The Nanny

Fran Drescher is a very talented lady, much underrated. I get the impression she's not always taken seriously because of her voice. The comedic timing this show had was always spot on. The rapport between Daniel Davis and Lauren Lane was classic. The humour still stands true today. The wardrobe and sets were beautiful.

Renee Taylor as Sylvia Fine was a hoot !

Love you for creating this thread. I'm 19 now, but I can remember staying up late on weekends and during school breaks to watch this show when it would come on where I live. It was my absolute favorite. Every year for Xmas I ask for a boxset, but no one ever believes that's what I actually want lol.

Sadly not on Hulu

They show marathons on LOGO all the time.

Awww... Mr. Sheffield :) @ R1

I've seen The Nanny dubbed in both Spain and Germany. Even dubbed, it always looks great. It's really a classic show that deserves more respect.

Creating The Nanny was a watershed moment for Fran, as she’d had a long career in films and TV beforehand but had never had that one breakout hit.

I saw Lauren Lane in a play in Austin (she lives there). It took effort not to should "We love you C. C.!" at the final bows.

The oldest girl in the show was in two seasons of that IFC show - The Minor Accomplishments of Jackie Woodman. She was hilarious as this boozy older party girl / actress. The show didn't go on for a third season unfortunately, but it was great. Sort of a millennial AbFab.

I love this scene as a kid.

The Nanny is underrated and Fran Drescher is HIGHLY underrated. She has smarts, warmth, a sense of humor, terrific style, a gorgeous face, incredible hair, and in her prime, a 10+++ body that maybe one in a thousand women will possess. The naturally crazy voice is in refreshing contrast to the visual perfection and makes her all the more relatable.

On the show Fran and Niles were terrific foils/co-conspirators, and Fran really had palpable chemistry with Mr. Sheffield--it was a delight to watch it simmer throughout the course of the series. And, oh, yes, I must say, Yetta was a peach!

*loved

Agreed R12! Underrated as sin.

Shoot; I thought this thread was about me.

Who knew Morty could sing like a professional crooner?

Lol R11

R3 you’re 19!?!?

R18 yes!

I love the one where Fran masquerades as a nurse and is ordered by the doctor to shave Mr. Sheffield for an operation. It's one of the first references to pubic hair on a national tv show. Just imagine Mr. Sheffield's! Yummy.

Loved “The Nanny” during its run, a real hoot. And agreed, OP, Mr. Sheffield was handsome with an enviable head of hair.

R10, LOVED “The Minor Accomplishments of Jackie Woodman”, especially Season One. Nicholle Tom was a hilarious fuck-up on the show.

I think on the "Odd Couple" there was something about Felix being shaved down there in the hospital, and Tony Randall faced the camera without a kind of grin.

"with" not without

I was in the hospital for 2 weeks earlier this year, and The Nanny was one of my favorite shows available to watch. I developed a new appreciation for it. I'd always liked it, but I'd underestimated it a bit. It's a truly great sitcom that holds up excellently. They ought to revive it since Fran doesn't seem to be able to do anything else nearly as well.

You will need at least one supporting cast members death for that to happen, r24.

Lauren Lane and Daniel Davis were criminally underrewarded in Emmys.

I never could stand her voice. Why did she keep that voice?

Is it true Benjamin Salisbury was/is hung like a pony? If so, is there visual proof?

It’s basically an inverse reboot of Who’s the Boss come by the same team, but I think it blows that one out of the water

Fran did training to lose her voice, but she had to work really hard to lose the accent, and just sounded bland without it. She knew the only way to have a breakthrough in showbiz was to craft a show around her unique talents, and the result was The Nanny.

Is the entire series available on Amazon Prime?

Lauren Lane was terrific on that show! I see something in her that makes me believe that she would be terrific in diva parts like Margo Channing, or other Bette Davis type roles. Very underrated. I haven't seen her in years. Has she been working?

If you want proof of the pendulous wonder that is Ben Salisbury's trouser snake, hang out at Universal Studios park where he works. He is quite proud of it apparently as he has to be going commando under his usual work outfit of a dark polo and pair of khaki's. You can see the outline of that fat hog hanging down the leg of his pants when he is striding down the hallway towards you.

He is a very ordinary looking nerdish man who would not get a second glance except for his porn star dick, so I guess he does not want to tuck it, but I sure hope he wears a jock and some dark pants to church for decency's sake..

very funny, great cast. Fun Fact: in Italy - where the show is dubbed like any foreign film/tv show - they made Fran italian. And Sylvia was her aunt.

THE CAST OF ‘THE NANNY’ THEN AND NOW

(except that Ann Morgan Guilbert passed away in 2016)

I recently saw Renee Taylor do her one-woman show off-Broadway. She had to sit after entering because of some injury and was reading most of the show, but with her delightfully funny delivery and plenty of great photos and some choice clips, she was still wonderful to see.

Fran created this show with her then husband Peter Marc who came out to her as gay at the end of their marriage in '99 lol.

They then produced and she starred "Happily Divorced" which I thought was fun with the always wonderful and very cute John Michael Higgins co-starring at the husband.

Sylvia was my favorite character. I loved Fran,of course,but the back and forth between Sylvia and Yetta was comedic gold! I agree,a timeless show that still holds up beautifully. I laugh every time I watch it.

I loved The Minor Accomplishments of Jackie Woodman!

Fran's voice is a put on, no? She didn't have it in the Woody Allen movie. She has a lovely voice outside of that character. I love women with rich, sonorous voices.

There's a least one time on "The Nanny" where she actually spoke, as a joke, in a rather lovely, cultured voice. So she can do it, but she knows her beauty, comic ability and that nasal voice made her a star.

Peter Marc Jacobson is the best looking 60 year old in Hollywood. His instagram is petahmj, a nod to what Fran calls him.

R42 must be Peter. Great body, but he had some tragic plastic surgery- especially his eyes. He always looks like he just got goosed.

The Emmy-award winning stylist (win: The Nanny) was on The Howard Stern show, where she talked about working for Fran Drescher as her stylist. Four years into her time on the series, Brenda expressed her intent to leave the series in order to start a family.

Brenda recalled Fran's reaction: "She called me a 'See-You-Next-Tuesday' for leaving."

Her ex is hot plastic surgery victim, down to his pec implants!

I think this is the scene R41 refers to. It's also hilarious.

Madeline Zima said she was miserable doing the show, and that she was treated like shit.

Rumors swirled about Zima coming from a bigoted family who considered it abuse to be forced to ‘play jewish’ as she often did later in the series as the Sheffield child who leaned in the most when it came to embracing Fran’s family and traditions.

Naming a child "Zima" is also a form of abuse.

Zima is her Polish surname r49. Madeline is her first name.

Joke withdrawn. Nothing further, your honor.

OP, it is a show tht has aged surprisingly well, better than its competitor shows at the time. This is one of the few shows where the main character isn't the least funniest character.

A little tea about Brenda the costume designer, yeah she had some kids but she also had a wealthy husband. She could easily have kept working on the show but her attitude had Fran and the other ladies in wardrobe feeling like they could do without her. The look had already been established by that point so the other ladies in the wardrobe department could pick right up on it. Speaking of the other ladies in the wardrobe dept, Brenda never gave them any praise or ever mentioned them then or now. They were instrumental in helping create the look of the show as well, yes even with Fran's look.

I hope time has helped Ms. Cooper develop some humility and the smarts to know when to shut up.

I don't know what you're talking about.

For r52 ^^^^

R10 Thank you for mentioning that. I loved it! So few people know about it. I think I caught it on Netflix. I don't think they stream it anymore.

The actress is Nicholle Tom, younger sister of Soap Princess Heather Tom. Nicholle later went on to play one of the prostitutes who worked out of the brothel in Showtime's Masters of Sex. It was a rather comical but small part. Boldly, she revealed all. And I say boldly because she put on quite a bit of weight. I thought I had immediately recognized her but thought I was mistaken because of the weight.

She also played the slutty little sis of the kid who shot himself on 90210

I loved this show growing up until they get married. That was when the show went downhill.

^Same thing happened when Tony and Angela got together on Who’s The Boss?

Fran: Niles, do we have any old nipples?

CC: Hello-hello!

[quote]Is it true Benjamin Salisbury was/is hung like a pony? If so, is there visual proof?

They didn't call it 'The Salisbury Steak Special' for nothing.

Mammoth!

the little girl from the show was on Twin Peaks 2018 and died an horrible death on the show

R57 she did and falsely accused Gil Meyers , her teacher, of molesting her on 90210 .Damn there was called ALWAYS drama in that damn zip code .Darn soap opera...

Madeline Zima was on Californication

I loved The Nanny, but Fran stole a lot of her schtick from I Love Lucy.

Before The Nanny, Zima was the annoying little girl in The Hand That Rocks the Cradle.

R65 It's good to steal from the best, but Lucy wasn't Jewish and Fran had her own very different family members around, plus some Brits, unlike working class Fred and Ethel and a Cuban husband. Fran had the whole man dating thing and will he or won't he, which wasn't a part of "I Love Lucy" since they were already married. But both had wacky senses of humor.

I agree r65. She very Lucy-esque when she had to shave Mr Sheffield in that hospital scene.

I loved the episode where there's some fancy society party at the house, and Dorothy Lyman plays a snooty, UES type.

At one point she is admiring a statue and haughtily asks Fran, "Is it Mayan?"

Fran points to Mr. Sheffield and says "No! It's his'n!"

Here's the shave scene. Enjoy! I think Charles Shaughnessy has a bit of a smile when she starts to spray him with shaving cream. Naughty naughty Fran, getting a look at the crown jewels before marrying him.

R69 Dorothy Lyman directed many episodes of The Nanny

Here's the scene! Not exactly as I remembered it...

R72 was the show's riff on Pygmalion, with Sheffield noting -- "We're British. Everything we say say sounds like Shakespeare."

My British friends said Mr Sheffield’s accent didn’t sound English at all. In fact they thought Niles sounded more English than Max.

Slight diversion, but in the wasabi clip, is the extra in blue next to Fran a guy in a blond wig?

Drescher and Shaughnessy had great chemistry together which was the real strength of the show; otherwise, it was a rather old-fashioned sitcom, even for the mid-90s. Niles and CeCe were also great. The characters of the children, though, were extremely annoying and generally useless, except for Madeline Zima.

Loved this show. The kids were the weakest part though and as they got older, they became a real drag. Niles CC, Fran, Sheffield and her family kept it afloat. Kids were dead weight.

They need a reboot. Since they moved to LA in the series finale, Mr Sheffield runs a movie studio and Fran and Val get into high jinks running after stars (Barbra's on the lot!). Sylvia lives in the guest house. Too bad Yetta passed, she was laugh out loud funny...and since she isn't the nanny anymore they can call it "The Franny".

I've watched in reruns and unpopular opinion, Fran was a definitely a gold digger.

What Lucille, Fran and Marlo had going for them is that physical comedy/slapstick is funnier when it's ably performed by/done to a beautiful woman. It just is.

R74, apparently the actor who played Mr. Sheffield who get letters from fans asking him to study Niles's accent. What's funny is the actor who play Niles is from the south!

First time I saw the show i thought Mr. Sheffield had a phony British accent, but he was gorgeous!

Great ideas R78!

OMG, those shaving and posh accent scenes are hilarious!

R80 you're telling me!

R82 Shane Donovan on Days of Our Lives from 1984-1992

The show with Elton John is great. Aside from Fran having steal Yetta’s clothes, the funniest was when CC and Niles’ scene and he gets CC to start clucking like a chicken.

R 87 again... sorry got two episodes mixed up

[quote]If you want proof of the pendulous wonder that is Ben Salisbury's trouser snake

Is this true? One of the best jokes of the show was when Fran thought the kid had such a big dick he was bullied at school for it. It was a bit weird, though, since he was like 12.

[quote]They didn't call it 'The Salisbury Steak Special' for nothing.

The nickname I used to see online is "Ben With Ten."

I believe it was the reverse, r89.

Lauren Lane quit Hollywood shortly after The Nanny ended, and is now a theatre professor in her native Texas.

The funniest character in this sitcom is Sylvia Fine. Lol at her medicine being chocolate syrup.

Too bad, r92, because you can't teach timing like she has.

There are websites where the writers of the show talk about how awful it was to work with Fran.

If you dig into DL, you will also find cast member lore about her undermining and upstaging the other cast members all the time.

They'd better hurry up if they're gonna do a reboot. Renee Taylor is 85!

[quote]I believe it was the reverse, [R89].

Oh yes, it came back to me after I had posted.

For those who don't remember the episode, everyone thought the son was upset because he was less endowed than his classmates. The "joke" was that he was worried about his height not the size of his penis. The episode did not make sense because Benjamin was clearly tall for his age and would not have to worry about his height at school.

A friend lived in the building used for the exterior of her mansion. 7 East 75th is six stories with twenty apartments, showing only the entrance made it look like a private home.

What is that East 70s neighborhood called, r99?

R27 doesn’t get it.

I binged heavily on it years ago. A shout out to Rachel Chagall as her friend Val

Dorothy Lyman is a cunt.

I was molested.

Daniel Davis hated Fran with a seething passion. Once Dorothy Lyman came on in the third season as director Fran and Mark took on an over the top hands on role in the decision making over everything on the show. Every tiny detail in every department particularly sets and wardrobe. They went from collaborators to dictators. Not great to be around.

For the first few episodes, the front door and stairs were on the other side.

Fran was like by Renee- she's been on her Instagram several times. Charles too. Maybe the butler is just bitter.

R105 source? In interviews Niles always talks happily about The Nanny.

R95, dunno about the writers, but those reunion videos on YT with Fran and the rest of the cast seem very sincere and everybody seem to love each other a lot.

LOL Yetta in a bathroom stall thinking she's voting.

I loved the running joke about Sylvia's overeating. My favorite was when she put her head in the oven to be dramatic about something and then pulled out a pan of crab cakes.

I was quite fond of the Dick Van Dyke Show homage.

They did the whole "Cher staying in the guest room" episode so well, I thought Cher has actually guest-starred on it.

If they did the show today, Niles would have to be out of the closet. That was a cop-out, they really couldn't get it greenlit with him being gay? It was the old trick of getting a gay guy personality on your show, but pretend he's straight so it doesn't cause a controversy. You don't need a gaydar for Niles to ping, the actor who played him is openly gay

Niles was gay in the first couple of seasons, but then they decided to pair him with CC...

Which was stupid.

Niles was never gay. They covered the fact that they knew everyone thought he was gay by having Fran ask him if he was, but he said no. He was supposed to be one of those straight guys that just seems really gay. At least his being British made it slightly believable. I don't know why Fran would be cautious about having a gay character, when most of her audience was going to be gay-friendly anyway. But I guess it was a very long time ago.

The best episodes are those with Yetta. Just her visual presence in the scenes make it funnier before she even opens her mouth. She, Sylvia and Fran are comedy trifecta gold, they played off each other perfectly.

I loved how Yetta called Brighton "Little Shmooey."

I was like 10 when the show premiered. I loved it. So many funny supporting characters and the main characters were funny as well. It really had a lot of everything a good sitcom needs.

The episode where she does the Patty/Cathy thing with Bobbi Flekman just ended (COZI-TV).

[quote]I don't know why Fran would be cautious about having a gay character, when most of her audience was going to be gay-friendly anyway. But I guess it was a very long time ago.

It was a different world when the Nanny started back in '93. If the show were on today, Niles would be gay with no problem, but not back then.

I don't believe the stories about Fran being a bitch and everyone hating her. She seems very down to earth and genuine.

I think she was controlling (surprise all successful people are) but the cast seemed close.

She really did have a great body. Stunning, really. More sitcoms need to understand you must have a lot of funny supporting cast members as well as have the leads funny. Like Will and Grace.

I’m sure the fact it was broadcast on CBS didn’t help when it came to having an openly gay character on a successful show

[quote] There's a least one time on "The Nanny" where she actually spoke, as a joke, in a rather lovely, cultured voice.

There's an episode where she has a sip of a very hot and spicy Thai soup that opens up her adenoids and she speaks beautifully in a normal vice. then seconds later it wears off and she's back to the "AWWWWWW... MISTAH SHEF-FIELD..." voice.

Charles Shaughnessy was very attractive on the show. It's weird someone's British friends above think he spoke with a bad British accent since he IS 100% British and was born and grew up there (in fact, he's aristocracy: he is the 5th Baron Shaughnessy).

CS was oddly sexy. I remember, being around the same age maybe a little younger, I wanted Brighton so bad. There were a few years he was so fucking cute (again being the same age or so as myself). He did not age well, though.

If Lucille Ball had still been alive she would've loved The Nanny, and probably would've guest-starred.

I would doubt that, r127.

Please, r128. The Nanny would've been right up Lucy's alley.

Performing with Carol Burnett was one thing, performing with a young and beautiful woman with comedy chops probably wouldn't have been quite up her alley.

I think Lucy would've been fine with guest-starring on a big hit show.

Well.....we'll never know.....

I hate the OP.

I fell down a Youtube hole and ended here.

Well....you coulda ended up.....HERE!!!

did they ever have Barbra as a guest star? can't remember

Is BS confirmed to have a huge dick? Is he straight?

I was shocked to see Mr. Sheffield playing a retirement home resident on The Cool Kids. DL fave Julia Duffy was with him. Both looked their parts.

And he also raped Leslie Caron on one of the Law & Orders, r137.

This scene is brilliant

Indeed, r139! It was on just the other day.

There's been a recent resurgence of interest in the show and of Fran as - wait for it - a style icon.

Niles on "The Nanny" couldn't have been openly gay back then, since the other big Niles on "Frasier" wasn't openly gay, though even with all the CC and Daphne matchmaking on the respective shows, there were lots of in-jokes that told gay viewers that they had a lot in common with their audience.

I still say "Hello Lalique" to my best friend !

Fran was funny on the failed pilot WHAT'S ALAN WATCHING? even though she seemed way too old to be the sister of twinky Coren Nemec:

You dumbasses know that Fran is a Trumpster, right?

Oh, she fucking is not.

[quote]I don't know why Fran would be cautious about having a gay character, when most of her audience was going to be gay-friendly anyway. But I guess it was a very long time ago.

Ask Fran's ex-husband and the show's co-producer.

Charles Shaughnessy just had a guest shot on The Cool Kids. Still hot.

More about Ben's horsecock, please.

CS still turns up on Days of Our Lives as his 80s character, James Bond like superagent Shane Donovan from time to time, He was just on a few years back

Lucy would of loved The Nanny because she loved physical comedy and farce, that's why she loved Three's Company and hosted the retrospective

Sylvia: Do I smell banana-nut muffins?

Niles: No.

Sylvia: [italic]Could[/italic] I?

Yetta's canasta team is called the Flushing Queens.

Regarding Niles sexuality... sure, if the show was remade today it's an environment more accepting of a gay character. But wasn't part of the humor with the character the strange attraction/repulsion he had with CC? I wouldn't change a thing if re-making this today.

I only tuned into the show sporadically, but I always thought Niles was gay and attracted to C.C. because they all occasionally referred to her manliness.

R125 - Fran ate a huge amount of wasabi, not spicy soup.

R135 - no, Streisand did not appear on the show but her sister, Roslyn Kind, did and Fran hears her singing from another room and mistakes her for Barbra. Fran running around trying to get to the her is a riot.

One of my favorite scenes is when Sylvia meets Elizabeth Taylor.

Recently binged watched it and by the end Fran was my least favorite character. I don't know why, but she just was. Always adored Mr. Sheffield and, if I had any money, I would tell my personal shopper to just copy his wardrobe. Same for C.C.'s.

It was a hoot when Fran and Val visited the set of “The Young and the Restless” and were mistaken as strippers and hookers because of their garish outfits. Fran took it as a compliment!

I liked the kids best the first season, when they were all fucked up.

The show was old fashoned and riddled with stereotypes, but the dialogue was snappy, there was some good chemistry among the characters and you never minded knowing how things were going to end. Drescher & Jaconson loved old sitcoms, so there were tons of homages if not outright thefts of plot and dialogue---it was done with purpose and affection rather than sheer laziness. De-emphasizing the kids as time went on made a lot of sense. Fran's family was more interesting.

Fran had done a CBS show with Twiggy, and they became friends. When the show was canceled, Twiggy invited Fran to visit the UK and from the cultural shock Fran experienced, The Nanny was born

[quote] Lucy would of loved The Nanny

Lucy would have slapped you for your bad grammar.

Charles Shaughnessy (“The Nanny”s Maxwell Sheffield) starred in the Broadway musical “Urinetown” for the last several months of its run. He was terrific in the role, and well liked by the other cast members. According to many other stage performers however, Daniel Davis (Niles) has a reputation for being a pain in the ass prima donna . Other cast members of the “La Cage Aux Folles” revival he headlined with Gary Beach, have been known to describe their time in the show as “the best of times / the worst of times”; the best being their time with Beach.

Daniel Davis is a huge cunt!

Nobody has really explained the Daniel Davis/ La Cage episode in a way that makes sense. . I have worked with him. He is not a cunt. Friends have worked with him after La Cage. He was great. I suspect that he wanted out of the show for some reason and created a situation where he had to be replaced.

Some cast and crew of the Roundabout’s “Noises Off” revival have a somewhat different take on Davis, R164.

R165, maybe he is on his best behavior for Shaw and Shakespeare .

CC: This isn't a typical night.

Niles: Yes—you're not home alone sitting on your foot massager and watching [italic]Sisters.[/italic]

Does anyone recall an episode where, in a scene in the kitchen, Mr. Sheffield was lecturing the children about something and Brighton either mouthed his father's words along with him or actually said them?

It was a very funny moment, and I've always wanted to see it again.

Our British friends must love " ... she was out on her fanny!"

Remember when CC got really fat?

R160 I remember that show. It was called Princesses. It was also with the great talent Julie Hagerty and it aired the season right before the Nanny (Also on CBS). I’m not sure I buy that story though because from what I remember Fran’s own show was already in the pre-production stages at the time.

She was, however, the only good thing about this other show, which lasted maybe 10 episodes.

From Wiki:

In an effort to downplay the behind-the-scenes turmoil on Princesses, CBS execs initially touted the series as "promising" to advertisers. However, prior to the show's premiere, entertainment media outlets such as Entertainment Tonight began publicizing the show's behind-the-scenes woes. Princesses was visibly destined for failure by the time it went into production. The first tell-tale sign came when Hagerty walked off the set after filming the first four episodes, which were followed by profoundly negative reviews, off-camera problems, and rumors that CBS affiliates might never air the episodes.

Upon its premiere, Princesses placed last in the Nielsen ratings. At one point, CBS programming head Jeff Sagansky expressed interest in re-tooling the show and replacing all of the show's cast members. Drescher soon became aware of this and immediately arranged a meeting with Sagansky. During the meeting, Drescher tried to compromise with Sagansky by suggesting he only re-cast Hagerty's role. but CBS ultimately decided against Drescher's wishes and axed the entire show (only five episodes out of the eight produced were aired).

The show ended up ranking 118th out of 132 shows that season, averaging only a 6.3 household rating. [1]

Shortly after the cancellation, an accidental meeting gave Drescher a chance to pitch a new television series to Sagansky, and she came up with her hit show The Nanny.[2][3] In fact, Drescher developed the idea while visiting with Princesses co-star Twiggy and her family in England, and modeled the character of Maxwell Sheffield on Twiggy's husband Leigh Lawson.[2][3] Ironically, both Fran Fine from The Nanny and Melissa from Princesses sold cosmetics, albeit in different settings.

Therapist: So, ladies, what brings you to therapy?

Fran: I came because my mother has an obsession with me getting married.

Sylvia: I came because my daughter has a delusion that I have an obsession.

Yetta: I came because they brought me and I don't know how to get home from here.

CC: Don't blame me. I wanted to do "Twelve Angry Men."

Niles: Yes, but they didn't want to do you.

In some early episode Fran claims she was one of the players here

Mary Hart was one of those players.

Frans mom dropping in while they are eating.

“Such a big plate for such a little girl” and starts eating the youngest’s plate. You have to see it to get the humor but it cracked my shit up.

Julie Hagerty has flaked out on a bunch of shows.

Wasn't there something with her and that Suzanne Sugarbaker as a congresswoman show?

Some great moments, you can clearly see Shaughnessy starting to laugh when she starts the shaving cream and she is definitely messaging the good parts. Surprised he didn't turn his head from the camera.

I loved Niles' C.C.-zingers, but Fran landed my all-time favorite.

The kids are devastated to learn that Fran has accepted ex-boyfriend Danny's marriage proposal, and will be leaving them. Naturally, C.C. is over-the-moon, literally popping a bottle of champagne in front of them.

C.C.: Kids, when I'm down in the dumps, you know what cheers me up?

Fran: A fifth of scotch and a fresh pack of batteries?

Lucy was Fran's idol, and she'd dreamed of starring in a sitcom doing her Lucy impression since childhood. Sometimes dreams come true.

There was one episode where Fran and CC get stuck in a wine cellar together. They start drinking wine and Fran does CC’s hair and makeup. She ends up with a huge bouffant a la Sylvia Fine. I remember laughing my ass off.

R180, that is HILARIOUS!

R170, she was pregnant back then.

They tried to cover her bump with those huuuuuge bags, but to no avail.

"The Whine Cellar"

R186 Reminds me a little of Dracula lol

So I guess Fran is the original Jew-cy (or Juicy) not our girl Deb Messing?

Watching this i really hate the kids, they should have cast better actors.

Add me as shocked that this show has held up so well over the years. OK, funny bits from memory, so please forgive miquotes:

1) At some point Sylvia must have been redecorating? Anyway, she and Yetta are with Fran and Yetta says something about tile. Sylvia begins yelling at Yetta: "We are not. Getting. Fa-KAKTING. TILE!!! By the way Yetta covers up her ears you just know they've been arguing about this for days.

2) Sylvia is staying at the mansion, and Mr. Sheffield wonders why she didn't go stay with Yetta. Fran kind of throws away "The big cats can't share a cage."

3) Fran is sad and at Sylvia's kitchen table. Sylvia keeps telling her over and over to "have some bread" from the loaf sitting there in the middle. Finally Fran reaches over to have a piece--and the whole top comes off, revealing the chocolate stashed inside.

OK, one more. Sylvia buys a new dress, which is so tight it is leaving strap marks. She says "The sales girl said I look like like a dream!" Fran: "Maybe Oscar Mayer's." Sylvia: "She should choke on her commission."

Fran gave each cast a member the animation cel of their characters in the opening.

CC and Niles were really the unspoken funny heroes of the show after a while. Especially after they dragged out Maxwell and Fran's romance to death.

Yetta on her new boyfriend: "We're a match made in heaven. I can hear the movie, he can see it. I've got a right lung, he's got a left ... "

Classic scene referenced upthread. Renée Taylor was born to play Sylvia.

R18 The youngest girl, Madeline Zima, was actually very funny, especially in the first season when she was acting out and ready for (or in the process of) being in therapy.

On Californication, Madeline Zima sported the most obvious pair of breast implants I've ever seen.

^^Zima on Californication

R195 I agree I really liked her. Nicolle Thom was kind of a non entitity but at least she wasn’t annoying and overly precocious. The only annoying one was the boy.

All in all, better and less grating than most TV show kids.

Once Fran and Sheffield got together the show went downhill.

Maybe I’m in the minority but I actually preferred Yetta to Sylvia - who just annoyed me a lot of the time.

Didn’t Dina Merrill guest as Sheffield’s mother? And didn’t Trump once guest star?

Wasn’t CBS kind of in a bad way In the mid 90s and this (and I guess Diagnosis murder) would have been their main hits? On NBC this probably would have lasted 2/3 seasons at most.

I agree it never really got any respect. The writing was often very good and snappy and Fran was terrrifc especially early on.

I loved Sylvia's interactions with her black widow sister and the whole Lladró porcelain exchange.

Oh, and that episode where Maxwell finds out Fran has a tattoo and is all hot and bothered thinking about it.

Fran shouldn't by rights have a tattoo (at least one that they got by choice), as according to Jewish law they can't be buried in consecrated ground.

Is this show streaming anywhere?

I remember Fran always going on and on about shrimp, which was odd.

Also, she hated the kibbutz, according to Sylvia

[quote]I loved Sylvia's interactions with her black widow sister and the whole Lladró porcelain exchange.

On one of today's COZI-TV episodes, Aunt Frieda (the inimitable Lainie Kazan) mentioned her "Lardo" figurines!

It's on the mesothelioma channel, R201.

I think Niles was doing convention appearances as recent as 2016/2017. I saw a posed pic of Niles and a fan, on an acquaintance' acquaintance facebook.

Cringey, I would never pay $40++ for a picture with anyone.

Renee Taylor was genius as Sylvia. She was nominated for an Emmy one time for the role--but lost to Julia Louis Dreyfus.

Not even BARBRA, r205????

You wanna feel old? Ben Salisbury is 38 yrs old.

Nichole Tom is now 40.

Ben Salisbury is the same age that Charles Shaugnessy was when The Nanny began, and two years older than Fran Drescher was.

When the youngest girl leaves the mansion to spend time with Sylvia in Queens (I can’t remember what was bothering her), Fran tells her she can’t run away from Park Avenue to Flushing, she’s going the wrong way.

Genius!

The Polish version is strange in how closely they copied the sets and the opening. Does Poland even have townhouses like that?

Drescher and Jacobsen must've made a killing selling the concept abroad so many times.

Charles Shaughnessy was (and still is) very handsome. I remember there were a couple Pierce Brosnan references & jokes because of his hair & accent.

In the Liz Taylor episode (1996), Fran had amnesia after a blow to the head (in Rosie O'Donnell's cab). She assumed that she was married to Max (and the kids were hers) & slipped into a jacuzzi-bath with him. Although tempted, Max told her that they weren't married; she's the nanny. She was aghast: "We're not married?! I'm your NANNY?!" But then...."Wait. You're still on REMINGTON STEELE, aren't ya'?"

There was another exchange between Niles & Max with comparisons to Brosnan. Niles made a crack about his Pierce Brosnan flippy-thing with his hair. Max was flattered. "You think I look like Pierce Brosnan?' Then, later, while pumping him up to go tell Fran how he felt, Niles sprayed a shot of Binaca in Max's mouth and said, "What would Pierce Brosnan do??"

Remember when Dan Aykroyd had an uncredited cameo as a repairman showing plumber’s crack?

I never watched The Nanny much but I saw a movie she did with that guy who was briefly James Bond. Fuck. Anyway, it was actually hilarious. Stupid, obviously, but still totally hilarious. Timothy Dalton. I knew if I just kept going for a sec it would come to me.

That's all I know about Fran.

The A story in that Aykroyd episode featured Eric Braeden as a pompous Broadway critic and his bratty little son was played by Miko (“Pet Sematary”) Hughes.

R215, The Beautician and the Beast.

She was quite good too in Saturday Night Fever.

She was in the uproariously funny early ‘80s period comedy THE HOLLYWOOD KNIGHTS, which was basically an all star cast that included Michelle Pfeiffer, Tony Danza and Robert Wuhl. One of the funniest parts of the movie was when she’s getting it on with Wuhl’s character in a car and he has a little issue with premature ejaculation.

“Turk! Did you come??!”

[quote]The Polish version is strange in how closely they copied the sets and the opening. Does Poland even have townhouses like that?

TOWNHOUSES are the distinguishing characteristic of "The Nanny" that you wonder might be scarce in Poland?

UHF was my crowning achievement.

She was one of the rainbow coalition of hookers owned by Howard Hessman in the hilarious Dr. Detroit (a blonde, a Jewess, a black girl and an Asian girl). This was before Aykroyd married Donna Dixon, who was also one of the hookers along with Lynn Whitfield.

She may not be a Trumper but she is still a RETHUG

[quote]She was quite good too in Saturday Night Fever.

She was no Donna Pescow.

R223 is a dirty liar.

The best scenes took place Fran's family's house in Queens. I loved how her mother (Rene) would talk while eating crackers and the crumbs would fall on her sweaters.

^^^ Wait. Maybe it was Lainie Kazan not Renee who ate the crumbling crackers.

I binged it earlier this year. After Fran and Max get married, the show is over. The final season is a drip.

Madeline Zima sure has a stick up her about the show. If a reboot happens, Little Gracie will be mysteriously absent.

The Niles and CC meaness got a bit much. I never found the digs witty, just mean.

R228 Madeleine sucked in Twin Peaks 3.

[quote]The Polish version is strange in how closely they copied the sets and the opening. Does Poland even have townhouses like that?

They must have bought the scripts too. I just watched that episode yesterday. The robes were 2 for 1, Val was on the phone and Max was waiting for a call from Japan.

Little Gracie apparently couldn't wait to grow up and show off her purchased tits.

Polish Sheffield is sexy as fuck!

[quote]Little Gracie apparently couldn't wait to grow up and show off her purchased tits.

Love how the boys here are experts at tits when the only ones they ever touched had milk coming out of it.

Some guys are bi - titty fucking has its charms, especially with two dicks. Bye Felicia.

She's a Republican and has been for years.

R236, what? I'm pretty sure Fran is a Democrat.

It really bothers me how ugly Brighton got and he was already balding as a teenager. There is no way that boy would be he son of the hotness Maxwell Sheffield!

R238, a lot of times, two hot parents will give birth to ugly children. Just look at Bruce and Demi's children.

R236 is right. She's known to be a Rethug. Now, in her defense, she's not a Trump Rethug . . . but she's still a Rethug.

This was a great show. I have to say the standout was Renee Taylor as Sylvia Fine. By far the funniest character and she always had "the moment" of the episode with her antics and delivery

R240 where are you all getting that info? Maybe because she’s friends with Suzanne Somers some are just assuming? Or because Trump guested on her show? But I’ve never seen that anywhere.

She is a Democrat. I don't know who the "Fran is a Republican" troll is, but they jump in, say she's a Republican, offer no proof, and jump out. Even her Wikipedia page says she's a Democrat and everything she's done are Democratic positions.

Just ignore the troll who keeps trying to gaslight us, for whatever reason.

Prior to his presidential run for the 2016 election, Trump had changed his political party registration multiple times (Republican, Democrat, and independent), so I doubt his appearance on the show was tied to any political leaning, and more about his need for constant self-promotion.

Those poor overstressed spanx.

Ah shut up with your dark gossip R95

From Twitter... I'M NOT A TRUMP SUPPORTER! I sed this b4. Churnalism. Unsubstantiated news get's churned thru web endlessly. U cant believe ANYTHING u read 2:46 PM - 26 Jul 2016

The only reason he was on "The Nanny" was because it was about rich NY society and Trump never said no to a TV camera.

I remember The Nanny was pretty ecumenical about Christmas, but did she do the Hanukkah Bush thing?

Wow, I heard she was a Republican too. Good to see that she isn't.

Nothing about Fran screams Republican. I would've been baffled if she was.

How Many Jews aged died hard Republicans anyway, really? Unless they’re Israeli.

Most of the celebrities who are Republicans tend to come either from a Southern Evangelical background, or the Italian/Irish very Catholic deplorable types. Patty Heaton is a devout Catholic for example.

the confusion comes from Fran briefly marrying that weird guy who claimed he invented email and then they divorced. I think once she found out he's a nutjob she left

Barbara Walters is a Jewish Republican. Or was, since she's dementia-ridden and shitting herself these days.

She is good friends with Rosie. Real friends , not show biz acquaintances, they stay at each other's homes when on opposite coasts. They have been close since they both worked on Car 54, Where Are You?" in '94. She would never support Trump after he attacked Rosie for a year (and after he appeared on her show).

R252 apparently they never really got married, just had some sort of "understanding". That guy was a freak anyway. I expect he's also a good liar and probably had her convinced he was something special and not just a huge fraud.

I surprised there aren't DL lesbo rumors on DL. Married to a gay man and friends with Rosie?

Friends is one thing but beyond that, no. I really can't imagine Fran under any circumstances going for Rosie. She didn't need the money that badly.

r251 Look up Sheldon Adelson.

Fran has millions and millions of $ for life thanks to the Nanny. And no kids to leech of of her, either!

R258 what about the words “most” and “tend” don’t you understand?

I'm kind of blown away by what happened to Fran. She and a female friend of hers were raped in Fran's home while her husband was held at gunpoint, forced to watch. The fact that she came back from something like that is amazing. Also, I have heard that Fran and her husband were both swingers (both ways) which is why when Fran got divorced from him, it really wasn't a surprise (although it was portrayed in the media as a surprise).

That story is horrific, R261. It always freaked me out. I thought they beat the fuck out of Fran’s husband.

Pics of the rapists? Were they ever caught?

The rapist was on parole and received two life sentences

R262, you are probably right. I"m amazed she didn't let that incident define and destroy her. Anyone else would still be in therapy to this day.

Just watched the cantor episode with Philip Casnoff — boy, he gave Charles Shaughnessy a run for it in the handsome race!

With PMJ as co-creator, there were always hotties. Remember the oldest daughter's male model boyfriend?

I hated it because of the way it portrayed working-class Jews. But I loved CeCe Babcock and thought she had fantastic style.

I still wonder what the deal was with Robbie Schwartz. He was a young personal assistant that Fran adored (and wrote about in ENTER WHINING), who ended up being a writers' assistant and got a couple "story by" credits. He appeared in The Kibbutz episode as the hunky young Israeli guy who asks Maggie, "You like Kibbutz?" According to gossip I heard at the time....he and Fran were fucking like rabbits, right under Peter's nose, and everyone on set knew it. But now I wonder if maybe they were sharing him?

[quote] I loved CeCe Babcock and thought she had fantastic style.

LOL when CeCe enters with a Fox stole that looked like her dog Chester that hated her. The dog was actually Fran's that she brought everywhere.

[quote]I hated it because of the way it portrayed working-class Jews.

I loved it for that -- I grew up with similarly fun and nice working class Jews in Hollywood.

r271 Fehhr-fachs.

i loved the stupid lovable friend Val.

r268 r270 C.C., not CeCe.

The episode in season three where she moves into an apartment complex full of gays had to be written by a DLer. There's a moment where she opens the door and you hear The Trolley Song playing from down the hall!

Fun Fact: The credited writers of that episode ("Val's Apartment") were the writing team of Sally Lapiduss & Pamela Eells. I don't know about Eells, but Sally Lapiduss is an out lesbian (as his her writer/producer sister, Maxine Lapiduss). Sally got her start in show biz as Katharine Hepburn's personal assistant.

I'm binge-watching it on CoziTV and it's definitely underrated, but the clip show episodes are silly. I understand having a clip show in a sitcom's last season, but they've had one in season three and another one in season four! I did like the Baby Jane reference in the season four episode, though.

My favorite nanny...

Horrible writing in various seasons make it unwatchable at times.

I seriously roll my eyes at Madeline Zima and her desire to erase this part of her career. "The kids were treated like props and I hated it"

Honey, you were a supporting character on a sitcom. Relax.

You tell her R280. LOL.

The Kibbutz episode is unwatchable because of some bitch in the audience that SHRIEKS with laughter after every line. Whoever that cunt was ruined the fucking episode. They should have kicked her out.

I've never seen the show but speaking of Charles Shaughnessy, I find it hilarious that someone thought it was a good idea to cast him in a TV movie where his lover was played by Charlotte Ross, who was playing his daughter on Days of Our Lives.

FUN FACT: Ben Salisbury used to whip out his cock to shame the other male cast members.

Not the whole thing, mind you. Just enough to embarrass the others.

He’s bigger than Mistah Sheffield??

Lauren Lane was by far the best thing about this show. The episode where Chester gets kidnapped was on the other night and she was brilliant.

R284 And that was during the first season!

Sizemeat verficatia? 10 hard or soft?

Why was this show such a hit with gay fans ?

It was kind of creepy seeing Madeline Zima fucking David Duchovny in "Californication".

Zima was always a little whore.

She was such a whore that she took all of Salisbury with relative ease.

I mean this guy has put women in the hospital with just a fraction of his manhood.

[quote]I was quite fond of the Dick Van Dyke Show homage.

Charles Shaughnessy was so great in that scene. He doesn't get enough credit, since Mistah Sheffield is such a thankless role, but he had great comedic chops too.

IIRC, Charles Shaughnessy played Susan Seaforth Hayes' Julie character's brother on DOOL? How was his British accent explained?!

Or was he on another soap?

Charles played super spy Shane Donovan (and later, his twin Drew) on DAYS OF OUR LIVES. Shane was British; no relation to Julie. I believe you're thinking of Stephen Schnetzer as Julie's brother. Charles was also on GENERAL HOSPITAL for a hot minute prior to DAYS, as Holly's (Emma Samms) cousin, Alastair.

I was in quarantine a couple of weeks back after moving across country and bored with little to do, so I pulled this show up on Amazon Prime and started watching. Never really seen much of it before. Am not half way through season 5. It really is a sweet show, holds up (mostly) even though it's retro comedy, and is enjoyable. Like many others, I think Sylvia steals every scene she's in, she's great. It's interesting that post season 2 the kids barely have anything to do - even in episodes where they should. Like, in the early seasons if one of them was having problems in school, Fran would go to sort it out with the kid in tow. Now she takes Yetta or Val with her instead, and the kid just walks on earlier in the episode, says a line or two and leaves again. Perhaps due to school commitments with the younger two? And Nicholle Tom I believe was doing a lot of other acting at the time (there is a blooper at the end of one episode where Nicholle stuffs a line up and Fran's like: "Hey, you're in 2 Lifetime movies a month at the moment, I don't blame you for forgetting lines" or something).

Also, it was probably the realisation that Val, Yetta and Sylvia are better comedy material too. Still, I thought the kids were some of the better child actors out there.

I'd also say it's starting to feel a bit looser now, like the actors are VERY comfortable in their parts. I've noticed this since about season 4. Also, on the topic of Niles' accent, while he always sounded to me very "American comedy series British", now he's pretty much letting it slip regularly, sounding a lot more standard American to my ears.

All in all, an enjoyable way to pass the time, though I think it's first 3 seasons are the best. Fran's comic timing is wonderful, but she's also surrounded by other great comic actors, so it doesn't become too much of a vanity project (and it could. There are so many scenes of Fran descending the staircase to whoops from the audience, but thankfully Drescher also doesn't balk at making herself look ridiculous or the butt of jokes too).

It's interesting to see it as a reflection of the times too. The first three seasons have quite a number of references to the Menendez brothers for example, which I guess was huge then. Also, I have to admit, there are SO many guest stars, but I feel the majority of them must've been very "of the moment" because I only recognised a handful of the bigger stars. Many other times the audience is cheering someone and I have no idea who they are meant to be, even after seeing their names in the credits.

I have a soft spot for CC too, and I like that they went from making her the sole butt of Niles' one liners and pranks, to getting her own back too. There's that episode, for example, where Fran and Maxwell come home to find the house has been burgled and everything stolen, and Niles tied up in the living room. CC assures Max she will take care of it, and then the show ends with her just cracking up laughing at him when the others have gone.