Dargo wrote: ↑April 15th, 2024, 12:27 pm
Swithin wrote: ↑April 13th, 2024, 5:17 am
There is actually wisdom in
The Nanny, i.e. a combination of Jewish foibles and Jewish wisdom.
Seinfeld and
Enthusiasm are just shtick. In terms of Woody Allen, I love much of his work, particularly
Radio Days, Manhattan, Annie Hall, A Rainy Day in New York, etc. I even like
What's Up, Tiger Lily?. But I'm not a fan of
Play It Again Sam and
Take the Money and Run.
In terms of Jewish sensibilities, I once mentioned to a friend that the British director Mike Leigh's films display "Jewish sensibilities," even though he's not Jewish. My friend said, "He is Jewish." I didn't know that.
Sure Swithin, while there may be "wisdom" (Jewish or not) dispensed within 'The Nanny', I have to say I always found the few edisodes I ever watched of it (could only take so much of Fran's nasally voice...I mean by now I'm SURE you know how I feel about THAT sort'a thing and once again "Jewish" or NOT, and after all these years of my making fun of Mankiewicz's, RIGHT?!...LOL...ah, but I digress here) pretty much very conventional in its presentation of the classic fish-out-of-water story/family sitcom, and thus really breaking little new ground within this genre.
AND whereas, well, while you evidently think the 'Seinfield' sitcom is nothing but "shtick", allow me to ask you the following question here in regard to the concept of "breaking new ground":
Were there really any new phraseologies created in 'The Nanny' that would make their way into the general lexicon and that would become culturally embedded in this country such as, "Soup Nazi", "Anti-Dentite" and "Festivus, for the rest of us"(just to name a few here) and which were created by the minds of Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David?
(...nope, sorry, but I really can't think of any that would originally spring from that Fran Drescher starring sitcom)
Dargo, I'm not sure that new phraseologies are an indication of the excellence of a show. I remember when the term "Please don't squeeze the Charmin" came into use. That doesn't make Charmin the best toilet paper.
I think some of the subtleties of
The Nanny may have been invisible to non-tribe members. But for many of us, they were clearly there. In relation to
Sanford and Son, a show I rarely watched, I recently read something relevant to this conversation. Red Foxx insisted that LaWanda Page be hired for the role of Aunt Esther. After a few rehearsals, the producers wanted to fire her, because they didn't think she was right and wouldn't add anything. Foxx replied "The night that first show of LaWanda's goes on the air, there'll be dancing in the streets in every ghetto in the United States." Foxx was right; Aunt Esther became one of the most popular characters in a '70s. sitcom. I think that's relevant to
The Nanny, but also the scripts were truer to the working-class Jewish communities, unrelated to the "fish out of water" part of the show but present in the dialogue.
We shouldn't forget the pioneering Gertrude Berg, who basically invented the sitcom with
The Goldbergs and with her character Molly Goldberg, which was first on radio.
https://www.thejewishstar.com/stories/B ... dberg,1171