Mike Nichols

Made films the shows talk about.

Wikidata Q51537: matched by corpus:resolve, told apart by Wikidata joins them to Carnal Knowledge, which The Future of ‘Star Wars,’ Marvel, Pixar, and Disney’s Movie Monopoly. Plus: Our Summer Movie Awards and Paul Downs Colaizzo on ‘Brittany Runs a Marathon’ | The Big Picture credits them on.

Counted as director, the making department they hold the most credits in. The films the hosts said they directed, which the two lists below run through too: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966); The Graduate (1967); Carnal Knowledge (1971); Silkwood (1983); Heartburn (1986); Biloxi Blues (1988); Working Girl (1988); Postcards from the Edge (1990); Regarding Henry (1991); Wolf (1994); The Birdcage (1996); Charlie Wilson's War; Closer; Primary Colors; What Planet Are You From? (title not said).

Draws on

What the speakers say they, or a film of theirs, drew on. Each is a speaker's account: “the maker said so” when they report the maker's own words, “the host's read” when the read is theirs.

An Officer and a Gentleman (1982): 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Working Girl (1988), which they directed: An Officer and a Gentleman ⇒ Working Girl (the host's read). The kiss-and-secretaries-cheer moment is an Officer and a Gentleman homage.
    “And then I had the officer and a gentleman homage when they're kissing and one of the secretaries says, way to go.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Working Girl’ With Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins, and Joanna Robinson · 1:13:08 · Bill Simmons (0.40 sure it was them)

Carrie Fisher: 1 line

  1. people (people) · through Postcards from the Edge (1990), which they directed: Carrie Fisher ⇒ Postcards from the Edge (the host's read). Postcards is a Mike Nichols film written by Carrie Fisher from her novel.
    “Which is a Mike Nichols film, written by Carrie Fisher”
    The Big Picture · The 1990 Movie Draft · 1:16:02 · Amanda Dobbins (0.85 sure it was them)

Drawn on by

What the speakers say drew on them or a film of theirs, marked the same way.

Pretty Woman (1990): 2 lines

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Working Girl (1988), which they directed: Working Girl ⇒ Pretty Woman (the host's read). Pretty Woman borrows openly from Working Girl's Cinderella story.
    “It openly steal shit from this movie.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Working Girl’ With Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins, and Joanna Robinson · 0:08:48 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  2. programming (programming) · through Working Girl (1988), which they directed: Working Girl ⇒ Pretty Woman (the host's read). Pairing Working Girl and Pretty Woman as a Cinderella double feature to see what Pretty Woman took.
    “It double Cinderella and then you're watching Purdue Woman seeing all the things they took.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Working Girl’ With Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins, and Joanna Robinson · 2:05:09 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

Brittany Runs a Marathon (2019): 1 line

  1. lineage (influence) · them, directly: Mike Nichols ⇒ Brittany Runs a Marathon (the maker said so: on the show, Colaizzo describing his own influences). Colaizzo studied theater-to-film directors Nichols, Kazan, May and Mamet.
    “Well, like Mike Nichols did that, Ellie? Kazan, um, Elaine May, you know, works as a director, as a writer, and, and, you know, I could feel that David Mammoth, same thing.”
    The Big Picture · The Future of ‘Star Wars,’ Marvel, Pixar, and Disney’s Movie Monopoly. Plus: Our Summer Movie Awards and Paul Downs Colaizzo on ‘Brittany Runs a Marathon’ | The Big Picture · 1:01:08 · Paul Downs Colaizzo (0.90 sure it was them)

The Devil Wears Prada (2006): 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Working Girl (1988), which they directed: Working Girl ⇒ The Devil Wears Prada (the host's read). Working Girl sprinkled its DNA over later beloved movies, Pretty Woman and Devil Wears Prada chief among them.
    “And it's just sprinkling DNA over all these beloved movies over the next 40 years, but those were Pretty Woman and Devil wears Prada were the 2 that I was like, oh, yeah.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Working Girl’ With Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins, and Joanna Robinson · 0:13:35 · Joanna Robinson (0.40 sure it was them)

Working Girl (1990 NBC series): 1 line

  1. programming (programming) · through Working Girl (1988), which they directed: Working Girl ⇒ Working Girl (1990 NBC series) (the host's read). Working Girl became a 1990 NBC series, with Sandra Bullock as Tess.
    “Working Girl became an NBC series in 1990”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Working Girl’ With Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins, and Joanna Robinson · 1:11:10 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)

What the speakers said they did

Directing (18) everyone in directing

Other (1) everyone in other

What was said about them, by kind

career (4)

  1. career (career): Mike Nichols → Wolf. Nichols had a smooth career with Wolf as the weird hiccup, to hosts' amusement.
    “Motherfucker made wolf.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · As Good as It Gets with Chris Gethard · 1:20:43 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  2. career (career): Mike Nichols → Silkwood. His 83-89 run: Silkwood, Heartburn, Biloxi Blues, Working Girl, Postcards from the Edge, then Regarding Henry.
    “his run in the 80s, just from 83 to 89 was Sokwood, Harburn, Bilaxi Blues, working girl, postcards from the Edge, and then regarding Henry 91”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Working Girl’ With Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins, and Joanna Robinson · 0:38:05 · Bill Simmons (0.80 sure it was them)
  3. career (career): Mike Nichols → Regarding Henry. In the 90s Nichols took money-grab projects, but Regarding Henry is called a masterpiece.
    “But also the masterpiece regarding Henry, so.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Working Girl’ With Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins, and Joanna Robinson · 0:41:28 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  4. career (career): Mike Nichols → The Graduate. Nichols directed The Graduate; Ebert later said Working Girl belonged to Griffith the way The Graduate did to Hoffman.
    “he made the graduate.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Working Girl’ With Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins, and Joanna Robinson · 1:39:58 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

craft (3)

  1. craft (craft): Mike Nichols → Working Girl. Theater background makes him good at believable people talking.
    “because he has so much theater work, he's just, he's like really good at people talking and characters and people being believable”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Working Girl’ With Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins, and Joanna Robinson · 0:38:47 · unknown (0.50 sure it was them)
  2. craft (craft): Mike Nichols → Working Girl. His movies are about ordinary people trying to get something in life, people you recognize.
    “Mike Nichols types of movies where people are just trying to get something in life and being people and they are people that you recognize.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Working Girl’ With Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins, and Joanna Robinson · 0:39:06 · unknown (0.50 sure it was them)
  3. craft (craft): Wolf → Mike Nichols. Nichols did not shoot coverage, so action in Wolf is slowed down to cover the gap.
    “sometimes did not know to shoot coverage”
    Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 1:00:17 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

industry (1)

  1. industry (industry): Mike Nichols → Nora Ephron. A New York power circle of creative friends: Nichols, Ephron, Sawyer, Gray Carter, Lorne Michaels.
    “friends with Nora Efron, Mary Diane Sawyer, like has a house in Connecticut”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Working Girl’ With Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins, and Joanna Robinson · 0:39:48 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

lineage (2)

  1. lineage (lineage): Mike Nichols → Elaine May. He began as a comedian in Nichols and May, then theater, then film with Virginia Woolf and The Graduate.
    “famously a comedian, part of, um, Nichols and May.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Working Girl’ With Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins, and Joanna Robinson · 0:38:26 · unknown (0.50 sure it was them)
  2. lineage (influence): Brittany Runs a Marathon → Mike Nichols. Colaizzo studied theater-to-film directors Nichols, Kazan, May and Mamet.
    “Well, like Mike Nichols did that, Ellie? Kazan, um, Elaine May, you know, works as a director, as a writer, and, and, you know, I could feel that David Mammoth, same thing.”
    The Big Picture · The Future of ‘Star Wars,’ Marvel, Pixar, and Disney’s Movie Monopoly. Plus: Our Summer Movie Awards and Paul Downs Colaizzo on ‘Brittany Runs a Marathon’ | The Big Picture · 1:01:08 · Paul Downs Colaizzo (0.90 sure it was them)

people (5)

  1. people (people): Mike Nichols → Judd Apatow. Chris could have met Nichols through Apatow to talk about early improv.
    “and he mentioned that he had just met Mike Nichols.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · As Good as It Gets with Chris Gethard · 1:19:52 · Chris Gethard (0.80 sure it was them)
  2. people (people): Mike Nichols → Diane Sawyer. He met the love of his life Diane Sawyer while making this love story.
    “this is when he gets together with Diane Sawyer, who, you know, he considers the love of his life.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Working Girl’ With Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins, and Joanna Robinson · 0:39:18 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  3. people (people): Mike Nichols → Meryl Streep. Nichols worked with Streep three times and wrote strong women.
    “works with Meryl Streep 3 times.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Working Girl’ With Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins, and Joanna Robinson · 0:42:27 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  4. people (people): Postcards from the Edge → Mike Nichols. Mike Nichols is one of Amanda's faves.
    “I mean, it's Mike Nichols, one of my faves.”
    The Big Picture · The 1990 Movie Draft · 1:18:24 · Amanda Dobbins (0.85 sure it was them)
  5. people (people): Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? → Mike Nichols. It was Mike Nichols' directorial debut, a big hit despite expecting scandal.
    “Of course, the directorial debut of Mike Nichols.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Batman (1966) · 1:59:20 · David Sims (0.50 sure it was them)

theme (1)

  1. theme (theme): Mike Nichols → Working Girl. Tess the outsider reaching for the finer things relates to Nichols, a German immigrant.
    “the biography pointed out like, the test character is relates to him.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Working Girl’ With Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins, and Joanna Robinson · 0:40:10 · unknown (0.50 sure it was them)

unmapped (1)

  1. unmapped (tonal shift): Brittany Runs a Marathon → Mike Nichols. Sean sees a Nichols-like pattern of starting one way and shifting into a different movie.
    “I feel like a lot of his movies start one way with a certain tonality and then they make a shift and then all of a sudden you're in a different movie”
    The Big Picture · The Future of ‘Star Wars,’ Marvel, Pixar, and Disney’s Movie Monopoly. Plus: Our Summer Movie Awards and Paul Downs Colaizzo on ‘Brittany Runs a Marathon’ | The Big Picture · 1:08:48 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)

what-if (1)

  1. what-if (what-if): Mike Nichols → Alec Baldwin. Nichols wanted Baldwin for Jack, but the studio said Griffith and Baldwin were not enough names.
    “that Nichols did want Baldwin, and then the studio was like, Melanie Griffith and Alec Gildwin, Baldwin aren't enough names.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Working Girl’ With Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins, and Joanna Robinson · 0:33:04 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Fun items about them

  1. fun, about Mike Nichols: Chris missed a chance to talk early improv with Nichols via Judd Apatow.
    “I could have sat with Mike Nichols and just talked about the earliest days of improv.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · As Good as It Gets with Chris Gethard · 1:20:29 · Chris Gethard (0.70 sure it was them)