As the very catchy theme song informed us at the beginning of every episode, the nanny in question was working in a bridal shop--in Flushing, Queens--until her boyfriend kicked her out, in a crushing scene apparently. Taking a job selling cosmetics door to door, Fran Fine stumbled into the life of a posh Manhattan widower and his three children.

Fran Drescher played the sassy, brassy and not-very-classy Fran Fine, who by virtue of being in the right place at the right time was hired by Maxwell Sheffield as his children's nanny. Fran wasn't exactly maternal but her no-nonsense Queens attitude was just the shake-up the family needed. Maxwell was a kind man whose hectic professional life as a Broadway theater producer took him away from his family frequently, so Fran stepped in to wrangle the Sheffield children: Maggie, the eldest teenager; Brighton, the mischievous middle child; and Gracie, a very serious little girl with too much ennui for one so young.

Niles the snobbish butler at first regarded Fran as something the cat dragged in but the two warmed to each other soon and were often found in cahoots. Maxwell's business associate was C.C. Babcock, a haughty, Town-and-Country socialite who loathed Niles and saw Fran as an adversary for Maxwell's affection. Poor C.C. had a tremendous crush on the dapper Mr. Sheffield and schemed to gain his attention but Maxwell was oblivious to her womanly wiles (especially when Fran was in the room). Niles and C.C. engaged in a prolonged war of insults, pranks, sabotage and slap fights that provided much of the show's humor.

After five long seasons of Fran bleating 'Mr. Sheffieeeeld!' in a voice that could etch steel, she and Maxwell got married to the delight of everyone but C.C. The season after that, Fran gave birth to twins, adding to the loving family she had brought together.

The series was very successful and featured a slew of guest stars like Ray Charles, Elizabeth Taylor, Jay Leno, Elton John, Eartha Kitt, Chevy Chase, Bette Midler, Donald Trump and many, many others. The Nanny appealed to audiences around the world and many countries actually adapted the concept into local series of their own.