When I was five years old, I snuck away from the men’s group during a family gathering to join the safe haven of my mom and grandma’s company in the living room. At the time, they were watching a classic 90s sitcom called The Nanny and they told me I should stay and watch because I would probably enjoy it. They knew I was a fruit that early on.
Everything about Fran Fine, the main character, was a dream come true: the updo, that signature red lipstick, those looks! Most of the humor and a lot of the storylines went over my head, but there was something about Nanny Fine that turned her into one of my earliest obsessions rivaled only by the likes of Disney princesses and the powerpuff girls. I still remember running around the house yelling “stay away from my husband you gorgeous woman with a perfect figure!” It was camp.
My preteens were a time when the worst insult boys my age could, and often would, use to the word “gay” in a derogatory way. This only made me more confused about who I liked and what that meant about me. That’s when the flashy girl from Flushing re-entered my life through the series’ Nick at Nite revival and my interest developed from an appreciation for a loud woman in flashy outfits to finding representation that decades later was still hard to come by. At sleepovers with other boys, the TV would be turned off after George Lopez and The Nanny fan in me remained closeted. But even as I came out of other closets and found myself in queer circels, the series remained absent from references and general conversations.
Aside from Courtney Act’s underwhelmingly safe snatch game impersonation, I hadn’t seen the show receive the 21st Century Golden Girls-like or Buffy-esque Queer Icon treatment until this past week. HBO Max added the series to its site and brought about a Dresher-Renaissance we are all lucky to be living through. From queer comedians and writers tweeting their takes on the show to a fancam of Fine’s slickets looks modeled to Megan Thee Estallion’s “Body” going viral, the queer Internet seems to have caught a case of Nanny-fever. And it was about time. There are countless reasons why the show and it’s star deserve to be inducted into the annals of Queer Cultural Icons of our time.
First, the mini-skirts, the suits, the stiletto heels; Nanny Fine was less concerned with her outfits’ efficiency and chose instead to make a statement. And several statements were made.
Drescher credits her personal style to other women in film such as Audrey Hepburn, Catherine Deneuve and Lucile Ball. The show’s stylist Brenda Cooper only elevated Drescher’s vision. From her Bob Mackie “Jewish Audrey Hepburn” moment to the endless array of Moschino suits, nanny Fine was one to turn out looks and stunt pretty, becoming many a young impressionable queer’s first beloved fashion icon.
The fashion is more than enough for any queer eye to fall in love, but the show also broke barriers through its LGBTQ inclusion throughout its run. Queerness was everywhere from subtle incorporation into the writing of straight characters, like Niles’ reads and CC’s endless array of shoulder pads. It wasn’t only the inclusion that makes the show stand out, but the inviting and accepting way in which queer characters were written. From the lesbian interested in Fran only being rejected by Fran’s mother because she was not Jewish to cousin Ira’s iconic Cher drag number, LGBTQ individuals fit perfectly into the flamboyant and ridiculous world of The Nanny.
Which brings us to the lady-in-red of the hour. How do I even begin to describe Fran Drescher? She’s got style, she’s got flair, she officiated more than three same-sex weddings. Her co-producer and husband of 21 years came out as gay and the two remain “soulmates and close friends,” an experience she turned into a successful sitcom of its own. Most of all, her inclusion of queerness into the show amidst the AIDS epidemic and at a time when supporting same-sex issues was still tabboo brought much needed visibility. Everything about Fran Drescher screams queer icon, a title she has accepted with open arms, putting herself at the level of Judy Garland. That spot over the rainbow is not an easy one to fill, but Drescher’s history of inspiring as well as uplifting the LGBTQ community makes her more than deserving.
I recently rewatched “A Fine Friendship”, Season Two’s episode in which Nanny Fine befriends a fellow nanny she assumed to be gay, and I was shocked by how well I remembered it. From the Hannah Barbera joke to the cut out red dress to Maggie thinking she’s pregnant, I remembered an episode I watched twice in the last 18 years almost word for word:
“What’s tiramisu?”
“I have no idea.”
“Oh my god, you’re not gay?!”
Unlike most of the queer inclusion in comedy at the time, a gay man was included for comedy purposes but was not the butt of the joke. Fran was let down by her friend’s heterosexuality, a concept so strange to me and yet so comforting: not only is it okay for me to be this way, but there’s a world in which it’s better that I was. It was that refreshing take that made all of my confusion less terrifying and has stuck with me throughout my development as a queer person.
Through its inclusion in streaming platforms, pieces of queer history such as Gilmore Girls and Mean Girls and all types of other “girls” have been introduced to the next generation of LGBTQ people. HBO Max’s move to include The Nanny has opened new doors for who the show can reach and just how much joy de vivre it can bring by bridging together generations of queer viewers and providing a certain warmth and lightheartedness particular to 90s sitcoms. Nanny Fine was not just teaching Mr. Sheffield’s kids to live unapologetic and honest lives, but she was also teaching an entire generation of queer kids that it was ok to be themselves. Now, a new one will get to feel the love and fun that is Nanny Fine.