The Nanny - General Discussion

[Meredith Quill]

Discuss Here!

[Miss Dee]

The Niles and CC rivalry. There was never chemistry like it, and there'll never be again.

[legaleagle53]

Miss Dee, on 05 Apr 2016 - 4:25 PM, said:

The Niles and CC rivalry. There was never chemistry like it, and there'll never be again.

 

Truth.  Especially once it was shown that underneath the mutual loathing, the two really were madly in love with each other.

[MaggieG]

I sometimes feel like Sylvia is my spirit animal. I just want to go around eating as well.

I have been rewatching the show on TV Land in the mornings while I get ready for work. So funny

[TheGreenKnight]

This is one of those shows where I always forget how funny it is. Niles and Yetta are the best part about this series. Love both those characters.

[shapeshifter]

I don't get TV Land anymore, but what I loved best were Fran's outfits.

[mj2000]

On 8/12/2016 at 11:50 AM, MaggieG said:

I sometimes feel like Sylvia is my spirit animal. I just want to go around eating as well.

I have been rewatching the show on TV Land in the mornings while I get ready for work. So funny

My mother takes the same heart medicine as Sylvia. I spoonful of Hersheys syrup :) 

On 4/5/2016 at 7:25 PM, Miss Dee said:

The Niles and CC rivalry. There was never chemistry like it, and there'll never be again.

I completely agree. I can sit back and think of so many things that they done to each other. Classic! 

[shapeshifter]

There's going to be a New Year's Day The Nanny marathon on COZI TV from 9:30am/8:30am to 8pm/7pm.

Here in Chicagoland northern suburbs that's 5.2 OTA (Over The Air).

It starts with the pilot.

[sskrill]

On 4/5/2016 at 4:25 PM, Miss Dee said:

The Niles and CC rivalry. There was never chemistry like it, and there'll never be again.

I just sought this forum out because of a scene between these two.

They were effin genius together.

[shapeshifter]

Lately they've been airing episodes as much as 3 times a day here on COZI TV, so I've been catching quite a few. 

3 hours ago, sskrill said:

On April 5, 2016 at 6:25 PM, Miss Dee said:

The Niles and CC rivalry. There was never chemistry like it, and there'll never be again.

I just sought this forum out because of a scene between these two.

They were effin genius together.

The Niles-C.C. pairing never made sense to me, and Daniel Davis agrees in this interview, but having now watched parts of the series multiple times, it occurred to me that the writers could have set it up that way from the beginning: To me, Niles always seemed to be written as gay, and he always made jokes about C.C. being manly. But I don't see any references to this as a plot arc online. 

[sskrill]

In my case, I'm not talking about the coupledom - I'm talking about the rivalry.  He could push her buttons in the worst way.

I could sort of see him falling for her, but it was less believable that she'd fall for him.

[sskrill]

The episode where Niles and CC are addicted to the Spanish soap opera ?

[ScoobieDoobs]

Trump just showed up carrying 2 brick phones.  Ew.

Poor Brighton got so homely.

[shapeshifter]

*Sigh* I guess I knew it would happen eventually.

Here's the new COZI line up.

No more daytime The Nanny. (It's on M-F midnight-2am -- although my CT Zap2it shows 1-3am.)

It looks like they're online in low-resolution but not streaming on any of the usual services.

The DVDs are available, but once my DVD player and 2009 laptop die, they would be coasters.

Hopefully Hulu or some other service will pick it up eventually.

Edited January 1, 2019 by shapeshifter

[TwirlyGirly]

For those who are interested, The Nanny is being broadcast on Logo. They do seem to move it around a bit. I.E., today, Saturday, January 26, it's on from 8:00am  through 12n EST. On Monday, January 28, 9:00am - 12n EST, and Friday, February 1, 12n - 3:00pm EST. So if you have Logo, check your local listings! 

[shapeshifter]

COZI has added 4 episodes of The Nanny to Sunday afternoon/evening, 5-7p/4-6p C,
although it looks like next Sunday the first 2 episodes are pre-empted by Meet the Press, which, apropos to nothing, my dad, who was born in 1923, used to watch.

"Meanwhile," the Sunday episodes are starting right now with the (coincidentally?) Mother's Day episode, 1.22 "I Don't Remember Mama" and continuing in sequence at least through the following Sunday except that Meet the Press means 2.4 and 2.5 won't air. 

Stupid o'clock weekday airings (12am-2am/11pm-1am C) are in season 5.

[RealHousewife]

I loved the show. It was happy and fun, and Fran Drescher had a killer wardrobe. 

[annzeepark914]

The episodes I loved were the ones with her relatives.  Did they ever show her father? I just remember that when her mother spoke to Morty, he was always in another room. 

[shapeshifter]

51 minutes ago, annzeepark914 said:

The episodes I loved were the ones with her relatives.  Did they ever show her father? I just remember that when her mother spoke to Morty, he was always in another room. 

Famous crooner Steve Lawrence appeared as Fran's father in 6.15 "Ma'ternal Affairs," one of the more emotional episodes, and then again in 6.21 "The Finale: Part I."

[Was-MArsenault]

Logo is currently showing the episode right now with Celine Dion.

[KWalkerInc]

I was just looking at the schedule of upcoming episodes on Logo, and looking at the original air dates for the latter season 6 episodes reminded me of how poorly the show was treated by CBS at that time.  Just like NBC did with the long-running A Different World, CBS just threw the finale on after a hiatus of several months, then bumped a bunch of prior episodes to summer--the only difference being that they actually showed all of them.  However, our affiliate bumped one of them for a Billy Graham special, so I had to have my sister in another town record it for me (which she did, along with the rerun before it, just to be safe).  I also remember that when it was pulled from the schedule, it was because they were blaming the show for the poor ratings of a new John Larroquette series (Payne?) and had to "help" it with Everybody Loves Raymond reruns, even though that didn't do any good either.

[sskrill]

It's on night time on Cozi again.  I'm PST and I think for us its 9pm.

[KWalkerInc]

I noticed when Logo showed the finale last night that it still has the part at the beginning that goes, "Previously on The Nanny" with a bunch of clips of stuff from the second half of season 6.  That was originally included to not only remind people of what had happened because there was such a long hiatus before CBS showed the finale, but to show things from episodes that hadn't even aired yet (especially stuff with Niles and C.C.) so that people wouldn't be confused.  Considering how often most shows get chopped up even more in syndication than they used to, it's surprising that they still show those clips instead of just starting with the first scene of Fran's dream about being on the beach.

[KWalkerInc]

The Nanny cast to reunite for virtual table read

It mentions in the article that Logo is showing a marathon on Monday, but it doesn't sound like it's any longer than the ones they normally show.  And they usually show a lot of episodes while I'm asleep and I don't want to fill the DVR, so I'm going to buy the DVD set.  (I was going to get it from Amazon, but even with a gift card I have, it is cheaper to get it from a reputable seller on eBay.)

[shapeshifter]

13 minutes ago, KWalkerInc said:

The Nanny cast to reunite for virtual table read

It sounds like it could be fun:

Quote

…the original cast of [The Nanny] is reuniting for a virtual table read of the pilot via Zoom, which will be posted on the Sony Pictures YouTube page the morning of Monday, April 6…

 

[HyeChaps]

That was fun!

[MaggieG]

That was so fun! I loved the collective laugh from everyone when Sylvia yelled out "Morty!"

[EarlGreyTea]

I loved the live theme song! It sounds even better than the original!

I'm really happy that they got Madeline Zima there. She has not spoken fondly of her time on the show, which is too bad. I'm glad to see she participated and all was perfectly civil. She looks great, too. '

I loved Nicholle Tom doing mini-costume changes.

Maxwell Sheffield never did much for me back then, but WOWZA does he do it for me now.

Edited April 7, 2020 by EarlGreyTea

[KWalkerInc]

I was watching most of the marathon on Logo and had a question about the episode where Fran loses Elizabeth Taylor's pearls due to an emotional cab driver (Rosie O'Donnell).  The episode seemed to end rather abruptly without the pearls being found.  Was this part of some sort of "theme night" on CBS where the storyline continued on other shows?  I think have a vague recollection of that, but no idea what the other shows would have been.

I noticed a weird mistake on the cable menu for the episode about Fran's pen pal.  They listed her pen pal (who is male and doesn't ever actually appear) as being played by Florence Griffith Joyner.  She is in the episode, but only for a non-speaking cameo where Fran is describing some of the lies from her letters to Lenny (such as claiming she won a gold medal).  I loved the Niles/C.C. interaction in that episode, especially when she thinks he is actually Maxwell behind her in the office and convinces her to cluck like a chicken!

ETA:  I found it!  "This episode was part of a four episodes crossover between Can't Hurry Love, Murphy Brown and high society involving Elizabeth Taylor and her missing pearls."

I thought Murphy Brown might have been one of them, but I don't remember the other two shows. 

Edited April 7, 2020 by KWalkerInc
Found info on crossover.

[WendyCR72]

7 hours ago, EarlGreyTea said:

I'm really happy that they got Madeline Zima there. She has not spoken fondly of her time on the show, which is too bad. I'm glad to see she participated and all was perfectly civil. She looks great, too. '

This is probably common knowledge, but her sister, Yvonne Zima, is also an actress. She played the original Rachel Greene (not to be confused with the OTHER one also airing on Thursday nights on Friends on NBC!), Dr. Mark Greene's daughter, on ER up until about Season 5 or so.

[shapeshifter]

I noticed the few who haven’t done much other acting (or acted in awhile) seemed tenuous at first, but quickly warmed up. Renee Taylor (Sylvia) still has her comic timing. They really fed off of each other’s energy.

Madeline Zima was as charming in her role as she was as a child; maybe this will close the chapter on the ill advised complaining she made public. 

And yes, @EarlGreyTea, Ann Hampton Calloway’s rendition of the theme song was as fresh as if it had dropped yesterday and as smooth as a Sinatra standard. Whenever I hear it I always want to do a little dance and sing along for a few bars. 

With the quarantine continuing at least through the month, TPTB should do a couple more table reads.  Which episodes do y’all think would be best? 

It is surprising that they were all still alive and in good health to do it. May that continue to be the case!

 

Here’s the table read on YouTube: 

(youtu.be/C3a6KuP1X14)

Edited April 10, 2020 by shapeshifter

[readster]

Great seeing everyone again. Great to see everyone still in good health, I also see Ben ran into the same issue as me in the hair department. Always, loved hearing Niles. 

[Kromm]

I actually stumbled on it by accident. I'm not even a Nanny fan, and enjoyed it. 

Edited April 11, 2020 by Kromm

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, Kromm said:

I actually stumbled on it by accident. I'm not even a Nanny fan, and enjoyed it. 

Maybe The Nanny will get a new cult following In The Time Of Corona?
Mr. Sheffield arguably works as a post-MeToo boss.

[KWalkerInc]

I was lucky that I bought my DVD set when I did, because after the virtual table-read and publicity about it, the increased demand caused the prices to go shooting up on eBay!  But mine was already on its way and arrived on Saturday.  I watched the first 7 episodes tonight.  I  had noticed in the syndicated (at least on Logo) version of the pilot, Maxwell suddenly shows up at Morty and Sylvia's place to see Fran because he's had a change of heart and wants to re-hire her for no apparent reason.  They had cut out a heart-to-heart that Niles had with him in the office, which seemed like a fairly important scene. 

Although most of the early episodes focus on Fran and the kids and they rightfully waited a bit to develop the Fran/Maxwell flirtation (they already dragged things out forever even after taking it slow), there was one moment with Sylvia that made me laugh.  Grace had run away in one of the limos to go see Fran at her parents' house on her day off after C.C. had claimed Fran only cared about the kids because she was paid to do so.  They ended up taking Grace to Fran's cousin's wedding; and at the end, Grace was standing on Maxwell's shoes to dance with him.  Fran commented on how cute it was, and Sylvia agreed--but then told Fran to cut in.  So the wheels were already spinning in her mind about trying to get them together, LOL.

[KWalkerInc]

It looks like Logo has removed the show from the schedule, at least for now.  They sure show It's a Living an awful lot.  I know I watched that show sometimes in its first-run syndicated days (I didn't even know until just now it was ever on ABC), but I'm not sure it's so popular that it needs to be on practically every day for hours!  Anyway, I've almost finished season 3 on my DVD re-watch.  I got to see the animated Christmas special for the first time.  I had read about it when it aired, but wasn't watching yet then and it wasn't part of the syndication package.  It was cute, but weird to be watching in June.  I'm guessing they thought Benjamin was the best voice actor of the kids, because Maggie and Grace really didn't do too much in that show.  In the regular episodes, Fran and Maxwell's non-relationship is already starting to get annoying, even though I still have a long way to go.  I do laugh when the studio audience gets super excited every time they flirt or especially kiss and think they're about to finally get together.  I say, "Don't get your hopes up!"  It was interesting that they had a clip show when it was only season 3.  I know they had 27 episodes, but Living Single did all of its first three years and never had to do that.  I read that the "Chatterbox" backdoor pilot was the least popular episode of The Nanny.  Those are always irritating, but at least there was something of a plot involving the regular characters.  The worst is when they just show a regular for 30 seconds and then the rest of the show is people you don't care about who usually aren't ever seen again (with some exceptions like The Game from Girlfriends).

[WendyCR72]

Madeline Zima has a role in the new Perry Mason prequel series airing on HBO as a starlet involved with a Fatty Arbuckle-esque character.

[Snow Apple]

3 hours ago, Susan Easey said:

A comment: the real Roscoe Arbuckle was innocent but...

I read about his story years ago and felt so sorry for him. And then just when he got a chance for a comeback, he passed away.

[KWalkerInc]

I've made it into season 5 now, so it's only another 3000 episodes until Fran and Maxwell get together!  Well, that's what it feels like; it's still moving at a glacial pace even though I can watch 7 episodes on the night I watch each week.  I could understand Maxwell worrying about starting up a relationship, but actually saying he was "taking back" that he loved her was awful.  And then when he finally asks her on a date in season 5 episode 2, he ends up pushing her away indefinitely afterwards just because she screwed up with Elton John (like it's new for her to mess something up with a celebrity, or at times get blamed for it when something happened that actually wasn't her fault).  One of the best season 4 episodes was when Fran was involved with Maxwell's brother, Nigel.  I liked the loyalty of the studio audience to Fran/Maxwell in that they didn't make a sound when Fran was kissing Nigel in that episode.  Usually the studio audience would start howling on shows no matter who was kissing!  I like all of the jokes about how they had kind of moved past the original premise about a nanny, that at least two of the kids were beyond needing one and that Fran was just there waiting around for Maxwell to make a move.  They did have another clip show in season 4, this time in the Christmas episode.  However, I love one of the lines from that show, when Fran and Val are dealing with the hurricane that's hit the resort where they are on vacation.  Val asks if their life is supposed to flash before their eyes and Fran replies, "Val, we're over 30, single, and in bed with each other.  WHAT life?!"

I did notice that the daughter (I think) of Fran's ex Danny Imperioli and Heather Biblow seemed to vanish out of existence.  Before Pam Anderson ever appeared, they mentioned Heather being pregnant with Danny's baby, and had another episode where people were looking at photos of the baby that apparently took after Danny with a lot of body hair.  But they didn't say anything about a kid in either the episode with Danny's funeral or the one where Heather gets a job on a soap opera and Fran winds up replacing her.

[KWalkerInc]

Mr. Sheffield finally proposed!!  After that many episodes, I was about as excited about it as Fran was (but maybe not as excited as Sylvia).  I like all of the jokes they have in the episodes acknowledging that it took a very long time.  It was funny that in the episode before that, when Maxwell professes his love, the studio audience was very hesitant to get excited until they were sure.  It was like, "Is this really happening?  We've been burned before."  I don't think it was necessary to have every episode that season after that have some crisis that leads to the threat of the wedding not happening.  I've only watched three post-engagement episodes so far, but I know there's several more like that (even in the wedding episode itself to some extent).  But because they actually do get married, it's cool.  Fran and Peter were not going to screw everyone over like say, the creators of The Drew Carey Show.

Yetta and Sammy were a very cute couple, and I like the scene that ended one episode with Ray Charles serenading her at the piano.  I can't remember if he continued to appear in season 6, but I'm guessing not because I've seen the finale a bunch and Yetta leaves for California with the others.

[KWalkerInc]

I finally finished my re-watch a few weeks ago.  But after reading an interview Fran Drescher did a few years ago, it turns out I was wrong to assume that she and Peter were determined to give the audience a happily-ever-after ending.  She said that she wanted to just have Fran Fine go on being the nanny and have nothing ever happen with Maxwell!  (Not even in the very end, after taking it that far?!)  It was CBS that insisted that they get together and get married.  So I'm glad they at least did that right, even though they bailed on the show the last season.  This was from some clickbait article with some headline about "what caused the show to get cancelled" or some nonsense, although I think it had just run its course.  I thought from the headline that she was going to blame it on Niles and C.C. getting together, as I saw a different article where Daniel Davis said he didn't think it was the best thing, but understood about wanting to wrap things up.  There were hints along the way that there was something between them maybe, but they really had to ramp it up that last season when they could tell they were going to end soon.  I think in the first article I mentioned Fran complains that everyone being happy meant they couldn't do a reboot.  That's probably a GOOD thing!  (Although some shows just tear things down to do a reboot anyway.)  Of course I could understand some temptation if the best thing she was getting offered lately was Indebted.  What was weird was that Fran D. said the network had Fran and Maxwell get married to stretch the show out for a last season, but I thought that (prior to the cancellation) the plot about moving to California was an attempt to find a way to get a 7th season out of it (with new scenery, more celebrities, etc).

I was glad to see Sammy reappear in the final season's Hanukkah/Christmas episode after seemingly disappearing for a while.  He was still with Yetta, and Ray Charles performed a nice version of "Home for the Holidays" at the end.  Sammy was mentioned by Yetta in another episode after that, although they never mentioned being engaged after it being a plot point in season 5.  I wonder if the show had intended a wedding for them, but then the network said to do something with Fran and Maxwell already, so they scrapped the Sammy/Yetta wedding since they now had the big event for Fran/Maxwell scheduled for the end of the season. 

[Snow Apple]

I didn’t mind Fran and Maxwell getting married, but I wasn’t too fond of Niles and CC being a full on couple either. Their rivalry with hints of flirting was perfect.

[KWalkerInc]

I did really like the scene where Fran first finds out that Niles has feelings for C.C.  He seems discouraged, so she says something like, "What woman wouldn't want you?" and then of course C.C. comes in impatiently waving her coffee cup because he hasn't filled it. "HELLO HELLO?!!"  Niles sort of nods toward her and then Fran's mouth falls open in shock.  Then after C.C. leaves, Fran starts naming off a bunch of things Niles has done to C.C., including something involving super glue, always calling her a cow, etc. and says, "THAT was flirting?!" and he says, "What, no good?"

There was nothing to watch, so I put in the bonus disc that came with my DVD set, and there was an interesting feature with Fran and Peter talking about how the show got started and going through its history.  They did make reference to having to have Fran and Maxwell marry to have another season, but that this was okay because Peter got to direct a lot.  But although they said that they didn't want to get Fran and Maxwell together too early because that would be the end, that's not the same as never wanting them together like Fran Drescher said in the other article.  That might not have been so good for their future in syndication (not that it seems to be on anywhere right now, but maybe Logo will bring it back or it can get a streaming deal).  I guess the California thing (they didn't mention it) was just in case they'd had good ratings and kept going, but probably better that they couldn't because Fran and Peter were divorcing (I thought that happened later) and Fran was ill, so it would have been difficult for everyone.

Another interesting thing was that Fran's dad insisted they needed to have the scene in the pilot where Maxwell and Niles are talking in Maxwell's office (presumably about a sandwich but really about Fran) and Niles convinces him that he needs her around.  They put it back in the pilot after this, and after that they always looked for what they called a "sandwich scene," something of that equivalent that showed heart in an episode.  But Peter pointed out what I noticed earlier, that the scene is cut for syndication.  Their discussion of its importance makes the cut seem even weirder than it did.

[KWalkerInc]

The show is now back in rotation on Logo.

[TheLastKidPicked]

On 4/9/2020 at 6:10 PM, shapeshifter said:

I noticed the few who haven’t done much other acting (or acted in awhile) seemed tenuous at first, but quickly warmed up. Renee Taylor (Sylvia) still has her comic timing. They really fed off of each other’s energy.

Yes!  And once they started, it was like old times again.

 

On 9/30/2020 at 4:07 AM, KWalkerInc said:

Another interesting thing was that Fran's dad insisted they needed to have the scene in the pilot where Maxwell and Niles are talking in Maxwell's office (presumably about a sandwich but really about Fran) and Niles convinces him that he needs her around.  They put it back in the pilot after this, and after that they always looked for what they called a "sandwich scene," something of that equivalent that showed heart in an episode.  But Peter pointed out what I noticed earlier, that the scene is cut for syndication.  Their discussion of its importance makes the cut seem even weirder than it did.

This was in the table read, as I'm sure you noticed.  It was a great exchange between Charles Shaughnessy and Daniel Davis.

When Niles said, "Just what you needed."  Maxwell asks,  "You aren't talking about the sandwich, are you?"  Niles says,  "No, I don't mean the sandwich."

The way that Daniel Davis delivers that line, you would think they had been friends for years.  Very heartfelt.

 

 

Edited December 21, 2020 by TheLastKidPicked

[Egg McMuffin]

On 4/14/2020 at 5:57 AM, KWalkerInc said:

Grace had run away in one of the limos to go see Fran at her parents' house on her day off after C.C. had claimed Fran only cared about the kids because she was paid to do so.  They ended up taking Grace to Fran's cousin's wedding; and at the end, Grace was standing on Maxwell's shoes to dance with him.  Fran commented on how cute it was, and Sylvia agreed--but then told Fran to cut in.  So the wheels were already spinning in her mind about trying to get them together, LOL.

I liked that episode because it shows the streetwise side of Fran that pretty much disappeared after season 1. Fran physically threatens CC if she ever does something like that to one of the kids again (“They’ll be wiping your blue blood off the walls.”) I thought they made the Fran character too daffy (trying to be like Lucy, maybe?) after that season.

The season 1 episode where the family is on their way to the airport and gets snowed in at Fran’s parents is a classic.

[shapeshifter]

8 minutes ago, Kyle said:

I thought they made the Fran character too daffy (trying to be like Lucy, maybe?) after that season.

I thought it seemed like Fran Drescher was trying to emulate Lucille Ball, but I don't recall reading or hearing that anywhere.

[KWalkerInc]

I'm almost certain she was because in the original airing of the wedding episode, they had a scene where Fran (who was staying at her parents' house to be away from Maxwell until the wedding) falls asleep and dreams of a conversation with Lucy where they used technology in an attempt to make it seem like Lucille Ball was really talking to her.  That isn't in syndication or the DVDs; all they have is just a little of the I Love Lucy theme playing from the TV set. 

It's actually on YouTube, and wasn't quite as clunky as the way I remembered it.

 

[TomGirl]

Lauren Lane looked fantastic in that table read!  She’s probably had some work done, but she’s aged beautifully.

[KWalkerInc]

From a clip I've seen on an Entertainment Tonight story, it looks like Fran Drescher and Charles Shaughnessy will be facing off on Celebrity Family Feud.  No air date has been announced yet.