Fran Drescher Dishes on ‘The Nanny’ Reboot Ahead of 30th Anniversary (Exclusive)
The hit sitcom first premiered 30 years ago in November 1993.
While walking the red carpet at the 29th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, SAG-Aftra President Fran Drescher gave ET a quick update on the plans to revive her hit sitcom, The Nanny.
“We have a big meeting with our partners at Sony,” she told Denny Directo, referring to Sony Pictures Television, which was the distributor for the series during its original run. “This is the 30th anniversary year that the series started and I want to do something special.”
Starring Drescher as Fran Fine — a fashionista from Queens, New York, who becomes the nanny of three high society children — the series first premiered on CBS in November 1993 and lasted for six seasons before ending in June 1999.
“It’s mind blowing because it’s more popular today than it’s ever been on HBO Max,” Drescher shared.
And when it comes to Fran’s distinct sense of style, “I feel like the show was iconic and classic TV a lot because of the fashion,” she said, praising costume designer Brenda Cooper, who “won an Emmy for it.” (In total, Cooper earned three nominations and one win for her work on The Nanny.)
The update comes several years after Drescher first told ET that she and co-creator and ex-husband Peter Marc Jacobson “were talking about” a reboot. “Peter and I are talking about it,” she said at the time. “We’re working on a very big project. It’s going to be very exciting for the fans, but I’m not at liberty to announce it yet. But it’s gonna be big.”
Since then, it’s been revealed that there are two other Nanny projects in the works: a Broadway musical and a movie adaptation.
“We are so excited to be working on the Broadway musical The Nanny,” Drescher and Jacobson said in 2022, before the actress confirmed she would not be reprising her role on stage. “Of course I would do it myself,” she added, “but we’d have to change the title to The Granny.”
In 2022, Drescher told ET they were also talking to Sony about a movie. “It won’t be a musical and the musical is going to be set in the ’90s as was the series,” she said, making it clear that the musical was not the source of the film adaptation. “The movie will probably be more in the present and incorporate new characters.”
Drescher explained at the time that the possible movie would include familiar characters from The Nanny but would also “dovetail into a whole other character story.”
