The 90s sitcom Nanny to Watch is a unique example of acceptance of the LGBT community. It's no coincidence that actress Fran Drescher is a gay icon
Fran Fine as a model outsider
Although it can be assumed to some extent that almost everyone has at least a basic understanding of "The Nanny," for those who haven't avidly followed the show, let's summarize that the main character is the nanny Fran Fine (Fran Drescher), on whom the entire show actually stands and falls. Fran loves crazy fashion, her hairstyle would be the envy of any drag queen, she is unmissable but also unlistenable (both in the original and in the Czech dub). Moreover, she comes from Queens (from Flushing) and is Jewish, which puts her and the priors in the position of outsiders. Nevertheless, she has confidence to spare and does not lose it even in a direct "clash" with the upper class in Manhattan, where she coincidentally becomes a nanny to the three children of music producer Maxwell Sheffield. Fran is simply herself in all circumstances - no matter who she comes into contact with. That moment alone is what many LGBT viewers say is what is so inspiring about the entire series. Fran never "censors" the way she looks, the way she acts, or what she says. And in fact, she is such a universal gay ideal (by the way, her seemingly crazy fashion fads are also no bargain wardrobe, they are overwhelmingly designer pieces from Moschino, Chanel, Thierry Mugler, etc.).
A series that breaks stereotypes
That "The Nanny" would be a show that would embrace all variations of LGBT identity without any major problems was clear from the start. The sitcom (which, it should be added, aired between 1993 and 1999!) also very deliberately broke down a number of stereotypes. Thus, in the episode "Fine Friendship", Fran befriends a "male nanny", Kurt (Christopher Rich), whom she is convinced is gay. The episode deliberately works with classic stereotypes such as Kurt's interest in perfect looks and a well-developed body, as well as his love of Broadway musicals. However, it is subsequently revealed that Kurt is heterosexual and is in fact interested in Fran. While Fran got along with Kurt perfectly well up until the moment she thought he was gay, she panics the moment she realizes how things are...
A similar pattern then appears in the fourth season in the episode Oy Vey, You're Gay - in which Fran learns that the woman she thought was her "competitor" in romantic relationships is actually a lesbian and is interested in her. Even at this point, however, Fran's reaction is very progressive for the time when the series was filmed - she simply asks the woman if she is Jewish like her, and casually jokes that her mother would undoubtedly be happy about such a relationship. "The Nanny" is simply kind and inclusive, which in many cases cannot be said of the series production of the decades that followed.
It is through this practice - that is, by showing how many stereotypes work (and that they are certainly not universally valid) that "The Nanny" then became truly groundbreaking. As even columnist Matt Baume summarizes in his current analysis, some television genres are only now catching up to what Fran and The Nanny routinely did back in the mid-1990s. "It took until 2020 for Lifetime and Hallmark TV stations to make Christmas movies about same-sex couples. So it's really astounding that Fran the Nanny, played by Fran Drescher, was already completely LGBT-open and accepting in 1993," Baume sums up.
Zdroj: Giphy
Queer/LGBT content, meanwhile, was quite "wild" in terms of conception in the 1990s - although it was around this time that LGBT characters began to gradually make their way onto TV screens, their portrayal was usually very questionable. This is because they usually appeared as a "one-off diversion" and were classically a "problem" that was solved in a single episode (when the character in question disappeared with the end credits). "It was very easy for sitcoms in the 1990s to template gay characters as shocking, to pass them off as a source of trouble or simply something to be avoided - and that's exactly what many shows did at the time. In Fran's case, it was absolutely groundbreaking that queer themes were featured in the storyline, but they were not the subject of any 'crisis'," Baume also describes.
Fran = 2in1
In the case of "The Nanny", however, one certainly can't overlook its lead actress, Fran Drescher, who was also a member of the entire creative team. In fact, the actress herself is considered a great fighter for the rights of LGBT people, and was even married for 21 years to Marc Jacobson (who was also the main creator of "The Nanny"), who was outed in 1999. Despite their subsequent divorce, however, Jacobson and Drescher remained in close contact and eventually filmed another sitcom together, Happily Divorced, in 2011.
That "The Nanny" will definitely not simply end up in the annals of sitcom history is also indicated by the fact that Fran Drescher has spoken openly several times in recent years about the ever-advancing idea of a certain "reboot" of the series. As the actress has also hinted, the character of the unconventional nanny could reportedly be played by Cardi B. Drescher also said that she has already approached the show's co-creator Rachel Bloom to adapt it into a stage musical. Whether "The Nanny" will actually return (and in what form) is still up in the air, but at least on HBO Max, the sitcom can now be enjoyed again from beginning to end.
