Prince (New Girl)

Jess Day (Zooey Deschanel) and her best friend Cece (Hannah Simone) are invited to a party held at Prince's house. Just as they are leaving, Jess's boyfriend Nick Miller (Jake Johnson) spontaneously tells Jess he loves her for the first time. Surprised, Jess replies with a finger gun hand gesture. At a bar, Nick admits that he meant what he said, but wanted to tell Jess in a more romantic setting. His roommate Schmidt (Max Greenfield) suggests he crashes Prince's party and takes his "I love you" back. Outside the house, Nick and Schmidt watch on as their roommates Winston Bishop (Lamorne Morris) and Coach (Damon Wayans, Jr.) use an improv story to gain entry to the party. After their effort fails, Nick gets in by hiding behind a group of models, while Schmidt is forced to climb through a hedge. As Nick and Jess catch up to each other, Jess tries to tell Nick that she loves him, but suffers a panic attack and faints. In the garden, Nick tries to take back his declaration of love.

As their friends give them a moment alone, Prince appears and asks what the problem is. Nick and Jess explain their situation and Prince asks to spend some time alone with Jess. Nick gets drunk and interrupts Winston and Coach's conversation with two supermodels. Over pancakes, Jess tells Prince that she is scared to admit her feelings and is worried that if something goes wrong, it will be too painful. Prince gives Jess a makeover and advises her to tell Nick she loves him back. He also tells her to stop being afraid. Jess returns to the party, where she tells Nick she loves him and he reciprocates. Prince takes to the stage to perform "Fallinlove2nite" and invites Jess to sing with him. The others join them on stage. Back at the apartment, everyone is reminiscing about dancing with Prince, when Jess realises Cece is missing. The scene cuts to Cece, who is still at the house, playing table tennis with Prince.

On May 13, 2013, Fox announced that an episode of New Girl would be the lead-out program following Super Bowl XLVIII on February 2, 2014.^[2] The production team began preparing for the episode the moment they found out the news.^[3] The show's creator Elizabeth Meriwether told Michael O'Connell of The Hollywood Reporter that they had an opportunity to introduce the show to a new audience, as well as creating a special episode for regular viewers. The team's main aim was to make it funny and romantic.^[3] The last sitcom to follow the Super Bowl was The Office in 2009, while the Friends episode "The One After the Superbowl" is the highest-rated Super Bowl lead-out program ever.^[4]

On December 12, 2013, it was announced that Prince would be guest starring in the episode as himself, the only time he appeared in a television series.^[5] Meriwether told O'Connell that near to the time Fox gave New Girl the post-Super Bowl spot, Prince's team also enquired about him making a guest appearance during the third season, and they decided to write the episode around him.^[3] Meriwether had heard that Prince was a fan of New Girl and that it was one of the few shows he watched.^[6] She also revealed that Prince had previously been offered a guest appearance in the season two episode "Virgins". However, he could not accept at the time, but still wanted to appear in the show.^[3]

At least two scripts were rejected, as they were not in keeping with the show. One storyline had Prince playing the lead singer of a Prince cover band.^[3] Meriwether said that Prince's appearance with the main characters also needed to be believable.^[7] Eventually the writers, Rob Rosell and Dave Feeney, scripted an episode that would see the characters attending a party at Prince's house, where he would help Jess and Nick say "I love you" for the first time.^[6] In a piece for Vulture, Meriwether recalled that Prince was pleased that he would be the person who helps get Jess and Nick to admit how they truly felt about each other.^[6]

Prince came up with the idea of helping Jess by giving her a makeover,^[7] and asked that the house party on the show was as close as possible to his real house parties.^[6] Four days before filming was due to start, Prince pulled out as he was unhappy with changes to the script.^[6] Meriwether explained that Fox had asked that the episode ended with a scene at the apartment, so she had Nick and Jess declare their love for one another in the bathroom. After speaking with Prince, Meriwether realised that he needed to be the one to get through to Jess, and promised to revise the script immediately. Prince agreed again to be part of the episode that same day.^[6] Meriwether said the episode was "a big milestone" for Nick and Jess romantically, and that the storyline would continue to play out during the rest of the season.^[3]

The episode was directed by Fred Goss.^[8] Filming took place in December 2013, and "Prince" became one of the most expensive episodes of New Girl to be shot, as a house needed to be rented out and new sets built.^[6] Prince was on set for three days.^[9] Meriwether recalled that he was "fantastic at ping-pong" and told Simone to practice before their scene together. The musician was surprised when she scored a point off him during the first take.^[3] Prince also changed a scripted moment in which he shines a flashlight under his chin to a lighter, as he believed it was funnier.^[6] The episode featured cameo appearances from baseball player Clayton Kershaw,^[10] and models Alessandra Ambrosio, Ana Beatriz Barros and Lais Ribeiro.^[11][12] In May 2016, Deschanel told Conan O'Brien that Khloé Kardashian and Kris Jenner had also filmed cameos. However, their scenes were cut after a member of Prince's team asked about the celebrity appearances and commented "I hope it's not the Kardashians". Prince felt that they would never be at one of his parties.^[13]

Prince used his appearance in the episode to premiere his new song "Fallinlove2nite", which features vocals from Deschanel.^[14] The actress told Sandy Coen of the Associated Press that the producers wanted her character to go up on stage and sing with Prince, so they asked her to lay down a vocal for the sound department, who sent it to Prince. The following day, her vocal was mixed into the song.^[15] Shortly before the scene was filmed, Prince asked producer Erin O'Malley for a megaphone. As the song began to play, Prince used the megaphone to call out "Does anyone want to fall in love tonight?". The crowd of actors and extras gave an unscripted cheer.^[6] Meriwether admitted that she teared up following the take.^[7] The episode also featured Prince's "When You Were Mine" from Prince's 1980 album Dirty Mind, during the scenes where Prince gives Jess a makeover.^[16]