# The Nanny, One of the Great Sitcoms? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 19, 2006, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nanny-one-of-the-great-sitcoms/357369 "2006-05-19T04:07:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nanny-one-of-the-great-sitcoms/357369/1 "2006-05-19T04:07:17Z")
Sure _WKRP \* was great, but I maintain The Nanny was better_. Strong female characters, excellent character development, good cameos, lots of situations. On the other\* hand nobody else seems to mention the show in these sorts of discussions. Am I the only one? Honestly, I think it is fully the equal of _I Love Lucy._ \*You may pronounce these words with a terminal ‘ah’ to get the full accent effect. Thank you. (Fun fact, Chilean TV bought the rights to the scripts are remade them in Spanish with local actors. I would love to have that on DVD.) ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nanny-one-of-the-great-sitcoms/357369/2 "2006-05-19T04:22:30Z")
Well, at any rate it’s got a pretty good title song. Methinks you’ve been watching too much Lifetime. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nanny-one-of-the-great-sitcoms/357369/3 "2006-05-19T04:33:22Z")
I thought it was one of the worst sitcoms I’ve ever seen. Over the years I would watch an episode here and there and always regret it. The characters were all annoying and unfunny stereotypes. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nanny-one-of-the-great-sitcoms/357369/4 "2006-05-19T04:36:21Z")
_The Nanny_ had Fran Drescher, but _WKRP_ had **JAN SMITHERS!!!**. No contest. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nanny-one-of-the-great-sitcoms/357369/5 "2006-05-19T05:02:22Z")
I disagree with LavenderBlue in that I thought it was funny program. However, there’s no way it was better than WKRP; and I’m going to say that without the obligitory quote from the “turkey” episode! ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Corcoran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Captain\_Corcoran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Corcoran)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nanny-one-of-the-great-sitcoms/357369/6 "2006-05-19T05:21:56Z")
No, but I actually do think it was one of the better sitcoms of the '90s. At a time when sitcoms were sinking into a rut of fake sophistication and cookie-cutter style, this was a loud, vulgar, corny, vaudevillian show – a throwback to shows like “Beverly Hillbillies” or “The Bob Cummings Show,” and I mean that as a compliment. And I’ve at least come to the conclusion that the Nanny’s Niles is funnier than Frasier’s Niles. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nanny-one-of-the-great-sitcoms/357369/7 "2006-05-19T05:23:32Z")
I haven’t seen WKRP… so I’m voting for WKRP. The Nanny was one of the more predictable and stereotype-ridden shows I’ve seen. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nanny-one-of-the-great-sitcoms/357369/8 "2006-05-19T05:24:00Z")
I preferred _Nanny and the Professor_, myself. ---
**Author:** ![supervenusfreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@supervenusfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supervenusfreak)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nanny-one-of-the-great-sitcoms/357369/9 "2006-05-19T06:00:40Z")
HMM. The Nanny was much more a fast paced, door slamming farce while WKRP was a classic workplace sitcom. Both were very funny, but really two different types of fruit. I got to give it to you **Paul In Saudi**. The Nanny is very Lucy-like. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nanny-one-of-the-great-sitcoms/357369/10 "2006-05-19T06:34:56Z")
> [@supervenusfreak](#): > > I got to give it to you **Paul In Saudi**. The Nanny is very Lucy-like. I don’t know why or where I read this, but I do remember reading an interview with Fran Drescher in which she said that she had watched a ton of old sitcoms and analyzed how they worked, how the characters interacted, etc. Though, for my money, the 90s sitcom that most reminded me of Lucy was “Dharma and Greg” – Jenna Elfman as the wacky wife who got involved in lots of slapstick comedy. Very Lucy-like. ---
**Author:** ![Tinkertoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f19dbf/32.png) [@Tinkertoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinkertoy)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nanny-one-of-the-great-sitcoms/357369/11 "2006-05-19T07:54:49Z")
Fran’s voice was like nails on a chaulkboard. I could never make it through a whole episode. ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nanny-one-of-the-great-sitcoms/357369/12 "2006-05-19T07:58:01Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#): > > (Fun fact, Chilean TV bought the rights to the scripts are remade them in Spanish with local actors. I would love to have that on DVD.) There’s also a [Turkish](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0303449/) version. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nanny-one-of-the-great-sitcoms/357369/13 "2006-05-19T07:59:08Z")
Of course (and mercifully) that was not her real voice. How could such a pretty girl wear such costumes and still be more funny than sexy? ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nanny-one-of-the-great-sitcoms/357369/14 "2006-05-19T11:17:44Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#): > > How could such a pretty girl wear such costumes and still be more funny than sexy? I guessed that Fran’s outfits were a sort of in joke, she’d be wearing something fabulous (or ridiculous – I know crap all about fashion) and different in every show and have these absurd _enterances_ down the stairs, the show sort of wallowed in its unrealistic-ness (which is a good thing). This is the only US sitcom I went out of my way to watch, not because it was especially good (although it could be occasionally) but because Fran D. was in it. ---
**Author:** ![Coil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Coil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coil)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nanny-one-of-the-great-sitcoms/357369/15 "2006-05-19T11:26:54Z")
I have to disagree with the OP (and a number of others it seems), The Nanny is not funny at all. I have over the years seen a number of episodes (they seem to run them over and over) and I have never laughed at all. It just not funny at all. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nanny-one-of-the-great-sitcoms/357369/16 "2006-05-19T11:34:10Z")
I liked everything about _The Nanny_ except the premise, the writing and the acting. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nanny-one-of-the-great-sitcoms/357369/17 "2006-05-19T11:49:54Z")
> [@](#): > > Honestly, I think it is fully the equal of I Love Lucy. Well, I would agree - but for me, that is \*not \*a compliment. I’m afraid I can’t agree. It wasn’t nearly as good as WKRP. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nanny-one-of-the-great-sitcoms/357369/18 "2006-05-19T11:55:00Z")
Can we agree that _The Nanny_ certainly leaves some people cold? I find that remarkable, but I suppose it is like snails & shellfish. Some people like 'em some don’t. No way to explain it. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nanny-one-of-the-great-sitcoms/357369/19 "2006-05-19T12:02:23Z")
> [@LavenderBlue](#): > > I thought it was one of the worst sitcoms I’ve ever seen. Over the years I would watch an episode here and there and always regret it. The characters were all annoying and unfunny stereotypes. I’m with you. This show was unwatchable as far as I’m concerned. And I LIKE Fran! I just think this was one of the crappiest programs that ever made the big time. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nanny-one-of-the-great-sitcoms/357369/20 "2006-05-19T12:09:45Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#): > > Of course (and mercifully) that was not her real voice. > > How could such a pretty girl wear such costumes and still be more funny than sexy? Please! As Fran herself says “Who would make this up?” That was her real voice. I liked The Nanny myself, mostly for the physical comedy and the Broadway references. Fran Drescher herself has had an interesting life, surviving a brutal rape (her husband was tied up and a gun was put to his head as he was forced to watch), fame, divorce from the man she had been with since she was 15, and more recently uterine cancer. Her two books (Enter Whining and Cancer Schmancer) are worth reading. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nanny-one-of-the-great-sitcoms/357369.md?page=2)