The Nanny (TV series)

Infobox Television
show_name = The Nanny


caption = Logo
rating = TV-PG
format = Sitcom
creator = Fran Drescher
Peter Marc Jacobson
developer = Prudence Fraser
Robert Sternin
writer =
director = Lee Shallat
starring = Fran Drescher
Charles Shaughnessy
Daniel Davis
Lauren Lane
Nicholle Tom
Benjamin Salisbury
Madeline Zima
Renée Taylor
Rachel Chagall
Ann Morgan Guilbert
country = United States
opentheme = "The Nanny Named Fran" by Ann Hampton Callaway
num_seasons = 6
num_episodes = 146
list_episodes = List of The Nanny episodes
executive_producer = Fran Drescher
Prudence Fraser
Peter Marc Jacobson
Frank Lombardi
Caryn Lucas
Robert Sternin
Diane Wilk
producer = Kathy Landsberg
Fran Drescher
runtime = est. 23 minutes
distributor = TriStar Television (1994-1999) Columbia TriStar Television (1999-2002 syndication) Sony Pictures Television (2002-present,reruns only)
network = CBS
picture_format = 4:3
audio_format = Stereo
first_aired = November 3, 1993
last_aired = June 23, 1999
imdb_id = 0106080

"The Nanny" is an American situation comedy co-produced by Sternin & Fraser Ink, Inc. and Highschool Sweethearts Productions in association with TriStar Television (now Sony Pictures Television on reruns on Lifetime)for CBS. It first aired from November 3, 1993, to June 23, 1999, and starred actress Fran Drescher as Fran Fine, a charming and bubbly Jewish Queens native who casually becomes the nanny of three children from the New York upper class. The show's theme song was written and performed by Ann Hampton Callaway.

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, involving names and characteristics based on near relatives and friends.cite web | title="The Nanny" trivia | work=IMDb | url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106080/trivia | accessdate=2007-06-16] The show earned a Rose d'Or and one Emmy Award, out of a total of 13 nominations, and moreover garnered Drescher two Golden Globe nominations. Since the early 2000s the sitcom has also spawned several foreign adaptations, loosely inspired by the original scripts.

Plot

The plot of the show revolves around nasal-voiced Fran Fine (played by Fran Drescher) from Flushing, Queens, who fresh out of her job as a bridal consultant in her boyfriend's shop, peddles 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 the opportunity to become the nanny for his three children. Soon Fran, with her off-beat nurturing and no-nonsense honesty, wins over the kids as well as Maxwell. 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 and jealousy, as they both have designs on the very available Mr. Sheffield.

Perpetually hovering close by are Fran's typically obsessive and food-loving "Jewish mother" Sylvia; her rarely-seen 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 does not keep to herself); and Fran's dim-witted best friend Val, 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).

Cast

Regular

:"For a full list of characters with articles, see ."

"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.

The Nanny: The Complete 1st Season
*Number of Disc: 3
*Running Time: 516 min.
*Subtitles: French, Spanish, Portuguese
*Bonus Features:
*Commentary with Fran Drescher
*The Making of The Nanny

The Nanny: The Complete 2nd Season
*Number of Disc: 3
*Running Time: 610 min.
*Subtitles: French, Spanish, Portuguese
*Bonus Features:
*None

Foreign adaptations

"The Nanny" has been broadcast 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.cite web | title="Still Married, With Children, But in Russian | url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/10/world/europe/10sitcom.html | accessdate=2008-02-02]

See also

* List of The Nanny episodes

Notes

External links

* [http://www.thenanny.com/ "The Nanny" Home Page]
* [http://www.thenannytv.com "The Nanny" Official site at Sony Pictures Television]
* [http://www.lifetimetv.com/shows/nanny/ "The Nanny" at "Lifetime Television"]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106080/ "The Nanny"] at Internet Movie Database
* [http://www.tv.com/the-nanny/show/333/summary.html "The Nanny"] at TV.com
* [http://www.dienannyfanpage.de The German Nanny Fanpage]