The Nanny

The Nanny - TV Show

I really liked this show and Fran Fine actually reminds me of Janice in Friends, not one of the most popular characters though. :P


The plot of the show revolved around nasal-voiced Fran Fine (Fran Drescher) from Flushing, Queens, 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 the opportunity to become the nanny for his three children. But soon Fran, with her off-beat nurturing and no-nonsense honesty, touches 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.

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 desires for the very available Mr. Sheffield.

Perpetually hovering close by were 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 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).