History Series / NannyAndTheProfessor

This FantasticComedy series, originally broadcast on Creator/{{ABC}} in 1970–71, centered on the mixture of chaos and order engendered in the house of a college professor by the apparently supernatural abilities of the nanny he'd hired to watch over his children.

This Creator/{{ABC}} sitcom, originally broadcast in 1970–71, centered on the mixture of chaos and order engendered in the house of a college professor by the apparently supernatural abilities of the nanny he'd hired to watch over his children.

* QuirkyHousehold: Nanny's extended family include an aunt who owns a circus, two aunts who travel the world in a hot air balloon, and an uncle (played by RayBolger) who is a world traveler and can make it rain by dancing.

[[caption-width-right:300:Juliet Mills in "Nanny"'s distinctive cape and hat, with the rest of the core cast]]

Juliet Mills played Phoebe Figalilly, caregiver to the three children of Professor Harold Everett (Richard Long). "Nanny", as everyone called her, was gifted at the very least with classic TV PsychicPowers, which mostly manifested as clairvoyance and even limited omniscience. She used these abilities indiscriminately with the Everett family, enchanting the children and confounding the strictly rationalist professor.

Much of the comedy in the show came from the collision between Nanny's casually mystical style and the more mundane world around her. Unlike most of her counterparts in the other {{fantastic comed|y}}ies of the era, she apparently felt no need to hide from the {{muggle}}s, exercising her abilities so blatantly that it often left witnesses confused or disbelieving. This didn't stop the Everetts from suffering the attention of at least one NosyNeighbor, though.

** Subverted in one episode in which we meet Phoebe's ''fiance'', Chomondeley Featherstonehaugh [[spoiler:pronounced "Chumley Fanshaw"]]. She is, in her own words, "devoted to him", and he'd like to carry her off to be married, but they come to an agreement that she's needed where she is.

* [[QuirkyHousehold Quirky Extended Family]]: Nanny's extended family include an aunt who owns a circus, two aunts who travel the world in a hot air balloon, and an uncle (played by RayBolger) who is a world traveller and can make it rain by dancing.

* MundaneFantastic: Towards the end of the series run, Professor Everett and his children have become so used to Nanny's magical ways that they are delighted by them instead of fazed by them; instead, they now enjoy watching as other people are fazed by them.

[[quoteright:202:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nanny.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:202:Juliet Mills in "Nanny"'s distinctive cape and hat, with the rest of the core cast]]

This ABC {{sitcom}}, broadcast in 1970/71, centered on the mixture of chaos and order engendered in the house of a college professor by the apparently supernatural abilities of the nanny he'd hired to watch over his children.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nanny.jpg
[[caption-width:202:Juliet Mills in "Nanny"'s distinctive cape and hat, with the rest of the core cast]]

* {{Homage}}: On ''Series/{{Passions}}'', resident witch Tabitha Lenox--played by Juliet Mills--brought a Phoebe Figalilly doll to life; the animated doll was played by Mills' daughter.

This ABC {{sitcom}}, broadcast 1970-1971, centered around the mixture of chaos and order engendered in the house of a college professor by the apparently supernatural abilities of the nanny he'd hired to watch over his children.

Much of the comedy in the show came from the collision between Nanny's casually mystical style and the more mundane world around her. Unlike most of her counterparts in the other [[FantasticComedy Fantastic Comedies]] of the era, she apparently felt no need to hide from the {{muggle}}s, exercising her abilities so blatantly that it often left witnesses confused or disbelieving. This didn't stop the Everetts from suffering the attention of at least one NosyNeighbor, though.

Despite the apparently low-key "magic" available to her, the series implied that Nanny may have been far more than just an attractive British woman with ESP -- hints were dropped suggesting that she was something other than a simple human, with a lifespan measuring in the centuries; unfortunately, the series ended well before it could pay off on those clues, leaving frustrated viewers to speculate on just ''what'' Nanny was, and why she watched over the professor and his family.

* AnimatedAdaptation: ''Nanny and the Professor and the Phantom of the Circus'', 1973 (i.e. two years after the series was cancelled).

* GirlOfTheWeek: Professor Everett had several over the course of the series; Nanny also had a ''Guy'' of the Week or two as well.
* {{Homage}}: On ''{{Passions}}'', resident witch Tabitha Lenox -- played by Juliet Mills -- brought a Phoebe Figalilly doll to life; the animated doll was played by Mills' daughter.

* SpiritualLicensee: To ''Film/MaryPoppins''

* AnimatedAdaptation (''Nanny and the Professor and the Phantom of the Circus'', 1973)
* CoolCar (Subverted: Nanny's yellow 1930 Model A Ford, "Arabella")
* ExpositoryThemeTune

* GirlOfTheWeek (Professor Everett had several over the course of the series; Nanny also had a ''Guy'' of the Week or two as well.)
* {{Homage}} (On ''{{Passions}}'', resident witch Tabitha Lenox -- played by Juliet Mills -- brought a Phoebe Figalilly doll to life; the animated doll was played by Mills' daughter.)
* LeftHanging (The series didn't last long enough to pay off on all the mysterious hints about Nanny's true nature.)
* NosyNeighbor (Mrs. Fowler)