Trivia / La Femme Nikita

• Actor-Inspired Element:
  • It was Don Francks' idea to have his character Walter to call Nikita "Sugar" along with his bandana.
  • Peta Wilson owned the trademark sunglasses Nikita hangs up over her counter in her apartment.
• Cast the Runner-Up: Don Francks read for the part of Operations, before getting cast as Walter.
• Dueling Shows: During the first season, the show was part of the auxiliary front of the Monday Night Wars as it was up against The New Adventures of Robin Hood on TNT in the slot after WWF Raw and WCW Monday Nitro. Vince McMahon opined on commentary at one point that Nikita could kick Robin Hood's ass.
• Executive Meddling: When Stephen Chao took over as president of USA Network, he requested the show have wrestlers in guest starring roles as terrorists as a way to cross-promote USA's broadcasts of WWF Raw during season three, despite evidence that the shows did not have compatible demographics.
• Fake American: Most of the main cast are Canadians excluding Peta Wilson, who is Australian. The only American in the cast is Eugene Robert Glazer, who plays Operations.
• Fake Nationality: Michael is French, his actor Roy Dupuis is French-Canadian.
• Follow the Leader: Alias and Covert Affairs were very obviously influenced by this.
• Real Life Writes the Hairstyle: Peta Wilson cut her trademark long blonde hair short during the hiatus between Season 4 and 5, thinking she wouldn't be needed anymore. When the series was Un-Cancelled, the first episode had a scene where Nikita cuts her hair before returning to Section One.
• Screwed by the Network: The show was at first a ratings hit for USA, being the highest-rated drama for said network in addition to being Adored by the Network but after season two, USA had a change of staff with president Rod Perth being replaced by Stephen Chao, following Barry Diller's acquisition, thus relegating it to a different timeslot in season three and by season four, the network barely promoted it along with retooling the successful "Sunday Night Heat" bloc of action dramas by cancelling Pacific Blue and Silk Stalkings and replacing it with a new crop of shows such as The War Next Door, G vs E, Manhattan, AZ and Cover Me, which led into a ratings slump, thus resulting it to be cancelled only to be uncancelled for a truncated final season.
• Sending Stuff to Save the Show: When news broke of the show's cancellation, fans rallied to start up a campaign for USA and Warner Bros. to reverse their decision, which gained media attention in The Hollywood Report and in addition to sending over 25,000 letters, fans also sent stuff containing everything from dollar bills featuring images of co-star Roy Dupuis to sunglasses (Nikita's signature accessory) to old TVs, VCRs, and remote controls. It proved to be successful as USA announced that the show would return for an eight-episode final season in order to give the show closure.
• Star-Making Role: For Peta Wilson. She was even offered the role of Jean Grey in X-Men, but the producers refused to let her be released from her contract early to participate. Unfortunately, she was blacklisted by Hollywood for refusing to renew her contract, and that saw her star dimming somewhat. She's still working away however.
• Trolling Creator: Peta Wilson at one point joked that the show would follow the lead of Ellen's infamous "The Puppy Episode" and Nikita would "get a girlfriend".

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