# New Girl season 5

The fifth season of the American television sitcom New Girl premiered on January 5, 2016, on Fox in its new timeslot of 8:00 pm (Eastern). The show briefly aired back-to-back on April 19 before airing the final six episodes, beginning April 26, at 8:00 and 9:00 pm respectively.
Developed by Elizabeth Meriwether under the working title Chicks & Dicks, the series revolves around offbeat teacher Jess (Zooey Deschanel) after her moving into an LA loft with three men, Nick (Jake Johnson), Schmidt (Max Greenfield), and Winston (Lamorne Morris); Jess's best friend Cece (Hannah Simone) also appears regularly. The show combines comedy and drama elements as the characters, who are in their early thirties, deal with maturing relationships and career choices.

## Production

On March 31, 2015, New Girl was renewed for a fifth season. The show remained in production after wrapping season four in order to get a jump on season 5 ahead of Deschanel's maternity leave. Deschanel was absent in 6 episodes of the fifth season. The onscreen reason for her absence was that her character was sequestered for jury duty.
John Cho was the first guest announced after New Girl was renewed for season 5. Fred Armisen, Stephen Rannazzisi and Ally Maki all signed up to guest star this season.
Megan Fox was cast in the role of Reagan and temporarily filled in for Zooey Deschanel after she pre-taped her episodes last spring before taking a maternity leave. This season did not premiere in the autumn of 2015, but instead in January 2016, with what Fox states to be "its first-ever season of virtually uninterrupted originals." Damon Wayans, Jr. made his return for a two episode arc this season.

## Episodes

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code | U.S. viewers (millions) |
| 95 | 1 | "Big Mama P" | Erin O'Malley | Berkley Johnson | January 5, 2016 (2016-01-05) | 5ATM03 | 3.33 |
| Schmidt and Cece give the honor of best man and maid of honor to Nick and Jess, respectively. Jess plans an elaborate engagement party for the couple, with the intent of surprising Cece with a visit from her mother, Priyanka (Anna George). Nick is given the responsibility of picking up Cece's mother from the airport, but picks up the wrong woman. After saving a boy's life from under the weight of a car, Winston becomes tired of being labeled as a hero instead of being known for his pranking side. ||||||||
| 96 | 2 | "What About Fred" | Eric Appel | Matt Fusfeld & Alex Cuthbertson | January 12, 2016 (2016-01-12) | 5ATM01 | 3.25 |
| Jess has a hard time relating to her new boyfriend Fred (Taran Killam), and would rather spend time with his fun loving parents Flip and Nancy (Henry Winkler and Julie Hagerty). Nick and Schmidt are officially co-owners of the bar, and Schmidt's strict rules of the establishment puts pressure on Nick to be a tougher boss. ||||||||
| 97 | 3 | "Jury Duty" | Trent O'Donnell | Josh Malmuth & Nina Pedrad | January 19, 2016 (2016-01-19) | 5ATM02 | 2.95 |
| Jess is thrilled when she is called for jury duty, but an opportunity to be acting principal presents itself with her now wanting to get out of jury duty. Nick and Cece's constant bickering about the apartment rules puts Schmidt between them. ||||||||
| 98 | 4 | "No Girl" | Elizabeth Meriwether | Rob Rosell | January 26, 2016 (2016-01-26) | 5ATM04 | 2.84 |
| With Jess still in jury duty, Nick rents out the loft to pay for Schmidt's bachelor party that they plan on having in Tokyo. Winston thinks that KC is cheating on him, so he asks Cece for advice to get even with her. ||||||||
| 99 | 5 | "Bob & Carol & Nick & Schmidt" | Jake Johnson | Rob Rosell | February 2, 2016 (2016-02-02) | 5ATM05 | 2.94 |
| Nick's cousin Bob (Bill Burr) and his wife Carol (Lennon Parham) want to use Nick's sperm to have a baby. Winston helps Cece buy a wedding dress. ||||||||
| 100 | 6 | "Reagan" | Trent O'Donnell | Kim Rosenstock | February 9, 2016 (2016-02-09) | 5ATM06 | 3.10 |
| Nick tries to get Reagan (Megan Fox), an attractive bisexual pharmaceutical sales representative, to temporarily move into the loft while Jess is still in jury duty. Schmidt learns that Cece and Reagan had a sexual encounter years ago, making him uncomfortable. ||||||||
| 101 | 7 | "Wig" | Christine Gernon | David Feeney | February 16, 2016 (2016-02-16) | 5ATM07 | 2.80 |
| Nick has a hard time being comfortable around Reagan, so he spends a lot of his time in the loft in Schmidt's room, even during the time that Schmidt wants to have sex with Cece. Winston helps Reagan break up with her most recent fling Camilla (Clea DuVall). ||||||||
| 102 | 8 | "The Decision" | Trent O'Donnell | Luvh Rakhe | February 23, 2016 (2016-02-23) | 5ATM08 | 2.68 |
| When Nick and Winston are unable to make decisions on anything, Reagan puts pressure on them to decide among themselves on who should have sex with her. While searching for the perfect wedding venue, Schmidt and Cece run into his old college bully Benjamin (David Neher) and his fiancée Mimi (Angela Trimbur). ||||||||
| 103 | 9 | "Heat Wave" | Erin O'Malley | Matt Fusfeld & Alex Cuthbertson | March 1, 2016 (2016-03-01) | 5ATM09 | 2.62 |
| A heat wave hits the city, with Nick stubbornly refusing Reagan's offer of hanging out in her air-conditioned room. The back and forth ultimately leads to Nick and Reagan to finally express their romantic feelings for each other. Winston finds that people take him a lot more seriously when he uses his "cop voice". Cece refuses to go to a news broadcasting audition, which forces Schmidt to use his own "cop voice" to make her go. ||||||||
| 104 | 10 | "Goosebumps Walkaway" | Trent O'Donnell | Berkley Johnson | March 8, 2016 (2016-03-08) | 5ATM10 | 2.65 |
| Jess finally comes home from jury duty. Reagan's last day in town closely arrives, however she is reluctant to fully express her romantic feelings for Nick. Schmidt and Cece accompany Winston to his freestyle dancing group. Note: Despite Fox promoting this episode as the 100th episode, it is actually the 104th episode produced and aired. "Reagan" is the actual 100th episode of the series. ||||||||
| 105 | 11 | "The Apartment" | Christine Gernon | Nina Pedrad | March 15, 2016 (2016-03-15) | 5ATM11 | 2.30 |
| Jess becomes overwhelmed by the workload given by her new principal Becky Cavatappi (Elizabeth Berkley Lauren), while also helping Cece move out of her apartment to move into the loft with Jess and the guys. While Cece packs up her things, she begins to have second thoughts about marrying Schmidt. Winston becomes tired of hearing Aly talk about her boyfriend, so he is given a new partner named Dunston (Sam Richardson), who has similar interests as him, but is way more incompetent. A flasher comes in and out of the bar, with Nick not really having a problem with him, which has Schmidt concerned. ||||||||
| 106 | 12 | "D-Day" | Michael Schultz | Josh Malmuth | March 22, 2016 (2016-03-22) | 5ATM12 | 2.25 |
| When Schmidt becomes highly stressed from planning the wedding, and with Cece getting a new job, Jess decides take over with some of the wedding preparations. When getting champagne for the wedding, Jess falls for Gavin (Peter Gallagher), a charming wine store owner, who she later finds out is Schmidt's father. Nick and Winston argue over who has the tougher profession. ||||||||
| 107 | 13 | "Sam, Again" | Steve Welch | Ethan Sandler & Adrian Wenner | March 29, 2016 (2016-03-29) | 5ATM13 | 2.21 |
| Jess applies for a new teaching job at a more subdued, free-spirited school run by Genevieve (Lucy Punch), who she later learns is dating Sam (David Walton). Schmidt has Nick and Cece quarantined, when they both get sick, so he doesn't get sick himself right before he plans on doing a big presentation at work. Winston is nervous about going on a date, to get over being heartbroken by Aly. ||||||||
| 108 | 14 | "300 Feet" | Trent O'Donnell | Sophia Lear | April 12, 2016 (2016-04-12) | 5ATM14 | 2.65 |
| Sam gets a restraining order on Jess. Presh, a fancy bar across the street owned by Connie (Busy Philipps), becomes competition for The Griffin, Nick and Schmidt's bar. ||||||||
| 109 | 15 | "Jeff Day" | Jay Chandrasekhar | Joe Wengert | April 19, 2016 (2016-04-19) | 5ATM15 | 1.92 |
| Jess and Sam are back together, which causes tension between him and Nick. When buying a new car, Jess creates a male alter-ego named "Jeff Day" to deal with Billy (Ian Roberts), a sexist salesman. Schmidt and Cece become worried that Winston's newest girlfriend Rhonda (Sonequa Martin-Green), is way too much into pulling pranks, and wanting Winston to revoke his plus one invitation for her to come to their wedding. ||||||||
| 110 | 16 | "Helmet" | Josh Greenbaum | Sarah Nevada Smith | April 19, 2016 (2016-04-19) | 5ATM18 | 1.92 |
| Jess has a sex dream about Nick, which involved an old Chicago Bears helmet that Nick gave her when they dated. This is especially stressful for Jess as she is about to meet Sam's parents. Aly's boyfriend Tripp (Kal Penn), an agent for animal actors, competes with Winston and his cat Furguson to get his own prized cat Patches a role in the next Avatar film. ||||||||
| 111 | 17 | "Road Trip" | Trent O'Donnell | Noah Garfinkel | April 26, 2016 (2016-04-26) | 5ATM16 | 2.42 |
| Schmidt questions his manhood, after being too scared to protect Cece from a hostile driver during a traffic run-in. To come off as more manly, Schmidt, Nick and Winston along with Big Schmidt (Rob Riggle), Robby (Nelson Franklin) and J. Cronkite Valley-Forge (Fred Melamed), take a road trip to the desert for Schmidt's bachelor party. ||||||||
| 112 | 18 | "A Chill Day In" | Erin O'Malley | Sarah Tapscott | April 26, 2016 (2016-04-26) | 5ATM17 | 1.87 |
| While the guys are at their bachelor party, Jess and Cece stay in and smoke marijuana. After destroying a bread maker given by Schmidt's mother, Jess and Cece go to the store to get it replaced. In doing so they run into Aly and Tripp, who are having difficulties in their relationship. ||||||||
| 113 | 19 | "Dress" | Trent O'Donnell | David Feeney & Josh Malmuth | May 3, 2016 (2016-05-03) | 5ATM19 | 2.27 |
| Jess procrastinates when tasked to alter Cece's wedding dress, so Schmidt helps Jess by having her make alterations to it in the unused men's room at his job. With Winston and Aly now dating, they have difficulty keeping their relationship a secret from the other police officers. Nick awaits a response from Reagan after asking her in a text to be his plus one for Schmidt and Cece's wedding. ||||||||
| 114 | 20 | "Return to Sender" | Russ Alsobrook | Veronica McCarthy | May 3, 2016 (2016-05-03) | 5ATM20 | 1.88 |
| Sam reunites with Diane (Caitlin FitzGerald), an old medical school colleague, who has unresolved romantic feelings for him, putting Jess in the middle. Nick is worried for Schmidt, fearing that Gavin hasn't stopped his "deadbeat dad" ways. Winston's feelings are hurt when Sam refuses to wear a bird shirt that Winston gave him. ||||||||
| 115 | 21 | "Wedding Eve" | Trent O'Donnell | Nina Pedrad & Kim Rosenstock | May 10, 2016 (2016-05-10) | 5ATM21 | 2.34 |
| Jess finds a wedding ring in Sam's jacket pocket and becomes nervous thinking that Sam will propose to her. On the day before Schmidt and Cece's wedding, Schmidt's mom Louise (Nora Dunn) and her life partner Susan (Kim Wayans) stay over at the loft. Winston fears that he may have scared off Aly by referring to her as a "bride". Coach (Damon Wayans, Jr.) is back from New York to visit for the wedding. ||||||||
| 116 | 22 | "Landing Gear" | Erin O'Malley | Luvh Rakhe | May 10, 2016 (2016-05-10) | 5ATM22 | 2.17 |
| On the day of Schmidt and Cece's wedding, Schmidt travels to Portland to get Cece's mom, Priyanka to come. However, he ends up stuck on the plane, still on the tarmac, missing the wedding. Reagan visits for the wedding with Nick wanting to make the move of having a steady relationship. Jess, who reveals that Sam broke up with her the day before, realizes that she still may have romantic feelings for Nick. While Schmidt is missing the wedding, Jess asks Winston to revert to his pranking ways in an attempt to stall the wedding until the groom arrives. ||||||||