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The Nanny

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The Nanny
File:TheNanny.jpg
Cast of The Nanny
Created byPeter Marc Jacobson
Fran Drescher
Developed byRobert Sternin &
Prudence Fraser
StarringFran Drescher
Charles Shaughnessy
Daniel Davis
Lauren Lane
Nicholle Tom
Benjamin Salisbury
Madeline Zima
Country of originUSA
No. of episodes146
Production
Executive producersRobert Sternin &
Prudence Fraser
Peter Marc Jacobson (seasons 2-6)
Fran Drescher (seasons 4-6)
Diane Wilk (season 5)
Frank Lombardi
Caryn Lucas (season 6)
Running time23 minutes
(per episode)
Original release
NetworkCBS
ReleaseNovember 3, 1993 –
May 12, 1999

The Nanny was an American sitcom that first aired on November 3, 1993 on CBS. It starred Fran Drescher as "the nanny named Fran" (as Ann Hampton Callaway sang in the theme she wrote). Six seasons were aired; the show ended its run in 1999.

The show was produced by Sternin/Fraser Ink, Inc. and High School Sweethearts Productions, in association with and distributed by TriStar Television. The Nanny was executive produced by Drescher and her then-husband Peter Marc Jacobson, who was her high school sweetheart.

Along with Rhoda, Seinfeld, and Will & Grace it is one of a handful of successful American comedies with an explicitly Jewish main character. Many of the characters in the series (e.g. Yetta, her grandmother) were named after Fran Drescher's real family.

The plot

Template:Spoiler The plot revolved around nasal-voiced Fran Fine (Fran Drescher) from Flushing, New York City, who, fresh out of her job as a bridal consultant in her boyfriend's shop, was peddling cosmetics on the Upper East Side doorstep of a wealthy and widowed Englishman, Broadway producer Maxwell Sheffield (played by former Days of our Lives star Charles Shaughnessy). When he mistakenly believes Fran has been sent by a nanny agency, she quickly seizes upon the opportunity to become the nanny for his three children. But soon Fran, with her off-beat nurturing and no-nonsense honesty, touched Maxwell as well as the kids. It was a situation of blue collar meets blue blood, as Fran gave the prim-and-proper Maxwell and his children a dose of "Queens logic," helping them become a healthy, happy family.

File:Nanny Fran Drescher.jpg
Fran Drescher

Proudly running the Sheffield household is the butler, Niles (Daniel Davis), who watches all events with a bemused eye and levels problems with his quick wit. Niles quickly recognizes Fran's gift for bringing warmth into the family and becomes fast friends with her. He does his best to undermine Maxwell's socialite business partner, C.C. Babcock (Lauren Lane), in their ongoing game of one-upmanship. C.C. views Fran with a mixture of skepticism and jealousy, as they both have designs on the very available Mr. Sheffield.

From the outset, Mr. Sheffield is clearly smitten with Fran, even if he is too shy to admit it, and Fran is equally taken with Mr. Sheffield. For the first few years, the writers teased viewers with a series of '"will they or won't they?" situations. Throughout that plotline, they still always address each other professionally, as "Miss Fine" and "Mr. Sheffield" (or more accurately, and often self-lampooned, "MIS-TUH Sheffield"). At the end of the fifth season, the two wed, and in the sixth - and final - year, the two welcomed twins into the family. Far more unexpected was the pairing of Niles and C.C., whose antagonism towards each other apparently masked their true feelings.

Perpetually hovering close by were Fran's typically obsessive and food-loving "Jewish mother" Sylvia (who would, when hungry, steal from or demand food from other characters, citing anything from her slow metabolism to their well-being ("It's too big for you") as a reason); her never seen (until the final season, when he is portrayed by performer Steve Lawrence, for a few episodes) but oft-mentioned father Morty; her cigarette-addicted senile grandmother Yetta, dispensing nonsensical advice and often erroneously believing Sheffield to already be Fran's husband and his children to be hers as well, a belief she did not keep to herself; and her dim-witted best friend Val, keeping her company on her perpetual quest for a husband, and being a constant reminder that things can always get worse (as Val is much more unlucky than Fran).

The comedy

The comedy in The Nanny was formulated with many running gags, which contributed heavily to the success of the series. Much of this formulae is character-based, with all major characters possessing a specific trait or quirks that provided a source of satire for other characters. Such traits include:

  • Fran's constant references to eccentric family members
  • Fran lying about her age
  • Mr. Sheffield's rivalry with Andrew Lloyd Webber
  • Sylvia's excessive love of food
  • Niles's one-liners often aimed at Ms. Babcock
  • Ms. Babcock's cold-hearted reaction to situations that are usually sentimental to others
  • Maggie's initial shyness around boys and her eagerness to date
  • Brighton's "whimpering" reaction to adversity
  • Gracie's psychological analysis of various situations
  • Val's less than intelligent understanding of what's happening around her
  • Yetta's senility.

These running gags, coupled with the development of each major character, made the show very accessible when compared to other TV shows which can often revolve exclusively around one or two characters. The conflicting elements of each character's own comedy were often played off against one another (Fran and Mr. Sheffield, Niles and Ms. Babcock, Maggie and Brighton).

The cast

(in alphabetical order)

Major characters

Recurring characters

Trivia

  • Drescher is a friend of the English model and actress Twiggy (Lawson). The show's plotline was apparently inspired by cultural differences Drescher experienced on vacation with Twiggy and her family.
  • Ann Morgan Guilbert (Yetta) had previously portrayed neighbor Millie Halper on The Dick Van Dyke Show. On more than one occasion Yetta was heard commenting on the character of Millie, and even once mistaking her reflection in the mirror for the character. In another episode Maxwell made a referrence about a 'certain actor' from Days of our Lives that he wanted to hire, but said that he wasn't "British" enough.
  • Fran Drescher's dog Chester occasionally appeared as C.C.'s pet, most notably in an episode where he destroyed Shari Lewis's sock puppet, "Lamb Chop."
  • Fran Fine's Uncle Stanley and Aunt Rose were played by Fran Drescher's real-life parents, Morty and Sylvia Drescher.
  • Fran's father "Morty" remained off camera for the first 5 seasons of the show. Viewers were occasionally shown the back of his head or one of his toupees when he was required for a scene, but his face was never shown. Although the Sheffields had met Morty off-camera, once staying in the Fine's home during a blizzard and later sharing a cruise with Morty, Sylvia and Yetta, Maxwell once joked "I've never met your father. No one has. I'm not sure he even exists." In the 6th and final season, Morty was given screen-time and played by Steve Lawrence.
  • American actor Daniel Davis' English accent was reportedly so convincing, that some fans suggested that he coach Shaughnessy, who is actually a native Briton.
  • In a case of Deja Vu, both Drescher and Twiggy Lawson, who played Maxwell's sister on the show, were also co-stars on the short-lived sitcom Princesses. She also reprised her role of Bobbi Fleckman from the 1984 film This Is Spinal Tap in a 1996 episode.
  • Nick at Nite hopes to have this show airing on its nightly block by 2009.[1]
  • The set used in the pilot episode was extremely different from the set used during the rest of the series, as instead of an elegant staircase next to a closet-type thing on the right of the set, there was a normal staircase on the left directly against the door, and the living room furniture and look was different also.

Guest appearances

Characters

People playing themselves

Two of the aformentioned celebrities guest starred on The Nanny as both characters and themselves. Rosie O'Donnell played both herself and Clausette, a cab driver, and Whoopi Goldberg played Edna, a wedding photographer (and Sammy's niece), as well as herself.

Syndication and DVD

United States

Reruns of The Nanny are currently being broadcast in the United States on Lifetime Television. It can also be seen weekdays on individual television stations in syndication across the country and is packaged with Mad About You. On July 12 2005, the first twenty-two episodes of The Nanny were released on Region 1 DVD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. On May 2 2006, the second season was released on DVD. The show will air on Nick at Nite starting in February 2009. The show is also broadcast in Australia on TV1, which regularly has marathons airing the entire series back to back.

Other countries

Country Local title Channel Notes
Australia The Nanny Ten, TV1  
Austria Die Nanny ORF1 
Brazil   SBT  
Canada The Nanny TVtropolis Began 1 June 2006
Croatia Dadilja RTL Televizija  
Denmark Alle tiders barnepige TV3  
France Une nounou d'enfer M6  
Germany Die Nanny VOX, RTL Television  
Italy La Tata Canale 5

The original version was redubbed with very heavy edits by the private network Mediaset, a common network policy for anime, but never used before for a sitcom. Major changes:

  • Fran was renamed "Francesca Cacace" and became a Italian immigrant from Ciociaria, an area that could qualify her as a stereotyped Italian; the public was left wondering her links with Jewish culture as having been in a kibbutz or having a relative's son circumcised.
  • Fran's mother Sylvia was renamed Assunta and became her aunt, while Fran's parents were supposed to be still in Italy.
  • Yetta retained her name and heritage, but was only Sylvia's mother, not Fran's grandmother.
Malaysia   The Hallmark Channel  
Mexico La Niñera TV Azteca  
Netherlands The Nanny RTL 5  
New Zealand The Nanny    
Norway   TV3 Discontiniued spring 2005
Philippines   The Hallmark Channel  
Poland Pomoc Domowa Polsat  
Portugal Competente e descarada    
Russia Моя прекрасная няня STS  
Serbia Dadilja B92  
Slovenia Varuška    
South Africa The Nanny M-Net Series  
Spain La Niñera Antena 3  
Sweden   TV4 AB  
Switzerland Die Nanny SF1, SF2  
Turkey The Nanny ComedyMax-Digiturk  
United Kingdom The Nanny LIVINGtv  

Foreign adaptations

Countries with local versions

The Nanny has been broadcast in more than eighty countries. 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.

Argentina

File:La Niñera.jpg
La Niñera

La Niñera

Chile

File:La nany.jpg
La Nany

La Nany

Ecuador

File:La ninera Ecuavisa.JPG
La Niñera

La Niñera

Greece

File:Dada cast.jpg
Η Νταντά

Η Νταντά

Indonesia

Neny

  • in development

Mexico

File:La Niñera Mexico.jpg
La Niñera

La Niñera

Poland

Niania

  • Set in Warsaw
  • Stars Agnieszka Dygant as Franciszka Maj ("Fran") and Tomasz Kot as Maksymilian Skalski ("Max")
  • Maksymilian Skalski ("Max") became a movie and TV series producer, as opposed to a theatrical producer
  • The origins of Franciszka Maj ("Fran") are not clear, she comes from Praga (poor and old district on the other side of Vistula river.)
  • "Niania" is the closest to "The Nanny" of all the foreign remakes as far as possible (including sets, food and actors' costumes!)
  • Broadcast on TVN beginning in 2005
  • Niania official home page
  • Niania at Internet Movie Database
  • Opening credits
  • Niania at the Polish Wikipedia

Russia

File:MPN s05e102 043.jpg
Моя Прекрасная Няня

Моя Прекрасная Няня

  • Set in Moscow
  • Stars Anastasiya Zavorotnyuk (Анастасия Заворотнюк) as Vicka ("Fran"), Sergei Zhigunov (Сергей Жигунов) as Maxim ("Max"), Olga Prokofieva (Ольга Прокофьева) as Zhanna ("C.C.") and Boris Smolkin (Борис Смолкин) as Konstantin ("Niles")
  • Vicka is from Biryulevo (Бирюлево) and her heritage has been changed from Jewish to Ukrainian
  • Title translates as "My Beautiful Nanny"
  • Broadcast on STS beginning in 2004
  • The most successful television show in the history of Russian television.
  • Starting with its fifth season, the show has become a victim of blatant, poorly hidden product placements resulting in it being the butt of many jokes within the Russian pop culture.
  • The sixth season was put on hiatus for over a year due to the extremely poor health of the actress playing Vicka's mother. Some episodes actually ended up re-written with the Grandma Yeta character taking over for much of the Sylvia character.
  • At the beginning of the sixth season, it is revealed that Maxim's proposal to Vicka was just a dream she had and from that episode on, all the episodes in the series are brand new and are not adapted from the original U.S. version, with Vicka still trying to desperately win Maxim's heart and him trying to hide his true feelings for the Nanny.
  • Моя Прекрасная Няня official home page
  • Моя Прекрасная Няня at Internet Movie Database
  • Opening credits

Turkey

File:Dadi cast photo.jpg
Cast of Dadi
Main article: Dadi

Dadi

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