Principal Nicholson

Principal Nicholson
Character Information
Nickname(s)	Buster (by McGee)
Gender	Male
Hair Color	Black
Eye Color	Brown
Affiliation	Boosters
Occupation	Principal at Rydell High School
Series Information
Portrayed By	Danny Mac
First Seen	"We're Gonna Rule the School"

Principal Nicholson is a guest character in the Paramount+ original series, Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies. He is portrayed by Danny Mac.

Nicholson is the flighty, uninvolved principal of Rydell High School.

Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies

In "We're Gonna Rule the School", a new school year began at Rydell High and Vice Principal McGee welcomed students, particularly Jane Facciano. McGee brought her a ladder for the pep rally banner. She explained she was doing two jobs since the new secretary retired and Principal Nicholson wouldn't hire anyone new. Jane, Olivia Valdovinos, Cynthia Zdunowski, and Nancy Nakagawa were sent to the principal's office for varied reasons. Principal Nicholson exited his office as Miss. McGee rushed out the reports she had finished in triplicate. He saw the girls and left for a lunch meeting, which meant McGee had to deal with the girls.

In "Too Pure to Be Pink", Nicholson entered his office after hours, oblivious to the fact Jane and Richie had snuck into and were hiding behind his door. He listened to the radio and then answered a call from the Superintendent, and blamed Miss McGee for the missing budgets. He hurried out and closed his door behind him.

In "If You Can't Be an Athlete, Be an Athletic Supporter", the recently formed Pink Ladies bumped into Miss. McGee. She relayed Principal Nicholson's decree that they were no longer permitted to wear gang-affiliated attire at school, which meant they had to fork over their jackets. Later, when Olivia printed a scathing article against McGee and Nicholson, the administration decided to ban all jackets and implement a strict dress code.

During the football game that afternoon, McGee and Nicholson collected all the students jackets to put them in a bin. They watched the Rangers lose and Rowdy, the team mascot, be pelted down with food from the stands. The Pink Ladies made a scene at the track but no one would listen. Nancy stole a megaphone from the cheerleaders while Cynthia corralled Susan. Olivia was tired of how the administration pitted them against each other, and took a megaphone to rile up the student body in “Pointing Fingers”. The T-Birds and band joined in first, slowly followed by the rest of the students. Nicholson and McGee could only shout from the other end of the track and watch the scene unfold. Gil stole the basket full of jackets from them and dispersed the jackets out to everyone. They ended their number with a march to Vice Principal McGee and Principal Nicholson and ended with a flip of their middle fingers.

In "You Can't Just Walk Out of a Drive-In", Miss. McGee counted out the votes for student council in front of Principal Nicholson, Olivia, Tippy St. Clair, Dick Aldridge, and two members of the school board. Jane won with 213 votes, which pleased McGee as they lived through history. Dick asked if they were sure, but they counted the vote three times. Tippy exclaimed that it was ludicrous, while Nicholson told her not to rain on some people's parades. McGee and Olivia left to type up an announcement, while Tippy looked out the door to where Susan and Buddy sat. She shook her head at her daughter to signal Buddy's loss. He told her it was alright and left to go home. Dick wanted to make sure there wasn't fraud and insisted Nicholson recount the ballads again. Everyone else agreed, so Nicholson started over.

In "Sloppy Seconds Ain't My Style", Nicholson golfed in his office when McGee entered to have a word. There were questions over the vote count for the election. She saw with her own eyes that Jane Facciano won, so he suggested she get new spectacles. Her prescription was up to date, but she thanked him for his concern. He sat on the desk and admitted that Jane did win, but he gave it to Buddy because he needed it more for college. McGee was shocked and reminded him that Jane wanted to go to college too. He waved her off as girls only went to college to get their MRS degree. Buddy could be somebody in the world. McGee went to college which surprised him as he didn't. Being principal was about tough decisions, and she'd find that out when he named her as his replacement. He wanted to run for superintendent and shushed her for the secret. If he won and she played her cards right, the office could be hers - except his portrait, he would take that with him.

In "Cruisin' for Bruisin'", Principal Nicholson attended the Rydell High play.

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