Nanny & The professor
 Long before Fran Drescher came on the scene there was another Nanny who won the hearts of many male TV viewers.
This was a very special, magical nanny, and her name was Phoebe
Figalilly. Phoebe was a young English woman who worked as a Nanny for Professor Howard Everett and his family. She breezed in from England unannounced and captivated the Everett household. She arrived just at the right time too - as Miss Dunbar (Professor Everett's 5th housekeeper in a year) had just quit in utter frustration at trying to keep order in the chaotic household.  Nanny found herself in charge of Hal, a 12-year-old with a fascination for scientific experiments; 8-year-old Butch, who was into everything, and 5-year-old Prudence, a musical prodigy who practiced the same piano piece incessantly.
And then there was Waldo the family sheepdog, Myrtle the guinea pig and sundry other pets. Nanny's sunny disposition and seemingly psychic abilities (could she really talk to animals?) won everybody's heart in this relentlessly cute comedy. A one off 60 minute animated special also called
Nanny and the Professor aired on ABC on 15 September 1973, with all the cast providing the voices. Altogether now: "Phoebe Figalilly is a silly name, and so many silly things keep
happening".
|
