May 2, 2006
The Nanny - The Complete Second Season
Rick Dunn READ TIME: 1 MIN.
By the time season two of The Nanny checked in, series star Fran Drescher knew she was review proof. With her machine gun laugh and constant parade of upscale hooker fashion, Drescher's Fran Fine was a garish update on Lucy, with a series of bumbling adventures buttressed by last minute saves. Week after week, Drescher recycled the same jokes about her age, shopping, and Jews.
Likewise, her nemesis, CC Babcock, and fey butler Niles kept their verbal catfight going, trading insults without mercy. The fact that the show's producers married them off in the final season is a perfect example of a show eating itself. The Nanny is all about familiarity, and obsession. It's absolutely predictable, but equally affable, and at times, was edgier than it's family sit-com format typically allows.
Series semi-regular Renee Taylor, appearing as Drescher's mom, remains the show's saving grace. An accomplished comic actress,. Taylor stepped up in season two, pretty much stealing every scene she's in.
This three-disc set, featuring all 26 episodes, offers guest appearances by the likes of Sally Jesse Raphael, Tyne Daly and Shari Lewis with creepy sock puppet Lambchop.
Obscure Nanny tidbit: Episode The Chatterbox, featuring Patrick Cassidy as hairdresser Mr. Anthony and Tracy Nelson, was set-up as a potential spin-off, but the network didn't bite, proving that every now and then, someone in TV makes the right decision.
An EDGE Founding Editor, Rick Dunn's writing has appeared in Bay Windows, The Windy City Times, Washington Blade, among many others. He also initiated The Boston Globe's very first (and last) gay column, Out & About in 2001. He was the editor of In Newsweekly from 1996 to 2003.
