Fran Drescher is headed back to TV as a different kind of Nanny!
The sitcom legend is returning to the small screen in a new family comedy, Indebted, which premieres Thursday, Feb. 6 on NBC. On the show, Drescher and Steven Weber play Debbie and Stew, a down-on-their-luck boomer couple, who are forced to move back in with their adult son, Dave (Adam Pally), his wife, Rebecca (Abby Elliott) and their children.
“They’re thinking, ‘Oh wow, the grandparents are gonna be here, and it’s gonna be so cool!’ No, no, no,” Drescher laughs in ET’s exclusive sneak peek. “It’s like having two extra kids come live with them.”
While Pally previews that his character tries to remain “optimistic” about the arrangement, it’s Elliott who cuts to the heart of Indebted’s comedy and drama: “Having family in your space can be a lot.”
For Drescher’s part, it’s a character she was literally born to play — though she had a bit of trouble getting a shot at it!
“The pilot script said, ‘This character, in every way, is a Fran Drescher type,'” she recalls, with her signature laugh. “My manager actually called and said, ‘Well, what about Fran Drescher, and the casting people said, ‘We’ll have to get back to you.'”
Drescher, 62, is hard at work these days — both on her new show and the recently-announced Broadway adaptation of The Nanny. The hit ‘90s sitcom is being developed into a new musical by the actress and her ex-husband, Peter Marc Jacobson, who both created the series.
The pair will co-write the book and are teaming up with Crazy Ex-Girlfriend creator and star Rachel Bloom, who will write the lyrics. She and Adam Schlesinger, who worked with Bloom on the CW series’ original music and lyrics, will also compose music for the production. Marc Bruni (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical) is set to direct.
“We are so excited to be working on the Broadway musical The Nanny,” Drescher and Jacobson said in a statement. “We’re equally excited that the wildly talented Rachel Bloom will be writing the lyrics and music with the fantastic Adam Schlesinger, and to have the brilliant Marc Bruni directing.”
“The Nanny was a fundamental part of my childhood because it was the first time I saw an openly Jewish female protagonist on television,” Bloom added in her own statement. “The story of Fran Fine, however, is a universal one that has touched the hearts of people of every race, religion and orientation. I am so proud to be using the characters established by The Nanny to tell a new story about one woman’s journey to becoming proud of who she is and what makes her different.”
See more on The Nanny — including that rumored Cardi B reboot — in the video below! Indebted premieres Thursday, Feb. 6 on NBC.
