created by Fran Drescher and her then-husband Peter Marc Jacobson, is about a Jewish woman from Queens who goes to work for an extremely wealthy English widower and his children. his, is the latest classic ’90s sitcom to experience a revival thanks to streaming. (The entire series is currently available to watch on HBO Max.) Debuting in 1993 on CBS, the series starred Drescher as Fran Fine, the sharp-nosed nanny herself, and was loosely based on her upbringing. Her real-life Jewish green. As a member of the tribe myself, I often wonder how the show, with at least a third of its scripts using deep Yiddish vocabulary, could find an audience so widely faked. But Drescher knows that integrating her authentic cultural self is essential to the show’s success, which is why the Nanny we know and love makes matzo balls instead of meatballs. If that wasn’t enough, The Nanny boasted some of the most memorable fashion of the ’90s and a group of guest stars flashy enough to make even the flashy girl in Flushing plot.
So whether you’re a lifelong Fran fan or are just starting to get that catchy theme song stuck in your head, here are 15 essential episodes of The Nanny to get your binge-watching started
“Pilot” (Season 1, Episode 1)
I hate to tell you this, but most of your favorite TV shows are really, really bad. They’re often overproduced or underproduced riveting messes of clumsy character introductions and misguided hints about the set. The Nanny Pilot could have been that way – almost! – but instead it became something else entirely: an extremely simple and funny foundation for the entire show.
For a series that continues to employ much more drawn-out motifs, The Nanny’s pilot could essentially be summed up by the theme song itself, with a bit of introductory Yiddish thrown in to fill in everything. That’s not a little. The pilot really just does what it’s supposed to do: introduce us to the premise and characters without it seeming forced or awkward. It’s more impressive when you realize the pilot introduces nine main characters, each of whom is established quite seamlessly. Max is the emotionally constipated widower, the sassy butler Niles, the overbearing mother Sylvia, and more. Throughout this first episode there are some good jokes along the way (“How are you, it looks like you listed the Queen Mother as a reference?” “Oh no, that’s not the Queen Mother, that is my mother in Queens!” ).
“My Fair Nanny” (Season 1, Episode 3)
From the beginning, The Nanny established itself as a show that loved a good game. In this episode, that story is the plot of My Fair Lady, adjusted slightly to follow Fran as she prepares to host Maggie’s first luncheon. Fran is ready to throw Maggie the hottest shiksa shindig west of the Brooklyn–Queens Expressway, just to see how well she fits in with other high-class women the day before the party. Join Niles and Maxwell and get an Eliza Doolittle-style training session. Fran showed up at the party with her hair slicked back and her palate surprisingly soft. While Drescher’s voice manipulation work is impressive and fun in this episode, let’s not forget that Daniel Davis, the actor who plays Niles, gives a very convincing performance as a posh English butler. viewers actually wrote in and asked him to teach Charles Shaughnessy (Maxwell) how to do a British accent – except that Shaughnessy was born in London and Davis was born in Arkansas.
“The Nuchslep” (Season 1, Episode 4)
Suffice it to say, The Nanny is more Jewish than 6 p.m. bagels at the Yom Kippur breakfast. Drescher was so committed to this part of the show that the fourth episode of the entire series was named after a very confusing Yiddish insult. In “The Nuchslep,” Fran is forced to attend Maggie’s first date with her lover (played by James Marsden, the undiscovered dreamboat of the ’90s), turning her into a nuchslep , the third wheel version of shtetl. Additionally, this episode also features the first appearance of Chester, C.C.’s vicious Pomeranian, who has a hilarious hatred of C.C. can actually be explained by his devotion to Drescher, his IRL owner.
“Stock Tips” (Season 2, Episode 7)
In my (accurate) opinion, season one of The Nanny came out stronger than most classic sitcoms. However, ratings at the time did not substantiate that claim, and the show was nearly canceled after the first season. Luckily, CBS president Jeff Sagansky was at the helm of the program and The Nanny has been renewed for a second season, where it will really hit its stride.
One of the more intriguing episodes of the series follows Fran as she goes on a date with a man she believes is a hot Wall Street type. Yadda yadda yadda, the guy ends up being a conman, and Fran has to break into a men-only club to prevent Mr. Sheffield from investing money with him. Of course this means Fran has to wear an elaborate costume to break into the club. This is one of the first episodes that we
really get a taste of Drescher’s grasp on physical comedy — not to mention how well she can pull off a three-piece suit.
“Lamb Chop’s on the Menu” (Season 2, Episode 18)
This episode features three Jewess talents: Fran Drescher, Shari Lewis, and Lambchop the puppet. After another appearance from C.C.’s vicious dog Chester, things get a wee dark for poor Lambchop, yet hilarious for everyone else. It’s one of the first episodes to feature a big-time guest star as the show gained momentum in its second season.
“What the Butler Sang” (Season 2, Episode 20)
Lauren Lane, the actress who plays C.C., is best remembered on the show for her ability to deliver biting zingers, while her physical performances often go under the radar. Perhaps her physicality goes unnoticed compared to Drescher and Renée Taylor, who plays Fran’s mother, both of whom tend to deliver every line with their entire bodies. This makes sense when you remember C.C. is supposed to be Fran’s Waspy foil: composed, subdued and heavily medicated. But it also makes it all the more funnier whenever C.C. finally snaps and is forced to engage with Fran’s shenanigans — and Lane plays it perfectly. This episode features one of the first instances of Lane’s range, as she chases “Nanny Fine” in the background of a very important investors performance (starring Niles, which also allows us a glimpse of Davis’s broadway-quality voice).
“Close Shave” (Season 2, Episode 21)
Truth be told, most of this episode is exactly as solid as any of the others. However, it contains one of the more famous scenes from the show, where Fran, filling in as a candy striper for Maggie, finds herself needing to shave Maxwell for emergency surgery. Again, the whole episode is good, but if you need a quick pick-me-up, you can watch the iconic scene above.
“A Fine Family Feud” (Season 3, Episode 4)
Sorry Ginny and Georgia, but there is no better mother-daughter team on television than Fran and Sylvia Fine. The chemistry between Drescher and Taylor is arguably the best of any pair on the show — add in superstar Lainie Kazan as Freida Fine, Fran’s aunt/Sylvia’s enemy and sister-in-law, and you get a yenta trifecta. In this episode, Sylvia and Freida’s lifelong feud comes to a head as Fran plans to throw Maggie’s sweet 16 party at Freida’s retro disco. Sylvia threatens to jump out a window, like any good Jewish mother would, and the whole thing ends in a cathartic éclair food fight. The episode makes Freida such a popular character that she will go on to make an appearance in every subsequent season.
“Val’s Boyfriend” (Season 3, Episode 17)
This is another basically solid episode that features one of the most famous scenes from the series. In it, Fran’s perpetually down-on-her-luck best friend Val finally snags herself a boyfriend, only for him to hit on Fran. That’s all well and good, but the memorable scene comes when C.C. takes Fran out for sushi for her first time and Fran mistakes a glob of wasabi for mustard. For context as to how good this scene is, most of the videos on The Nanny’s official YouTube page average a few hundred thousand views, while this clip has over 3.5 million.
“Where’s the Pearls?” (Season 3, Episode 20)
In terms of guest stars, it’s hard to get any starrier than Elizabeth Freaking Taylor. The iconic actress appeared in this episode — along with three other CBS series all airing on the same night — to promote her new fragrance. So sure, this episode is a 23-minute-long commercial, but it’s a really good one, as it follows Fran getting amnesia and losing Elizabeth Taylor’s famous and expensive black pearls. It’s also quite tickling to see Rosie O’Donnell make a cameo as a rough-around-the-edges cab driver, only for her to appear on the next season as …herself.
“The Tart With a Heart” (Season 4, Episode 1)
In the ’90s, it was basically illegal to have a sitcom without its own trademark “will they or won’t they” mishegoss (that’s Yiddish for shenanigans). So whereas Friends had “we were on a break,” The Nanny had “the thing.”
The origins of “the thing” actually spans two episodes, but the fun stuff starts after Maxwell tells Fran he loves her in the season three finale only to take it back in this episode at the start of season four. It’s a turning point for The Nanny, and even though it took the show in a direction Drescher didn’t really want it to go, “the thing” itself would lead to many funny moments in the later seasons.
“The Rosie Show” (Season 4, Episode 4)
This episode has everything: The Rosie O Donnell show, an elaborate Fiddler on the Roof parody, a cameo from a future president/insurrectionist.
In this episode, Fran is asked to do a guest segment on The Rosie O’Donnell Show, doling out her special brand of child-care advice. The segment ends up being immensely popular and her newfound stardom takes her away from the house and Mr. Sheffield, who is still in the doghouse for taking back “the thing.” To get her back, Maxwell fabricates a prop
hetic dream à la Fruma-Sarah in Fiddler on the Roof.
Again, fair warning, a certain MyPillow sales rep does make an appearance. But hey, did you know Rosie O’Donnell used the same animators for her talk show credits as The Nanny’s opening sequence? Fun stuff!
“Samson, He Denied Her” (Season 4, Episode 17)
C.C. and Fran make a natural odd couple, yet for some reason they are rarely paired off together throughout the series. The times when they are, like this episode, where they are sequestered together while serving on a high-profile jury, breathe fresh air into the series, especially during its later run.
“First Date” (Season 5, Episode 2)
By the start of season five, things really started to heat up between Fran and Max, even after “the thing.” To take things to the next level, in this episode Max asks Fran out on an official first date to the premiere of Elton John’s new documentary. When it turns out Fran actually has a mysterious cameo in the movie as an unidentified yet loud and annoying fan of Elton’s, Fran is forced to disguise herself as her grandmother Yetta at the post-screening reception. Naturally, the Elton John cameo and story line get a lot of attention, but I personally enjoy the B-plot, where Niles convinces the ever unraveling C.C. into thinking Maxwell has a fourth child — whom she is responsible for losing at the screening.
“The Hanukkah Story” (Season 6, Episode 10)
The sixth season is a tough one. Drescher and Jacobson have gone on record saying they never really wanted Maxwell and Fran to get together as they feared it would cause the show to fizzle. Unfortunately, the network insists they put on a wedding or they will pull the plug. So, by the sixth season, Max and Fran are married and living in domestic bliss — which does make for kind of a boring season. It’s not bad, but it reads more as an epilogue to a show that threw so much of its weight behind Max and Fran’s will-they-or-won’t-they dynamic, not to mention the kids are all glaringly elderly at this point . Still, the show managed to put on a great Hanukkah episode that features some equally sappy and funny flashbacks, plus a very special performance by Ray Charles.
