The Nanny

The Nanny is an American television sitcom that aired on Syndication from November 2, 1993 to June 23, 1999. The series had a total of 146 episodes.

Plot
Jewish-American Fran Fine turns up on the doorstep of British Broadway producer Maxwell Sheffield (Charles Shaughnessy) to sell cosmetics after having been both dumped and fired by her boyfriend and employer Danny Imperialli. Instead, she finds herself the nanny of Maxwell's three children, Maggie, Brighton, and Grace. Maxwell Sheffield is unhappy about it at first, but Fran turns out to be just what he and his family needed.

While Fran Fine manages the children, butler Niles (Daniel Davis) manages the household and watches all the events that unfold with Fran as the new nanny. Niles, recognizing Fran's gift for bringing warmth back to the family, does his best to undermine Maxwell's business partner C.C. Babcock (Lauren Lane) who has her eyes on the very available Maxwell Sheffield. Niles is often seen making witty comments directed towards C.C with C.C often replying with a comment of her own in their ongoing game of one-upmanship.

As the series progresses, it becomes increasingly obvious that Maxwell is smitten with Fran even though he won't admit it, and Fran is smitten with him. The show teases the viewers with their closeness and "near misses" as well as with an engagement. Towards the later seasons, they finally marry and expand their family by having fraternal twins. By the end of the series, it's also clear that Niles and C.C.'s constant sharp barbs are their bizarre form of flirtation and after a few false starts (including multiple impulsive and failed proposals from Niles) the pair marry in the series finale.

Cast

 * Fran Drescher as Fran Fine-Sheffield
 * Charles Shaughnessy as Maxwell Sheffield
 * Daniel Davis as Niles
 * Lauren Lane as C.C. Babcock
 * Nicholle Tom as Margaret Sheffield
 * Benjamin Salisbury as Brighton Sheffield
 * Madeline Zima as Grace Sheffield
 * Renee Taylor as Sylvia Fine
 * Ann Morgan Guilbert as Yetta Rosenberg
 * Rachel Chagall as Val Toriello

Development
The Nanny began in 1991 with a chance meeting on a transatlantic flight between Drescher and Jeff Sagansky, at the time president of Syndication Corporation, for whom she had starred in the short-lived TV series Princesses. Drescher persuaded Sagansky to let her and her then-husband Jacobson pitch an idea for a sitcom to Syndication. Sagansky agreed to a future meeting once all of the parties were back in Los Angeles; however, neither Drescher nor Jacobson had any idea what to pitch.

Later, while in London, Drescher was visiting friend Twiggy Lawson and her family in London, England, where she went on a culture-clash shopping tour with Lawson's then teenage daughter. Drescher was inspired by her behavior towards the teenage daughter on the shopping trip as functioning in a less parental but "humorous [...] kind of Queens logic, self-serving advice" mode.

Drescher immediately called her husband in Los Angeles with her sitcom idea, which she pitched as a spin on The Sound of Music, except, in Drescher's words: "Instead of Julie Andrews, I come to the door." Jacobson replied: "That could be it" and the idea for The Nanny was spawned.

Back in Los Angeles, the pair pitched their idea to Tim Flack and Joe Voci, both in comedy development at CBS. Sagansky brought in experienced producers Robert Sternin and Prudence Fraser, another husband-and-wife team with whom Drescher had worked before while guesting on Who's the Boss? in 1985 and 1986. Interested, both couples teamed up to write the script for the pilot together, creating a character with the intention to build off Drescher's image. "Our business strategy was to create a show that was going to complement our writing, complement me as a talent," Drescher said in a 1997 interview with The Hollywood Reporter. As a result, the characters draw deeply on the Drescher family, including Fran Fine's parents, Sylvia and Morty, and grandmother Yetta, who all were named after their real-life counterparts. Drescher also drew from her own life in creating her character. Like the character in The Nanny, Drescher was born and raised in Flushing, Queens, and attended beauty school. However, unlike her on-screen counterpart, Drescher never worked in a bridal shop; Drescher wrote that into the character as a tribute to her mother, who did work in a bridal shop. While visiting with his relatives in Fort Lauderdale around the holidays, Sagansky watched a few episodes with his relatives, realized that he had a hit, and ordered a full 22 episodes for the first season.