Nostalgic TV: Nanny & The Professor

[kybearfuzz]

Life with the new Mac Mini has been great. One of the few (and very few) complaints was the sound, which is only the one speaker and not good for music listening or movie watching. The new computer speakers are working out well for that as I've been watching a lot of Hulu now that the speakers are here and hooked up.

Shows from the 1970's have always been favorites of mine. One of the shows that I've been watching on Hulu of late is Nanny & The Professor.

It's a simple family show really. A British nanny, Phoebe Figalilly, (Juliet Mills) mysteriously appears at the home of a mathematics professor (Richard Long) soon after his three children have run off yet another nanny. With no reference checks (something no parent would do today), the professor agrees to let the nanny stay and finds that she controls the children quite well.

Nanny has some unusual skills. She's apparently psychic and can converse with animals, though she never freely admits this. She also seems to be able to influence the things around her to her advantage -- such as causing televisions to turn off when she needs someone's attention or having the phone ring to deliver a message at a critical moment. It's different from Samantha of Bewitched. She doesn't do this with a gesture or any particular activity to make you think she did it purposefully, but it seems to happen coincidentally, coined by some small musical notes.

I love to hear Juliet Mills' voice in the show, her British accent is very sweet. Richard Long was a good looking man. Sadly, the show only ran for three seasons (and some of them partial) and from what I've read the cancellation of the series might have been due more to bad timeslot placement. The show isn't on DVD, but you can buy the first season on Amazon for download and watch the first two seasons on Hulu.

Comments

[madknits.livejournal.com]

I remember this show, and what's even more frightening, I was humming the theme music the other day while waiting for the bus.

Soft and sweet
Wise and wonderful
Oooh, our mystical magical Nanny.

I'm terrified.

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

I'm not even sure what prompted me to think of watching these, but I'm happy to see it. It was such a good show! :)

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

That series was quite fun! We ought to compile a list of series that were terrific, but didn't stick around because of poor time slots:)

How about "Here Come the Brides!" or "Veronica Mars" to kick it off?

HUGS!

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

A list of series that were canceled for bad time slots? That would be an interesting discussion!

[rootbeer1.livejournal.com]

I used to love that show, but was disappointed when it showed up after its cancelation on Saturday morning TV as a cartoon version, part of a "cartoon movie" variety show. What was subtle about the live-action version was made blatant in the cartoon version, and not a minute had passed in the program before Nanny was twitching her nose and sending freshly-cleaned dishes flying through the air into their cupboards.

The writers of the cartoon obviously were confusing her with Samantha, thinking she was yet another magical female, but what I liked about the original was the ambiguity. Was she magic or wasn't she? Or was she just favored by fortune, able to make coincidences work in her favor?

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

I never saw the cartoon version, but it sounds like it was a very sad cartoon in comparison to the original show.

And I love the ambiguity too. And I think that was one of the appeals of the show. I think we all hope to be so lucky in coincidences.

[dendren.livejournal.com]

I *loved* Nanny and the Professor when I was a kid. Geez, I haven't seen that in prolly 35 years at least. fun!

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

Go to Hulu and relive it. It was off the air by the time I came into being, but I think it really is a sweet show!

[dendren.livejournal.com]

"It was off the air by the time I came into being"
oh sure... you just had to throw that in there didn't you LOL

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

Heh... well, I only missed it by a couple of years!

[dendren.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking it was what, 1970 or so? I had to be real young but I still remember it. I know my mom says, that it, Flying Nun, and Laugh-In were my favorites when I was real little LOL

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

I believe it was 1970 to 1971.

Laugh-in, huh? You liked the "Sock-It-To-Me" and the go-go dancing, did you?

[dendren.livejournal.com]

I can not tell a lie... I still do like it. It is *such* a historical look at the world of the late 60s early 70s. I haven't seen an ep in a while but in addition to the laughs I absolutely love the view of the times. The outfits and go-go dancing alone not to mention Nixon visiting, giant flower pictures and such. It is a very cool piece of television history.

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

I tend to gravitate toward stories and movies set in the 1970's for some reason. I love horror movies from that era. My favorite is "Black Christmas" from 1974.

[fatbearman.livejournal.com]

A sad ending for one of the kids. Trent Lehman who played Butch, the middle kid, had played George Jorgensen as a child in "The Christine Jorgensen Story" the bio of the first publicized transsexual, it was this role that lead to his being cast in "Nanny and the Professor". After the show was canceled, he only did a couple of acting jobs, including the aforementioned Nanny & The Professor cartoon m0ovie. In 1977, Trent's mother moved her family back to Colorado - to try to establish some tranquility for her kids. He did odd jobs, and never expressed interest in acting again.

In August of 1981 - Trent moved back to LA. Friends said that a girlfriend prompted the return. Trent and the girl broke up shortly after his return, and Trent was not taking it at all well. On the evening of January 17th of 1982, he was hanging out with friends including a childhood friend named Joseph Allen. Allen lived across the street from Vena Avenue School, in Arleta, Ca. Trent had attended the school up until he was in the 6th grade, including the time he spent on the show. Apparently Trent was drinking heavily and, earlier in the evening, asked Joseph Allen's father for shells for a rifle. When questioned why he wanted them, He replied, "to blow my head off." Around 7:30pm they dropped Trent off near his Chevy van that was parked across from Allen's home - to "sleep it off." He was due to show up in court the next day, the 18th, for a traffic citation. The friends returned about 2am, and the van was open, keys in the ignition, and empty beer cans on the console. Then they saw Trent. He was hanging from the 8-foot chain link fence of the school. His bare feet touching the ground and his legs slightly bent. There was a green bucket beside him that he apparently kicked. The noose was assembled from a bandanna and a belt that was looped around the fence at about 7 1/2 feet from the ground. He hadn't been dead for very long as he was warm to touch. He was cut down, and taken to the medical examiner for an autopsy. His van towed away. A significant amount of alcohol was in his system, as well as cocaine. he was cremated, and his ashes were given to his mother. He was only 20 years old. Now here is where it gets weird.

Trent wrote a will that was found in his shirt pocket. It stated that he left everything to his mother, but it was written on the back of his court appearance notice. Plus on Nanny And The Professor, the nickname "Butch" was short for Bentley. When his body was released to Forest Lawn it was by a T. Bentley (info from findadeath.com)