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Around the holidays, many love to watch festive episodes of their favorite television shows. While most series feature at least one — and sometimes several — Christmas specials throughout their run, it’s rare when shows celebrate other December holidays. However, The Nanny, which aired from 1993 to 1999 on CBS, did show their characters observing Hanukkah in one episode.

Charles Shaughnessy and Fran Drescher, in character as Maxwell Sheffield and Fran Fine in 'The Nanny,' which aired one Hanukkah episode in season 6. Maxwell wears a black suit, white button-up shirt, and maroon tie. Fran wears a red blazer.
Charles Shaughnessy as Maxwell Sheffield and Fran Drescher as Fran Fine | Photo by CBS via Getty Images

Fran Drescher’s character is Jewish in ‘The Nanny’

As fans of The Nanny know, Fran Fine, played by Fran Drescher, is Jewish in the show, so she celebrates Hanukkah. Since Drescher is one of the show’s co-creators and is Jewish in real life, she made it an essential part of her character. However, getting the network to get on board with Fran being Jewish wasn’t easy.

“When we got green-lighted to write the pilot for The Nanny, I guess the network was already talking to major sponsors like Procter & Gamble, who said, ‘It sounds great — we’ll buy the show outright. But the nanny has to be Italian, not Jewish,” Drescher told The Originals. “I was taken aback, for sure.”

The actor added, “I do not like living with regret. And I don’t want to rush into doing something to get the job, and then when it doesn’t go right, or it fails, I kick myself because I thought, ‘Why didn’t we follow our instincts? Why did we listen to them?’ I thought, ‘I can’t live with that regret. I know this character needs to be written very close to me and all the rich and wonderful characters that I grew up with.”

So, Drescher and her co-creator and husband at the time, Peter Marc Jacobson, stood firm in their belief that Fran Fine should be Jewish. And the rest is history.

‘The Nanny’ featured a Hanukkah episode in season 6

Being Jewish is a central part of Fran’s character in The Nanny. However, it wasn’t until The Nanny Season 6, the final season, that the show included an episode dedicated to Hanukkah. Previously, the series had aired Christmas specials in seasons 1 and 3.

In The Nanny Season 6 Episode 10, “The Hanukkah Story,” Fran is excited to celebrate her first Hanukkah with Maxwell as a married couple. Sadly, he forgets about the holiday and makes plans to go to Boston on business. Gracie and C.C. join him, but just when Maxwell decides to turn around to be with Fran, they get into an accident.

The episode of The Nanny also features flashbacks to when Fran was a child celebrating Hanukkah. And it has many themes relating to the holiday.

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What other shows besides ‘The Nanny’ have Hanukkah episodes?

Although finding Hanukkah television episodes is challenging, there are a few other than The Nanny. A handful of them are:

  • Friends Season 7 Episode 10, “The One With the Holiday Armadillo”
  • The Goldbergs Season 3 Episode 10, “A Christmas Story” — don’t let the name fool you
  • The O.C. Season 1 Episode 13, “The Best Chrismukkah Ever”
  • Rugrats Season 4 Episode 1, “A Rugrats Chanukah”
  • Even Stevens Season 1 Episode 15, “Heck of a Hanukkah”
  • Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Season 1 Episode 8, “My Mom, Greg’s Mom and Josh’s Sweet Dance Moves”

All episodes of The Nanny, including “The Hanukkah Story,” are available to stream on HBO Max.

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