Trivia / The Nanny

• Acting for Two:
  • One episode has Fran Drescher's This is Spın̈al Tap character Bobbi Flekman appearing. Another episode has Fran Drescher acting as herself and as Fran Fine simultaneously.
  • In "Not Without My Nanny", Charles Shaughnessy plays both Max and the Sultan.
• Actor-Inspired Element:
  • The show's early shift toward physical comedy was informed by many of the actors having a particular aptitude for it. Lauren Lane, for example, cited Don Knotts as a personal hero.
  • Gracie's dramatic, Tallulah Bankhead-esque asides were, surprisingly enough, Madeline Zima's own idea.
  • Mr. Sheffield entering a scene in bright yellow rainboots was directly inspired by Charles Shaughnessy wearing them to his audition.
• Actor-Shared Background: Almost all of Fran Fine's life (except working at a bridal shop; her mother worked at one) was taken almost verbatim from Fran Drescher's own life. Both are from Queens, both have parents named Morty and Sylvia and a sister named Nadine, both graduated from Hillcrest High (with Ray Barone/Ray Romano).
• Adored by the Network: TV Azteca, the Mexican network that had the rights of this show since the 90's and early 00's, really, really loved this show; after its original run, they used to put reruns of this for years, being the base of the afternoon schedule of his feed Azteca 7 (along with The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and The Simpsons).
• Corpsing:
  • In "Imaginary Friend", Madeline Zima had a very hard time keeping a straight face any time Fran pretended to interact with Gracie's imaginary friend.
  • In "A Close Shave", Charles Shaughnessy visibly struggled not to burst out laughing as Fran (who was posing as a nurse) was preparing to shave his privates for his appendectomy.
• Cowboy BeBop at His Computer: While it's certainly meant to be a joke, Cats was not "pitched" to Andrew Lloyd Webber or anyone for that matter, it was actually Webber's own passion project based on his love for the book that inspired the idea, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. That said, it is possible that ALW asked him to co-produce, but that would have led to Max having a rivalry with Cameron Mackintosh, who did produce.
• Creator Backlash:
  • Madeline Zima (Gracie) said in a 2013 interview that she does not look back on the show fondly, claiming it wasn't a fun experience because she was treated more like a prop than a person. She revealed her positive experiences on other sets showed her just how bad "The Nanny" set was, as she felt there was a noticeable lack of kindness and compassion. However, in a 2019 interview, she would soften her stance, saying "It was a wonderful learning experience... I got a firsthand master class in sitcom comedy." She also participated in a virtual read-through of the pilot with the rest of the cast in 2020.
  • Daniel Davis has also weighed into the show's decision to pair C.C. and Niles together in 2021, saying it was "so flippin' weird" and "a mistake that happens on every television show/romcom that ever existed" in an interview with Studio 10.
• Cultural Translation:
  • The Italian dub changed Fran to be an Italian woman living in Manhattan ("Fran" being short for Francesa instead of Francine). To make her look more like a Fish out of Water, Sylvia was changed to be Fran's Aunt Assunta, with Fran's "real parents" still living in Italy unseen. Grandma Yetta kept her name but was changed to be Assunta's Polish sister-in-law. Even Fran's sister, Nadine, was changed to be Cousin Nadia.
  • A comparison of the American version and the Russian remake shows how some jokes were culturally translated. For example, the movie that fails to move C.C./Zhanna is changed from Bambi to White Bim Black Ear.
• The Danza: Fran Fine is played by Fran Drescher, which makes sense as the show is based on Fran's life.
• Dawson Casting: Done intentionally for laughs in the Season 3 episode "The Kibbutz". Fran and Val play teenage versions of themselves in a flashback.
  • Furthermore, while Fran's age being a closely guarded secret was one of the show's most famous running gags (including a line that even the CIA couldn't determine it,) one scene where Sylvia reads Fran a letter she wrote to her the day Fran was born made the comment that Kennedy was President, which was between 1961 and 1963. Fran Drescher was born four years earlier than that in 1957.
• Development Gag: In "The Butler, the Husband, the Wife and Her Mother", Fran criticizes Maxwell for wearing bright yellow rain boots with his suit, saying "Normally, you're so GQ. Now, you're the Gorton's Fisherman?". Charles Shaughnessy, who plays Maxwell, had shown up to his original audition wearing those same exact boots.
• Executive Meddling:
  • Maggie was the result of this; the show originally only had two child characters, but the network wanted an older daughter for Fran to mentor.
  • Fran Drescher wanted Fran and Maxwell's romance to move slower, but they were told by the network to do it in Season 5 or there would be no Season 6.
• Fake Brit: Daniel Davis, who is from Arkansas, plays the British butler Niles. His British accent is very convincing, to the point where Charles Shaughnessy (Maxwell Sheffield), an actual Brit, was told by some critics that he should take lessons from Davis in order to get his "fake" accent right. Lampshaded in a late episode, where Niles has a bit part in Gracie's play and does very badly. Citing a review, he asks Max, "Do you think my accent sounded fake?"
• Hide Your Pregnancy: Lauren Lane's pregnancy was concealed during the fifth season, which lead to some hilarious Lampshade Hanging. One episode has C.C. enter Maxwell's office wearing all black, mentioning the techniques used on Elaine from Seinfeld, including holding massive objects. At the time, she is holding a huge purse, and after putting it down, picks up a potted plant she says needs watering before exiting the scene. She later reenters the room holding a giant poster that says "BABY". When Lauren finally had to take time off to give birth, the excuse for C.C's absence is that she's sent to the mental hospital.
• The Other Darrin: Maxwell's sister Jocelyn was played by actress/model Twiggy Lawson in "Stop the Wedding, I Want To Get Off", but played by Sophie Ward in all subsequent appearances.
• Reality Subtext: Twiggy Lawson playing Jocelyn, Maxwell's sister, in "Stop the Wedding, I Want to Get Off" is a nod to the fact that the whole show was inspired by Fran Drescher's experience in taking care of her daughter.
• Real-Life Relative:
  • Joseph Bologna (Renee Taylor's husband) guest starred in two different episodes, first as Small Name, Big Ego actor Alan Beck in "The Gym Teacher", and second as Dr. Joe Razzo, the man wooing Sylvia in "Ma'ternal Affairs".
  • Chester the Pomeranian was Fran Drescher's real-life dog, which is why he was always so excited around her.
  • Fran Drescher's real life parents Morty and Sylvia appeared on the show in several roles, later on as Uncle Stanley and Aunt Rose.
  • Lester, Jocelyn's chauffeur in "Stop the Wedding, I Want to Get Off" was played by Twiggy Lawson's real-life husband Leigh Lawson.
• Real Life Writes the Plot:
  • Lauren Lane's real-life pregnancy coincided with C.C.'s committal to a mental hospital.
  • The reason that Chester became an Evil-Detecting Dog around C.C. was that Chester was, in reality, Fran Drescher's dog, and was so fiercely loyal to his owner, that any time Lauren Lane picked him up or took him away from Fran, he would just naturally snap and snarl. Since Lane's character C.C. was a textbook Rich Bitch, it just turned Chester into, as Niles put it, "fluffy, and a good judge of character."
• Technology Marches On: The outdated technology is a good indicator of the series' age, from the large cordless phones to the complete lack of a computer in Maxwell's office.
• Underage Casting: Although C.C.'s exact age was never mentioned onscreen (one episode implied she was in her 40s), she is said to be several years older than Fran. In real life, however, Lauren Lane is 4 years younger than Fran Drescher.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Originally, there were just two Sheffield children: Brighton and Gracie. The executives suggested that a shy teenaged daughter would serve as an amusing contrast with Fran, which eventually became Maggie.
  • The description of C.C. in the pilot script (revealed in a 2020 table reading reunion and otherwise not said in the show inself) reveals she was originally a divorcee. In subsequent episodes, the series establishes several times that C.C. has never been married.
  • The Season 2 episode "The Chatterbox" was meant to serve as a pilot for a proposed spinoff series, which was ultimately passed over by CBS.
  • Initially the Sheffield household was supposed to be American. It was Fran Drescher's idea to make them British, that way the Culture Clash wouldn't be that she was the Jewish woman in a Christian home, but the American who just happened to be Jewish, trying to find her way among a couple of Brits.
• You Look Familiar:
  • Several celebrities have multiple appearances, once in character and once as themselves, such as Coolio, Whoopi Goldberg and Rosie O'Donnell. In particular, Steve Lawrence, who played Fran's (mostly) unseen father Morty, previous appeared as himself with his wife Eydie Gorme earlier in the show's run.
  • A couple of the extras who play nameless one-shot minor characters like a doctor reappear later as a security guard or priest.
  • The girl who played Fran's Generation Xerox cousin Tiffany in a Season 1 episode played a completely unrelated high school girl named Francine in a Season 4 episode, with both characters being written as "Just like Fran only Brighton's age".
  • The same boy who played the child actor character in "When You Pish Upon A Star" reappears as the son of hairdresser Mr. Anthony in the aforementioned "The Chatterbox" episode.

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