Andrew Nicholls and Darrell Vickers

Andrew Nicholls (born 14 July 1957) and Darrell Vickers (born 17 July 1957) are an English-born Canadian writing team. They were head writers of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson from 1988 to 1992. Both their families moved independently from England to the same town in Canada, and they met in junior high in 1969, where they began collaborating almost immediately. The duo moved to Los Angeles in 1983 to continue their careers, and are members of WGA, WGC, SACD, SOCAN, ACCT, and ATAS.

Andrew Nicholls
Born (1957-07-14) 14 July 1957
Croxley Green, Hertfordshire, England
NationalityCanadian
OccupationScreenwriter, television writer, executive producer
Known forFilm, television, animation, radio, stand up comedy, comic strips
Children1
Darrell Vickers
Born (1957-07-17) 17 July 1957
Derbyshire, England
NationalityCanadian
OccupationScreenwriter, television writer, executive producer
Known forFilm, television, animation, radio, stand up comedy, comic strips
Children1

Career

Nicholls and Vickers began writing music and comedy together while at Ridgeway Junior High School (now École élémentaire Antonine Maillet or Antonine-Maillet Elementary School) in Oshawa, Ontario (Canada). After high school they wrote for stage, radio, TV, syndicated cartoonists and stand-up comedians.

From 1979 to 1982 they performed in Southern Ontario as Nobby Clegg and the Civilians, after having received airplay at Brampton alternative station CFNY-FM with home-recorded songs. The band found some success with the singles "Essay - Me Dad" and "I Wanna Be in Commercials," which were also included in the 1981 compilation Toronto Calling. Nicholls and Vickers later used the band's name for a character on the Showtime show Rude Awakening. In that series, the Nobby Clegg character was played by Roger Daltrey, best known as the lead singer of The Who.

From 1986 to 1992 they helped write 770 hours of produced material for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, earning 4 Emmy nominations, and were the show's head writers from December 1988, until Carson's retirement on 22 May 1992.

In 1997, the pair received a Genie nomination, Best Animated Series, for Ned's Newt (Nelvana). They also received a WGC nomination for the series in 1999. The title character was voiced by Harland Williams and was cited in several interviews as one of the favorite TV shows of legendary cartoonist Ed Gorey.

In 2001, the two received a Gemini nomination for "Best Comedy Series" for their work developing, writing the pilot, and serving as Story Editors on John Callahan's Quads!.

The duo were nominated for a Pulcinella Award, Best Animated Episode, at the 2003 Cartoons on the Bay Festival in Positano, Italy, for both The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and The World of Tosh. They were again nominated for the Pulcinella for Best Kids Series at the 2015 Festival, for Pumpkin Reports.

In 2008, the pair were awarded a Gemini Award, Best Pre-School Series, for the animated series Will & Dewitt—having written the series bible, 28 episodes, and serving as Story Editors.

Vickers is part of a music band called "Death of the Author Brigade"—which was formed through the internet (none of the band members have met in person).

As a writing team, Vickers and Nicholls have over 1200 hours of produced television credits. They have also written and produced 38 television and radio pilot scripts (as of 2020).

In 2019, Nicholls' full-length stage play {LOVE/Logic} had its world premiere at the Wyatt Theater Pavilion, UC Davis, California.

In 2020, Nicholls published a how-to book, Comedy Writer.

Partial Writing Credits

Stand-up Comedians

Film

Television

Radio
  • The Alleged Report (1980) syndicated radio comedy
  • The Continuing Adventures Of... Adventureman! [Created by, Written by] (1980) (CBC Radio) comedy series
  • Countless Travels of Matthew Matics [Created by, Written by] (1980) (CBC Radio) comedy series
  • Great Canadian Characters [Created by, Written by] (1981) (CBC Radio) series
  • This Day in History (1983) (CBC Radio) series

Other
  • Frank & Ernest (1979–2006) (United Media) syndicated comic strip
  • Fezgod.com [Created by/Developed by] online humour site—since discontinued
  • Valuable Lessons: How I Made (And Lost) Millions Writing For Over A Hundred Shows and Series—Andrew Nicholls' revealingly honest exposé about the entertainment industry and the life of a Television writer and show runner. The updated 2010 version is now available for download at Amazon (Kindle Edition): Valuable Lessons: How I Made (And Lost) Millions Writing For Over A Hundred Shows and Series
  • MOJAVE! The Musical, (book, music and lyrics by Nicholls & Vickers) had its first staged reading May 25, 2016, at UC Davis Theater Department, Davis, California
  • Since 2012, Andrew Nicholls has published short fiction in Black Clock, The Santa Monica Review, Cosmonauts Avenue, The Boiler Journal, New World Writing, Literature For Life, Kugelmass, The Sherman Oaks Review of Books, and elsewhere.
  • Darrell Vickers executive produced the first season and wrote 2 episodes for Hitting The Breaks (2016)

Interviews
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