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73 of 75 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"She was working in a bridal shop in Flushing, Queens....", July 13, 2005
Fran Drescher's career-making sitcom THE NANNY finally comes to DVD with this well-produced box set of the first season. Fran Fine (Fran Drescher) is a door-to-door cosmetics salesgirl from Queens who unwittingly becomes nanny to the children of rich Broadway producer Maxwell Sheffield (Charles Shaughnessy). As confidante to shy Maggie (Nicolle Tom), mischevious Brighton (Benjamin Salisbury) and junior couch-case Gracie (Madeline Zima), Fran discovers a whole new way of life, living in ritzy Manhattan and meeting the famous celebrities Max hires to star in his various shows.
Bringing Fran back to real life - and always there for a helping hand - is Max's deadpan butler Niles (Daniel Davis), along with her mother Sylvia (Renee Taylor), Grandma Yetta (Ann Guilbert) and best friend Val (Rachel Chagall). And there's also Max's frosty business associate CC Babcock (Lauren Lane) who is noticing the growing attraction between Max and Fran...and is as jealous as hell!
The first season of THE NANNY perfectly sets up the premise and the main characters. Classic eps include "Smoke Gets in Your Lies" where Fran catches Brighton smoking, and introduces him to her chain-smoking Grandma Yetta as a warning; "The Nuchshlep" where Fran becomes the third wheel in Maggie's lovelife; "Imaginary Friend" where Fran accidentally eats Gracie's imaginary buddy Imogene; "The Nanny-in-Law" where Max's childhood Nanny Mueller (Cloris Leachman) visits, gets Fran's blood boiling...and gets Niles hot under the collar; and "The Gym Teacher" where Fran confronts her sadistic former gym instructor Miss Wickervich (Rita Moreno).
Select episodes also feature audio commentary from the always-delightful Fran Drescher. THE NANNY was and remains a very popular sitcom, and now the first season is on DVD, hopefully more volumes are set to follow.
COMPLETE EPISODE LISTING:
"Pilot" - Fran knocks on the Sheffield door and is mistakenly hired as the new nanny...and proceeds to immediately start changing their lives for the better.
"Smoke Gets in Your Lies" - Brighton is caught smoking at school, but blames the situation on Fran talking about the chain-smoking cool kid she knew during her highschool days.
"My Fair Nanny" - Fran and Maggie are hosting a society tea to help Maggie fit in at school, but CC tries to interfere.
"The Nuchshlep" - Maggie goes on her very first date with Eddie but Max insists that Fran tags along as protection. Unfortunately, Eddie seems to like Fran better.
"Here Comes the Brood" - CC is jealous of how attached the children are to Fran, so to prove she can be maternal too, she takes them to the zoo.
"The Butler, the Husband, the Wife and Her Mother" - Sylvia lies to her snooty cousin Marsha, and tells her that Fran and Max are married.
"Imaginary Friend" - The repeated appearance of Gracie's imaginary best friend Imogene has been cause for concern, leading to a horrifying experience for Gracie when Fran accidentally 'eats' her.
"The Christmas Show" - Max has to be out of town for the holidays. Meanwhile, Fran has written bad checks for her gifts to the children, mistakenly counting on getting a big fat Christmas bonus.
"Personal Business" - Brock Storm, a popular soap star, is trying to schmooze into appearing in Max's new Broadway play, demands a date with Fran as part of the package.
"The Nanny-in-Law" - Max's childhood Nanny Mueller comes to visit and quickly causes friction with Fran.
"A Plot for Nanny" - It's Fran's 30th and Sylvia has given her matching His and Her's cemetary plots, but while trying to return them, Fran becomes smitten with the handsome funeral director.
"The Show Must Go On" - Fran volunteers to be the director of Gracie's school show. All goes well until Max butts in and decides to take charge.
"Maggie the Model" - Max's old girlfriend, renowned former supermodel Chloe Simpson, decides that Maggie has the potential to become a leading catwalk sensation.
"The Family Plumbing" - Brighton falls in love with Fran's pint-sized cousin Tiffany when her Uncle Irving is called to fix the plumbing at the mansion.
"Deep Throat" - Fran takes Gracie to the doctor but he instead recommends that Fran needs have her own tonsils taken out.
"Schlepped Away" - The nasty New York winter has the entire household yearning for sun and sand, but the getaway is delayed when they become stranded at Sylvia's.
"Stop the Wedding, I Want to Get Off" - Max's sister Jocelyn comes to visit with the news of her impending marriage to a boring aristocrat.
"Sunday in the Park with Fran" - Max and CC are opening a new play and are trying to schmooze a cranky critic...until Fran and her lethal baguette enter the scene.
"The Gym Teacher" - Fran discovers her highschool tormentor Miss Wickervich is now the main reason why Maggie is flunking gym.
"Ode to Barbara Joan" - Could Fran be about to walk down the aisle with CC's father Stuart? It's amazing what a couple of backstage passes to Barbra Streisand's concert will achieve!
"Frannie's Choice" - Danny and Heather Biblow have broken up and Danny wants Fran to return to the bridal shop and marry him.
"I Don't Remember Mama" - It's Mothers Day but Max decides to keep the children busy so they won't have time to ponder their dead mother.
"The Playwright" - Fran forces Brighton to accompany school nerd 'The Brooke Worm' to the school dance.
"A Star is Unborn" - Fran is cast as Juliet in an avant-garde production of the Shakespeare classic, but taking time away from her duties causes nothing but trouble.
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86 of 93 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Nanny on DVD at last, May 29, 2005
It's about time that they brought The Nanny out on DVD. It is the funniest sitcom that ever hit TV. Fran Drescher and the entire cast made watching so enjoyable that I couldn't wait until the next episode. My only regret is that they are binging out one season at a time. I'm ready to buy all 6 seasons now. I'm sure that there are a lot more fans like myself who would do the same thing. Can hardly wait until I have the first season in my hands. Great show.
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
IT'S ABOUT TIME!!, June 25, 2005
I don't know how many times I have typed 'The Nanny DVD (box set)' on various websites, hoping it was released on DVD. Many times, I was disappointed. I just read about the upcoming release of this box set and I couldn't be any happier. The Nanny is one of the best shows, I've seen every episode over and over again..now, I can see them anytime that I want to. Fran Drescher is perfect as Fran Fine, there is just something about her that draws you in to the show. Her voice and whine bring a touch of hilarity to the show, along with Niles' (Daniel Davis) constant bashing on C.C. (Lauren Lane) This show makes you want to watch. It makes you hope that something will finally come about romantically between Fran and Maxwell (Charles Shaughnessy) I haven't even touched on how great this show is. I have a listing for the first season episodes, I think this is what can be expected on this DVD set:
Episode 1.1: Pilot-Fran Fine is fired from her job at a bridal boutique. She then takes a job selling make-up door to door, where she stumbles across the home of Maxwell Sheffield. He is trying to find a nanny for his three children, who recently lost their mother. Maxwell decides to try Fran out.
Episode 1.2: Smoke Gets in Your Lies-Fran boo-boos when she talks about her "good old" rebellious high school days and Brighton reads that as a green light to try smoking, which infuriates Maxwell when he finds out. Fran tries to redeem herself by showing Brighton a real life example of a smoker: her chain-smoking Grandma Yetta.
Episode 1.3: My Fair Nanny-Maxwell and Fran get together to throw a coming-out party for Maggie, but they can't agree on just how "out" Maggie can come!
Episode 1.4: The Nuchslep-Maggie finally gets a date, but trouble ensues when the date likes Fran more than he likes Maggie.
Episode 1.5: Here Comes the Brood-C.C. tries her hand at taking the children to the zoo, but when the whole affair is a dismal failure, C.C. tells the children that Fran only spends time with them because she is paid to. So Grace runs away to find Nanny Fine at her parents' house, and ends up at the wedding of a friend of the Fines'.
Episode 1.6: The Butler, the Husband, the Wife and Her Mother-Niles is worried because the Butler's association is coming to evaluate him. Meanwhile, Fran's mother tells some friends that Fran is married to Maxwell. Well, when one thing leads to another, Fran is impersonating the lady of the house, Niles is impersonating her husband "Maxwell", and Maxwell is impersonating Niles!
Episode 1.7: Imaginary Friend-Fran is in big trouble when she accidently eats Grace's imaginary friend, prompting a scolding from Maxwell, and a trip to the shrink for Grace, Maxwell and Fran.
Episode 1.8: Christmas Episode-Fran spends her first Christmas at the Sheffields, but she is appalled when she finds out that Maxwell hires a professional "gift buyer" to get the children's gifts. So she scolds him into getting a "gift from the heart", which he does - for the children, AND for Fran, costing her a Christmas cash bonus!
Episode 1.9: Personal Business-Fran figures she only has one life to live, so she agrees to help Maxwell close a casting deal by dating a young and restless soap-opera star (Stephen Nichols), whom she sends to "another world".
Episode 1.10: The Nanny-In-Law-When Maxwell's childhood nanny (Cloris Leachman) visits, she is appalled by Fran's unique child care methods.
Episode 1.11: A Plot for Nanny-Fran's mother has a surprise gift for her: a cemetery plot. And it's not exactly a grave undertaking for Fran when she begins dating the gorgeous funeral (Matt McCoy).
Episode 1.12: The Show Must Go On-The spotlight is on Fran when Maxwell volunteers her to direct Grace's school production, but he soon upstages her by taking over.
Episode 1.13: Maggie the Model-Maxwell's supermodel old flame (Lesley-Anne Down) returns, prompting Maggie to try to become a model.
Episode 1.14: The Family Plumbing-Fran's doddering Uncle Irving shows up to fix the plumbing, and he's assisted by Fran's young cousin Tiffany, whom Fran catches kissing Brighton... in the bathtub!
Episode 1.15: Deep Throat-Fran is the one who requires TLC when she has to have her tonsils removed, and Maxwell puts C.C.'s reunion on hold to await the outcome of Fran's surgery.
Episode 1.16: Schlepped Away-It's the Holidays, and the Sheffields are heading off to the tropics, so Nanny Fine gets herself invited. All seems to be going well, until everyone gets snowed in at Fran's parents' house, including all of the Sheffields, Niles, and C.C., who is crushed at missing her vacation off with the "Senator". So Sylvia and Fran try and make everyone at home in their small Flushing abode.
Episode 1.17: Stop the Wedding, I Want to Get Off-Maxwell is ecstatic that he's going to get see his sister (Twiggy Lawson) who is coming to New York to get married, but it doesn't take Fran long to figure out that Maxwell's sister only has eyes for her chauffeur.
Episode 1.18: Sunday in the Park with Fran-When Grace is getting bullied by the son of an influential theater critic, C.C. convinces Maxwell that Grace should invite the child over to smooth things over. But when the boy is a beast, and Fran hits him with a baguette, it's all Maxwell can do to convince the critic that no harm was done and that C.C. and Maxwell's play should still get a good review.
Episode 1.19: The Gym Teacher-Maggie has a new gym teacher: the same tough-as-a-drill-sergeant gym teacher who terrorized Fran in high school. So Fran rides to the rescue and challenges the teacher for Maggie.
Episode 1.20: Ode to Barbara Joan (a.k.a. Daddy Dearest)-C.C.'s father (Robert Culp) invites Fran to a Streisand concert, upsetting C.C.
Episode 1.21: Frannie's Choice-Danny, the guy who originally dumped Fran, gets dumped by his girlfriend, so he proposes to Fran, who says yes. But no one is happy about this, including Niles, her mother or the Sheffield family, and Fran is left to decide whether leaving the Sheffields is the right thing to do.
Episode 1.22: I Don't Remember Mama-Fran encourages Maxwell to *not* try and take the kids' minds off Mother's Day, so Maxwell takes them to the country club, where Fran promptly enters herself and Grace in a "Mother-Daughter Beauty Pagent".
Your box set collection will not be complete without this. I hope the other seasons are released in this format as well.
**NOTE** It says 24 episodes are on this box set, but all the episode guides I've read have 22 for the first season..so if there are indeed 24, this is all the information I could dig up.
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