The character of Nick Miller is at the center of many of the most memorable moments from New Girl, including two of actor Jake Johnson’s favorite jokes from the series. New Girl was created by Elizabeth Meriwether and aired for seven seasons on Fox before ending in 2018. The sitcom followed a bubbly schoolteacher named Jessica Day (Zooey Deschanel) after she moves into a Los Angeles loft with a group of men struggling with adulthood. One of these roommates is Nick, whose friendship with Jess develops into New Girl's main romance.

The focus of the show is on the dynamic between the roommates in the loft, and the humor comes from the collection of distinctly different personalities. Schmidt (Max Greenfield) is a wannabe ladies’ man and marketing associate who is eventually transformed by his relationship with Jess’ best friend Cece (Hannah Simone). Former athlete Winston Bishop (Lamorne Morris) joins the loft shortly after Jess, and his personality is changed when he adopts/steals a cat named Ferguson following a failed relationship. Winston moved in to replace the character of Coach (Damon Wayans Jr.), who left after the pilot but returned in season 3. Coach left New Girl again after season 4.

Related: New Girl: Why Schmidt Moved Out Of The Loft (& Then Returned)

The final roommate is Nick, a law school dropout with aspirations of being a writer rarely matched by the necessary dedication or talent. Nick works as a bartender and struggles with the basic skills needed for navigating adulthood, often requiring his roommates to provide assistance for the most basic, fundamental tasks. Although much of Johnson’s personality is integrated into the character of Nick Miller, the actor’s two favorite jokes from the series were original ideas from the show’s writers. In an interview promoting the film Ride the Eagle (via Slash Film), Johnson named two of his favorite Nick Miller jokes from New Girl.

 

Johnson recalls “cry-laughing on set” performing a scene in the season 2 episode “Eggs.” After Winston questions Nick’s commitment to his writing, the bartender surprisingly finishes the zombie book he has been working on for years, Z is for Zombie. In the season 2 episode, “Parents,” it is revealed that Nick’s zombie book is remarkably similar to Twilight. After going to the zoo for inspiration and drinking plenty of alcohol, which he calls “writer’s fuel,” Nick finishes a draft of his zombie book that is complete nonsense. Winston attempts to read the book aloud to the group, after noting that Nick has misspelled the word "rhythm" 38 times. Nick boasts that he also included a word search without any words to find. While Z is for Zombie is no masterpiece, Nick would go on to find success writing the successful young adult detective series, starting with The Pepperwood Chronicles.

The second joke Johnson recalls comes from the season 5 episode, “Bob & Carol & Nick & Schmidt.” Early in the episode, Nick remarks that he has lost a glass of milk. Schmidt later finds the glass in his room, noting that it is filled to the brim “like an infinity pool” and questioning how Nick was able to carry it without spilling. While Nick is often smarter than the others think, the mystery of the missing glass of milk is baffling. What made this joke so funny to Johnson was the fact that “Schmidt couldn't understand why he had left milk in there, and to Nick it was very obvious.” This was a familiar dynamic between best friends Schmidt and Nick on New Girl, two former college roommates loyal to each other despite being opposite personality types.

Even though he doesn’t personally relate to the trait, Johnson said his favorite New Girl moments were “any time Nick's brain was revealed to be true mashed potatoes.” Nick is a likable loser who always remains a bit of a mess, even as his character matures and grows over the course of the series. The original plan New Girl had for Nick was for him to be the smartest character in the loft. When this was abandoned, Nick was instead developed into the type of character who misspells "rhythm" 38 times.

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