Last night’s Frasier featured the return of Nanny G. Off the top of my head, I believe this is the third time this character has appeared, and the third actress to have played her.
Nanny G is more a piece of Frasier trivia than anything, so I wonder if the episode confused a few folks. Certainly, Roz’s reaction to hearing that Nanny G was Frasier’s ex was understandable; while Roz and Frasier have known each other for years, I believe that the only time Nanny G’s even been mentioned by name in the series was during a dream sequence episode about the women of Frasier’s past (a particularly lackluster affair that wasted the rare occassion to have both Shelley Long and Bebe Neuwirth on.) It has occassionally been mentioned that Frasier has two ex-wives, but merely in passing. Before that, you have to go into the Cheers history, and the episode featuring Emma Thompson as Nanny G.
This was an enjoyable episode, although there was a disappointment between the moment I saw “Nanny G” in the title and seconds later when I realized that the Emma Thompson role was being filled by Laurie Metcalf (don’t get me wrong, a talented lady, just not the talented lady I’d prefer to see there.)
I wonder if this was a purposeful attempt to include Nanny G during the last season, to make sure that Frasier’s history has not been ignored (well, except for his dead scientist father, his being an only child, and his mother having been a harpy, facts which were jettisoned between the end of Cheers and the start of Frasier.) Or perhaps they had always wanted to do a Nanny G episode, and held out for as long as possible with the hope that Thompson might be available. Or it may just have seemed a good idea in the moment.
Nanny Gee Whiz!
