She Is The Lady in Red When Everybody Else Is Wearing Tan

I have a new bad habit that's driving my boyfriend insane; I keep watching The Nanny. Back in my younger days when Nick at Nite would show proper TV shows like I Love Lucy and Dragnet, I'd make myself stay up for hours just so I could watch it. I loved Lucille Ball and I still do. Her show was engaging and silly and funny and it just made everything seem okay, much like all the other family shows of the '40s and '50s. I never watched the episodes in color, only black and white, and without little Ricky. I just liked the interaction between Lucy and Ricky and Ethel and Fred. But now Nick at Nite (Nickelodeon after a certain hour) shows TV programs from the early '90s and not only does this make me feel old (really? Fresh Prince?) it just doesn't have the same air of nostalgia. Except, two shows have kind of grown on me and I just keep watching them. It's not my fault they're on at night when nothing else is and I'm getting ready for bed and need my TV time before sleeping.

The George Lopez Show is basically an exercise in Hispanic stereotypes but it won me over with the line, "Your mother and I have NEVER set foot in a disco. WE ARE A METAL FAMILY." I catch it when it's on now as one of those silly sitcoms you can keep on in the background while you do other stuff. The other show is The Nanny. It's on almost every evening for hours and I just, sort of, kind of, have fallen in love with it. Fran Drescher in the role of Fran Fine the nanny is amazing. She's loud, obnoxious, but confident, rather beautiful in a different out-of-the-norm way, but her voice grates on your nerves, and still you can't help but be enthralled by the train wreck she is. The supporting cast are lovable and create the perfect "straight" characters for her and the rest of her family to bounce off of. Pairing the New York jews with the New York gentiles makes some of the best comedic studies in contrasts. I always love mock enemies on sitcoms so the way the butler Niles and Fran's boss, the famous Max Sheffield's, business associate Cici bicker is so silly and filled with lame zingers, I love it.

Not to mention her outfits! The show is known for having outlandish costumes, especially on Fran and her mother, grandmother, friends. But some of them are kind of awesome. I couldn't really find any examples of the costumes I loved but there was one episode where she had a flipped out bob, a dark sweater, and the best, most colorful skirt that made her look like the perfect mod. In fact, she channels the '60s British mod look quite often and I love it. The episodes where Joan Collins starred as her boss's dad's secretary-turned-wife were incredible. Shoulder pads, zebra print, and bold red were the theme of that episode and I loved watching two characters known for their over-the-top ensembles play off of each other. Plus, I love anything leopard print (I just got the Jeffrey Campbell leopard wedges, and have about 3 dresses in various prints of the animal) and Miss Fine is definitely not lacking in that pattern. They're loud outfits but they have personality and they just seem to work so well on her because no matter how bizarre they are, they're always cut to flatter her figure. Plus, she has gorgeous curly dark hair and wonderful facial structure. I honestly think she was and is one of the more beautiful women on TV. Oh and her grandmother, "Yetta?" With sequined sweaters, fluffy hair, and amazing glasses, she's exactly the eccentric older woman I want to grow into. Haha, my mother would be horrified.



The "help" Fran and Niles.

The fabulous Yetta.


The equally fabulous Joan Collins.


An outfit I've worn in a slightly different way (I don't really go for turtlenecks).