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In the year 2000, Adam Sandler, Tim Hirlihy an Steven Brill wrote the film 'Little Nicky', in which the title character was the son of the Devil.

A character in the TV series Twin Peaks was also called 'Little Nicky'. An orphan boy being looked after by the character Dick who at one point says of him "It’s our mutual friend, Little Nicky. How shall I put this? He’s- he’s- Andy I believe that Little Nicky, incredible as it may seem, may, in fact, be the devil..."

I suspect that Sandler, or one of the other writers were influenced by this minor Twin Peaks character in the choosing of the name of the character and film title, but can find no evidence to back my suspicion up.

Can anyone find evidence that they were influenced by Twin Peaks in this regard?

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    'Old Nick' is a common name for satan, hence 'Little Nicky' for his son. It is possible Twin Peaks used the same reasoning for the name. Coincidental, not causitive.
    – wbogacz
    May 27, 2012 at 12:50
  • @wbogacz It occurred to me that it could be coincidental based on the same reasoning you give, but it also occurs to me that the tv-series Twin Peaks was hugely influential...
    – ToniWidmo
    May 27, 2012 at 13:01
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    @wbogacz considering the other 2 answers, you should make this comment an answer. Occam's Razor & all.
    – Detective Chimp
    Mar 12, 2017 at 16:23

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I decided to look into this matter and whilst I can't find any definite proof, there does seem to be a fair amount of circumstantial evidence.

First, I'm not the only one to have spotted the link between the name of the Twin Peaks character and title of the later film, M Morse on chud.com in his comprehensive review of Twin Peaks has this to say of the character:

I’m also admittedly intrigued by Nicky’s background, which involves his parents being killed, and eventually the possibility that ‘Little Nicky’ (Anyone else instinctively think of that stupid Adam Sandler movie whenever Nicky’s referred to that way?) is malevolent

More significant perhaps is the links between Adam Sandler and former actors and actresses of Twin Peaks, including David Duchovny and Francis Bey.

In May 1995, when Duchnovny hosted Saturday Night Live, Sandler played numerous roles, so it seems reasonable to assume they had met. Duchovney had of course appeared in several Twin Peaks episodes as DEA Special Agent Dennis/Denise Bryson.

Further in Adam Sandlers 1996 hit, Happy Gilmour, Canadian actress Francis Bey played his grandmother. She had previously appeared in a Twin Peaks episode as the mysterious Mrs Tremond. She also starred in the film 'Fire Walks With Me' and has worked with Lynch on other films such as 'Blue Velvet'.

Other actors link Sandler to Twin Peaks in the other direction, namely they appeared on film or tv with Sandler before appearing in the series or the film 'Fire Walks With Me'. These include Keifer Sutherland and Billy Zane.

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    I'd say it's more likely the connection came about from Adam Sandler simply watching Twin Peaks when it was on TV than through a collaboration with an actor from the show.
    – Hugh
    Feb 1, 2021 at 7:12
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The Devil is often referred to as "Old Nick". So it's natural to call his child "Little Nicky". It's likely that both the film and the show came up with the name independently.

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