These The Nanny Facts Will Remind You Why The ’90s Show Is Legendary

Hailed as one of the most iconic sitcoms of the ’90s, The Nanny introduced TV audiences to Fran Fine. The series aired for six seasons and made stars out of its cast. In honor of it landing on HBO Max on April 1, here are some fascinating facts about the show.

Fran Drescher co-created The Nanny with her then-husband, Peter Marc Jacobson. Before the comedy series, Drescher acted in Saturday Night Fever, This Is Spinal Tap, ALF, and Who’s The Boss? Of course, it was The Nanny that catapulted her into superstardom.

Drescher became a household name via her character’s bold fashion sense, famous nasal voice, and New York accent. In 2018, Drescher told InStyle that a teacher once advised her to take diction classes, which was a bust as she “wasn’t able to mask it and keep my personality.”

The three Sheffield children (played by Nicholle Tom, Madeline Zima, and Benjamin Salisbury) went on to star in other movies and TV shows. You may even recognize Zima as one of the evil stepsisters in A Cinderella Story.

Several celebs made guest appearances on The Nanny during its six-season run. A close watch will reveal cameos by Rosie O’Donnell, James Marsden, Joan Collins, Ray Charles, Whoopi Goldberg, Jackie Tohn, Twiggy, Rita Moreno, and Patti LaBelle.

C.C. Babcock’s dog in the series was actually Drescher’s pet in real life and named Chester Drescher. The actor’s precious Pomeranian was also featured in the film Cadillac Man. Sadly, Chester passed away in 2000.

Fran Fine’s parents, Sylvia and Morty Fine, and older sister, Nadine Fine Cooperman, were named after Drescher’s actual family.

For her iconic role, Drescher earned two Golden Globe nominations and two Primetime Emmy nominations, among many other award nominations. She also won a TV Land Award for “Favorite Nanny” in 2008, and The Nanny won the Primetime Emmy for the costuming in 1995.

The Nanny became such a popular show in the ’90s that two versions of a talking Fran Fine “Nanny” doll were created.

Spoiler alert: Fran and Maxwell ultimately married and had kids, but Drescher had a different finale in mind. “The show would have ended with [Fran] being the nanny of the kids, and him being her boss, but the two of them sharing a certain attraction that never got realized,” she said in 2018.

Drescher hinted at the possibility of a Nanny reboot back in 2018, telling Entertainment Tonight that she and Jacobson would make Fran Fine “much more involved in social issues” next time.

The Nanny cast reunited in 2020 for a virtual “pandemic table read” of the series premiere, which was the perfect holdover until HBO Max announced its exciting streaming news.