The Nanny

For other uses, see Nanny (disambiguation).

The Nanny
File:Nannylogo.PNG
Created by	Fran Drescher Peter Marc Jacobson
Developed by	Prudence Fraser Robert Sternin
Starring	Fran Drescher Charles Shaughnessy Daniel Davis Lauren Lane Nicholle Tom Benjamin Salisbury Madeline Zima Renée Taylor Ann Morgan Guilbert Rachel Chagall
Theme music composer	Ann Hampton Callaway (Pilot episode: Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields)
Opening theme	"The Nanny Named Fran", written and performed by Ann Hampton Callaway (performed with Liz Callaway)
Composer	Timothy Thompson
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	6
No. of episodes	146 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Fran Drescher Prudence Fraser Peter Marc Jacobson Frank Lombardi Caryn Lucas Robert Sternin Diane Wilk
Camera setup	Videotape; Multi-camera
Running time	22–24 minutes
Production companies	Sternin & Fraser Ink Highschool Sweethearts TriStar Television
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	November 3, 1993 (1993-11-03) – June 23, 1999 (1999-06-23)

The Nanny is an American television sitcom co-produced by Sternin & Fraser Ink, Inc., and Fran Drescher in association with TriStar Television for the CBS network. It first aired from November 3, 1993, to May 12, 1999, and starred Fran Drescher as Fran Fine, a Jewish Queens native who casually becomes the nanny of three children from the New York/British upper class.

Created and executive produced by Drescher and her then-husband Peter Marc Jacobson, The Nanny took much of its inspiration from Drescher's personal life growing up in Queens, involving names and characteristics based on her relatives and friends. The show earned a Rose d'Or and one Emmy Award, out of a total of thirteen nominations, and Drescher was twice nominated for a Golden Globe as well as for an Emmy. Since the early 2000s (decade) the sitcom has also spawned several foreign adaptations, loosely inspired by the original scripts.

Plot

See also: List of The Nanny episodes

Jewish-American Fran Fine, fresh out of her job as a bridal consultant in her fiance's shop, first appears on the door step of Broadway producer Maxwell Sheffield (Charles Shaughnessy) peddling cosmetics, and quickly stumbles upon the opportunity to become the nanny for his three children. Soon Fran, with her off-beat nurturing and no-nonsense honesty, touches the whole family as she gives the prim-and-proper Maxwell and his children a dose of 'Queens logic,' helping them to become a healthy, happy family; a family that she later fully joins when she becomes engaged and then married to Maxwell. She then adds to this family of five when she and Maxwell have fraternal twins.

Other characters include sardonic butler Niles (Daniel Davis), and Maxwell's socialite business partner C.C. Babcock (Lauren Lane), who views Fran with jealousy and skepticism.

Cast

Main cast

Main article: List of The Nanny characters

The Nanny maintained an ensemble cast, keeping the same set of characters for its entire six-season run. Numerous secondary characters and love interests for these characters appeared intermittently to complement storylines that generally revolved around this core group.

Character	Actor
Fran Fine	Fran Drescher
Maxwell Sheffield	Charles Shaughnessy
Niles	Daniel Davis
C. C. Babcock	Lauren Lane
Margaret Sheffield	Nicholle Tom
Brighton Sheffield	Benjamin Salisbury
Grace Sheffield	Madeline Zima
Sylvia Fine	Renée Taylor
Yetta Rosenberg	Ann Morgan Guilbert
Val Toriello	Rachel Chagall

Guest stars

Although largely operating around the main ensemble cast, The Nanny featured an enormous number of guest stars over the years. Notable repeat guests included Lainie Kazan as Fran's paternal aunt Freida Fine, Steve Lawrence as Fran's never before seen father Morty Fine, Pamela Anderson as Fran's nemesis Heather Biblow, Ray Charles as Yetta's fiancé Sammy, Spalding Gray as Dr. Jack Miller, Fred Stoller for the frequently featured pharmacist Fred, and Andrew Levitas as Maggie's boyfriend.

Some celebrities guested as characters in single episodes, such as John Astin, Roseanne as Fran's cousin Sheila, and Joan Collins as Maxwell's stepmother, Robert Vaughn as Maxwell's father. Others appeared as themselves, primarily in connection with Maxwell's business relations, such as Bob Barker, Chevy Chase, Billy Ray Cyrus, Lesley-Anne Down, Erik Estrada, Dan Aykroyd, Joe Lando, Richard Kline, Bette Midler and Eydie Gorme, Jane Seymour, Cloris Leachman, Elizabeth Taylor, Elton John, Jason Alexander, Lamb Chop and Shari Lewis, Andrew Dice Clay, Lynn Redgrave, Hugh Grant, Margaret Cho, Jeanne Cooper, Melody Thomas Scott, Eric Braeden, Shemar Moore, Joshua Morrow and Hunter Tylo; media personalities Roger Clinton, Jr., Alicia Machado, Rita Moreno (who would later play Fran's mother, Dori, on her later series, Happily Divorced, Jay Leno, David Letterman, and Donald Trump; and musicians Lisa Loeb, Eartha Kitt, Brian Setzer, Celine Dion. Rapper Coolio, Whoopi Goldberg, Steve Lawrence and Rosie O'Donnell guest starred as both characters and themselves in different episodes. Two-time "Survivor" Jonathan Penner appeared as Fran's former fiance, Danny Imperialli. James Marsden appeared as Maggie's boyfriend, Eddie, and Telma Hopkins appeared as Fran's "mother" in the episode Fran's Roots. Scott Baio made an appearance as a rookie doctor who was a former schoolmate of Fran's (Fran was his first patient...ever). Jon Stewart portrayed a Jewish love interest of Fran's until it was discovered at a family wedding that the two were cousins; on the June 29, 2011 airing of The Daily Show, Stewart stated he agreed to make an appearance after receiving a personal call from Fran Drescher.

Marvin Hamlisch appeared as Fran's former high school music teacher, a Marvin Hamlisch look-alike. Fran Drescher also reprised her role of Bobbi Fleckman from the 1984 film This Is Spinal Tap and made a cameo appearance as actor "Fran Drescher" in the third to last episode. Charles Shaughnessy had a double role as a foreign sultan in one episode. Drescher's real-life parents, Morty and Sylvia, initially appeared as a couple in the waiting room of Grace's therapist and made subsequent appearances as Fran's Uncle Stanley and Aunt Rose; her Pomeranian Chester appeared as C.C.'s pet in more than a dozen episodes. Renée Taylor's husband, actor Joseph Bologna, and their son Gabriel Bologna, had minor roles as doctors on the show. Ray Romano appeared as Fran's former high school classmate Ray Barone, linking The Nanny with his comedy Everybody Loves Raymond. Tom Bergeron appeared as himself, the host of Hollywood Squares, in an episode in which Maxwell appeared as a star on the show's board as a replacement for Andrew Lloyd Webber. Tyne Daly appeared as a fellow nanny facing forced retirement. David Letterman made an uncredited appearance during a fantasy sequence, where Fran describes how she exaggerated her fame to impress a pen pal.

Theme song and opening credits

Theme song

The show's original theme was the song "If My Friends Could See Me Now", performed by Gwen Verdon from the 1966 Broadway musical Sweet Charity, but this theme was scrapped after the pilot episode, and it was only heard in the pilot episode in the original CBS run (all syndicated airings of the episode replaced the theme, and removed any mention of it in the closing credits).

The second theme song, "The Nanny Named Fran", which was written and performed by Ann Hampton Callaway and her sister Liz Callaway, would be the theme song for the remainder of the series (and would replace the former theme in syndicated reruns of the pilot episode). Two instrumental versions of the theme song were used in the closing credits, one that is a direct instrumental version of the theme (used only in a few season one episodes), and another that sounds slightly different from the theme song (although the end of the closing theme features an instrumental portion taken almost directly from the main title theme).

Opening credits

The opening sequence for the pilot featured Fran in front of a white background, getting herself made up going to work as the nanny; at the end of the sequence, it shows Fran heading toward a stroller and a lipstick print appears to the above right.

Along with the change of the theme song from "If My Friends Could See Me Now" to "The Nanny Named Fran" came the change of the opening sequence, which like the theme, describes (with the main characters in animated form) the story of how Fran Fine went from being fired from the bridal shop by Danny Imperiali to becoming the nanny of the Sheffield children. The opening sequence remained the same even though Renée Taylor, Ann Guilbert and Rachel Chagall began to be credited as "starring" in the in-show credits beginning in season five. The only change to the sequence was in season six when producer Kathy Landsberg was promoted to co-executive producer of the series as her producer credit was moved to the in-show credits, while the creator credits of Drescher and Jacobson, and the developer credits of Sternin and Fraser were added in its place.

The animated opening sequence begins with Fran Fine walking into the bridal shop, only to be kicked out by Danny Imperalli. Then, she hitches a ride in a cab, crosses the bridge from Queens, New York to Manhattan and arrives at the Sheffield mansion. Maxwell Sheffield opens the door and observes Fran. Then, he pulls her inside and she falls into the flower pot. Niles dusts her off and puts a cap on her head that reads Nanny. Fran whistles for Maggie, Brighton and Gracie and the four of them form a conga line. C. C. arrives at the door and Fran bumps the door with her hip to close it in her face. Finally, the Sheffields, Niles and Fran gather on the couch for a group picture similar to the old One Day at a Time series opening.

Production

Development

It was not until 1991 – the same year Drescher decided to visit friend Twiggy Lawson and her family in London, England, that the pair came up with early drafts for The Nanny. Inspired by a culture-clash shopping tour with Lawson's teenage daughter which saw Drescher actually functioning in a less parental but "humorous [...] kind of Queens logic, self-serving advice" mode, she convinced her husband starting work of what she called "doing a spin on [the 1965 film] The Sound of Music." However, it was not until a transatlantic flight to Paris that Drescher persuaded fellow passenger Jeff Sagansky, at the time president of CBS Corporation, for whom she and Lawson had starred in the short-lived TV series Princesses, to meet with her and Jacobson when Drescher returned to Los Angeles.

Back in Los Angeles, the pair pitched their idea to Tim Flack and Joe Voci, both in comedy development at CBS. Sagansky brought in experienced producers Robert Sternin and Prudence Fraser, another husband-and-wife team with whom Drescher had worked before while guesting on Who's the Boss? in 1985 and 1986. Interested, both couples teamed up to write the script for the pilot together, creating a character with the intention to build off Drescher's image. "Our business strategy was to create a show that was going to complement our writing, complement me as a talent," Drescher said in a 1997 interview with the Hollywood Reporter. As a result, the characters draw deeply on the Drescher family, including Fran Fine's parents, Sylvia and Morty, and grandmother Yetta, who all were named after their real-life counterparts.

Crew

7 East 75th Street on the Upper East Side of New York City was used for the exterior shots of the Sheffield townhouse.

Most of all early The Nanny episodes were shot in front of a live studio audience on Stage 6 at the Culver Studios generally on Friday nights. During later seasons the taping was no longer performed before an audience due to the complexities of the fantasy sequences, costume changes, etc. On Mondays, the cast went through the script as a table read. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, they rehearsed before the series' producers and execuitives. And, on Thursdays and Fridays, the series was shot using a multi-camera set up in front of a live studio audience.

Nearly 100 crew members were involved in the shooting of a single episode. Although Drescher, Fraser, Jacobson and Sternin, the show's only executive producers for the first four seasons, coordinated "pretty much everything" at the beginning, according to Sternin, they eventually found their niche and in the following years, Drescher and Sternin decided to focus on writing story outlines, while Jacobson presided over the writing team, and Fraser observed the run-throughs. The four of them were later joined by Frank Lombardi, Caryn Lucas and Diane Wilk, who served as the series' executive producer throughout the fifth and sixth season respectively.

Humor

The comedy in The Nanny was formulated with many running gags, which contributed heavily to the success of the series. Much of this formula was character-based, with all major characters possessing a specific trait or quirks that provided a source of parody for other characters. The conflicting elements of each character's own comedy were often played off against one another (Fran and Maxwell, Niles and C.C., Maggie and Brighton). Occasionally the characters would break the fourth wall and comment on the situations themselves, or Fran would comment to the audience or look into the camera. Other running gags are the many references to Beatles songs and the musicals Fiddler On The Roof and My Fair Lady. Most of the humor Fran uses is aimed toward a Jewish audience. She makes references to Yiddish words and teaches the Sheffield children to be stereotypical Jews (to never pay retail price, to go after men like doctors, etc.) Most of this humor stems from scenes including her mother Sylvia.

At times, they would also make fun of the star's previous careers or real life off-screen time. This was noticeable when Yetta saw her reflection in the mirror and thought she was seeing Millie Helper from The Dick Van Dyke Show (the role that Guilbert played on that long-running show), Maxwell remembering how he wanted to hire a former cast member from Days of Our Lives but thought he wasn't "British" enough (a reference to Charles Shaughnessy's former series), C.C. using props to hide Lauren Lane's real-life pregnancy at the time, and Fran meeting her idol—Fran Drescher—who gave her a hint on what she (the TV Fran) was going to do in the next scene in the second-to-last episode in the last season.

More running gags include Fran's frequent references to classic TV sitcoms (Such as Gilligan's Island and Bewitched) and her many eccentric family members (some never shown, most of them dying); Fran lying about her age—especially to men; Maxwell fighting through his rivalry with actual Broadway producer Andrew Lloyd Webber; Sylvia loving food in excess; Niles delivering sharp one-liners, often aimed at C.C.; C.C. cold-heartedly reacting to situations that are usually sentimental to others (i.e. the death of Bambi's mother); Gracie psychologically analyzing various situations; Niles getting fired because he embarrasses Maxwell or gives Fran ideas that Maxwell extremely dislikes (like the time when Niles suggested that Max, C.C. and Fran go to the Streisand house); Fran and Val lacking intelligence and obsessing over material possessions (i.e. clothes); Yetta making disconnected comments revealing her senility; Fran criticizing Maxwell's and Niles' reserved and inhibited British nature; Brighton morphing into a hopeless dork; Fran's attraction to Jewish males; Maxwell passing up the incredibly popular musical, Cats, then becoming upset when such an idiotic idea became a success; Niles' last name never being revealed; C.C. covering her long-unrevealed name (finally given as Chastity Claire in the series finale); C.C. failing to remember the names of the Sheffield children (even convinced by Niles in one episode that there was another child Sydney; note: she didn't have trouble remembering in the early seasons); Sylvia constantly nagging Fran to get married; Fran finding solace in food when she's depressed; Fran's dad, Morty often featured in the series but never actually seen (until portrayed by Steve Lawrence in a few later episodes); Morty's only physical trait being the fact that he is bald, in which he is always comically losing his wig, and has several head mannequins to hold different wigs; Niles offering obvious hints to Maxwell and Fran about them realizing they should be together and hints from each other; C.C. pining over her unrequited romantic interest in Maxwell; and Fran obsessing with Barbra Streisand. There was also the occasional tryst between Niles and C.C., contrasting with their typical open disdain for each other, which was actually love. Season 4 featured a running gag where both Fran and Maxwell kept secret from the other household members "The Thing" (the fact that in the season 3 finale Maxwell tells Fran he loves her, but then in the Season 4 premiere he takes it back). It's also following "The Thing" that whenever Maxwell makes comments denying he has feelings for Fran, she is temporary "paralyzed" (she can't feel her arm, her entire left side shuts down, etc.).

In addition, there is also a great deal of physical comedy in The Nanny including exaggerated falls and chases. Drescher's facial expressions, when shocked or surprised, can also be seen as reminiscent of Lucille Ball's portrayals of Lucy Ricardo and Lucy Carmichael. The parallels were suggested in a few episodes, where an exasperated Mr. Sheffield refers to Fran as "Mrs Carmichael," and asks in another: "Mr. Mooney fire you from the bank again?" Another Lucy reference (in which the family travels to Hollywood) is when he alludes to Fran and "Ethel" stealing John Wayne's footprints, and again when Maxwell says "Miss Fine, you got' some 'splaining to do!" like Ricky Ricardo often said to Lucy Ricardo. The episode that featured a visit from Elizabeth Taylor began with Maxwell and Niles trying to hide the visit from Fran ("Boys, boys, boys. Now do you think my mother gave birth to a dummy 25 years ago?") followed by her gripe "You never introduce me to any of the stars that you know; I've got a good mind to take Little Ricky and... oh. Never mind." Also, there was a reference from the episode of I Love Lucy called "Ricky has Labor Pains" where, Lucy and Ethel dress up like men and go to Ricky's daddy shower. In an episode of The Nanny, Fran sees a man watching I Love Lucy on TV and the theme song plays and she gets a sneaky look on her face and she goes to Mr. Sheffield's mens only club dressed as a man. Viewers for Quality Television calls The Nanny "the 90s version of I Love Lucy. It was well written and entertaining".

Impact

Reception

The show performed poorly its first year. When it was nearly canceled, Sagansky stepped in as its champion. According to Jacobson: "At all those affiliate meetings, he used to say, 'Stick by The Nanny!' He knew it was something special." The sitcom was the first new show delivered to CBS for the 1993 season and the highest-tested pilot at the network in years. The series was also hugely successful internationally, especially in Australia, where it was one of the highest rated programs during the mid-late 1990s.

Although soon emerging as a favorite among the company, sponsors questioned whether the writers had ventured too far in terms of ethnicity and Drescher acted too obviously Jewish. The actress, however, declined to change Fran Fine into an Italian American: "On TV, you have to work fast, and the most real, the most rooted in reality to me is Jewish. I wanted to do it closest to what I knew." By contrast, the producers came to the conclusion that to oppose her should be a family of British origin, so "she wouldn't come across as Jewish so much as the American you were rooting for," Sternin explained. "The idea was to make her the American girl who happens to be Jewish rather than the Jewish girl working for the WASPs."

Ratings

Season		№ of episodes	Original airdates		Notes	Nielsen ratings
			Premiere date	End date		Ranking	Est. viewers (in millions)
	1	22	November 3, 1993	May 16, 1994		#60	9.52
	2	26	September 12, 1994	May 22, 1995		#24	12.5
	3	27	September 11, 1995	May 20, 1996	Included "Oy to the World" animated episode.	#17	12.4
	4	26	September 18, 1996	May 21, 1997		#45	9.1
	5	23	October 1, 1997	May 13, 1998		#50	11.5
	6	22	September 30, 1998	June 23, 1999	Six unaired episodes were shown after series finale.	#84	9.3

Note: Ratings for the first four seasons are for household ratings, not viewership figures.

Reunion special

Name	Air date
The Nanny Reunion: A Nosh to Remember	December 6, 2004

Syndication

The show began off-network syndication in September 1997, distributed by Columbia TriStar Television (now Sony Pictures Television) on various broadcast television networks in the U.S. The show had aired on Lifetime Television from 2000 until 2008. The show can be seen currently on Nick at Nite in the United States, The Hallmark Channel in the Philippines, Super RTL and VOX in Germany, and Go! and TV1 in Australia. On February 8, 2010, Fran Drescher hosted a week-long marathon of The Nanny, titled "Valentine Schmalentine", on Nick at Nite. The success of the stunt led to Fran hosting "Falling for Fran," a similar week-long Valentine's Day marathon in February 2011. On August 2, 2010, The Nanny began airing on TV Land, commencing with a week-long marathon. On January 1, 2011, The Nanny began airing on Antenna TV, a new digital broadcast network. On August 16, 2011, "The Nanny" began airing on Logo (TV channel).

International syndication

Outside of North America, The Nanny is broadcast in various other countries and television networks, each with their own schedule for the series. In the United Kingdom, the entire series aired on the digital network Living. In France, the show was broadcast and rebroadcast the same multi-and was a huge success on the channel M6. The French title is "Une Nounou d'enfer" (A Nanny from hell/wonderful). The character of Fran Fine is very famous in France.

Other countries where The Nanny airs include the following:

International syndication
Country / Region	Name	Television Network	Dubbing / Subtitles
Austria	Die Nanny (English: "The Nanny")	ORF1 (2005), ATV (2006–2010)	German
Australia	The Nanny	Network Ten (1995–1999), Nine Network (2008–2009), Go! (2009–present), GEM (2010–present), TV1	None
Belgium	The Nanny	Eén, Vt4, vijftv	Dutch subtitles
Brazil	Nanny	Rede Record, Rede 21, SET	Portuguese dubbing
Catalonia	La Tata (English: "The Nanny")	TV3	Catalan dubbing
Croatia	Dadilja (English: "Nanny")	RTL Televizija	Croatian subtitles
Czech Republic	Chůva k pohledání (English: "Nanny")	TV Prima	Czech dubbing
Denmark	Alletiders barnepige (English: "Full time nanny")	TV3	Danish subtitles
Estonia	Nanny	TV3	Estonian subtitles
Finland	Nanny	Nelonen	Finnish subtitles
France	Une nounou d'enfer (English: "A Wonderful Nanny")	M6,	French
Germany	Die Nanny (English: "The Nanny")	VOX (2002–2010), Super RTL (2007–present), RTL (1995–2002), FOX Germany (2010)	German dubbing
Greece	Ntanta amesou draseos (English: "Urgent nanny")	Mega, Alpha, Macedonia TV	Greek subtitles
Hungary	A dadus (English: "The Nanny")	TV2, RTL Klub, Cool TV	Hungarian
Israel	Nanny	Channel 3	Hebrew subtitles
Italy	La tata (English: "The Nanny")	Canale 5 (1995), Italia 1 (1996–2000)	Italian dubbing
Lithuania	Auklė (English: "Nanny")	TV3	Lithuanian dubbing
Malaysia	The Nanny	TV2, Astro	Bahasa Malaysia subtitles
Netherlands	The Nanny	RTL 5	Dutch subtitles
Norway	Nanny	TV3	Norwegian subtitles
Poland	Pomoc domowa (English: "House helper")	TV Puls, Polsat, TVN7	Polish
Portugal	Competente e Descarada (English: "Competent and shameless")	TVI	?
Romania	Dădaca (English: "Nanny")	Pro TV, Pro Cinema	?
Russia	Няня (English: "Nanny")	Domashny, ДТВ	Russian dubbing
Sweden	Nanny	TV3	Swedish subtitles
Switzerland	Die Nanny (English: "The Nanny")	SF2 (2006–2008)	German
Thailand	The Nanny	Hallamrk, TrueVisions	Thai
United Kingdom	The Nanny	Living TV	None
Canada	The Nanny	TVTropolis	None

DVD releases

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has released seasons 1, 2 & 3 of The Nanny on DVD in regions 1, 2 & 4. Season 3 was released on March 17, 2009 in Region 1, almost 3 years after the release of season 2. [1]

DVD name	Ep #	Release dates			Special features
		Region 1	Region 2	Region 4
The Complete 1st Season	22	July 12, 2005	August 9, 2005	July 13, 2005	Commentary with Fran Drescher The Making of The Nanny
The Complete 2nd Season	26	May 2, 2006	June 8, 2006	May 10, 2006	None
The Complete 3rd Season	27	March 17, 2009	March 5, 2009	March 11, 2009	None
The Complete 4th Season	26	TBA	TBA	TBA
The Complete 5th Season	23	TBA	TBA	TBA
The Complete 6th Season	22	TBA	TBA	TBA

Awards

Year	Award	Category	Recipient
1996	BMI Film & TV Awards	BMI TV Music Award	Timothy Thompson
1995	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Individual Achievement in Costuming for a Series	Brenda Cooper (For episode "Canasta Masta")
2008	TV Land Awards	Favorite Nanny	Fran Drescher
1999	TeleVizier-Ring Gala, Netherlands	Silver TeleVizier-Tulip	–
1996	Young Artist Awards	Best Performance by a Young Actor – TV Comedy Series	Benjamin Salisbury

Foreign adaptations

Countries with local versions

Main article: List of foreign adaptations of The Nanny

The Nanny was shown in more than eighty countries worldwide. In addition, several local versions of the show have been produced in other countries. These shows follow the original scripts very closely, but with minor alterations in order to adapt to their respective country's culture. The remake in Russia was so popular that some original American writers were commissioned to write new scripts after all original episodes were remade.

See also

• List of television show franchises

External links

• Official website
• The Nanny at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com