
Prince: I forgive you.
Jess: Oh my God, thank God!
Every Prince fan is sure to remember him
in their own way.
But for true fans of Prince and New Girl,
him sitting between Jess and Nick is just about perfect.
[music]
Do you agree with our list?
Prince: Repeat after me. Love.
Jess: Love.
Did we leave out any adorkable surprising New Girl
facts that you can think of?
For more awe-inducing top tens and top fives
to be enjoyed responsibly, be sure to subscribe
to ms mojo.
Jess: Stay away from my space
or you'll have this to deal with.
Jess: Where are your nipples, man?!
Schmidt: I'll never tell.
[outro music]