Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica
# Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica

Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica is an American reality television series that aired on MTV. It followed the marriage of then husband and wife Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson. It premiered on August 19, 2003 and ended on March 30, 2005, with a total of 40 episodes over the course of 3 seasons.

Part of the show's gimmick involved displaying Simpson's naive personality, playing on the popular stereotype of "dumb blondes". Perhaps the most famous example comes from the first episode, in which Simpson, confronted with a can of Chicken of the Sea tuna, asked Nick "Is this chicken, what I have, or is this fish? I know it's tuna, but it says 'Chicken... by the Sea' [sic]."

Simpson and Lachey were married on October 26, 2002, and filed for divorce on December 16, 2005. On June 30, 2006, Jessica and Nick's divorce was finalized.

## Origin

The show was originally intended for Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley after their marriage in 1994, but the couple decided not to continue with the project after the start of pre-production. It was shelved until 2002, when Jessica's father and manager, Joe Simpson, contacted Marty about producing a show starring his daughter and her new husband.

When Simpson was originally asked why she chose to do such a show for MTV, she replied that it was good promotion for her new album In This Skin. The reality show, which coincided with the release of the album, at first did not help Simpson's album sales, as it debuted at #10 on the Billboard charts and quickly fell down. Constantine Paraskevopoulos was asked to come in and direct "Sweetest Sin" and help sculpt an image breakthrough for the couple depicting them in a way that would break the boundaries of her conservative church going base. The video helped raise an overall awareness and sex appeal for both Jessica and Nick, and was strongly featured in season one's top episode "the Video shoot". During this time, Constantine was also asked to direct Nick Lachey's video "Shut Up", featuring Dax Shepard from Punk'd. This was also highlighted on the series.

However, over the span of the first season, Simpson's popularity began growing, as many of her "dumb blonde" antics gave her much publicity. By the close of 2003, Simpson and Lachey had both become household names, and Newlyweds had become a pop culture phenomenon. Simpson's label decided to release the second single "With You" to see how it would do on radio now that Simpson had become an A-Lister.

## Episodes

### Series overview

| Season | Episodes | Episodes | Originally aired | Originally aired |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Season | Episodes | Episodes | First aired | Last aired |
| 1 | 10 | 10 | August 19, 2003 (2003-08-19) | October 14, 2003 (2003-10-14) |
| 2 | 20 | 20 | January 21, 2004 (2004-01-21) | August 18, 2004 (2004-08-18) |
| 3 | 10 | 10 | January 26, 2005 (2005-01-26) | March 30, 2005 (2005-03-30) |

### Season 1 (2003)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 1 | "Chicken of the Sea" | August 19, 2003 (2003-08-19) |
| 2 | 2 | "The Dancers" | August 26, 2003 (2003-08-26) |
| 3 | 3 | "Newlyweds Go Camping" | September 2, 2003 (2003-09-02) |
| 4 | 4 | "Newlyweds Go Golfing" | September 9, 2003 (2003-09-09) |
| 5 | 5 | "The Platypus" | September 16, 2003 (2003-09-16) |
| 6 | 6 | "Buffalo Wings" | September 23, 2003 (2003-09-23) |
| 7 | 7 | "Newlyweds Decorate" | September 30, 2003 (2003-09-30) |
| 8 | 8 | "The Video Shoot" | October 7, 2003 (2003-10-07) |
| 9 | 9 | "Jessica's Birthday" | October 14, 2003 (2003-10-14) |
| 10 | 10 | "Jessica Cooks Dinner" | October 14, 2003 (2003-10-14) |

### Season 2 (2004)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date |
| - | - | - | - |
| 11 | 1 | "The Anniversary" | January 21, 2004 (2004-01-21) |
| 12 | 2 | "Nick's 30th B-Day" | January 28, 2004 (2004-01-28) |
| 13 | 3 | "The Newlyweds Shop" | February 4, 2004 (2004-02-04) |
| 14 | 4 | "The French Language" | February 11, 2004 (2004-02-11) |
| 15 | 5 | "The Duet" | February 18, 2004 (2004-02-18) |
| 16 | 6 | "A Newlyweds Christmas" | February 25, 2004 (2004-02-25) |
| 17 | 7 | "Jessica's 'Dessert'" | March 3, 2004 (2004-03-03) |
| 18 | 8 | "Puppy Madness" | March 10, 2004 (2004-03-10) |
| 19 | 9 | "The Newlyweds Vacation" | March 17, 2004 (2004-03-17) |
| 20 | 10 | "Valentine's Day" | March 24, 2004 (2004-03-24) |
| 21 | 11 | "CaCee Moves In" | June 16, 2004 (2004-06-16) |
| 22 | 12 | "Mismatched Threesome" | June 23, 2004 (2004-06-23) |
| 23 | 13 | "Celebrity Issues" | June 30, 2004 (2004-06-30) |
| 24 | 14 | "Eye Surgery" | July 7, 2004 (2004-07-07) |
| 25 | 15 | "Newlyweds Baby" | July 14, 2004 (2004-07-14) |
| 26 | 16 | "The Kentucky Derby" | July 21, 2004 (2004-07-21) |
| 27 | 17 | "Nick and Joe" | July 28, 2004 (2004-07-28) |
| 28 | 18 | "The Traveling Newlyweds" | August 4, 2004 (2004-08-04) |
| 29 | 19 | "Nick's Lawn" | August 11, 2004 (2004-08-11) |
| 30 | 20 | "The Newlyweds" | August 18, 2004 (2004-08-18) |

### Season 3 (2005)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date |
| - | - | - | - |
| 31 | 1 | "Newlyweds Two Year Anniversary" | January 26, 2005 (2005-01-26) |
| 32 | 2 | "Jess Gets a Root Canal" | February 2, 2005 (2005-02-02) |
| 33 | 3 | "Training Daisy" | February 9, 2005 (2005-02-09) |
| 34 | 4 | "The Dukes of Hazzard" | February 16, 2005 (2005-02-16) |
| 35 | 5 | "New Year's Eve" | February 23, 2005 (2005-02-23) |
| 36 | 6 | "The Orange Bowl" | March 2, 2005 (2005-03-02) |
| 37 | 7 | "Boys Weekend in Cabo" | March 9, 2005 (2005-03-09) |
| 38 | 8 | "Newlyweds Together Again" | March 16, 2005 (2005-03-16) |
| 39 | 9 | "The Valentine's Day Budget" | March 23, 2005 (2005-03-23) |
| 40 | 10 | "Newlyweds Series Finale" | March 30, 2005 (2005-03-30) |
