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"Pilot" is the premiere of the first season of the CBS television series The Nanny was aired on November 3, 1993.

Synopsis[]

Fran has just been dumped by her fiancé and employer, and is selling cosmetics door-to-door, when she happens to be in the right place at the right time.

Plot[]

Fran Fine, the Jewish girl from Flushing, Queens, worked at the bridal shop of her fiancé, Danny. However, Danny dumps Fran for their high school friend, Heather Biblow and fires her as he wants to give Fran's sales job to Heather. Fran decides to try selling cosmetics door-to-door. The first house she knocks on is that of British widower and Broadway theater producer, Maxwell Sheffield. Niles, the Sheffield's proper, but quick-tongued butler, mistakes Fran as the new nanny for Maxwell's children: shy teenager Maggie, precocious preteen Brighton, and angst ridden adolescent Grace. The only adult female influence in the Sheffield household is C.C. Babcock, Maxwell's business associate who obviously is attracted to Maxwell, but not his children. Niles' favorite pastime is tormenting C.C.

Although Maxwell quickly realizes Fran is not a nanny, he hires her anyway on a temporary basis as the nanny agency is unable to send anyone else immediately. Fran ends up being not your traditional nanny. She first decides that she will eat meals with the family. Although, the biggest decision she makes is that she and the kids will crash Maxwell's upcoming investor's party at the house. Having the kids at the party ends up being a windfall as the investors love them. However, Fran gets in the doghouse when Maxwell catches Maggie in the embrace of the party waiter, who gives her her first ever kiss. Maxwell and Fran argue specifically about how Maggie should be raised in her formative teenage years. Maxwell promptly fires Fran over this incident. Fran takes solace at her mother's house. Fran's retreat back to Queens is short-lived as Maxwell quickly realizes that Fran may have been right. Perhaps Fran Fine will have a life at the Sheffield household after all.

Cast[]

Starring[]

Guest Starring[]

Co-Starring[]

  • Jonathan Penner as Danny Imperiali
  • Dee Dee Rescher as Dottie
  • James Marsden as Eddie
  • Ray Johnson as Piano Player
  • Curtis Hood as Investor

Quotes[]

  • Fran: Oh, please! I come from Flushing. There is nothing these kids can throw at me that I haven't seen before. Except maybe their trust funds
  • Niles: Miss Babcock for you, sir.
    Maxwell: Thank you Niles, I'll take her in the library.
    Niles: Miss Babcock loves to be taken in the library.
  • Brighton: I hate her.
    Maxwell: No Brighton, let's not be hasty.
    Fran: Yeah, I haven't even sung 'Climb Ev'ry Mountain' yet.
  • (Fran walks down stairs wearing red sparkly dress)
    C.C.: Who is that?
    Maxwell: That's the nanny.
    Fran: You like? I borrowed from my cousin, Miss Long Island 1986.
    Niles: A very good year!
  • Fran: (points to Maggie) This one's got no personality, (points to Gracie) this one's got multiple personalities and Brighton... Where's Brighton?
    Brighton: (pokes head out from under a female mannequin) Are these dummies anatomically correct?
  • Grace: (referring to her previous psychiatrist appointment) She took me back through my childhood.
    Fran: Wow, must have been a quick trip.
    Grace: Oh you have no idea how complicated my life is.
  • Fran: Hey, be nicer to your sister.
    Brighton: Why, because we're a family?
    Fran: Yes, that's right, and someday your father's gonna be old and sick, you're gonna want him to live with her.
  • Fran: Oh! The nanny gets to live here?
    Niles: Is that a problem?
    Fran: Oh, yeah, I'm sure I'm gonna miss being 29 and still living at home with my parents, but, if it's best for the kids...
    Niles: Twenty-nine...
    Fran: Don't start with me, Niles.
  • Brighton: Maggie doesn't date.
    Fran: Never?
    Maggie: The boys haven't noticed me yet.
    Brighton: Oh, they've noticed, Maggie and... that's why you don't date!
  • (Fran sees no available chairs at the breakfast table)
    Fran: Oh...where do I sit?
    Niles: The previous nanny sat in the kitchen.
    Fran: Oh, how antisocial!
  • Maxwell: Miss Fine, you seem to have listed the Queen Mother as a reference.
    Fran: What? Let me see that. Oh, no, that's not the Queen Mother. That's my mother from Queens!

Trivia[]

  • Sylvia is also the name of Fran Drescher's mother. Just like Morty (Fran Fine's father, who will later appear) is Drescher's father's name
  • This episode is also know as "The Nanny".
  • This episode was shot in early 1993 at Culver Studios in Culver City, California. After a pilot presentation in April 1993, the series was picked up by CBS shortly after.
  • In the pilot presentation, there was a different bridal shop scene, a live-action opening credits featuring only Drescher that was set to "If My My Friends Could See Me Now" (performed by Gwen Verdon) and an office scene featuring Maxwell, C.C. and Niles that took place before Fran arrived at the Sheffield residence. The bridal shop scene was reshot, the live-action opening credits were scrapped, the live-action opening credits were replaced with a new animated opening credits and the office scene was excluded from the final product.
  • Most of the set designs in this episode differed from the ones used for the rest of the series. This because when filming a pilot episode for a proposed series, rented sets that were leftover from other television programs are used instead of purchasing all new sets. This is to save money just in case the pilot isn't picked up by a television network.
  • The set used for the house is from the cancelled NBC show The Powers That Be.
  • Val originally had dialogue in the bridal scene in the beginning, but they were cut out for the final product.
  • In the original script, Danny didn't dump Fran for Heather Biblow, but for Val; C.C. was a divorcee; the family name was Shurfeld instead of Sheffield; there was a chauffeur named Edmond, and Mr. Sheffield had only two children, Brighton and Grace. Maggie was added later.
  • In the pilot we see that the staircase and the front door are located on the left side of the house. We can also see two offices. After the pilot was picked up by CBS, they remodeled the house, changing the stairs and the door to the right. The two offices were only one. We see two because the office was also changed and the first scene was re-shot. Later, CBS kept the new one.
  • The show's pilot cost only US$25,000.
  • An original low-budget opening was used instead of the usual one used for the rest of the series. This opening featured Fran Fine against a white background getting ready for her daily duties as a nanny in front of a makeup mirror. The song was also different instead of "The Nanny Named Fran" performed by Ann Hampton Calloway, the original opening used "If My Friends Could See Me Now" by Gwen Verdon.
  • The bridal shop scene in the original pilot was also different, but after CBS picked up the series, the bridal shop scene was reshot because they thought that the original scene didn't quite explain the breakup between Fran and Danny.
  • A scene in the original pilot featuring Max Sheffield, Niles the Butler and C.C. Babcock was also shot and took place before Fran arrives at the Sheffield residence, but was excluded from the final product.
  • Fran was fired by Danny and he gave her job to Heather Biblow. However, in the animated opening sequence, we see Danny placing a "help wanted" sign in the window.
  • In this episode, Brighton Sheffield was ten years old, but after the show was picked up by CBS his age was changed to 12. If a person were to watch the show regularly, that person would probably there were several inconsistencies in the children's ages throughout the run of the show.

Gallery[]

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