I don’t know about you, but I’ve been counting down the hours until The Nanny’s virtual table read hits YouTube.
If you haven’t been keeping up, on Monday, Fran Drescher and the original cast will be reuniting for a “once-in-a-lifetime pandemic performance.” Between eating, drinking, contemplating cutting my hair off, and binge-watching endless episodes of trash reality television, there’s nothing my soul needs more than this.
Ahead of the event’s unveiling, EW spoke with Drescher about revisiting the iconic series amid the coronavirus pandemic, if there’s a chance a reboot could be in the works, and how she’s been spending her time in the age of self-isolation.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How have you been spending your days with this whole pandemic going on?
FRAN DRESCHER: I rescued a dog just days before the world went mad. I’m here at the beach with this dog, it’s just the two of us. It’s a lot of great bonding and training. I feel safe — she’s a big dog and I can see how she’s developing and becoming protective of the property. She jumps on the bed and I’m okay with that. I’m trying to keep busy! [The Nanny co-creator] Peter [Marc Jacobson] came up with a great idea to reunite The Nanny camp for a pandemic performance.
When people make something iconic, oftentimes they want to distance themselves from it so that it doesn’t overshadow other projects. Right now, you’re on the NBC show, Indebted. Was there any apprehension about doing the virtual table read?
Oh no! Absolutely not. We are doing this completely for the fans that have supported the show for all these decades. We thought what better gift than to get together virtually from our living room to yours? No one got paid for it. It’s been a blessing and kept us all busy and active. We feel like we’re accomplishing something and are very excited to deliver this present. It makes us feel so good to see each other. If the fans get even a fraction of the uplifting experience we had, it will be worth it.
When did the first conversations start and how quickly were you all able to turn it around?
About 10 days ago, the first conversations started and we recorded it on Friday — we didn’t want to do it live-live. We thought some other things that were done that way with other groups didn’t have reliable sound. We didn’t want it to be a frustrating experience. If we had a sound glitch, we did a take two.
How often do you and the rest of the cast talk? If this reunion wasn’t happening, would you feel comfortable reaching out?
I speak to Renée Taylor probably the most. Charles Shaughnessy and I socialize quite often, Ann Campton Calloway wrote the theme song and she and I speak quite often, Peter worked with Lauren Lane not that long ago and he gets dinner with Daniel Davis whenever he’s in New York. The kids I don’t see that much, but we’ll email each other or text each other. Rachel Chagall and I email quite often.
Once we are all able to leave the house again, would you ever be into filming a reboot or a one-off special of arrangements?
I guess so, but I think that’s not really our style. Right now we’re working on the musical. Once that gets underway then we’ll look at whether or not the show should be reproduced with a new cast or if it’s in the moment. I don’t really have a strong opinion on that. I do not know. We’ve never talked about it, so I can’t really say.
What has it been like to see your character’s fashion still talked about and referenced regularly?
I’m delighted that the look of the character has become so iconic. I think Brenda Cooper who styled and designed the show is a phenomenal talent. I don’t think they saw my character dressing so well when they thought of the show. But when they offered it to me it was like, If we’re gonna get Fran Drescher, it’s a whole package. I can’t look like some kind of middle-age frump. That’s not my thing.
Are you able to truly feel and understand the impact The Nanny made and how many people really love it?
Absolutely. I’m constantly experiencing how current it remains, especially with the millennials. I’m fluid on social media and I’m very aware of the Fran and The Nanny accounts. We’re doing The Nanny musical on Broadway… it was an amazing thing and it’s the gift that keeps on giving.
The Nanny virtual table read hits the Sony Pictures YouTube channel on Monday, April 6.
