New Girl S1 E18 – Fancyman Part 2

Last updated on January 21, 2021

This podcast covers New Girl Season 1, Episode 18, Fancyman Part 2, which originally aired on March 27, 2012 and was written by Berkley Johnson and Kim Rosenstock and directed by Matt Shakman. 

Episode Recap

In this episode, Jess recaps her awkward first date with Russell and after discussing it with the guys and Cece, asks Russell out for a second date. It also goes awkwardly, but they are able to talk it out by the end of the episode. Meanwhile the “smartest guy [Nick] knows”, Dirk, is visiting and they end up having a large house party at the loft with “undergrads”. Winston and Shelby realize they don’t want to have space between them and Winston finally learns that Schmidt and Cece have been hooking up.

Episode Notes

On this episode’s Pop Culture section we focused on:

• Wicked – While Winston drives to meet Shelby in Mexico, he sings along to the songs “Defying Gravity” and “Popular” from the musical Wicked. 
• Saved by The Bell – Nick mentions in the episode that the college kids that he’s hanging out with don’t even know the classic show Saved by the Bell.

Additional Pop Culture References such as:

Bathroom (Bear) References
When Jess walks into the bathroom and sees Dirk peeing with a t-shirt and no pants on, she and the guys make quite a few references to the below characters who also wear some clothes but no pants:

• Tony the Tiger – Tony is the mascot for Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes cereal since 1952. His character originated as the winner of a mascot contest and has been voiced by many people over the years.
• Winnie the Pooh – Winnie the Pooh is a teddy bear created by A.A. Milne in 1926. He was based off of Milne’s son’s teddy bear and Milne’s son was the inspiration for Christopher Robin.
• Paddington – Paddington Bear is a fictional character who first appeared in 1958. It inspired a stuffed animal and many TV and film adaptations.
• Honey (the) Smacks Frog – This is a reference to Dig’em Frog, the US mascot for Kellogg’s Honey Smacks breakfast cereal, who appeared from 1972 to the early 1980s but came back as the mascot in the 1990s.
• Donald the Duck – Donald is a Disney cartoon character created in 1934 and is known for his temper and has appeared in various films, tv shows, and games.
• Yogi Bear – Yogi debuted in 1958 as a Hanna-Barbera supporting character but eventually became even more popular than the character he supported (Huckleberry Hound). He was often known for speaking in rhymes and having a number of catchphrases.
• Chipmunks (Alvin, Simon, Theodore) – These chipmunks (who were originally known as “David Seville and the Chipmunks”) were created in 1958 consisting of Alvin (the troublemaker), Simon (the intellectual), and Theodore (the shy one). Their high-pitched voices brought the term “chipmunk-voiced” into American everyday language.

Other References 

• “We Didn’t Start the Fire” – Schmidt tells Cece that he couldn’t have sex with her because he needed to get everyone’s name into the song “We Didn’t Start the Fire”. This song, by Billy Joel, lists out names of cultural figures and repeats with a chorus of ‘we didn’t start the fire.’ 
• Kermit the Frog – Cece is asking Jess how her date went with Russell and asked if Jess did her Kermit the Frog impression. Kermit the Frog is a character from the Muppets and Sesame Street. Kermit has also appeared in other television series, feature films, specials, and public service announcements since 1955.
• Bullfighting in Pamplona – Jess tells Cece that Russell is so sophisticated that he runs with bulls and not the “tourist-y bulls in Pamplona”. Spanish-style bullfighting is a physical contest with humans attempting to publicly subdue, immobilize, or kill a bull. 
• The Beatles – Jess is trying to make small talk with Russell and mentions how good the Beatles are. The Beatles were an English rock band whose members comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr and the band is regarded as the most influential band of all time.
• The Social Network – When Jess gets home after her date with Russell, she asks why the cast of The Social Network was in their apartment. The Social Network is a fictionalized movie of the founding of Facebook and its founder, Mark Zuckerberg. 
• Dylan Thomas / Bob Dylan – ‘From Dylan to Dylan’ is the conclusion Dirk draws in his college lecture. Dylan Thomas is a Welsh poet and writer whose most famous work is “Do not go gentle into that good night”. Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter and is widely regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time.

This week in our “Schmidtism” we cover Winston asking to borrow the “Manbulance”. For “Not in 2020” we discuss Jess’s problematic behavior at the party and Schmidt’s continued fetishization of Cece’s skin color. We also give a brief look into Martin Starr, the Guest Star we feature in this episode.

This episode got an 8.5/10 Rating from Kritika whose favorite character was Winston and Kelly rated this episode an 8.5/10 and her favorite character was Nick!

Thanks for listening and stay tuned for Episode 19!

Music: “Hotshot” by scottholmesmusic.com