An organization (or organisation — see spelling differences) is a social group which distributes tasks for a collective goal. The word itself is derived from the Greek word organon, itself derived from the better-known word ergon - as we know `organ` - and it means a compartment for a particular job.

1862 Diagram of the Federal Government and American Union.

There are a variety of legal types of organizations, including: corporations, governments, non-governmental organizations, international organizations, armed forces, charities, not-for-profit corporations, partnerships, cooperatives, and universities. A hybrid organization is a body that operates in both the public sector and the private sector, simultaneously fulfilling public duties and developing commercial market activities. As a result the hybrid organization becomes a mixture of a government and a corporate organization.

In the social sciences, organizations are the object of analysis for a number of disciplines, such as sociology, economics, political science, psychology, management, and organizational communication. The broader analysis of organizations is commonly referred to as organizational structure, organizational studies, organizational behavior, or organization analysis. A number of different perspectives exist, some of which are compatible:

• From a process-related perspective, an organization is viewed as an entity is being (re-)organized, and the focus is on the organization as a set of tasks or actions.
• From a functional perspective, the focus is on how entities like businesses or state authorities are used.
• From an institutional perspective, an organization is viewed as a purposeful structure within a social context.

In sociology[link]

Sociology can be defined as the science of the institutions of modernity; specific institutions serve a function, akin to the individual organs of a coherent body. In the social and political sciences in general, an "organization" may be more loosely understood as the planned, coordinated and purposeful action of human beings working through collective action to reach a common goal or construct a tangible product. This action is usually framed by formal membership and form (institutional rules). Sociology distinguishes the term organization into planned formal and unplanned informal (i.e. spontaneously formed) organizations. Sociology analyzes organizations in the first line from an institutional perspective. In this sense, organization is a permanent arrangement of elements. These elements and their actions are determined by rules so that a certain task can be fulfilled through a system of coordinated division of labor.

An organization is defined by the elements that are part of it (who belongs to the organization and who does not?), its communication (which elements communicate and how do they communicate?), its autonomy (which changes are executed autonomously by the organization or its elements?), and its rules of action compared to outside events (what causes an organization to act as a collective actor?).

By coordinated and planned cooperation of the elements, the organization is able to solve tasks that lie beyond the abilities of the single elements. The price paid by the elements is the limitation of the degrees of freedom of the elements. Advantages of organizations are enhancement (more of the same), addition (combination of different features) and extension. Disadvantages can be inertness (through co-ordination) and loss of interaction.

Organizational structures[link]

The study of organizations includes a focus on optimizing organizational structure. According to management science, most human organizations fall roughly into four types:

• Pyramids or hierarchies
• Committees or juries
• Matrix organizations
• Ecologies

Pyramids or hierarchies[link]

A hierarchy exemplifies an arrangement with a leader who leads other individual members of the organization. This arrangement is often associated with bureaucracy.

These structures are formed on the basis that there are enough people under the leader to give him support. Just as one would imagine a real pyramid, if there are not enough stone blocks to hold up the higher ones, gravity would irrevocably bring down the monumental structure. So one can imagine that if the leader does not have the support of his subordinates, the entire structure will collapse. Hierarchies were satirized in The Peter Principle (1969), a book that introduced hierarchiology and the saying that "in a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence."

Committees or juries[link]

These consist of a group of peers who decide as a group, perhaps by voting. The difference between a jury and a committee is that the members of the committee are usually assigned to perform or lead further actions after the group comes to a decision, whereas members of a jury come to a decision. In common law countries, legal juries render decisions of guilt, liability and quantify damages; juries are also used in athletic contests, book awards and similar activities. Sometimes a selection committee functions like a jury. In the Middle Ages, juries in continental Europe were used to determine the law according to consensus amongst local notables.

Committees are often the most reliable way to make decisions. Condorcet's jury theorem proved that if the average member votes better than a roll of dice, then adding more members increases the number of majorities that can come to a correct vote (however correctness is defined). The problem is that if the average member is subsequently worse than a roll of dice, the committee's decisions grow worse, not better: Staffing is crucial.

Parliamentary procedure, such as Robert's Rules of Order, helps prevent committees from engaging in lengthy discussions without reaching decisions.

Matrix organization[link]

This organizational type assigns each worker two bosses in two different hierarchies. One hierarchy is "functional" and assures that each type of expert in the organization is well-trained, and measured by a boss who is super-expert in the same field. The other direction is "executive" and tries to get projects completed using the experts. Projects might be organized by products, regions, customer types, or some other schema.

As an example, a company might have an individual with overall responsibility for Products X and Y, and another individual with overall responsibility for Engineering, Quality Control etc. Therefore, subordinates responsible for quality control of project X will have two reporting lines.

Ecologies [link]

This organization has intense competition. Bad parts of the organization starve. Good ones get more work. Everybody is paid for what they actually do, and runs a tiny business that has to show a profit, or they are fired.

Companies who utilize this organization type reflect a rather one-sided view of what goes on in ecology. It is also the case that a natural ecosystem has a natural border - ecoregions do not in general compete with one another in any way, but are very autonomous.

The pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline talks about functioning as this type of organization in this external article from The Guardian.

Organization theories[link]

Among the theories that are or have been most influential are:

• Enterprise architecture, is the conceptual model that defines the coalescence of organizational structure and organizational behavior.
• Actor-Network Theory
• Agency theory (sometimes called principal - agent theory)
• Contingency theory
• Complexity theory and organizations
• Critical management studies
• Economic sociology
• Garbage Can Model
• Human Relations Studies (going back to the Hawthorne studies, Maslow and Herzberg)
• Labour Process Theory
• Marxist organization analysis
• Network analysis
• New institutionalism and new institutional economics
• Organizational culture
• Organization ecology (or demography of organizations)
• Scientific management (mainly following Frederick W. Taylor)
• Social entrepreneurship
• Transaction cost economics
• Weberian organization theory (refer to Max Weber's chapter on Bureaucracy in his book 'Economy and Society')

Leadership in organizations[link]

A leader in a formal, hierarchical organization, who is appointed to a managerial position, has the right to command and enforce obedience by virtue of the authority of his position. However, he must possess adequate personal attributes to match his authority, because authority is only potentially available to him. In the absence of sufficient personal competence, a manager may be confronted by an emergent leader who can challenge his role in the organization and reduce it to that of a figurehead. However, only authority of position has the backing of formal sanctions. It follows that whoever wields personal influence and power can legitimize this only by gaining a formal position in the hierarchy, with commensurate authority.^[1]

Leadership in formal organizations[link]

An organization that is established as a means for achieving defined objectives has been referred to as a formal organization. Its design specifies how goals are subdivided and reflected in subdivisions of the organization. Divisions, departments, sections, positions, jobs, and tasks make up this work structure. Thus, the formal organization is expected to behave impersonally in regard to relationships with clients or with its members. According to Weber's definition, entry and subsequent advancement is by merit or seniority. Each employee receives a salary and enjoys a degree of tenure that safeguards him from the arbitrary influence of superiors or of powerful clients. The higher his position in the hierarchy, the greater his presumed expertise in adjudicating problems that may arise in the course of the work carried out at lower levels of the organization. It is this bureaucratic structure that forms the basis for the appointment of heads or chiefs of administrative subdivisions in the organization and endows them with the authority attached to their position.^[2]

Leadership in informal organizations[link]

In contrast to the appointed head or chief of an administrative unit, a leader emerges within the context of the informal organization that underlies the formal structure. The informal organization expresses the personal objectives and goals of the individual membership. Their objectives and goals may or may not coincide with those of the formal organization. The informal organization represents an extension of the social structures that generally characterize human life — the spontaneous emergence of groups and organizations as ends in themselves.^[2]

In prehistoric times, man was preoccupied with his personal security, maintenance, protection, and survival. Now man spends a major portion of his waking hours working for organizations. His need to identify with a community that provides security, protection, maintenance, and a feeling of belonging continues unchanged from prehistoric times. This need is met by the informal organization and its emergent, or unofficial, leaders.^[1]

Leaders emerge from within the structure of the informal organization. Their personal qualities, the demands of the situation, or a combination of these and other factors attract followers who accept their leadership within one or several overlay structures. Instead of the authority of position held by an appointed head or chief, the emergent leader wields influence or power. Influence is the ability of a person to gain cooperation from others by means of persuasion or control over rewards. Power is a stronger form of influence because it reflects a person's ability to enforce action through the control of a means of punishment.^[1]

See also[link]

Related lists[link]

• List of civic, fraternal, service, and professional organizations
• List of environmental organizations
• List of professional organizations
• List of trade unions

Notes[link]

References[link]

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (July 2009)

• Richard Scott. Organizations. ISBN 0-13-266354-6
• Richard Scott. Organizations and Institutions
• Charles Handy.Understanding Organizations
• Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull. The Peter Principle Pan Books 1970 ISBN 0-330-02519-8
• Ronald Coase (1937). "The Nature of the Firm" Economica, 4(16), pp. 386–405.
• Julie Morgenstern (1998). Organizing from the Inside Out. Owl Books ISBN 0-8050-5649-1
• Henry Mintzberg (1981). "Organization Design: Fashion or Fit" Harvard Business Review (January February),
• Thomas Marshak (1987). "organization theory," The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics, v. 3, pp. 757–60.
• Bent Flyvbjerg (2005). "Design by Deception: The Politics of Megaproject Approval." Harvard Design Magazine, no. 22, Spring/Summer issue, pp. 50-59.
• Daniel Katz; Robert Louis Kahn (1966). The social psychology of organizations. Wiley. OCLC 255184. 
• Richard Arvid Johnson (1976). Management, systems, and society : an introduction. Pacific Palisades, Calif.: Goodyear Pub. Co.. ISBN 0-87620-540-6 9780876205402. OCLC 2299496. 
• Virginia Satir (1967). Conjoint family therapy; a guide to theory and technique. Palo Alto, Calif.: Science and Behavior Books. OCLC 187068. 
• James G March; Herbert A Simon (1958). Organizations. New York: Wiley. ISBN 0-471-56793-0 9780471567936. OCLC 1329335. 
• Carl R Rogers; Fritz Jules Roethlisberger (1990). Barriers and gateways to communication. Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business Review. OCLC 154085959. 
• Hewlett, Roderic. (2006). The Cognitive leader. Rowman & Littlefield Pub Inc.
• Samson, D., Daft, R. (2005). Management: second Pacific Rim edition. Melbourne, Victoria: Thomson
• Charles Handy.21 Ideas for Managers: Practical Wisdom for Managing Your Company and Yourself, First ed San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2000 Print

External links[link]

• Research on Organizations: Bibliography Database and Maps
• TheTransitioner.org: a site dedicated to collective intelligence and structure of organizations

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2008)

Graham John Clifton Bond (28 October 1937  – 8 May 1974) was an English musician, considered a founding father of the English rhythm and blues boom of the 1960s.

Bond was an innovator, described as "an important, under-appreciated figure of early British R&B",^[1] along with Cyril Davies and Alexis Korner. Jack Bruce, John McLaughlin and Ginger Baker first achieved prominence in his group, the Graham Bond Organisation. Bond was voted Britain's New Jazz Star in 1961.^[2][3] He was an early user of the Hammond organ/Leslie speaker combination in British rhythm and blues^[4] - he "split" the Hammond for portability - and was the first British artist to record using a mellotron,^[4] on his "The Sound of '65" and "There's A Bond Between Us" LPs. As such he was a major influence upon later rock keyboardists: Deep Purple's Jon Lord said "He taught me, hands on, most of what I know about the Hammond organ".^[5]

Biography[link]

Bond was born in Romford, Essex. Adopted from a Dr. Barnardo's home,^[4] he was educated at the Royal Liberty School in Gidea Park, East London, where he learned music.^[4] His first jazz gig was in 1960 with the Goudie Charles Quintet, staying for a year. He first gained national attention as a jazz saxophonist as a member of the Don Rendell Quintet, then briefly joined Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated^[6] before forming the Graham Bond Quartet with musicians he met in the Korner group, Ginger Baker on drums and Jack Bruce on double bass,^[6] together with John McLaughlin on guitar; and adopting the Hammond organ as his main instrument.^[4] The group then became the Graham Bond Organization (GBO), while John McLaughlin was later replaced by Dick Heckstall-Smith on saxophones.

Lack of commercial success,^[7] plus internal struggles, brought an end to the group in 1967 as Bond's mental and physical health deteriorated. Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker had already left, to form Cream with Eric Clapton. Baker's replacement, Jon Hiseman, and Dick Heckstall-Smith went on to form Colosseum.^[8]

After the break-up of the Organization, Bond continued to exhibit mental disorders, with manic episodes and periods of intense depression, exacerbated by heavy drug use.^[4] Moving to America, he recorded two albums and performed session work for Harvey Mandel and Dr. John among others, but he returned to England in 1969.^[4] He then formed Graham Bond Initiation with his new wife Diane Stewart, who shared his interest in magick, and in 1970 Holy Magick, which recorded a self-titled album and We Put Our Magick On You. He was also re-united with old band members while playing saxophone in Ginger Baker's Air Force and spending a short time in the Jack Bruce Band.^[4] Solid Bond, a double-album compiling live tracks recorded in 1963 by the Graham Bond Quartet (Bond, McLaughlin, Bruce and Baker) and a studio session from 1966 by the Graham Bond Organisation (Bond, Heckstall-Smith and Hiseman) was released that same year.

In 1972 he teamed up with Pete Brown to record Two Heads are Better Than One.^[4] He also recorded an album with the John Dummer Band in 1973, although this was not released until 2008. After the near-simultaneous collapse of his band and his marriage, Bond then formed Magus with British folk-singer Carolanne Pegg and American bassist Marc Mazz, which disbanded around Christmas 1973 without recording. During that same period, he discovered American singer-songwriter-guitarist Mick Lee, and they played together live but never recorded. Plans to include Chris Wood of Traffic never materialized due to Bond's death.^{[citation needed]}

Bond's financial affairs were in chaos, and the years of lack of commercial success and the recent demise of Magus had badly hurt his pride.^{[citation needed]} Throughout his career he had been hampered with severe bouts of drug addiction, and spent January 1973 in hospital after a nervous breakdown.^{[citation needed]} On May 8, 1974, Bond died under the wheels of a train at Finsbury Park station, London, at the age of 36. Most sources list the death as a suicide. Friends agree that he was off drugs, although becoming increasingly obsessed with the occult (he believed he was Aleister Crowley's son).^{[citation needed]}

Discography[link]

• 1961 Roarin' with Don Rendell
• 1965 The Sound of 65
• 1965 There's a Bond Between Us
• 1969 Love Is the Law
• 1969 Mighty Grahame Bond
• 1970 Solid Bond – double album
• 1970 Holy Magick
• 1971 Live at Klooks Kleek
• 1971 Bond in America
• 1971 'This Is Graham Bond' – unreleased double album
• 1971 We Put Our Magick on You
• 1972 Two Heads Are Better Than One (with Pete Brown)

Bibliography[link]

• Bob Brunning (1986), Blues: The British Connection, London: Helter Skelter, 2002, ISBN 1-900924-41-2
• Bob Brunning, The Fleetwood Mac Story: Rumours and Lies Omnibus Press, 2004, foreword of B.B.King
• Dick Heckstall-Smith (2004), The Safest Place in the World: A personal history of British Rhythm and blues, Clear Books, ISBN 0-7043-2696-5 - First Edition : Blowing The Blues - Fifty Years Playing The British Blues
• Christopher Hjort, Strange brew: Eric Clapton and the British blues boom, 1965-1970, foreword by John Mayall,Jawbone (2007)ISBN 1-906002002
• Harry Shapiro, Alexis Korner: The Biography, Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, London 1997, Discography by Mark Troster
• Harry Shapiro, Graham Bond: The Mighty Shadow, Square One (UK), 1992

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Richie Unterberger, Unknown Legends of Rock 'n' Roll: Psychedelic Unknowns, Mad Geniuses, Punk Pioneers, Lo-fi Mavericks and More. Miller Freeman Press, 1998.

External links[link]

• Graham Bond Org
• Graham Bond Organization Discography

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2011)

The Nanny is an American television sitcom originally broadcast 1993–1999, starring Fran Drescher as Fran Fine, a Jewish Queens native who becomes the nanny of three children from the New York/British high society.

Created and executive produced by Drescher and her then-husband Peter Marc Jacobson, The Nanny took much of its inspiration from Drescher's personal life growing up in Queens, involving names and characteristics based on her relatives and friends. The show earned a Rose d'Or and one Emmy Award, out of a total of thirteen nominations, and Drescher was twice nominated for a Golden Globe and an Emmy. The sitcom has also spawned several foreign adaptations, loosely inspired by the original scripts.

Plot[link]

Jewish-American Fran Fine, fresh out of her job as a bridal consultant in her fiance's shop, first appears on the door step of Broadway producer Maxwell Sheffield (Charles Shaughnessy) peddling cosmetics, and quickly stumbles upon the opportunity to become the nanny for his three children. Soon Fran, with her off-beat nurturing and no-nonsense honesty, touches the whole family as she gives the prim-and-proper Maxwell and his children a dose of 'Queens logic,' helping them to become a healthy, happy family; a family that she later fully joins when she becomes engaged and then married to Maxwell. She then adds to this family of five when she and Maxwell have fraternal twins.

Other characters include sardonic butler Niles (Daniel Davis), and Maxwell's socialite business partner C. C. Babcock (Lauren Lane), who views Fran with jealousy and skepticism.

Cast[link]

Main cast[link]

The Nanny maintained an ensemble cast, keeping the same set of characters for its entire six-season run. Numerous secondary characters and love interests for these characters appeared intermittently to complement storylines that generally revolved around this core group.

Guest stars[link]

Although largely operating around the main ensemble cast, The Nanny featured an enormous number of guest stars over the years. Notable repeat guests included Lainie Kazan as Fran's paternal aunt Freida Fine,^[2] Steve Lawrence as Fran's never before seen father Morty Fine,^[2] Pamela Anderson as Fran's nemesis Heather Biblow,^[2] Ray Charles as Yetta's fiancé Sammy,^[2] Spalding Gray as Dr. Jack Miller,^[2] Fred Stoller for the frequently featured pharmacist Fred,^[2] and Andrew Levitas as Maggie's boyfriend.^[2]

Some celebrities guested as characters in single episodes, such as John Astin, Roseanne as Fran's cousin Sheila, and Joan Collins as Maxwell's stepmother, Robert Vaughn as Maxwell's father. Others appeared as themselves, primarily in connection with Maxwell's business relations, such as Bob Barker, Chevy Chase, Billy Ray Cyrus, Lesley-Anne Down, Erik Estrada, Dan Aykroyd, Joe Lando, Richard Kline, Bette Midler and Eydie Gorme, Jane Seymour, Cloris Leachman, Elizabeth Taylor, Elton John, Jason Alexander, Lamb Chop and Shari Lewis, Andrew Dice Clay, Lynn Redgrave, Hugh Grant, Margaret Cho, Jeanne Cooper, Melody Thomas Scott, Eric Braeden, Shemar Moore, Joshua Morrow and Hunter Tylo; media personalities Roger Clinton, Jr., Alicia Machado, Rita Moreno (who would later play Fran's mother, Dori, on her later series, Happily Divorced), Jay Leno, David Letterman, and Donald Trump; and musicians Lisa Loeb, Eartha Kitt, Brian Setzer, Celine Dion. Rapper Coolio, Whoopi Goldberg, Steve Lawrence and Rosie O'Donnell guest starred as both characters and themselves in different episodes. Two-time "Survivor" Jonathan Penner appeared as Fran's former fiance, Danny Imperialli. James Marsden appeared as Maggie's boyfriend, Eddie, and Telma Hopkins appeared as Fran's "mother" in the episode Fran's Roots. Scott Baio made an appearance as a rookie doctor who was a former schoolmate of Fran's (Fran was his first patient...ever). Jon Stewart portrayed a Jewish love interest of Fran's until it was discovered at a family wedding that the two were cousins; on the June 29, 2011 airing of The Daily Show, Stewart stated he agreed to make an appearance after receiving a personal call from Fran Drescher.^[3]

Marvin Hamlisch appeared as Fran's former high school music teacher, a Marvin Hamlisch look-alike. Fran Drescher also reprised her role of Bobbi Fleckman from the 1984 film This Is Spinal Tap and made a cameo appearance as actor "Fran Drescher" in the third to last episode. Charles Shaughnessy had a double role as a foreign sultan in one episode. Drescher's real-life parents, Morty and Sylvia, initially appeared as a couple in the waiting room of Grace's therapist and made subsequent appearances as Fran's Uncle Stanley and Aunt Rose; her Pomeranian Chester appeared as C.C.'s pet in more than a dozen episodes. Renée Taylor's husband, actor Joseph Bologna, and their son Gabriel Bologna, had minor roles as doctors on the show. Ray Romano appeared as Fran's former high school classmate Ray Barone, linking The Nanny with his comedy Everybody Loves Raymond. Tom Bergeron appeared as himself, the host of Hollywood Squares, in an episode in which Maxwell appeared as a star on the show's board as a replacement for Andrew Lloyd Webber. Tyne Daly appeared as a fellow nanny facing forced retirement. David Letterman made an uncredited appearance during a fantasy sequence, where Fran describes how she exaggerated her fame to impress a pen pal.

Theme song and opening credits[link]

Theme song[link]

The show's original theme was the song "If My Friends Could See Me Now", performed by Gwen Verdon from the 1966 Broadway musical Sweet Charity,^[4] but this theme was scrapped after the pilot episode, and it was only heard in the pilot episode in the original CBS run (all syndicated airings of the episode replaced the theme, and removed any mention of it in the closing credits).

The second theme song, "The Nanny Named Fran", which was written and performed by Ann Hampton Callaway and her sister Liz Callaway, would be the theme song for the remainder of the series (and would replace the former theme in syndicated reruns of the pilot episode). Two instrumental versions of the theme song were used in the closing credits, one that is a direct instrumental version of the theme (used only in a few season one episodes), and another that sounds slightly different from the theme song (although the end of the closing theme features an instrumental portion taken almost directly from the main title theme).

Opening credits[link]

The opening sequence for the pilot featured Fran in front of a white background, getting herself made up going to work as the nanny; at the end of the sequence, it shows Fran heading toward a stroller and a lipstick print appears to the above right.

Along with the change of the theme song from "If My Friends Could See Me Now" to "The Nanny Named Fran" came the change of the opening sequence, which like the theme, describes (with the main characters in animated form) the story of how Fran Fine went from being fired from the bridal shop by Danny Imperiali to becoming the nanny of the Sheffield children. The opening sequence remained the same even though Renée Taylor, Ann Guilbert and Rachel Chagall began to be credited as "starring" in the in-show credits beginning in season five. The only change to the sequence was in season six when producer Kathy Landsberg was promoted to co-executive producer of the series as her producer credit was moved to the in-show credits, while the creator credits of Drescher and Jacobson, and the developer credits of Sternin and Fraser were added in its place.

The animated opening sequence begins with Fran Fine walking into the bridal shop, only to be kicked out by Danny Imperalli. Then, she hitches a ride in a cab, crosses the bridge from Queens, New York to Manhattan and arrives at the Sheffield mansion. Maxwell Sheffield opens the door and observes Fran. Then, he pulls her inside and she falls into the flower pot. Niles dusts her off and puts a cap on her head that reads Nanny. Fran whistles for Maggie, Brighton and Gracie and the four of them form a conga line. C. C. arrives at the door and Fran bumps the door with her hip to close it in her face. Finally, the Sheffields, Niles and Fran gather on the couch for a group picture similar to that of the One Day at a Time series opening.

Production[link]

Development[link]

It was not until 1991 – the same year Drescher decided to visit friend Twiggy Lawson and her family in London, England, that the pair came up with early drafts for The Nanny. Inspired by a culture-clash shopping tour with Lawson's teenage daughter which saw Drescher actually functioning in a less parental but "humorous [...] kind of Queens logic, self-serving advice" mode,^[5] she convinced her husband starting work of what she called "doing a spin on [the 1965 film] The Sound of Music."^[5] However, it was not until a transatlantic flight to Paris that Drescher persuaded fellow passenger Jeff Sagansky, at the time president of CBS Corporation, for whom she and Lawson had starred in the short-lived TV series Princesses, to meet with her and Jacobson when Drescher returned to Los Angeles.^[6]

Back in Los Angeles, the pair pitched their idea to Tim Flack and Joe Voci, both in comedy development at CBS.^[5] Sagansky brought in experienced producers Robert Sternin and Prudence Fraser,^[5] another husband-and-wife team with whom Drescher had worked before while guesting on Who's the Boss? in 1985 and 1986. Interested, both couples teamed up to write the script for the pilot together, creating a character with the intention to build off Drescher's image. "Our business strategy was to create a show that was going to complement our writing, complement me as a talent,"^[5] Drescher said in a 1997 interview with the Hollywood Reporter. As a result, the characters draw deeply on the Drescher family, including Fran Fine's parents, Sylvia and Morty, and grandmother Yetta, who all were named after their real-life counterparts.^[7]

Crew[link]

7 East 75th Street on the Upper East Side of New York City was used for the exterior shots of the Sheffield townhouse.

Most of all early The Nanny episodes were shot in front of a live studio audience on Stage 6 at the Culver Studios generally on Friday nights. During later seasons the taping was no longer performed before an audience due to the complexities of the fantasy sequences, costume changes, etc. On Mondays, the cast went through the script as a table read. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, they rehearsed before the series' producers and executives. And, on Thursdays and Fridays, the series was shot using a multi-camera set up in front of a live studio audience.^[8]

Nearly 100 crew members were involved in the shooting of a single episode.^[9] Although Drescher, Fraser, Jacobson and Sternin, the show's only executive producers for the first four seasons, coordinated "pretty much everything" at the beginning,^[9] according to Sternin, they eventually found their niche and in the following years, Drescher and Sternin decided to focus on writing story outlines, while Jacobson presided over the writing team, and Fraser observed the run-throughs.^[9] The four of them were later joined by Frank Lombardi, Caryn Lucas and Diane Wilk, who served as the series' executive producer throughout the fifth and sixth season respectively.^[2]

Humor[link]

The comedy in The Nanny was formulated with many running gags, which contributed heavily to the success of the series. Much of this formula was character-based, with all major characters possessing a specific trait or quirks that provided a source of parody for other characters. The conflicting elements of each character's own comedy were often played off against one another (Fran and Maxwell, Niles and C.C., Maggie and Brighton). Occasionally the characters would break the fourth wall and comment on the situations themselves, or Fran would comment to the audience or look into the camera. Other running gags are the many references to Beatles songs and the musicals Fiddler On The Roof and My Fair Lady. Most of the humor Fran uses is aimed toward a Jewish audience. She makes references to Yiddish words and teaches the Sheffield children to be stereotypical Jews (to never pay retail price, to go after men like doctors, etc.) Much of this humor is featured in scenes including her mother Sylvia.

At times, they would also make fun of the star's previous careers or real life off-screen time. This was noticeable when Yetta saw her reflection in the mirror and thought she was seeing Millie Helper from The Dick Van Dyke Show (the role that Guilbert played on that long-running show), Maxwell remembering how he wanted to hire a former cast member from Days of Our Lives but thought he wasn't "British" enough (a reference to Charles Shaughnessy's former series), C.C. using props to hide Lauren Lane's real-life pregnancy at the time, and Fran meeting her idol—Fran Drescher—who gave her a hint on what she (the TV Fran) was going to do in the next scene in the second-to-last episode in the last season.

More running gags include Fran's frequent references to classic TV sitcoms (Such as Gilligan's Island and Bewitched) and her many eccentric family members (some never shown, most of them dying); Fran lying about her age—especially to men; Maxwell fighting through his rivalry with actual Broadway producer Andrew Lloyd Webber; Sylvia loving food in excess; Niles delivering sharp one-liners, often aimed at C.C.; C.C. cold-heartedly reacting to situations that are usually sentimental to others (e.g. the death of Bambi's mother); Gracie psychologically analyzing various situations; Niles getting fired because he embarrasses Maxwell or gives Fran ideas that Maxwell extremely dislikes (like the time when Niles suggested that Max, C.C. and Fran go to the Streisand house); Fran and Val lacking intelligence and obsessing over material possessions (e.g. clothes); Frequent references to Fran's flamboyant wardrobe and her "big hair"; Fran frequently mentioning shopping at Loehmann's; Yetta making disconnected comments revealing her senility; Fran criticizing Maxwell's and Niles' reserved and inhibited British nature; Brighton morphing into a hopeless dork; Fran's attraction to Jewish males; Maxwell passing up the incredibly popular musical, Cats, then becoming upset when such an idiotic idea became a success; Niles' last name never being revealed; C.C. covering her long-unrevealed name (finally given as Chastity Claire in the series finale); C.C. failing to remember the names of the Sheffield children (even convinced by Niles in one episode that there was another child Sydney; note: she didn't have trouble remembering in the early seasons); Sylvia constantly nagging Fran to get married; Fran finding solace in food when she's depressed; Fran's father, Morty often featured in the series but never actually seen (until portrayed by Steve Lawrence in a few later episodes); Morty's only physical trait being the fact that he is bald, in which he is always comically losing his wig, and has several head mannequins to hold different wigs; Niles offering obvious hints to Maxwell and Fran about them realizing they should be together and hints from each other; C.C. pining over her unrequited romantic interest in Maxwell; and Fran obsessing with Barbra Streisand. There was also the occasional tryst between Niles and C.C., contrasting with their typical open disdain for each other, which was actually love. Season 4 featured a running gag where both Fran and Maxwell kept secret from the other household members "The Thing" (the fact that in the season 3 finale Maxwell tells Fran he loves her, but then in the Season 4 premiere he takes it back). It's also following "The Thing" that whenever Maxwell makes comments denying he has feelings for Fran, she is temporary "paralyzed" (she can't feel her arm, her entire left side shuts down, etc.).

In addition, there is also a great deal of physical comedy in The Nanny including exaggerated falls and chases. Drescher's facial expressions, when shocked or surprised, can also be seen as reminiscent of Lucille Ball's portrayals of Lucy Ricardo and Lucy Carmichael. The parallels were suggested in a few episodes, where an exasperated Mr. Sheffield refers to Fran as "Mrs Carmichael," and asks in another: "Mr. Mooney fire you from the bank again?" Another Lucy reference (in which the family travels to Hollywood) is when he alludes to Fran and "Ethel" stealing John Wayne's footprints, and again when Maxwell says "Miss Fine, you got' some 'splaining to do!" like Ricky Ricardo often said to Lucy Ricardo. The episode that featured a visit from Elizabeth Taylor began with Maxwell and Niles trying to hide the visit from Fran ("Boys, boys, boys. Now do you think my mother gave birth to a dummy 25 years ago?") followed by her gripe "You never introduce me to any of the stars that you know; I've got a good mind to take Little Ricky and... oh. Never mind." Also, there was a reference from the episode of I Love Lucy called "Ricky has Labor Pains" where, Lucy and Ethel dress up like men and go to Ricky's daddy shower. In an episode of The Nanny, Fran sees a man watching I Love Lucy on TV and the theme song plays and she gets a sneaky look on her face and she goes to Mr. Sheffield's mens only club dressed as a man. Viewers for Quality Television calls The Nanny "the 90s version of I Love Lucy. It was well written and entertaining".^[10]

Impact[link]

Reception[link]

The show performed poorly its first year. When it was nearly canceled, Sagansky stepped in as its champion. According to Jacobson: "At all those affiliate meetings, he used to say, 'Stick by The Nanny!' He knew it was something special."^[11] The sitcom was the first new show delivered to CBS for the 1993 season and the highest-tested pilot at the network in years.^[5] The series was also hugely successful internationally, especially in Australia,^[11] where it was one of the highest rated programs during the mid-late 1990s.

Although soon emerging as a favorite among the company, sponsors questioned whether the writers had ventured too far in terms of ethnicity and Drescher acted too obviously Jewish.^[5] The actress, however, declined to change Fran Fine into an Italian American: "On TV, you have to work fast, and the most real, the most rooted in reality to me is Jewish. I wanted to do it closest to what I knew."^[12] By contrast, the producers came to the conclusion that to oppose her should be a family of British origin, so "she wouldn't come across as Jewish so much as the American you were rooting for," Sternin explained. "The idea was to make her the American girl who happens to be Jewish rather than the Jewish girl working for the WASPs."^[5]

Ratings[link]

Note: Ratings for the first four seasons are for household ratings, not viewership figures.

Reunion special[link]

Syndication[link]

The show began off-network syndication in September 1998, distributed by Columbia TriStar Television Distribution (now Sony Pictures Television Distribution) on various broadcast television networks in the U.S. The show had aired on Lifetime Television from 2000 until 2008. The show can be seen currently on Nick at Nite in the United States, The Hallmark Channel in the Philippines, Super RTL and VOX in Germany, and Go! and TV1 in Australia. On February 8, 2010, Fran Drescher hosted a week-long marathon of The Nanny, titled "Valentine Schmalentine", on Nick at Nite. The success of the stunt led to Fran hosting "Falling for Fran," a similar week-long Valentine's Day marathon in February 2011. On August 2, 2010, The Nanny began airing on TV Land, commencing with a week-long marathon. On January 1, 2011, The Nanny began airing on Antenna TV, a new digital broadcast network. On August 16, 2011, "The Nanny" began airing on Logo (TV channel).

International syndication[link]

Outside of North America, The Nanny is broadcast in various other countries and television networks, each with their own schedule for the series. In the United Kingdom, the entire series aired on the digital network Living. In France, the show was broadcast and rebroadcast the same multi-and was a huge success on the channel M6. The French title is "Une Nounou d'enfer" (A Nanny from hell/wonderful). The character of Fran Fine is very famous in France.

Other countries where The Nanny airs include the following:

International syndication
Country / Region	Name	Television Network	Dubbing / Subtitles
Austria	Die Nanny (English: "The Nanny")	ORF1 (2005),[18] ATV (2006–2010)	German
Australia	The Nanny	Network Ten (1995–1999), Nine Network (2008–2009), Go! (2009–present), GEM (2010–present), TV1	None
Belgium	The Nanny	Eén, Vt4, vijftv	Dutch subtitles
Belgium	Une Nounou d'enfer (English: "A Wonderful Nanny")	Plug RTL (2011–2012)	French
Brazil	Nanny	Rede Record, Rede 21, SET	Portuguese dubbing
Catalonia	La Tata (English: "The Nanny")	TV3	Catalan dubbing
Croatia	Dadilja (English: "Nanny")	RTL Televizija[19]	Croatian subtitles
Czech Republic	Chůva k pohledání (English: "Nanny")	TV Prima[20]	Czech dubbing
Denmark	Alletiders barnepige (English: "Full time nanny")	TV3[21]	Danish subtitles
Estonia	Nanny	TV3	Estonian subtitles
Finland	Nanny	Nelonen	Finnish subtitles
France	Une nounou d'enfer (English: "A Wonderful Nanny")	M6,	French
Germany	Die Nanny (English: "The Nanny")[22]	VOX (2002–2010), Super RTL (2007–present), RTL (1995–2002), FOX Germany (2010)	German dubbing
Greece	Ntanta amesou draseos (English: "Urgent nanny")	Mega, Alpha, Macedonia TV	Greek subtitles
Hungary	A dadus (English: "The Nanny")	TV2, RTL Klub, Cool TV	Hungarian
Israel	Nanny	Channel 3	Hebrew subtitles
Italy	La tata (English: "The Nanny")	Canale 5 (1995), Italia 1 (1996–2000)	Italian dubbing
Lithuania	Auklė (English: "Nanny")	TV3	Lithuanian dubbing
Malaysia	The Nanny	TV2, Astro	Bahasa Malaysia subtitles
Netherlands	The Nanny	RTL 5	Dutch subtitles
Norway	Nanny	TV3	Norwegian subtitles
Poland	Pomoc domowa (English: "House helper")	TV Puls, Polsat, TVN7	Polish
Portugal	Competente e Descarada (English: "Competent and shameless")	TVI	?
Romania	Dădaca (English: "Nanny")	Pro TV, Pro Cinema	?
Russia	Няня (English: "Nanny")	Domashny, ДТВ	Russian dubbing
Sweden	Nanny	TV3	Swedish subtitles
Switzerland	Die Nanny (English: "The Nanny")	SF2 (2006–2008)	German
Thailand	The Nanny	Hallamrk, TrueVisions	Thai
United Kingdom	The Nanny	Living TV	None
Canada	The Nanny	TVTropolis	None

DVD releases[link]

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has released seasons 1, 2 & 3 of The Nanny on DVD in regions 1, 2 & 4. Season 3 was released on March 17, 2009 in Region 1, almost 3 years after the release of season 2.^[23]

Awards[link]

Foreign adaptations[link]

Countries with local versions

The Nanny was shown in more than eighty countries worldwide. In addition, several local versions of the show have been produced in other countries. These shows follow the original scripts very closely, but with minor alterations in order to adapt to their respective country's culture. The remake in Russia was so popular that some original American writers were commissioned to write new scripts after all original episodes were remade.^[24]

See also[link]

• List of television show franchises

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: The Nanny

• Official website
• The Nanny at the Internet Movie Database
• The Nanny at TV.com

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