Nurse Jackie Information

Nurse Jackie is an American series that premiered on June 8, 2009, on Showtime, Movie Central and The Movie Network.

The series stars Edie Falco as the title character Jackie Peyton, an emergency room nurse at All Saints' Hospital in New York City. For Jackie, "Every day is a high wire act of juggling patients, doctors, fellow nurses and her own indiscretions."

Production

Nurse Jackie was created by Liz Brixius, Linda Wallem and Evan Dunsky with Brixius and Wallem serving as showrunners for the series and sharing executive producer duties with Caryn Mandabach and John Melfi. Showtime ordered an initial 12 episodes. Before the series premiered Brixius told the New York Daily News that "Guys' stories tend to be about conquests " getting the job, winning the Olympics, whatever. Women stories aren't as immediately climactic so they need to play out over the course of three months ... And every medical show out there has been about doctors. Doctors are absolutely unable to do what they have to do without nurses. We want to tell those stories."

The June 8, 2009 series premiere was Showtime's most-successful premiere ever, with 1 million viewers for the premiere and over 350,000 for the repeat broadcast. Showtime immediately picked up the series for a second season. Season Three premiered on Showtime on March 28, 2011. On May 23, 2011, Showtime ordered a fourth season of Nurse Jackie. A fifth season was ordered on May 31, 2012, and production is set to begin in late 2012. The season 4 finale aired on June 17, 2012 Season 5 is set to premiere on April 14, 2013.

Episodes

Cast

Jackie is described by Showtime as a "strong-willed, iconoclastic New York City nurse juggling the frenzied grind of an urban hospital and an equally challenging personal life," noting that the character has "an occasional weakness for Vicodin, Adderall, Percocet and Oxycontin to get her through the days." The main characters include Dr. Eleanor O'Hara (Eve Best), a British doctor and Jackie's best friend at work; Zoey (Merritt Wever), a jubilant, but inexperienced nursing student from a community college, who "is the perfect foil for Jackie's sharp angles"; Dr. Cooper (Peter Facinelli), "a likable 'golden boy' whose calm façade hides a nervous disposition"; Eddie (Paul Schulze), a pharmacist with whom Jackie is having an affair; and male nurse Mo-Mo (Haaz Sleiman).

Other characters include the officious hospital administrator Mrs. Gloria Akalitus (Anna Deavere Smith), Jackie's bar-owner husband Kevin (Dominic Fumusa), their daughters Grace (Ruby Jerins) and Fiona (Daisy Tahan season 1 "? Mackenzie Aladjem season 2), and Thor (Stephen Wallem), the kind-hearted confidant of nurse Jackie and the real-life brother of show creator/executive producer Linda Wallem.

Main characters

Name	Portrayed by	Seasons
		1	2	3	4
Jackie Peyton, RN	Edie Falco	Main
Eleanor O'Hara MD	Eve Best	Main
Zoey Barkow, RN	Merritt Wever	Main
Eddie Walzer R.Ph.	Paul Schulze	Main
Fitch "Coop" Cooper MD	Peter Facinelli	Main
Kevin Peyton	Dominic Fumusa	Main
Ms. Gloria Akalitus, RN	Anna Deavere Smith	Main
Thor Lundgren	Stephen Wallem	Main
Grace Peyton	Ruby Jerins	Main
Fiona Peyton	Mackenzie Aladjem		Main
Mohammed "Mo-Mo" de la Cruz, RN	Haaz Sleiman	Main

Recurring characters

Actor	Role	Season
Daisy Tahan	Fiona Peyton
Arjun Gupta	Sam
Lenny Jacobson	Lenny
Jaimie Alexander	Tunie Peyton
Rene Ifrah	Officer Ryan
Gbenga Akinnagbe	Kelly Slater
Bobby Cannavale	Dr. Michael Cruz
Jake Cannavale	Charlie Cruz

Reception

Critical reception

The premiere of Nurse Jackie was met with generally positive reviews from critics. Entertainment Weekly gave the first episode a B+, stating "Edie Falco brings a genial forcefulness to Nurse Jackie." New York magazine called the Showtime series "smart, acrid, alternately sharp and sentimental" and "the best series yet in the cable channel's ongoing meditation on the nature of addiction ... and the setting for a truly breakthrough female character". James Poniewozik from Time magazine ranked Nurse Jackie's episode "Tiny Bubbles" (106) as 5th on his Top 10 Episodes of 2009 list. Reception was not entirely positive, with Variety noting, "The series increasingly feels like all style and limited substance " a star showcase that's less 'triumphant return' than 'Nice to have you back, but...'"

Criticism

Soon after Nurse Jackie premiered, the New York State Nurses Association decried the unethical behavior of the title character, and the detrimental impression regarding nurses that such a portrayal could have on the public, stating, "In the first episode, Nurse Jackie is introduced as a substance abuser who trades sex with a pharmacist for prescription drugs ... She has no qualms about repeatedly violating the nursing Code of Ethics."

Genre

In her acceptance speech for the Emmy for Best Actress in a Comedy series, Falco exclaimed "I'm not funny!" Later, while speaking to the press, she expanded upon her statement and said that she too felt her performance was dramatic. Several articles have since been written addressing this question, with some writers even calling for an overhaul of the Emmy categorization process as well as a "Dramedy" category for the awards.

Awards and nominations

Golden Globe Awards

• 2011 Nomination for Best Television Series-Musical/Comedy
• 2011 Nomination for Best Lead Actress in a Comedy Series (Edie Falco)
• 2010 Nomination for Best Lead Actress in a Comedy Series (Edie Falco)

Screen Actors Guild Awards

• 2012 Nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series (Edie Falco)
• 2011 Nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series (Edie Falco)
• 2010 Nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series (Edie Falco)

Primetime Emmy Awards

• 2012 Nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series (Edie Falco)
• 2012 Nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (Merritt Wever)
• 2012 Nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series (Bobby Cannavale)
• 2011 Nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series (Edie Falco)
• 2011 Nomination for Outstanding Casting in a Comedy Series
• 2010 Nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series
• 2010 Won for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series (Edie Falco)
• 2010 Nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series (Eli Wallach) " "Chicken Soup"
• 2010 Nomination for Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series (Allen Coulter) " "Pilot"
• 2010 Nomination for Outstanding Casting in a Comedy Series
• 2010 Nomination for Outstanding Cinematography in a Comedy Series
• 2010 Nomination for Outstanding Main Title Design
• 2010 Won for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music

International broadcasts

Country	TV Network(s)	Date of Premiere	Weekly Schedule
	Albanian Screen
	Network Ten Eleven Showcase	September 13, 2009 January 11, 2011 February 16, 2011	Mondays, 9:30 pm Tuesdays, 11:30 p.m Wednesdays, 8:30 pm
	ORF eins	January 10, 2011	Mondays, 10:00 pm
	La Deux Foxlife	June 5, 2011	Sundays, 8:30 pm
	TV7		Fridays, 10:00 pm
	The Movie Network/Movie Central	June 8, 2009	Mondays, 10 p.m. ET/9 p.m. PT
	FOX Life	September 7, 2011	Wednesday, 10:00 pm
	TV2 Zulu
	Nelonen	September 13, 2010	Mondays, 10 p.m.
	[[Canal +]]	April 1, 2010	Thursdays, 10:30 p.m
	TNT Serie (Season 1"2)	September 1, 2011
	RTL Nitro (Season 1"4)	April 2, 2012	Monday, 9.00 pm
	Universal Channel, SKAI
	Viasat3
	FX
	FX		Fridays, 5:00 pm
	SkjárEinn
	RT"? Two	September 15, 2009	Tuesdays, 9:55 pm
	HOT3/HOT3 HD HOT V.O.D	October 21, 2009	Mondays, 10:35 pm
	Sky Uno	March 5, 2010	Fridays, 9:00 pm
	WOWOW	October 9, 2010 December 25, 2011 (Season 3)	Saturdays, 11:50 pm Sundays, 11:25 am
	Fox Life	November 16, 2011	Wednesdays, 8:00 pm
Latin America	Studio Universal	February 1, 2010 February 1, 2010 February 7, 2010	Mondays, 9:00 pm Sundays, 9:00 pm
	Fox Life/RTL 8
	TV3		Tuesdays, 9:30 pm
	NRK1 NRK1 HD	March 4, 2010	Thursdays, 10:30 pm
	nPremium HD nFilm HD nFilm HD 2 Universal Channel TVP2 TVP Seriale	September 1, 2009 May 12, 2010 January 13, 2011	Thursdays, 10:35 pm
	Fox Life		Thursdays, 9:25 pm
	Universal Channel
	FOX Life	September 7, 2011	Wednesday, 10:00 pm
	Sveriges Television SVT Play	October 3, 2009	Saturdays, 10:45 pm
	ComedyMax
	BBC Two (seasons 1"2) Sky Atlantic (seasons 3–)	January 4, 2010 July 5, 2011	Saturdays, 10:40 p.m (Season 2) Jan 22, 2011+ Tuesdays, 10:00 pm (Season 3)
	Fox Life
	Calle 13 Calle 13 HD	April 8, 2010	Thursdays, 9:30 pm

Foreign versions

• The Netherlands: Charlie: A Dutch remake of Nurse Jackie is being made for Dutch TV Network, Nederland 3. Starring Halina Reijn, Katja Schuurman, Theo Maassen and Benja Bruijning, the show starts airing on March 13th 2013.