| Season One | |||||
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| Total Episodes | 22 | ||||
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| Aired | January 13, 1997 - October 5, 1997 | ||||
| Season Guide | |||||
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Season One • Season Two • Season Three • Season Four • Season Five |
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Season One of La Femme Nikita aired from January 13, 1997 to October 5, 1997 on the USA Network. It consisted of twenty-two episodes and was broadcast on Monday nights at 10PM eastern/9 PM central. It would follow WWF Raw. It was moved to Sunday nights at 10PM eastern/9PM central, where it remained for the rest of its run as the anchor to the network's 'Sunday Night Heat' lineup. It included Pacific Blue, Silk Stalkings, La Femme Nikita, and for the 1997 season only The Big Easy before that series' cancellation.
Summary[]
Section One, a clandestine anti-terrorist organization, fakes the death of a jailed, convicted murderer named Nikita and, believing her twin assets of beauty and ability to kill will make her a valuable new operative, trains her in the fighting skills necessary to succeed in her new job. As a new operative, Nikita proves to be somewhat less ruthless than planned, as she had been falsely convicted and never murdered anyone. Now, Nikita must learn to survive in a world that is in direct conflict to her true nature.
Cast[]
Main[]
- Peta Wilson as Nikita
- Roy Dupuis as Michael
- Eugene Robert Glazer as Operations
- Alberta Watson as Madeline
- Matthew Ferguson as Seymour Birkoff
- Don Francks as Walter
Crew[]
Writers[]
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Directors[]
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Episodes[]
| Season | Series | Image | Title | Writer | Director | Original Airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.01 | 1 |  |
"Nikita" | Cyrus Nowrasteh | Jon Cassar | January 13, 1997 |
| While living in a crime-ridden neighborhood, young, beautiful Nikita is wrongly accused of murdering a police officer and falsely imprisoned. Her suicide is staged by Section One, a clandestine antiterrorist organization, who has recruited Nikita and is drawn into the shadowy organization to train as an operative that will work for them. | ||||||
| U.S. viewers (millions): N/A / Rating/Share: N/A | ||||||
| 1.02 | 2 |  | "Friend" | Naomi Janzen | Guy Magar | January 20, 1997 |
| Waiting at a café for an informant who will advise her who the next Section One target will be, Nikita is recognized by her longtime friend Julie, who knew Nikita before she went undercover with Section One. | ||||||
| U.S. viewers (millions): Not Available / Rating/Share: N/A | ||||||
| 1.03 | 3 |  | "Simone" | Michael Loceff | Jerry Ciccoritti | January 27, 1997 |
| Section One infiltrates a terrorist organization that uses a radar-cloaking device to cause midair collisions between airliners. This is the same organization that supposedly killed Michael's wife, Simone. | ||||||
| U.S. viewers (millions): N/A / Rating/Share: N/A | ||||||
| 1.04 | 4 |  | "Charity" | Robert Cochran | Kari Skogland | February 3, 1997 |
| Nikita is assigned to get close to Alec Chandler, without knowing the real reason why. When she begins to fall for him, she learns things that make the assignment truly challenging. | ||||||
| U.S. viewers (millions): N/A / Rating/Share: N/A | ||||||
| 1.05 | 5 |  | "Mother" | Naomi Janzen | Guy Magar | February 9, 1997 |
| Criminals John Wicke and his wife, Helen, obtain a nuclear trigger, intending to sell it to the highest bidder. During a failed purchase attempt, four Section One operatives die in an explosion. | ||||||
| U.S. viewers (millions): N/A / Rating/Share: N/A | ||||||
| 1.06 | 6 |  | "Love" | Robert Cochran | Jon Cassar | February 17, 1997 |
| Section One intercepts a husband-and-wife bodyguard team hired to work for terrorist Perry Bauer. To gain information on Bauer's next strike, Section One assigns Michael and Nikita to impersonate the captured couple and infiltrate Bauer's operation. | ||||||
| U.S. viewers (millions): N/A / Rating/Share: N/A | ||||||
| 1.07 | 7 |  | "Treason" | Robert Cochran | Jerry Ciccoritti | February 24, 1997 |
| Nikita'a latest assignment is to take down a man named Suba. When an attempt goes bad Nikita suspects someone on the team might be a traitor. | ||||||
| U.S. viewers (millions): N/A / Rating/Share: N/A | ||||||
| 1.08 | 8 |  | "Escape" | Andrew Dettmann & Daniel Truly | George Bloomfield | March 3, 1997 |
| Section One operative Eric Webber offers to help Nikita escape from Section One with him, but Nikita does not know whether she can trust him. | ||||||
| U.S. viewers (millions): N/A / Rating/Share: N/A | ||||||
| 1.09 | 9 |  | "Gray" | Robert Cochran | Ken Girotti | March 10, 1997 |
| After infiltrating Section One's computer system and stealing a directory containing the identity of every operative in Section One, a criminal named Harding arranges a secret auction between Section One and a ruthless terrorist. | ||||||
| U.S. viewers (millions): N/A / Rating/Share: N/A | ||||||
| 1.10 | 10 |  | "Choice" | Michael Loceff | George Bloomfield | April 7, 1997 |
| After a major drug deal goes awry and results in many deaths, Section One is called in to investigate. One of the dead was an undercover operative in a covert C.I.A. task force assigned to stop the distribution of heroin in North America and Europe. | ||||||
| U.S. viewers (millions): N/A / Rating/Share: N/A | ||||||
| 1.11 | 11 |  | "Rescue" | Peter Bellwood | Ken Girotti | April 14, 1997 |
| Nikita is desperate to recover a wounded Michael when he's left behind after a mission to destroy a chemical weapons plant. | ||||||
| U.S. viewers (millions): N/A / Rating/Share: N/A | ||||||
| 1.12 | 12 |  | "Innocent" | Michael Loceff | George Bloomfield | April 21, 1997 |
| Nikita realizes that the man Section thinks is the key to a terrorist threat is an innocent victim of bad timing. | ||||||
| U.S. viewers (millions): N/A / Rating/Share: N/A | ||||||
| 1.13 | 13 |  | "Recruit" | Larry Raskin | Reza Badiya | June 22, 1997 |
| Nikita digs into the past of her violent new recruit Karyn and uncovers shocking facts about the newest Operative. | ||||||
| U.S. viewers (millions): N/A / Rating/Share: N/A | ||||||
| 1.14 | 14 |  | "Gambit" | Michael Loceff | Jon Cassar | June 29, 1997 |
| Madeline confronts her mysterious past while foiling a terrorist plot to contaminate the water supply with radiation. | ||||||
| U.S. viewers (millions): N/A / Rating/Share: N/A | ||||||
| 1.15 | 15 |  | "Obsessed" | Robert Cochran | T.J. Scott | July 20, 1997 |
| Michael seduces a hit man's wife to get access to the man's computer, but Nikita's heart aches for the betraying and betrayed wife, Lisa. | ||||||
| U.S. viewers (millions): N/A / Rating/Share: N/A | ||||||
| 1.16 | 16 |  | "Noise" | Michael Loceff | T.J. Scott | July 27, 1997 |
| Nikita helps Birkoff recover from the aftereffects of his first murder as their mission goes wrong. | ||||||
| U.S. viewers (millions): N/A / Rating/Share: N/A | ||||||
| 1.17 | 17 |  | "War" | Maurice Hurley | René Bonnière | August 3, 1997 |
| War breaks out between Section and the terrorist group Red Cell. Michael and Nikita are captured, and tortured for the new location of Section. | ||||||
| U.S. viewers (millions): N/A / Rating/Share: N/A | ||||||
| 1.18 | 18 |  | "Missing" | Naomi Janzen | Reza Badiya | August 11, 1997 |
| Operations offers Nikita her freedom if she agrees to keep his son, an arms dealer, alive. | ||||||
| U.S. viewers (millions): N/A / Rating/Share: N/A | ||||||
| 1.19 | 19 |  | "Voices" | Maurice Hurley | David Warry-Smith | August 17, 1997 |
| A serial killer picks the wrong victim when he attacks Nikita. But after she sends him on his way, a cop on the case begins searching for her as a vital witness to the man's crimes. | ||||||
| U.S. viewers (millions): N/A / Rating/Share: N/A | ||||||
| 1.20 | 20 |  | "Verdict" | Robert Cochran | Gilbert Shilton | September 28, 1997 |
| An assassin kidnaps Jovan Mijovoch along with bodyguard Nikita, who is torn when she hears the killer's story. | ||||||
| U.S. viewers (millions): N/A / Rating/Share: N/A | ||||||
| 1.21 | 21 |  | "Brainwash" | Peter Bellwood | René Bonnière | September 21, 1997 |
| Nikita tests a virtual reality device and finds herself brainwashed into performing a suicide/assassination. | ||||||
| U.S. viewers (millions): N/A / Rating/Share: N/A | ||||||
| 1.22 | 22 |  | "Mercy" | Michael Loceff | Joseph L. Scanlan | October 5, 1997 |
| Nikita is sent on a suicide mission and Michael tries desperately to save her. | ||||||
| U.S. viewers (millions): N/A / Rating/Share: N/A | ||||||
Publicity[]
As the series lead, actress Peta Wilson had appearances on several American daytime and late night talk shows. She made an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on May 30, 1997 and The Late Show with Conan O'Brien on June 4, 1997. Given the series' popularity with its online fanbase, most of the cast participated in online Q&As and print interviews
Reviews[]
In reviewing the first episode, Daily Variety critic Todd Everett was not impressed when comparing the series to Luc Besson's original film La Femme Nikita. "Sharp, sexy, innovative and witty French film becomes dull, witless, shot-in-Montreal cable series in USA’s “La Femme Nikita.” What was stylish in original version here becomes muddy and confusing attempt at MTV cutting and loud electronic soundtrack, and title may leave many USA watchers, accustomed to more conventional (and arguably superior) “Renegade,” “Silk Stalkings” and “The Big Easy,” confused." [1]
The New York Times reviewer Caryn James was complimentary, noting the series' stylishness and how the characters of Nikita and Michael visually complement each other. "The series may not be original, but it is swift, engrossing and escapist." [2]
Tom Gliatto from People Magazine gave the debut a rating of B+ saying, "Peta Wilson, an Australian actress with the harsh blonde hair, snub nose and oversize, depthless blue eyes of your average mass-produced doll, makes a sexy, amusing Nikita. Wilson has pared her performance down to the purely physical—a blasé runway stride occasionally spoiled by nervous tremors. (Nikita, you see, isn't really all that crazy about her new profession.)" [3]
Ratings[]
The series premiered on Monday, January 13, 1997 in the 10PM eastern/9 PM central time slot and posted a 2.2 ratings share. [4]
For the first half of its season one run, "La Femme Nikita" has averaged 1,265,000 homes tuned in each week. In contrast,"Pacific Blue" has been logging 1,114,000 homes. "Silk Stalkings" draws 1,071,000 homes and "The Big Easy" has been attracting 1,051,000 homes each outing. [5]
After its move to Sunday nights for the last half of its first season, its number improved. It helped push USA's Sunday night prime-time ratings up 22 percent over last year since it moved to its 10 p.m. slot in May. Last month the show earned a 2.5 rating, representing 1.75 million households. "We were looking for that 10 p.m. show to make it a solid night for us, and we found it in Nikita," said Kay Koplovitz, chairman and founder of USA Network. [6]
Gallery[]
Promotional Images[]
Episode Stills[]
Publicity[]
Episode Promos[]
Home Video[]
La Femme Nikita: The Complete First Season is a DVD collection of the first season of La Femme Nikita. It was originally released on July 8, 2003. The set was rereleased in 2010 with slimmer packaging.
Trivia[]
- All season one episodes contain one word.
- A black and white voice over intro explaining Nikita's recruitment to Section One was used during season one of the series.
- German actress Sandra Speichert was originally pursued for the role of Nikita but she declined because she didn't want to do television.
- Simon MacCorkindale, Alec Chandler from Charity, was offered the role of Michael but he turned it down.[7]
- Felicity Waterman, Karyn from Recruit was the second choice for the role of Nikita after Peta Wilson.
Video[]
La Femme Nikita - Promo Season 1
Season One Promotional Ad
La femme Nikita Promo
Season One voice over introduction
References[]
- ↑ La Femme Nikita review - Variety
- ↑ Hit Man: Stylish, Deadly, Female - The New York Times
- ↑ Picks and Pans Main: Tube - People Magazine
- ↑ 'Robin' bobs to a 4.2 (January 14, 1997) - Variety
- ↑ USA's Summer Hotshots (June 22, 1997) - New York Daily News
- ↑ Nikita Becoming A Real Killer for USA Network (September 1, 1997) - Electronic Media
- ↑ Heyn, Christopher (2006). Inside Section One: Creating and Producing TV's La Femme Nikita. New York, NY: POV Press.