FOR six glorious years in the 1990s, the flashy girl from Flushing ruled our TV screens with her nasal voice.
After a shaky first year, The Nanny was almost cancelled before it found its feet and went on to become a hit around the world.
Here are nine things you never knew about the sitcom that made Fran Drecsher a star:
How it came to be: Fran Drescher was on a plane from France to the US when she realised the head of TV network CBS was on the same flight. She had always wanted to star in her own show, so she spent several minutes in the plane bathroom psyching herself up before introducing herself to the TV executive. Drescher managed to charm him and he agreed to meet with her later on to discuss some ideas. A year later, The Nanny was born.
News_Image_File: The cast: Lauren Lane as CC, Madeline Zima as Grace, Charles Shaughnessy as Maxwell, Fran Drescher as Fran, Daniel Davis as Niles, Nicholle Tom as Maggie and Benjamin Salisbury as Brighton.
Accents: According to IMDB, UK fans of the show often wrote letters complaining about Charles Shaughnessy’s (who played Mr Sheffield) British accent. They suggested that he should study Daniel Davis’s (who played Niles the butler) accent. The complaints were a bit of a slap in the face for Shaughnessy, because he was actually born in London, whereas Davis was born in Arkansas.
Grace Sheffield hated the show: Madeline Zima (who played Grace Sheffield) did not enjoy her six years on The Nanny. “It wasn’t a fun experience,” Zima said to The TV page last year. “They treated me more like a prop than like a human being.”
News_Image_File: She may be smiling here, but Madeline Zina (centre) wasn’t having fun during her time on the show.
Drescher was unlucky in love: In real life Fran Drescher was just as unlucky in love as her character Fran Fine was on The Nanny before she snagged Mr Sheffield. Drescher was married to the sitcom’s writer and producer, Peter Marc Jacobson. But theirFriends instead of actors: A number of characters on The Nanny were either played by or named after Fran Drescher’s friends and family. In real life, just like on the show, Fran’s parents are called Sylvia and Morty and her sister is called Nadine. Her real life dad appeared on the show several times, both playing Fine’s father Morty and Uncle Stanley.
Age difference: The actor who played Fran’s grandma, Yetta (Ann Morgan Guilbert) was actually only five years older than the actor who played Fran’s mum, Sylvia (played by Renée Taylor).
News_Image_File: Can you believe they’re almost the same age?
Dog: Remember CC’s dog Chester? There was a running gag in the show that Chester hated CC and kept running away. The Pomeranian loved Fran Fine though, which isn’t surprising given that Chester was actually Drescher’s dog in real life.
CC: In the show’s finale, it was revealed that CC’s real name is Chastity Claire.
News_Image_File: Lauren Lane took time off during the show to have a baby.
Laughers: In 1985, two armed men broke into Drescher’s home and raped her and her friend. When The Nanny started to gain popularity, Drescher, who was still haunted by the attack, became worried about stalkers and didn’t want the public to be allowed to watch the sitcom being filmed. According to a radiolab podcast, the audience was given the boot and a number of part-time actors were hired to provide the laugh track which was added in post production. (Thanks to Gerry Leonor for the information).
Theme song: The opening theme song has style, it has flair, but it almost never was. In the show’s pilot, the theme song was actually If My Friends Could See Me Now from the musical Sweet Charity. But it was quickly changed. Thankfully.
