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Nanny and the Professor

 Nanny and the Professor
type
TVTItem
 Nanny and the Professor
label
Nanny and the Professor
 Nanny and the Professor
page
NannyAndTheProfessor
 Nanny and the Professor
comment
This Fantastic Comedy series, originally broadcast on ABC in 1970–71, centered on the mixture of chaos and order engendered in the house of a college professor by the apparently supernatural abilities of the nanny he'd hired to watch over his children.Juliet Mills played Phoebe Figalilly, caregiver to the three children of Professor Harold Everett (Richard Long). "Nanny", as everyone called her, was gifted at the very least with classic TV Psychic Powers, which mostly manifested as clairvoyance and even limited omniscience. She used these abilities indiscriminately with the Everett family, enchanting the children and confounding the strictly rationalist professor.Much of the comedy in the show came from the collision between Nanny's casually mystical style and the more mundane world around her. Unlike most of her counterparts in the other fantastic comedies of the era, she apparently felt no need to hide from the muggles, exercising her abilities so blatantly that it often left witnesses confused or disbelieving. This was made worse by the clever way in which no-one ever actually saw her do anything magical; things just happened in the way she wanted them to, to the accompaniment of a few notes of music in the background (which the characters couldn't hear). This didn't stop the Everetts from suffering the attention of at least one Nosy Neighbor, though.Despite the apparently low-key "magic" available to her, the series implied that Nanny may have been far more than just an attractive British woman with ESP. Hints were dropped suggesting that she was something other than a simple human, with a lifespan measuring in the centuries; unfortunately, the series ended well before it could pay off on those clues, leaving frustrated viewers to speculate on just what Nanny was, and why she watched over the professor and his family.In addition to Mills and Long, the cast included veteran actress Elsa Lanchester as Aunt Henrietta, Patsy Garrett as Mrs. Fowler, David Doremus as eldest child Hal, Trent Lehman as middle child Butch, and Kim Richards as Prudence, the youngest of the Everett children.
 Nanny and the Professor
fetched
2024-02-23T04:30:56Z
 Nanny and the Professor
parsed
2024-02-23T04:30:56Z
 Nanny and the Professor
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Nanny and the Professor / int_2847a9f9
type
Mother Nature, Father Science
 Nanny and the Professor / int_2847a9f9
comment
Mother Nature, Father Science: Nanny usually tried to solve problems with a sophisticated folk wisdom (for example, she could predict weather changes by noticing the way the tree frogs chirped) whereas Professor Everett usually tried to solve problems with a sternly logical, pragmatic approach. Unusually for this trope, the solution to the episode's problem often turned out to be combination of both their views rather than one over the other.
 Nanny and the Professor / int_2847a9f9
featureApplicability
1.0
 Nanny and the Professor / int_2847a9f9
featureConfidence
1.0
 Nanny and the Professor
hasFeature
Nanny and the Professor / int_2847a9f9
 Nanny and the Professor / int_2982798c
type
Short-Runners
 Nanny and the Professor / int_2982798c
comment
Short-Runners
 Nanny and the Professor / int_2982798c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Nanny and the Professor / int_2982798c
featureConfidence
1.0
 Nanny and the Professor
hasFeature
Nanny and the Professor / int_2982798c
 Nanny and the Professor / int_351e7cf9
type
Romanticism Versus Enlightenment
 Nanny and the Professor / int_351e7cf9
comment
Romanticism Versus Enlightenment: The major premise of the series is that Nanny brings the Everett family the virtues of Romanticism *without* ever dismissing or condemning rationality and science, proving to them that the two perspectives can and should co-exist.
 Nanny and the Professor / int_351e7cf9
featureApplicability
1.0
 Nanny and the Professor / int_351e7cf9
featureConfidence
1.0
 Nanny and the Professor
hasFeature
Nanny and the Professor / int_351e7cf9
 Nanny and the Professor / int_3ee91def
type
Fantastic Comedy
 Nanny and the Professor / int_3ee91def
comment
Fantastic Comedy
 Nanny and the Professor / int_3ee91def
featureApplicability
1.0
 Nanny and the Professor / int_3ee91def
featureConfidence
1.0
 Nanny and the Professor
hasFeature
Nanny and the Professor / int_3ee91def
 Nanny and the Professor / int_565106b3
type
Women Are Wiser
 Nanny and the Professor / int_565106b3
comment
Women Are Wiser: When the series begins, Professor Everett is a well-meaning but emotionally clueless father who knows how to relate to his children only in purely rational terms. Midway through the first season, Nanny has already taught him how to relate to his children on all levels.
 Nanny and the Professor / int_565106b3
featureApplicability
1.0
 Nanny and the Professor / int_565106b3
featureConfidence
1.0
 Nanny and the Professor
hasFeature
Nanny and the Professor / int_565106b3
 Nanny and the Professor / int_611a1a5e
type
Nosy Neighbor
 Nanny and the Professor / int_611a1a5e
comment
Nosy Neighbor: Mrs. Fowler.
 Nanny and the Professor / int_611a1a5e
featureApplicability
1.0
 Nanny and the Professor / int_611a1a5e
featureConfidence
1.0
 Nanny and the Professor
hasFeature
Nanny and the Professor / int_611a1a5e
 Nanny and the Professor / int_6a6b23ff
type
Unfazed Everyman
 Nanny and the Professor / int_6a6b23ff
comment
Unfazed Everyman: Towards the end of the series run, Professor Everett and his children have become so used to Nanny's magical ways that they are delighted by them instead of fazed by them; instead, they now enjoy watching as other people are fazed by them.
 Nanny and the Professor / int_6a6b23ff
featureApplicability
1.0
 Nanny and the Professor / int_6a6b23ff
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 Nanny and the Professor
hasFeature
Nanny and the Professor / int_6a6b23ff
 Nanny and the Professor / int_80b5924
type
Left Hanging
 Nanny and the Professor / int_80b5924
comment
Left Hanging: The series didn't last long enough to pay off on all the mysterious hints about Nanny's true nature.
 Nanny and the Professor / int_80b5924
featureApplicability
1.0
 Nanny and the Professor / int_80b5924
featureConfidence
1.0
 Nanny and the Professor
hasFeature
Nanny and the Professor / int_80b5924
 Nanny and the Professor / int_8a295a46
type
Cool Car
 Nanny and the Professor / int_8a295a46
comment
Cool Car: Subverted: Nanny's yellow 1930 Model A Ford, "Arabella."
 Nanny and the Professor / int_8a295a46
featureApplicability
-0.3
 Nanny and the Professor / int_8a295a46
featureConfidence
1.0
 Nanny and the Professor
hasFeature
Nanny and the Professor / int_8a295a46
 Nanny and the Professor / int_906d5d1f
type
Quirky Household
 Nanny and the Professor / int_906d5d1f
comment
Quirky Household: Nanny's extended family includes an aunt who owns a circus, two aunts who travel the world in a hot air balloon, and an uncle (played by Ray Bolger) who is a world traveler and can make it rain by dancing.
 Nanny and the Professor / int_906d5d1f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Nanny and the Professor / int_906d5d1f
featureConfidence
1.0
 Nanny and the Professor
hasFeature
Nanny and the Professor / int_906d5d1f
 Nanny and the Professor / int_a68421bb
type
Animated Adaptation
 Nanny and the Professor / int_a68421bb
comment
Animated Adaptation: Nanny and the Professor and the Phantom of the Circus, 1973 (i.e., two years after the series was cancelled).
 Nanny and the Professor / int_a68421bb
featureApplicability
1.0
 Nanny and the Professor / int_a68421bb
featureConfidence
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 Nanny and the Professor
hasFeature
Nanny and the Professor / int_a68421bb
 Nanny and the Professor / int_aec3d8b2
type
Expository Theme Tune
 Nanny and the Professor / int_aec3d8b2
comment
Expository Theme Tune: "Phoebe Figalilly is a silly name," indeed.
 Nanny and the Professor / int_aec3d8b2
featureApplicability
1.0
 Nanny and the Professor / int_aec3d8b2
featureConfidence
1.0
 Nanny and the Professor
hasFeature
Nanny and the Professor / int_aec3d8b2
 Nanny and the Professor / int_b892dd2d
type
Girl of the Week
 Nanny and the Professor / int_b892dd2d
comment
Girl of the Week: Professor Everett had several over the course of the series; Nanny also had a Guy of the Week or two.
 Nanny and the Professor / int_b892dd2d
featureApplicability
1.0
 Nanny and the Professor / int_b892dd2d
featureConfidence
1.0
 Nanny and the Professor
hasFeature
Nanny and the Professor / int_b892dd2d
 Nanny and the Professor / int_be009bbc
type
Alliterative Name
 Nanny and the Professor / int_be009bbc
comment
Alliterative Name: Phoebe Figalilly
 Nanny and the Professor / int_be009bbc
featureApplicability
1.0
 Nanny and the Professor / int_be009bbc
featureConfidence
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 Nanny and the Professor
hasFeature
Nanny and the Professor / int_be009bbc
 Nanny and the Professor / int_cb70651c
type
Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane
 Nanny and the Professor / int_cb70651c
comment
Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Subverted. Many episodes appear to fulfill this trope, only to reveal at the very end that it was Real After All.
 Nanny and the Professor / int_cb70651c
featureApplicability
-0.3
 Nanny and the Professor / int_cb70651c
featureConfidence
1.0
 Nanny and the Professor
hasFeature
Nanny and the Professor / int_cb70651c
 Nanny and the Professor / int_ecd437b5
type
Marry the Nanny
 Nanny and the Professor / int_ecd437b5
comment
Marry the Nanny: Downplayed; the series showed hints of a romance developing between the titular characters ("Nanny" Phoebe looks after "Professor" Harold's children) before the series' cancellation. Subverted in one episode in which we meet Phoebe's fiance, Chomondeley Featherstonehaugh (pronounced "Chumley Fanshaw"). She is, in her own words, "devoted to him", and he'd like to carry her off to be married, but they come to an agreement that she's needed where she is for now.
 Nanny and the Professor / int_ecd437b5
featureApplicability
-0.3
 Nanny and the Professor / int_ecd437b5
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 Nanny and the Professor
hasFeature
Nanny and the Professor / int_ecd437b5
 Nanny and the Professor / int_f1c860c4
type
Spider-Sense
 Nanny and the Professor / int_f1c860c4
comment
Spider-Sense
 Nanny and the Professor / int_f1c860c4
featureApplicability
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 Nanny and the Professor / int_f1c860c4
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 Nanny and the Professor
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Nanny and the Professor / int_f1c860c4
 Nanny and the Professor / int_name
type
ItemName
 Nanny and the Professor / int_name
comment
 Nanny and the Professor / int_name
featureApplicability
1.0
 Nanny and the Professor / int_name
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 Nanny and the Professor
hasFeature
Nanny and the Professor / int_name
 Nanny and the Professor / int_name
itemName
Nanny and the Professor

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Nanny and the Professor
hasFeature
Animated Adaptation / int_c579bb16
 Nanny and the Professor
hasFeature
Fantastic Comedy / int_c579bb16
 Nanny and the Professor
hasFeature
Magical Nanny / int_c579bb16
 Nanny and the Professor
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Marry the Nanny / int_c579bb16
 Nanny and the Professor
hasFeature
Name and Name / int_c579bb16
 Nanny and the Professor
hasFeature
Pretentious Pronunciation / int_c579bb16
 Nanny and the Professor
hasFeature
Series of the 1970s / int_c579bb16
 Nanny and the Professor
hasFeature
Urban Fantasy / int_c579bb16
 NannyandtheProfessor
sameAs
Nanny and the Professor