Jump to content

The Nanny


CassieFan

Recommended Posts

  • Members

Nannylogo.PNG

The Nanny is primarily based upon the story of nasal-voiced Fran Fine (played by Fran Drescher) who is from Flushing, Queens. Fran appears at the doorstep of a wealthy widowed Englishman, Broadway theatrical producer Maxwell Sheffield (Charles Shaughnessy), while selling cosmetics. Fran has just been fired from her job as a bridal consultant by her ex-fiancé, Danny. Maxwell is initially unsure of her but is in desperate need of a new nanny, so quickly hires her to be the nanny to his three kids, Maggie (Nicholle Tom), Brighton (Benjamin Salisbury) and Grace (Madeline Zima). Fran, with her nontraditional nurturing style and no-nonsense honesty, soon becomes a favorite with the kids as well as Maxwell, as they come to respect her opinions and love her as a person. It is a situation of blue collar meets blue blood, as Fran gives the prim-and-proper Maxwell and his children a dose of "Queens logic", helping them to become a healthy, happy family.

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, hatred, and jealousy, as they both have designs on the very available Mr. Sheffield.

Perpetually hovering close by are Fran's stereotypically obsessive and food-loving "Jewish mother" Sylvia (Renée Taylor); her rarely-seen but often-mentioned father Morty; her cigarette-addicted senile grandmother Yetta (Ann Guilbert), dispensing nonsensical advice and often erroneously believing Mr. Sheffield to already be Fran's husband and Grace to be their daughter (a belief she does not keep to herself), Fran's dim-witted best friend Val (Rachel Chagall) keeping her company on the perpetual quest for a husband and constantly reminding Fran how things can always get worse (as Val has much less luck than Fran).

I loved "The Nanny". C.C. and Niles were my favorites.

C.C.: Let go of me you old...

Niles: All right but I just...

[C.C. walks out of the kitchen and into the dining room - we here a blood curdling scream]

Niles: ... waxed the floor.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 41
  • Created
  • Last Reply
  • Members

I enjoyed this show a lot, especially CC. The whole "CC loses her mind" story is one of my favorite subplots ever on any sitcom, especially when she starts calling for Grandma, and Niles has this WTF look on his face.

The first season was a bit rough but the next few were very good. Then they became too guest star heavy, but everything after Fran and Max got together I really enjoyed. Or almost everything (the episode where they go skiing and meet the "Clintons", complete with bad Lewinsky jokes -- awful and so dated).

My favorite episode of all time was when Val and Fran fell out because Fran didn't like Val's boyfriend. She tried to be best friends with CC (complete with that hilarious scene where Fran kept choking while CC didn't notice), then Brighton (who ran out in horror because she wouldn't stop making him listening to Babs albums), and finally Max, which led to that hysterical "girl talk" scene where she filed his nails. The scene was something like:

Fran: We talk about our favorite foods...

(Max says something)

Fran: And we talk about cute guys...

Max: Well, I did have a dream about that chap off Wings...

(Fran sends the nail file flying and can't listen to any more)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Loved this show. (Not even the constant re-runs in my country could stop me from loving it.)

Everything about the show was great, from Fran's obsession with being skinny and Barbra, Niles' and C.C.'s fights to Fran's crazy background.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Loved the Nanny, particularly the episodes where Pamela Anderson played Fran's highschool rival. Joan Collins guest starring as Maxwell's stepmother was fun. CC was a fantastic character. Just a thoroughly enjoyable show.

And I love that wherever I am in the world, I can find a re-run of The Nanny.

Fran Drescher must be screamingly rich thanks to syndication. Good for her!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Gotta love THE NANNY. One of the few self-contained sitcoms I can go back to time and time again.

Although I do feel they mishandled the Fran/Sheffield relationship, as in they went "there" way too fast instead of building it into a will they/won't they? thing, and I think it ultimately hurt the show. And the kids--they were OK but really just... no

Miles/C.C. rivalry? Best thing. Those two were hilarious without having to try.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Didn't they do will they/won't they for about three or four seasons?

From what I remember, one of the reasons they got one last season was because they finally had Fran and Max get together, and the ratings for the middle/end of that penultimate season went up.

The kids, I had mixed feelings on them, sometimes they annoyed me but sometimes I thought they were funny. They were some of the more realistic children on sitcoms, in that respect. I also liked that they weren't overly rude or nasty, like a lot of sitcom kids.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Perhaps they did... maybe what I'm looking for is choppy. As in, there was no clear, slow, season-long progression to their feelings. But I do have to rewatch the show, my memories are hazy.

Didn't know about that Season 6 thing in regards to ratings.

Yes, that's how I feel about the kids. There are times when I'm OK with them, other times when they just piss me off lol

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Maxwell was also a jerk and Fran was an opportunistic gold-digger (a pleonasm, but a needed one).

Their relationship was, though terribly cliched, kind of interesting at first, then they lost me, and when they finally got together it was all so puke-worthy and saccharine.

It was actually all so sad and pathetic.

A cr?ppy show with nice moments.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Some of my favorite Yetta moments:

Sylvia: Ma, Mr. Sheffield is finally gonna pop the question!

Yetta: Oh, I hope you said no. It'll kill Frannie!

the episode, "Sara's Parents" when Fran is trying to convince "Bert and Ernie" that she's a good mother to the kids and wants nothing more to provide them with a loving but "most of all stable environment" . [Cue Yetta behind the glass doors in the back end of the living room] :

"What time do you open??"

Joan: Where did you get the exquisite shrimp?

Yetta: I came with her

Joan: No dear, I mean the crustacean

Yetta: Oh, she's my daughter

:lol: :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.



  • Recent Posts

    • Search for Tomorrow CBS run and Ryan's Hope were time slot rivals December 27, 1976-June 5, 1981. From the 1970s Ratings and 1980s Ratings threads, these were the weeks from December 27, 1976-June 5, 1981 that Search for Tomorrow finished ahead of Ryan's Hope: December 27-31, 1976 January 3-7, 10-14, 17-21, 24-28, 31-February 4, 7-11, 14-18, 21-25, 28-March 4, 7-11, 14-18, 21-25, 28-April 1, 4-8, 11-15, 1977 April 18-22, 1977 ratings not found April 25-29, 1977 May 2-6, 9-13, 16-20, 23-27, 30-June 3, 6-10, 13-17, 1977 June 20-24, 1977 ratings not found June 27-July 1, 4-8, 11-15, 18-22, 1977 August 1-5, 8-12, 15-19, 1977 August 22-26, 1977 ratings not found August 29-September 2, 5-9, 12-16, 19-23, 26-30, 1977 October 3-7, 10-14, 17-21, 24-28, 31-November 4, 7-11, 1977 November 21-25, 28-December 2, 5-9, 12-16, 1977 December 19-23, 1977 ratings not found December 26-30, 1977 January 2-6, 1978 January 16-20, 1978 February 6-10, 13-17, 20-24, 1978 March 13-17, 1978 March 20-24, 1978 ratings not found March 27-31, 1978 April 3-7, 10-14, 17-21, 1978 April 24-28, 1978 ratings not found May 22-26, 1978 June 26-30, 1978 ratings not found July 17-21, 1978 August 7-11, 1978 August 28-September 1, 1978 ratings not found September 25-29, 1978 October 2-6, 1978 October 16-20, 1978 October 30-November 3, 1978 December 18-22, 1978 December 25-29, 1978 ratings not found January 1-5, 8-12, 15-19, 22-26, 29-February 2, 1979 February 12-16, 19-23, 26-March 2, 5-9, 12-16, 19-23, 26-30, 1979 April 2-6, 9-13, 16-20, 23-27, 30-May 4, 7-11, 14-18, 21-25, 28-June 1, 4-8, 11-15, 18-22, 25-29, 1979 July 2-6, 9-13, 16-20, 23-27, 30-August 3, 6-10, 13-17, 20-24, 27-31, 1979 September 3-7, 10-14, 17-21, 24-28, 1979 October 1-5, 8-12, 15-19, 1979 October 29-November 2, 5-9, 12-16, 19-23, 26-30, 1979 December 3-7, 10-14, 17-21, 24-28, 1979 December 31, 1979-January 4, 1980 January 7-11, 14-18, 21-25, 28-February 1, 4-8, 1980 February 18-22, 25-29, 1980 March 3-7, 1980 March 24-28, 1980 May 5-9, 1980 May 26-30, 1980 June 2-6, 9-13, 16-20, 1980 August 11-15, 1980 September 22-26, 1980 October 6-10, 1980 November 17-21, 1980 December 15-19, 1980 March 9-13, 1981 March 30-April 3, 6-10, 13-17, 1981
    • I watched some of Friday's show. It was sweet to see Julie celebrate her wedding anniversary to Doug (their second - kudos to the writing team for remembering). Those moments with Julie are always so moving to me because you can tell they are straight from Susan's heart.  I know Patsy Pease hasn't been on DAYS in 15 years, but I still miss Kim in weeks that are so important for the Bradys and their history on the show. Michael Dietz was always a very likeable presence onscreen, even if he was never the greatest actor. That hasn't changed.  I was impressed with how well put together the montage was of John's various identities/memories. A number of those stories were ludicrous, and several of them never should have existed, but the way this was all crafted you could see just what a unique character all those parts made John...and how much Drake played the material as best he could, no matter what. The mirror scene was a great inclusion as that really wrapped everything of John together - viewers never truly knew who he was, nor did the people in Salem, but it didn't matter, as everyone loved him anyway. 
    • Been a long time, but always worth the wait!  1973 will be coming soon!  Hooray!! 

      Please register in order to view this content

    • Thanks @Paul Raven  Amidst these terrible stories I see we get the arrival of Heather. I never knew Alice forged references for her. No wonder she later became a murderer. She was a criminal all along.  The Jeff/Monica/Rick story always seems so brazen and so depressing all at once - I can't imagine how people would have talked about it in the Internet/Twitter era.  I don't understand the choice to put Audrey and Steve through even more misery after they had been separated for almost a decade. The sudden inclusion of magazine stories is fascinating...and I'm not sure if it is ever a huge story narrative for GH after this point, even when characters on the show ran magazines. The end of the Leslie and Cam story did not need to be like this (and feels a little rushed). Had every woman on the canvas at this time been raped?   
    • I am bewildered and fascinated by the choice to have John Loprieno and Adam Storke play out all their dramatic sequences here in clown makeup. They really took that circus motif seriously.

      Please register in order to view this content

       
    • Happy belated birthday to Joan. Here's an interview with Jackie Collins at about 39 minutes.

      Please register in order to view this content

       
    • Does anyone have a favorite adult Russ Matthews?  Which actor did you like most?  Sam Groom, Robert Hover, or David Bailey??  And why?   And if Russ had returned late in AW's run, what actor would you have wanted to portray him?  One of the former actors, or someone new??  
    • I think the move to NBC dealt a huge blow to SFT that caused the show to slowly bleed out throughout their almost five year run on that network. SFT was a CBS show and it really showed when it first started airing on NBC so I understood P &G having to make adjustments to the soap in order to make it fit onto the NBC schedule vs the CBS schedule. The 1983 Tomlin/Lee era was probably the strongest while it was on NBC.  They managed to still focus on Stu/Stephanie/Jo while developing a strong youth focus with Wendy/Warren/Suzi/Kristen/ Brian with the comic element with Rhonda Sue and her partner.  This helped the show from staying the Liza/Travis show.. which it was in 1981/1982.
    • Hey, I'm wondering if anyone has cross-referenced Spauldingfield's undated episodes with the German playlists? An angel has been uploading to the Soap Vault and it would be great to be able to date all those episodes. I have access to rename them, if anyone has a list.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy