The Nanny

1993 - 1999

Fran Fine was working in a bridal shop in Flushing, Queens when her boyfriend kicked her out in one of those crushing scenes. So over the bridge from Flushing to the Sheffields' door. She was there to sell makeup, but the father saw more. She had style; she had flare (she was there). That's how she became The Nanny.

Stars: Fran Drescher, Charles Shaughnessy, Daniel Davis, Lauren Lane, Nicholle Tom, Benjamin Salisbury, Madeline Zima, Renée Taylor, Rachel Chagall, Ann Morgan Guilbert
Created by: Fran Drescher, Peter Marc Jacobson
Tags: family

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Episode Tropes

Season 1

My Fair Lady: Episode 3, "My Fair Nanny" (1993). Fran wants to fit in at Maggie's debutante party, so Mr. Sheffield and Niles teach her how to act like a rich snob.
Ugly Bridesmaid Dress: Episode 5, "Here Comes the Brood" (1993). Fran is a bridesmaid in a relative's wedding, and her dress is a shiny fuchsia eyesore with layered ruffles and yellow flowers.
Lie for Me: Episode 6, "The Butler, the Husband, the Wife and Her Mother" (1993). When out-of-town relatives visit Fran's mother, she tells them Fran is married to Mr. Sheffield, and they want to meet him. Fran is anxious to impress them, so she convinces Niles to pretend to be Mr. Sheffield. Just then, the Professional Butler's Association shows up to observe Niles for possible membership just moments before Mr. Sheffield arrives home early, leading to a situation where Mr. Sheffield has to pretend to be Niles's butler.
Who Brings a Dog to a Leg Funeral?: Episode 7, "The Imaginary Friend" (1993). Gracie is devastated when Fran accidentally eats the cookie on which her imaginary friend, Imogene, was sitting and kills her. To help her get closure, Fran and Mr. Sheffield hold a funeral for Imogene with the whole family and Niles.
Tonsillectomy: Episode 15, "Deep Throat" (1994). When Gracie gets sick and Fran takes her to the doctor, it's Fran who ends up having to have her tonsils removed.
Sham Wedding: Episode 17, "Stop the Wedding, I Want to Get Off" (1994). Mr. Sheffield's sister, Jocelyn, is about to get married to a Duke, but Fran discovers that Jocelyn and the duke's chauffeur are in love with each other, and Jocelyn's reserved British nature is compelling her to go through with the wedding anyway.
Beauty Contest: Episode 22, "I Don't Remember Mama" (1994). To celebrate Mother's Day, the Sheffield family's new country club is holding a mother-daughter beauty pageant, and Fran decides to enter her and Gracie in the competition.
The Magician: Episode 22, "I Don't Remember Mama" (1994). Fran and Gracie are trying to decide what to do for the talent portion of the mother-daughter beauty pageant. Gracie rehearses a magic act with Fran as her assistant, and when she attempts to saw Fran in half, Fran gets trapped in the box.

Season 2

Jumper: Episode 2, "The Playwright" (1994). While explaining to Brighton why bullying other kids is wrong, she runs into an old classmate, Jeffrey Needleman, whom she used to bully, and she agrees to go out with him to make her point to Brighton. At the end of their date, Jeffrey proposes to Fran, and when she turns him down, climbs out on a ledge and threatens to jump.
Take Good Care of My Baby: Episode 6, "The Nanny-Napper" (1994). A woman lets Fran hold her baby on the subway, then disappears, leaving her baby behind.
False Arrest: Episode 6, "The Nanny-Napper" (1994). When a woman leaves her baby with Fran on the subway, she's mistakenly arrested for kidnapping.
Trapped: Episode 10, "The Whine Cellar" (1994). CC accidentally locks her and Fran in the Sheffields' wine cellar when she pulls off the doorknob. Fran has the brilliant idea of cutting the wires in what she thinks is the alarm system but turns out to be the ventilation system.
On Strike: Episode 13, "The Strike" (1994). The busboys are on strike at a restaurant where Fran, the Sheffields, and CC are going out to dinner after seeing Mr. Sheffield's new play. Fran is reluctant to cross the picket line outside the door, but Mr. Sheffield pulls her into the restaurant. When a snapshot of the incident appears in the newspaper, people start picketing the play.
Risky Business: Episode 16, "Canasta Masta" (1995). Niles does his best Tom Cruise impression while the Sheffields and Fran are in Atlantic City for a big Canasta tournament.
Dead Wrong: Episode 17, "The Will" (1995). Mr. Sheffield is talking about making out his will, and Fran discovers a pamphlet from the American Heart Association in the kitchen and assumes he's dying from heart disease.
Over-the-hill Candy Striper: Episode 21, "Close Shave" (1995). Maggie wants to take a night off from her job as a candy striper so she can go on a date, but she can't find anyone to fill in for her, so she gets Fran to do it by flattering her and telling her she could easily pass for 16.
Backdoor Pilot: Episode 25, "The Chatterbox" (1995). Failed backdoor pilot for a spinoff that followed the staff and customers at a whacky beauty salon.
Reluctant Witness: Episode 26, "Fran Gets Mugged" (1995). Fran accidentally picks up a page from Shakespeare's notebook, thinking it's a shopping list, and a mugger steals her purse with the page inside. She's afraid to go to the police because she thinks the mugger will come after her, but Mr. Sheffield and Niles physically drag her to the police station because Mr. Sheffield needs the notebook page for a sold-out benefit he's hosting.
We Were Robbed: Episode 26, "Fran Gets Mugged" (1995). After confronting her mugger, Fran's fears are finally starting to abate, then she and Mr. Sheffield arrive home to find the mansion has been robbed and Niles is tied up and gagged.

Season 3

Catfish: Episode 1, "Pen Pals" (1995). Fran's pen pal, Lenny, is coming to New York and wants to meet her for the first time, which prompts her to admit to Mr. Sheffield that she has "stretched the truth a little" over the years and told Lenny she was a rich, famous olympic gold medalist and astronaut. Meanwhile, Brighton has a pen pal of his own named Veronica, to whom he's been leaving notes every day in third period so she can read them in fourth period. When he finds out Veronica wants to meet him after school, he declares "it's over" because he told her he looks like Brad Pitt.
Drug PSA: Episode 6, "Shopaholic" (1995). When Fran hears that her ex-fiancé is getting married, she starts shopping uncontrollably. She's so addicted to shopping that Mr. Sheffield makes her go to "shopaholics anonymous," and when she quits cold turkey, she goes through withdrawal symptoms.
Between Floors: Episode 7, "Oy Vey, You're Gay" (1995). When Fran finds out the love of Mr. Sheffield's life is a lesbian, Fran rushes to meet him at the Rainbow Room in her place, and she ends up getting stuck in the elevator with him.
See You in Court: Episode 8, "The Party's Over" (1995). Fran and Val throw a singles mixer at the Mansion, and one of the guests turns out to be a police officer, who arrests Fran for operating a business without a license. To make matters worse, her uncle-lawyer turns out to be a hack, but Mr. Sheffield rushes in and saves her from jail at the last minute.
Baby Daddy: Episode 10, "Having His Baby" (1995). Fran decides she wants to have a baby before it's too late, so she goes to a sperm bank to find a donor, but when she tells Mr. Sheffield, he mistakenly thinks she wants him to donate.
The Hollywood Story: Episode 11, "The Unkindest Cut" (1995). Fran hires Brighton to videotape a friend's baby's bris, and the shock of witnessing the ceremony causes him to pass out. Fran sends the tape to "America's Wackiest Home Videos," and it's selected for the show, so the whole family gets a free trip to Hollywood, where Fran causes a commotion on the set of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.
Clip Show: Episode 16, "Where's Fran?" (1996). When Mr. Sheffield gets mad at Fran and accidentally calls her "dense," she runs away, leaving him and Niles to reminisce about the whacky things she did in clips from previous episodes.
Plastic Fantastic: Episode 20, "Your Feet Are Too Big" (1996). Fran's mom feels that her husband isn't attracted to her anymore, so she wants to have her "arms done." She changes her mind when she discovers her insurance won't cover it unless she was in her home and "run over by farm equipment."
Amnesia: Episode 21, "Where's the Pearls?" (1996). Fran gets in an accident in a cab and hits her head, causing her to temporarily lose her memory. She not only forgets who she is and who everyone she knows is, but also what happened to the priceless black pearl necklace she was attempting to deliver to Elizabeth Taylor.
Walt Disney: Episode 23, "That's Midlife" (1996). CC is in a good mood because she decided to be frozen when she dies so she can live forever.
Teen Queen: Episode 23, "That's Midlife" (1996). Mr. Sheffield is feeling old, so he starts trying to look and act young. He dies the gray streak in his hair, dons a leather jacket, and uses slang.
Going Your Way: Episode 24, "The Cantor Show" (1996). Fran falls for the new cantor at her synagogue, but when she introduces him to Mr. Sheffield and Burt Bacharach, he decides he wants to quit being a cantor to become a Broadway star.

Season 4

15 Minutes of Fame: Episode 4, "The Rosie Show" (1996). While Fran is in the audience of The Rosie O'Donnell Show, her loud mouth gets Rosie's attention, and she's such a hit that Rosie gives her a weekly spot on the show. When Fran's sudden fame keeps her away from her nanny duties, Mr. Sheffield starts to worry she might leave.
Dance Lessons: Episode 5, "Freida Needa Man" (1996). Aunt Freida's boyfriend, Fred, won't propose to her because he doesn't feel he's good enough for her. One of the reasons is because he doesn't know how to dance, so Fran tries to teach him, but he ends up having a heart attack mid-step.
Tax Audit: Episode 7, "The Taxman Cometh" (1996). Fran finds out she's being audited by the IRS. She tries to impress the auditor while covering for all the lies she's been telling on her returns, but she ends up getting a $5,000 tax bill.
Clip Show: Episode 11, "Hurricane Fran" (1996). Fran and Val take a vacation together and get caught in a hurricane, and this storyline is inexplicably interspersed with clips from previous episodes. (I wish I could tell you why. It doesn't make sense with the wraparound story. It's like they didn't even try. Boo, writers. Boo.)
Hostage Situation: Episode 16, "The Bank Robbery" (1997). A bank robber holds Fran and her mother hostage at a bank.
12 Angry Men: Episode 17, "Samson, He Denied Her" (1997). Fran and CC are both serving on a jury for the trial of a woman whose life seems to parallel Fran's, and it helps her understand Mr. Sheffield a little better.
Switched at Birth: Episode 19, "Fran's Roots" (1997). A woman calls Fran and tells her she thinks Fran and her daughter were switched at birth, and she's Fran's real mother.
Unhappy Rock Star: Episode 22, "No Muse is Good Muse" (1997). After watching MTV with Maggie, Fran thinks she can write a hit song for a rock star named Tasha, so she and Val disguise themselves as maids and sneak into Tasha's hotel room, where they hear her complain to her agent about how she's so miserable being famous that she can no longer write good songs.
Insomnia: Episode 25, "The Boca Story" (1997). Fran's parents decide to move to a retirement condo in Boca, and Fran is so distraught that she can't sleep.

Season 5

Hot for Teacher: Episode 9, "Educating Fran" (1997). Maggie has a crush on her philosophy professor, but he prefers Fran.
Amnesia: Episode 10, "From Flushing with Love" (1997). Mr. Sheffield takes a tumble on a boat in Niagara Falls and can't remember who he is, so Niles tells him he's the butler.
When I'm 64: Episode 15, "The Engagement" (1998). When Mr. Sheffield finally tells Fran he loves her and doesn't take it back, Fran has a disturbing fantasy about a future where they're both senior citizens, and he still refuses to make a commitment to her.
Sad Singing Telegram: Episode 16, "The Dinner Party" (1998). Niles sends a singing telegram to CC to rub it in that Mr. Sheffield is marrying Fran and not her.
School Reunion: Episode 18, "The Reunion Show" (1998). Newly-engaged Fran is shook when she attends her high school reunion and discovers that all of her friends are divorced.
Video Will: Episode 19, "Immaculate Concepcion" (1998). Mr. Sheffield's father passes away and leaves a video will announcing that he's leaving the bulk of his estate to his illegitimate daughter.
Clip Show: Episode 22, "The Wedding" (1998). A thinly veiled clip show of romantic scenes from previous episodes leading up to Fran and Mr. Sheffield's wedding.

Season 6

Trapped: Episode 2, "Fran Gets Shushed" (1998). Fran follows Mr. Sheffield into the bathroom at a business party, and Mr. Sheffield asks her to leave so he can use the toilet. When Fran reaches for the doorknob, it comes off in her hand, trapping them in the bathroom.
Pretend We're a Couple: Episode 13, "The Yummy Mummy" (1999). Niles plans to confess his love for CC with a bouquet of flowers, but when he finds out her boyfriend dumped her, he changes his mind and covers by pretending the flowers are for Lynn Redgrave, who is at the mansion for a business meeting with Mr. Sheffield. At first, Lynn refuses to play along, but Niles convinces her by saying, "I loved you in Georgy Girl."

Character Tropes

Fish Out of Water: Fran Fine - Played by Fran Drescher.
Sassy Butler: Niles - Played by Daniel Davis.
Rich Snob: CC Babcock - Played by Lauren Lane.
The Magnificent Bickersons: CC Babcock & Niles - Played by Lauren Lane and Daniel Davis.