Fans of
The Nanny, the 1993 sitcom starring Fran Drescher (as the Nanny named Fran) and Charles Shaughnessy (as her employer, Max Sheffield), are certainly among the most loyal found among TV show audiences. So loyal, in fact, and so eager to see a DVD release for the series, that a handful of them even went so far as to register multiple accounts here at TVShowsOnDVD.com, in order to cast extra votes for the show's home video release. We dealt with that, though, and moved on, and finally in April 2004 we received our first good news, that the DVDs were in-the-works! Ever since then, however, we've had bad news again and again, and this has angered the loyal fans of the show towards this site, even though we've done nothing but pass along the information provided by the studio, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (formerly Columbia/Tristar Home Entertainment).
As you look at the
history of news posts at TVShowsOnDVD for
The Nanny, you'll see a lot of talk from us about how much we enjoy the show ourselves and want to see it come out on DVD, but that we've been told again and again by the studio that the DVD plans are either delayed, or not on the schedule, or only planned for other regions besides North America, or whatever. These types of answers came repeatedly, despite info from some of the show's cast saying that they were involved with production of the extras for the DVDs. When we asked Sony about THAT, they would tell us, "Oh, those extras aren't for Region 1, they're for overseas releases." Well, that may be true if interpreted literally. Read on!
Let's start with a timeline of events from the viewpoint of our previous news posts here at "TSoD":
- April 2004: We speak to Sony, and are given a heads-up that The Nanny will be released in August '04.
- May 2004: We speak to Sony again, and are told that they've bumped plans to release the show in August, but they still have plans to release it eventually.
- December 2004: We get word from an industry insider source that the project has been scrapped! That's unthinkable to us, so we talk to our contacts at Sony, and they simply tell us that there's nothing on the schedule for this show, so we go with the info our source provided...much to our dismay. We urge our readers to contact the studio and try to politely get them to change their minds.
- January 2005: Benjamin Salisbury (who played young "Brighton Sheffield" on the show) posts at his own website that The Nanny *IS* coming to DVD, and that he's participating in extras on it. We speak to Sony, and are told there aren't any plans for a North American ("Region 1") release at this time, but it will be coming out overseas, and that the extras which Salisbury said he is recording are intended for the overseas release(s).
- Later in January 2005: An advertising insert which came out tucked inside Soap - Season 3 and Married...with Children - Season 3 advertises The Nanny as "coming soon." Sony reiterates to us that there's nothing scheduled at this time, and tells us the insert was designed before plans had changed. We think this is a bit farfetched, given that plans had changed a decent while back, but Sony convinces us, and so - with no joy about it - we relay the info to our readers.
- February 2005: We check in with the studio just to be sure nothing's changed. Sony tells us that nothing's changed: there's still not a thing on their schedule for the show. Since there wasn't anything new to say to our readers, we don't bother to post news that just repeats ourselves (after all, it's not like we ever intended to rub it in anyone's faces, or hurt the feelings of the fans).
- March 2005: Co-star Charles Shaughnessy posts news at his own website that the show is coming to DVD in the Summer, "for all regions," but before the paragraph he posted is over, he contradicts himself and says that "all regions may not come out at the same time." We checked with the studio, hoping he's right and something has changed. But Sony says to us that, while the show will be released "elsewhere" this Summer for sure, but as far is the U.S. is concerned they tell us it "MAY be out this summer," but urge us not to discuss it publicly yet because it's still just as likely to be later on than that. So, with that vote of no-confidence, we reluctantly post news that fans should not expect it in the USA "until farther down the road." We point out that Mr. Shaughnessy's contradictary wording leaves a "loophole"...one that, along with Sony's way of talking, has convinced us at TSoD that they were accurate when they previously told us that there was no USA release for the Summer 2005 timeframe.
Since posting that last news story, we've gotten LOTS of angry e-mails from fans of
The Nanny, calling us names, ripping us apart, and taking us to task for "insulting Mr. Shaughnessy" and doubting him. We will now respond to that by asking readers who think we were rude to him back then to go and re-read that last news post: we tried to be respectful, and even stated that we had respect. We weren't saying it to put on a mask of politeness, we really meant it. We simply pointed out - factually - why Mr. Shaughnessy's message gave us reason to doubt the spirit of his info, since the studio had all along told us something different, and didn't give us the leeway at that time to say that it was assuredly on for the Summer after all. We were hoping Shaughnessy or Salisbury would perhaps come up with something that we at TSoD could put more faith in than the denials we had posted for so long. They never provided that, though, so we stuck with the story the studio had given us all along. And now it seems like we were not getting the right info to the fans after all.
So, why do we say NOW - all of a sudden - that we were not passing along the correct info? Because we have just learned -beyond a shadow of a doubt! - that Sony is preparing plans right now to officially announce (on May 2nd)
a 3-DVD box set of The Nanny - The Complete 1st Season!! JULY 12, 2005 is the release date for this set, running 562 minutes with all 24 episodes from the first season.
Cost is just $29.95 SRP in the USA. Video is 1.33:1 full frame, with English Stereo sound, subtitles in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, and it is closed captioned for the hearing impaired.
Okay, with the way our luck has been here at TSoD in regard to
The Nanny, the studio will now change some or all of those plans! Well, let's hope not. If so, it's certainly out of our control.
Now, about those extras: Apparently, Sony told us straight-up when they said that the extras recorded by Salisbury and Shaughnessy were for "other regions." Because you can see the cover art for this release below, both front side and back side. And, try as we might, we cannot find a single hint of bonus material mentioned anywhere on the back side of the package! Unless something changes (like the back cover), this would seem to be a bare-bones, "episodes-only" release...which is probably why the price is so low.
We are thoroughly distressed about the situation we've found ourselves in, with all the negative information we've passed along to you, our readers, for this past year. We ARE on the side of the fans, we want you to know, and here we've put ourselves AND the history of this situation right out in the open, and explained to all of you what we've said and done for the past year, and why.
Okay, now that the mushy stuff is over with, here is that cover art we promised you:
