The Nanny is an American television sitcom which originally aired on CBS from 1993 to 1999, starring Fran Drescher as Fran Fine, a fashion queen from Flushing, New York who becomes the nanny of three children from the New York/British high society.
Main characters Fran Fine
Francine Joy "Fran" Sheffield (née Fine) is the series' nasal-voiced, big haired protagonist, portrayed by actress Fran Drescher. Her character is bubbly, outgoing, and humorous but also caring and responsible of the kids and her job, and plays the mother figure for them. Fran frequently gets into trouble, but usually solves the problems herself through seemingly ridiculous antics or by relying on her street smarts. She was a fashion icon in the show, often wearing black turtlenecks, or clothes right off the runway (even though her salary couldn't afford them in real life). Her closeness with the Sheffield family leads to a growing romantic relationship with Maxwell, which becomes official in Season 5. In the last season Fran and Maxwell have twins; a boy and a girl named Jonah and Eve. Also, in the last episode, Fran, Maxwell, Grace, along with Niles, C.C., Sylvia, Morty, Yetta, Val, and Fred move from New York to California.
Early life The youngest daughter of Sylvia and Morty Fine, Fran was raised in Flushing, Queens with her older sister Nadine. Her Jewish ancestors immigrated to the United States via Ellis Island, and anglicized their name to Fine.
Fran and her best friend Val Toriello (Rachel Chagall) attended Hillcrest High School. After graduating from high school, Fran attended cosmetology college while working as a foot model. She later worked in the bridal dress shop of her boyfriend, Danny, after being 'pre-engaged' for three-years. At the start of the series, Fran was dumped as girlfriend and employee by her boyfriend and resorted to selling cosmetics door-to-door.
Relationship with the Sheffield family In the show's pilot episode, Fran arrives at the home of Broadway producer Maxwell Sheffield (Charles Shaughnessy), hoping to sell cosmetics. Patriarch Maxwell Sheffield happens to be in need of a nanny to take care of his three children: Margaret "Maggie" Sheffield, the oldest (Nicholle Tom); the youngest, Grace "Gracie" (Madeline Zima); and the somewhat bratty middle sibling, Brighton (Benjamin Salisbury). Niles, the butler, mistakenly thinks Fran has come to apply for the open nanny position. Fran decides to apply for the position and shows Mr. Sheffield her references, which are written in lipstick. Max ultimately realizes that Fran did not come there for the nanny position but he is desperate and hires Fran after she shows an aptitude with Maxwell's three high-maintenance children, who have driven away all previous nannies. Fran, with her nontraditional nurturing style and no-nonsense honesty, soon becomes a favorite with the kids as well as Maxwell, as they come to respect her opinions and love her as a person.
Romance Regretting her past breakup with her boyfriend Danny, Fran often feels the need to date. Fran is desperate to find a soulmate and often tries to date Jewish men. This compelling desire mainly comes from the obsessive, overbearing nature of her mother, Sylvia, who often nags Fran about the subject of marriage.
As she continues to work for Mr. Sheffield, Fran develops many fantasies about being romantically and sexually involved with him, such as the two kissing passionately. In one episode, a drunk Fran accidentally climbs in bed alongside a sleeping Max. Upon waking up to find herself in bed next to Max, she says, "I'm havin' that dream again." In the last episode of season 3, Maxwell confesses to Miss Fine that he loves her when their plane from Paris to New York meets some turbulence, and he believes they may crash. Upon returning home, Maxwell immediately revokes the remark, claiming it was based more on panic and the possibility of death, while also being a spontaneous response, and was something he wanted to tell her before they perished. This incident is later referred to as "The Thing" and is held over Mr. Sheffield's head with glee by both Fran and Niles (Daniel Davis) his butler for almost a whole season.
In the beginning seasons, they always address each other with proper employer-employee politeness, i.e., "Miss Fine" and "Mr. Sheffield". (In the traditional British fashion of addressing butlers or ladies' maids, Maxwell calls Niles only by his surname.) By the fifth season, Mr. Sheffield and Miss Fine begin a tentative romantic relationship (they also have two dates but neither go so well; the first one where Fran inadvertently offends Elton John, and the second one where it's discovered that Fran has a squash allergy), which consists of a very large milestone: calling each other by their first names. The romantic tension between them lasts until the middle of the fifth season, when the couple are engaged. Maxwell proposes marriage and, following several snafus, they are finally married in the season 5 finale. Fran gives birth to fraternal twins, Jonah Samuel and Eve Catherine, in the series finale. Jonah, being named for Fran's side of the family, is more reserved like Maxwell. Eve, being named for Maxwell's side of the family, is more nasal and boisterous like Fran.
Despite the fact that they stop using each other's last names to address each other when they become engaged, at times Fran and Max still switch to their boss/employee roles out of habit. When Max is angry with her, he will instinctively shout "Miss Fine!", causing a worried Fran to reply, "Oh no, I'm 'Miss Fine' again!" The same is true for Fran, who sometimes calls Maxwell "Mr. Sheffield" during intimate moments in the bedroom. When she and Maxwell finally become a couple, Fran sometimes exclaims "Oh, Mr. Sheffield" when they kiss.
Running gags Fran's voice – Fran has a nasal voice, and a heavy Queens dialect. Apparently, Fran has unique or deformed adenoids. Many comments are made by characters in reference to the distinctive voice, which is often found annoying to most of her peers. Whether Fran herself is aware of this is inconsistent throughout the series – sometimes she is oblivious her voice is different, but in other episodes she is aware of the effect of her voice on others and jokes about it. The sound of Fran's voice is a very frequent gag on the show, with Fran sometimes even referencing it by noting how some other people get recognized because of their unique voice. Fran's obsession with Barbra Streisand (and other celebrities) – On several occasions, Fran has alluded to her belief that Barbra Streisand is God, or at least the Messiah, claiming that if her mother and Barbra were both drowning, she would save her mother because "Barbra can walk on water." Fran has had many opportunities to meet Streisand or see her perform, often being foiled by plot devices – most notably severe Braxton Hicks contractions in the season 6 episode "Maggie's Wedding." Fran did meet Streisand in the season 4 episode "The Car Show," when Mr. Sheffield faked food poisoning to encourage her to overcome a fear of driving. Fran makes quite an impression on Barbra by going through Barbra's personal things, as she does whenever the opportunity presents itself, and pilfering a purse and single shoe. Fran's dating life – Fran will often jump at any chance of meeting a man, due to her compulsive desire to get married, brought on by her loving though overbearing mother, Sylvia. Based on her Jewish background, Fran's most ideal attraction is toward Jewish men, preferably doctors, which is often shown whenever a man makes a cultural reference such as having a Jewish name or celebrating events such as Bar Mitzvahs. All of her relationships until Max become unsuccessful, even though Fran is obsessed with having an extended relationship. These disappointments are resolved by her psychologist, Dr. Miller (Spalding Gray). With the ending of a relationship, Fran often bounces back to her growing relationship with Maxwell Sheffield, a pattern about which they both seem to be totally oblivious until later seasons. Despite marrying a gentile herself, Fran is overjoyed when she learns that the male model whom her (now) step-daughter, Maggie, is dating, and later marries, is Jewish (long before realizing that his cousin-in-law is her idol, Barbra Streisand). Fran's age – Fran often tries to expand her youth by lying about her age, particularly when it comes to men. Fran is quick to say that she is in her late twenties but she was really in her early to mid 30s throughout the series. However, she is extremely defensive to anybody who comes close to assuming any age that refers to middle age. Her age is such a secret, in fact, that even the FBI cannot figure it out. However, in season 3, Fran's age was revealed to be somewhat older than 33 when Val mentioned that Fran is older than she is and Val admits that she herself is 33. Just before Fran's wedding, Fran says she was born during President Kennedy's administration. Nonetheless, she has indirectly revealed her age in some instances throughout the series including in a season 5 episode in 1998 where she claims to her boyfriend that she's 34. In addition, she celebrated her 30th birthday in a season 1 episode and when questioned by her mother in a season 3 episode about the amount of time it will take for her to get back her figure after giving birth to a child, she answers "I don't know Ma. 32 years?" Therefore, her birth year would most likely be 1964 (which is during the time of President Johnson's administration and not President Kennedy's, although as a matter of fact it would have been if Kennedy had not been assassinated in November 1963) and her age upon marrying Maxwell was 34 (which would make her nigh-10-years-younger than Maxwell). In reality, Fran Drescher was 36 at the beginning of the series. Fran's extended family – Fran typically brings up her family members. One episode had her make several references to "Cousin Toddy", who's revealed to be fashion designer Todd Oldham, and appeared as himself. Fran's food preference – Though Jewish, Fran is very open about her and her family's love of non-kosher food. She often notes how bacon is one of her favorite food choices, and rather enjoys other non-kosher foods such as lobster, ribs, pizza with meat toppings, pork, ham, ham and cheese sandwiches, hog dogs, etc.
Maxwell Sheffield
Maxwell Beverley "Max" Sheffield is the male lead and patriarch of the family, portrayed by actor and British peer Charles Shaughnessy. Maxwell is a Broadway theatrical producer of some success, although he seems to remain in the shadow of his main rival, Andrew Lloyd Webber. His backstory is established as including an education at Eton College, where he was House President and a classmate of Jeremy Irons (though Eton has House Captains, not House Presidents, and Jeremy Irons was not educated at Eton but at Sherborne School). Max is always irritated that he turned down producing the shows Tommy, Hair, and especially Cats, which proved to be a financial windfall for Andrew Lloyd Webber. It was revealed in the episode "The Kibbutz" that his business partner, C.C. Babcock (who was his secretary at the time), was the one who convinced him to turn down Cats all those years ago.
Maxwell's wife, Sara, died some years before the start of the series and he has worked closely with C.C. (who had her eyes set on becoming the next Mrs. Sheffield) for almost 20 years.
Maxwell's busy schedule does not allow him to spend much time with Maggie, Brighton, and Gracie Sheffield so he had to find a nanny; enter Fran Fine. He is overprotective of Maggie, not wanting her to date.