Nikita (TV series)
| Television series | |
|---|---|
| German title | Nikita |
| Original title | La femme Nikita |
| Country of production | Canada |
| original language | English |
| Year (s) | 1997-2001 |
| length | 45 minutes |
| Episodes | 96 in 5 seasons ( list ) |
| genre | Action series , drama , thriller |
| Theme music | Mark Snow |
| idea | Joelhabenow |
| production |
Jamie Paul Rock Jay Firestone Rocco Matteo |
| music | Sean Callery |
| First broadcast | January 13, 1997 (USA) on USA Network |
| German-language first broadcast |
January 18, 1999 on RTL II |
| occupation | |
| |
Nikita (English title: La Femme Nikita ) is a dramatic action series . It was filmed in Canada and first broadcast in the United States from 1997 to 2001 . The characters in the television series are loosely based on the original French film Nikita by Luc Besson .
General information
The television series was filmed from 1996 by Fireworks Entertainment near Toronto and distributed by Warner Bros. Television . It has a total of 96 episodes in five seasons . There are four full seasons and a short additional eight episodes, according to a recent international fan - campaign originated with tens of thousands of letters.
On US television, the dramatic-romantic agent series was broadcast from January 13, 1997 to March 4, 2001 by the USA Network and is regarded by many as a cult .
The series was largely conceived by Joelaghov . He worked with Robert Cochran , with whom he later created the award-winning real-time series 24 . The following series Alias has a certain similarity to Nikita .
The title song is by Mark Snow . The original music was written by Sean Callery . Jamie Paul Rock was the producer . As executive producers acted Jay Firestone and Rocco Matteo .
In the German-speaking area, all episodes were broadcast in Austria on ORF1, in Germany on RTL II from January 18, 1999 only the first three seasons. The pay-TV channel 13th Street showed all 96 episodes from April 15, 2009 Mon-Fri at 5:50 pm (2 episodes in a row). Thus from June 1, 2009 the episodes of the 4th and 5th season were shown for the first time in Germany. Internationally, the series was broadcast in more than 50 countries.
content
Nikita is - unlike in the film - innocent convicted of murder. She is being recruited by the secret military organization Section One . Section One Nikita is used for special missions to the fight against terrorism as ice-cold assassin trained. She develops a special relationship with her mentor , the mysterious Michael. Together they are a unique team. Over time, Nikita adapts to her harsh environment, where emotion is considered a weakness, and becomes the top agent. Despite her job, she is desperately looking for a bit of private life. Walter and Birkoff become something like a surrogate family, Operations and Madeline become adversaries .
style
The music , the set designs by Rocco Matteo, the clothes of the costume designer Laurie Drew and the minimalist expression of the actors are important for the characteristic look of the series . Every little eye movement and every word matters.
DVDs and merchandising
- La Femme Nikita - Season 1 (6 DVDs) was released in German on October 24, 2008 .
- All seasons are available to buy on DVD in English under the title La Femme Nikita . They contain funny and deleted scenes, commentary and subtitles in English, French and Spanish as extras.
- The first season was released on July 8, 2003 by Warner Home Video on DVD. It has the region code 1 for the USA and Canada and can only be played on suitable DVD players. On the last DVD there is a small hidden promo video with Peta Wilson , a so-called Easter Egg, under Special Features . English VHS tapes of episodes from the first season have also been released.
- The delivery of the second season was stopped about a week before the planned release date on July 20, 2004 due to a legal problem with a piece of music, although some sets had already been sent. The song that caused a nine-month delay was on disk 5 in the episode Off Profile , Loaded Gun by Hednoize ( destroying the lab scene ). After this difficulty, the second season was then (re) released on March 15, 2005, whereby the mentioned piece of music was replaced.
- The third season was released on June 28, 2005. In contrast to the first and fourth, which have the region code 1 common in the USA, the second and third seasons should, according to some fans, be without this region code.
- The fourth season was released on July 25, 2006. It contains deleted scenes with comments by Christopher Heyn , audio commentary on two episodes - in Time to be Heroes by directors Brad Turner and Eugene Robert Glazer and in Sympathy for the Devil by writers Peter M. Lenkov and Eugene Robert Glazer, as well as a gag reel .
- The fifth season was released on October 17, 2006. You can also order all five seasons as a set.
- Otherwise, apart from the books (see literature ) and the official soundtrack , which can also be bought in German-speaking countries, there is little merchandising . An exception are the four wrap reels with recordings of the sets and the dailies etc. by Eugene Robert Glazer. Sean Callery has released a second La Femme Nikita music CD in the USA . T-shirts were sold at previous fan events (see CQS ).
- In2TV is only available to US citizens from March 15, 2006. It is a collaboration between AOL and Warner Bros. There are 10 episodes for free on this new Internet platform. Action series are offered under the name Rush TV .
Background information
La Femme Nikita translates from French as The Woman Nikita .
The title of the series is often abbreviated internationally as LFN .
The number of words in the English episode titles depends on the season. For example, the first season episodes have one word titles and the last season five words. This principle was lost in the German translation.
There were charitable events where some of the actors auctioned off movie items to fans. The conventions were called Close Quarters Standby . They were held in Toronto. CQS1 started filming the third season in October 1998. On the official Warner Bros. site for the series, there was, which was unusual for that time, two Internet live broadcasts ( live web feeds ) of CQs1 with stars of the series. CQS2 started its fourth season in October 1999. For example, a name was auctioned that would later be used as a villain or as a section agent later in the fourth season. It's the new head of Comm named Katherine (Kate) Quinn, named after the winner. It was introduced in the episode Sleeping With the Enemy and then performed regularly. CQS3 was near the end of season four in May 2000. Surprisingly, Roy Dupuis turned up there briefly. Since she was unable to work, a short video was shown by Peta Wilson to the fans in which she said thank you and said goodbye. CQS4 was in May 2001. Wilson was also in LCA1 ( Lights, Camera, Auction ) in 1998 . This event is organized by MPICA ( Motion Picture Industry Charitable Alliance ). Donated items from TV series are auctioned off to fans for charity. Other smaller events for fans were the cruises with Don Francks after the series ended.
The series was discontinued for financial reasons. Warner Bros. did not want to continue the series after the fourth season because the broadcaster USA Network did not want to meet Warner Bros.'s monetary demands. After a fan campaign, eight more episodes were finally shot.
Pieces of music from the following groups, performers and composers, among others, were used for the series: Filter , Christoph Willibald Gluck , Morcheeba , Enigma , Garbage , PJ Harvey , Depeche Mode , The Prodigy , Orbital , Sarah McLachlan , DJ Krush , Jacques Brel , Juno Reactor , The Crystal Method , Propellerheads , Fluke , Massive Attack , GusGus , Mickey Hart , Mandalay , Gabriel Fauré , Lamb , Hooverphonic , Françoise Hardy , Cream , Sinéad O'Connor , Craig Armstrong , David Sylvian , Everything But The Girl , Iron Butterfly , Rob Zombie , Frédéric Chopin , Patsy Cline , Ernest Tubb , Neko Case , The Future Sound of London , Coldplay .
Episodes
Season 1 (1997)
The sixth episode Poison Gas Attack ( Love ) was shot first to introduce the actors to each other.
- Executive Consultant : Joel Nachbarow
- Creative Consultant : Robert Cochran
Season 2 (1998)
- Executive Consultant : Joel Nachbarow
- Creative Consultant : Robert Cochran
- Story Editor : Michael Loceff
- Program Consultant : David Ehrman
Season 3 (1999)
- Executive Consultant : Joel Nachbarow
- Creative Consultant : Robert Cochran
- Executive Story Editor : Michael Loceff
- Program Consultant : Peter M. Lenkov
Season 4 (2000)
- Executive Consultant : Lawrence Hertzog , Joel Zusammenarbeit, Robert Cochran
- Supervising Producer : Peter M. Lenkov
Season 5 (2001)
- Executive Consultant : Robert Cochran, Lawrence Hertzog, Joel Genealogie
Remake
On September 9, 2010, the US broadcaster The CW began broadcasting a remake of the series. The remake consists of 73 episodes and was aired in four seasons through December 27, 2013. The German-language first broadcast began on June 8, 2013 on RTL II .
Awards
- 1998: Peta Wilson nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Genre TV Actress .
Gemini Awards
- In 1998 (spring), Nancy Beatty won episode 1.11 Concentrated Load ( Rescue ) for best performance by an actress in a guest role in a dramatic series.
- In 1998 (spring) Maury Chaykin won the episode 1.12 Der Super-Gau ( Innocent ) for the best performance by an actor in a guest role in a dramatic series.
- 1998 (fall) Laurie Drew won for best costume design in episode 2.05 change of leadership ( New Regime ).
- In 2000 Dan Latour, Scott Shepherd and Allen Ormerod won for Best Sound in a Dramatic Series.
There were also 14 nominations:
- 1998 (spring): Laurie Drew for best costume design
- 1998 (Spring): Peta Wilson for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Dramatic Role
- 1998 (Spring): Matthew Ferguson for Best Supporting Role in a Dramatic Series
- 1998 (spring): Rocco Matteo for best design in a dramatic series
- 1998 (spring): Jon Cassar as best director in a dramatic series for episode 1.14 Checkmate ( Gambit )
- 1998 (autumn): Nikos Evdemon for the best cinematography in a dramatic series for episode 2.02 Unter Verdacht ( Spec Ops )
- 1998 (Fall): Alberta Watson for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Dramatic Series for episode 2.05 Change of Leadership ( New Regime )
- 1998: Jay Firestone , Jamie Paul Rock for Chrysler's Canada's Choice Award
- 1999: Jay Firestone, Jamie Paul Rock for Best Dramatic Series
- 1999: Laurie Drew for best costume design
- 1999: Peta Wilson for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a dramatic leading role for the subsequent 3:07 Cat and Mouse ( Cat and Mouse )
- 1999: Allen Ormerod, Steve Baine, Dan Latour, Scott Shepherd for the best overall sound in a dramatic series for episode 3.01 Power Struggle in Section 1 ( Looking for Michael )
- 2000: Laurie Drew for best costume design
- 2000: Craig Henighan, Steve Baine, Jill Purdy, Rose Gregoris for best sound in a dramatic series
literature
(in English, all unauthorized, generally about the series and the actors, not just about Peta Wilson)
- Ted Edwards: La Femme Nikita X-Posed: The Unauthorized Biography of Peta Wilson and Her On-Screen Character . Prima Lifestyles, 1998, ISBN 0-7615-1454-6
- Dawn Connolly: La Femme Peta: The Unauthorized Biography of Peta Wilson . ECW Press, 2000, ISBN 1-55022-385-2
- Christopher Heyn : Inside Section One: Creating and Producing TV's La Femme Nikita , Los Angeles: Persistence of Vision Press, September 2006, ISBN 0-9787625-0-9 . Heyn, who was assistant to executive consultants Joelhabenow and Robert Cochran on all seasons , had been writing Inside Section One's 408 pages for over five years . You could already pre-order at the LFN Convention 2001 . The cover photo, in black and white, comes from Herb Ritts . Peta Wilson wrote the introduction. The edition is 2000 pieces.