History Main / NerdNanny

* ''Series/TheTroubleWithNormal'', a short-lived ABC sitcom starring Creator/JonCryer and Creator/DavidKrumholtz, also featured a foursome of obsessive nerds and their pretty, female liaison to the real world. The difference is, the geeks on that show are acknowledged as suffering from mental health issues. Specifically, they are all obsessive paranoids, whose lives are ''accurately'' portrayed as being very dysfunctional thanks to their obsessions, and the girl, rather than a romantic interest, is the therapist who recruited them into her therapy group. After witnessing Sheldon's odd quirks for over a decade, it's unsettling to see Krumholtz's character, who behaves so similarly, go through a HeelRealization saying "There's something very wrong with all of us" ''in the very first episode''.

* [[WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation Yahtzee]] blasts this trope in his Webcomics review.

As this is TruthInTelevision to a large degree, there are reasons why women find themselves in this situation: or even actively seek it out. The sisters of gamers, will often find themselves playing this role (or live-in aunts, cousins, extraneous other relatives). They stick around, because well...it's her house too. The woman in question may be some type of nerd herself and have interests in some of the same franchises the guys do: even if she's maybe not as into the gaming side of things. Maybe she's a HotLibrarian, or [[MostFanficWritersAreGirls writes fanfiction]], or an avid {{Cosplay}}er. In which case, the company of people who get her references is preferable to the company of those who don't: even if some of them are little difficult at times. Of course it is also possible that the deadbeat guys DO have interesting personalities and are merely too awkward to express themselves in the company of most others (particularly people they find attractive: which might not include women). For particularly attractive women, being ignored by the men in her house may be preferable to the alternative. Especially in their teenage years, a lot of particularly attractive women are constantly harassed by most men AND rejected by most fellow women ''because'' of the attention that men pay them. This tends to go away as the women enter their 20s. This woman may have genuine reasons to like these guys, even if they don't willingly do household chores. It helps if the guys have jobs of some sort. Note also that this sort of behavior is perfectly fine when it's an occasional thing: maybe when a new installment of his favorite franchise drops, or during a particularly exciting boss fight. It's only a problem if the behavior becomes constant. In real life, that's called video game addiction, and there is therapy for it.

This character is popular in webcomics and sitcoms, but is present in other genres as well. TheSmurfettePrinciple is also a driving factor.

Compare IgnoreTheFanservice. Related to MagicalGirlfriend, TeamMom, ActionGirl, CloudcuckoolandersMinder and CloserToEarth. See also UglyGuyHotWife, OddCouple, and DropInLandlord. Compare GiveGeeksAChance and SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl. Contrast actual female nerds such as GamerChick.

* ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'': The Invisible Woman often acts as something like this. Only her husband, Mister Fantastic, is ''really'' a nerd, conversely her brother, the Human Torch is just a FunPersonified wildcard and The Thing being a BoisterousBruiser, but Sue is often the one who has to get them to ''focus'' and ''function'', and without her its pretty obvious the team wouldn't be able to do that.
* ''ComicBook/TheFlash'': Jesse Quick's main function outside of being the token girl is also being the mature sister of the group; she's the one who bluntly calls Wally out when he's not thinking and who drags Bart to and from places whenever he's being ''too'' Bart-like, and often tries to wrangle his insanity. Ironically, none of them are nerds, in fact its ''Jesse herself'' who's probably the biggest nerd of the group.

* Averted in ''Film/GrandmasBoy2006''. Samantha is something of a professional Nerd Nanny, its her job to get video games which are behind on development finished on time (it helps that all the nerdy testers want to impress her so they stop goofing around and work diligently). But it turns out to be an aversion when she reveals she also smokes pot, drinks, and even plays video games as well as they do.

* Donna from ''Series/That70sShow'', the GirlNextDoor and eventual girlfriend of the nerdy protagonist.
* Penny from ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'', though she lives across the hall and simply likes the company and Leonard. Although we do see why they hang out with each other, as the guys, most especially Leonard and Sheldon help her out with her problems when she's experiencing them and she helps them get a lot less bullied than they normally still are. Another difference is that they do do things without her coaxing, and she does hers without theirs, but usually in their own social circles and what they try to get from the other party is a crossing of boundaries.

* ''Series/TheTroubleWithNormal'', a short-lived ABC sitcom starring Creator/JonCryer and Creator/DavidKrumholtz, also featured a foursome of obsessive nerds and their pretty, female liaison to the real world. The difference is, the geeks on that show are acknowledged as suffering mental health issues. Specifically they are all obsessive paranoids, whose lives are ''accurately'' portrayed as being very dysfunctional thanks to their obsessions, and the girl, rather than a romantic interest, is the therapist who recruited them into her therapy group. After witnessing Sheldon's odd quirks for over a decade, it's unsettling to see Krumholtz's character, who behaves so similar, go through a HeelRealization saying "There's something very wrong with all of us" ''in the very first episode''.
* ''Series/YoungSheldon'': In "A Free Scratcher and Feminine Wiles", President Hagemeyer brings in Dr. Lee to lead the telescope project because, along with her scientific credentials, as a mother of three, she knows how to deal with the immature Sturgis, Linkletter and Sheldon.

Compare IgnoreTheFanservice. Related to MagicalGirlfriend, TeamMom, ActionGirl, CloudcuckoolandersMinder and CloserToEarth. See also UglyGuyHotWife, OddCouple, and DropInLandlord. Compare GiveGeeksAChance and SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl. Contrast GamerChick.

Compare IgnoreTheFanservice. Related to MagicalGirlfriend, TeamMom, ActionGirl, TheChick, CloudcuckoolandersMinder and CloserToEarth. See also UglyGuyHotWife, OddCouple, and DropInLandlord. Compare GiveGeeksAChance and SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl. Contrast GamerChick.

* ''ComicBook/TheFlash'': Jesse Quick's main function outside of being TheChick is also being the mature sister of the group; she's the one who bluntly calls Wally out when he's not thinking and who drags Bart to and from places whenever he's being ''too'' Bart-like, and often tries to wrangle his insanity. Ironically, none of them are nerds, in fact its ''Jesse herself'' who's probably the biggest nerd of the group.

* Averted in ''Film/GrandmasBoy2006''. TheChick is something of a professional Nerd Nanny, its her job to get video games which are behind on development finished on time (it helps that all the nerdy testers want to impress her so they stop goofing around and work diligently). But it turns out to be an aversion when she reveals she also smokes pot, drinks, and even plays video games as well as they do.

* Donna or Jackie from ''Series/That70sShow''.