Fran Drescher on the Enduring Charm of The Nanny
The show’s iconic star speaks to BAZAAR.com about the comedy’s new home at HBO Max, her finest fashion moments, and what a reboot could look like one day.
Few shows have maintained such a firm grip on the reins of pop culture like the hit ’90s sitcom The Nanny.
For six seasons, Fran Drescher starred as the hilariously over-the-top Fran Fine—the bridal shop salesgirl-turned-impromptu nanny for a wealthy, widowed Broadway producer, Maxwell Sheffield, and his three young children. The series was an instant hit thanks to Drescher’s Lucille Ball–esque comedic chops, a perfectly curated cast, whip-smart dialogue, and top-tier costuming that still inspires style stars and the industry at large to this day. As popular as the show has remained since its 1999 cancellation, it wasn’t until today that the hit series became available to stream on HBO Max, joining other mega-hit ’90s sitcoms such as Friends and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in the platform’s growing lexicon.
“I happen to think that they’re a super-cool streaming channel. They’re new and fresh. They’re young in their audience, and they’re cool and classy,” Drescher tells BAZAAR.com about the decision to make HBO Max the new home of The Nanny. “If I could have asked for a better streaming channel, I couldn’t have; it would have been them. I love HBO Max. I think all the choices that they’re making are spot-on. They get their viewers. They ‘re smart, they’re really smart.”
Although some may view the show’s streaming debut as an opportunity to introduce the comedy to a new generation, Drescher doesn’t see it that way. Instead, she views the show’s return to screens as a way for fervent fans who first watched The Nanny decades ago to relive the series during a new time in their lives.
“In a way, I don’t even know if they’re being reintroduced. I think that [our original viewers] grew up as children, and now they’re the millennial generation, some of whom are introducing it to their children, ” explains Drescher. “I think that it has withstood the test of time. It’s become a classic, and classics don’t get old.”
For Drescher, The Nanny’s everlasting appeal is thanks to the ageless narrative at the core of the show; it wasn’t just a comedy but also a love story, a fairy tale, a fashion show, and now, a time capsule of the 1990s.
“[The series was] an anomaly unto itself. It’s laugh-out-loud funny. The sexual tension is off the scale. It’s a Cinderella fantasy. The clothes are just like a beautiful, incredible fashion show every single week,” continues Drescher . “It’s got that kind of double entendre where you can watch it with the family, and everyone of every different age will enjoy it in their own way. And yet, it’s got kind of like edgy, gay humor. It never loses its cool. “
Much like Drescher’s iconic nasal register, the comedic chemistry between Drescher and Charles Shaughnessy, like Fran Fine and Maxwell Sheffield, or Daniel Davis and Lauren Lane, like Sassy Butler Niles and C.C. Babcock, the fashion (helmed by stylist Brenda Cooper) was also a vital component of the show’s success.
“I can’t tell you how blessed I feel that I am part of a project that has been such an amazing, enduring, incredible piece of art,” says Drescher of the show’s impact on the fashion world. “The clothes just made such a powerful impact on everyone. It was such a visual treat. [We understood] right from the get-go that television is a visual media, and everything has to be beautiful, and everything has to be better than real life. Comedy is an escape, and that’s the way we wanted it to be.”
A hefty corporate budget and the genius of Brenda Cooper’s stylistic eye helped bring Fran Fine’s kitschy—but despite envy inducing—wardrobe to life.
“Brenda Cooper’s designs were just right there with our vision of what the show needed to be. [That period of time] was what I call the gay ’90s, and there was a lot of money then,” says Drescher. “We had a very healthy budget to give our viewers delicious eye candy every single week. It gave us the freedom to have us really put on a fashion show. Even having that curved staircase that she came down was all part of the sets complementing the presentation of the character in the costumes.”
Designers such as Moschino (so much Moschino!), Donna Karan, Todd Oldham, Paco Rabanne, and more were represented in The Nanny’s fashion Rolodex. Don’t bother asking Drescher which avant-garde look is her favorite, though; it’s impossible for her to choose just one.
